The first occurrence.
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh: then began men to call upon the name of YHVH. Gen 4:26
The primitive root.
Strong’s H2490 חלל chalal, a primitive root meaning, “profane, defile, pollute, desecrate.” The 3-letter root is chet + lamed + lamed.
chet ח = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
lamed ל = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind
From the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon:
A hole is drilled with a tool called a bow drill. The string of the bow is wrapped around the drill. By moving the bow back and forth, and firmly pressing down, the drill spins around drilling the hole.
In the patriarchal era, a string or sinew was wrapped around (chet, as a wall surrounds a house) the drill (lamed, as the drill is a long stick with a sharpened end), in order to bore a hole into wood or stone. Holes were bored to give a place of egress for chisels or other tools to do their work for whatever purpose man has determined for it (lamed, in the sense of man’s authority exercised over the stone).
This is the everyday, common, or profane use of the bow drill and the stone, in service of man’s daily work and responsibilities.
And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have profaned it. Exo 20:25
YHVH seems to be saying that when man exercises authority over the stones which comprise His altar, then he has made it common, or profaned something which ought to be set apart or holy to YHVH.
As to why the verb meaning, “to profane,” is translated “began” in Genesis, see Genesis 4:26, “then men began.”
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