1 The man knew Eve his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, "I have gotten a man with Yahweh's help."
2 Again she gave birth, to Cain's brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 As time passed, it happened that Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground.
4 Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat of it. Yahweh respected Abel and his offering,
5 but he didn't respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell.
6 Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen?
7 If you do well, will it not be lifted up? If you don't do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it."
8 Cain said to Abel, his brother, "Let's go into the field." It happened, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.
9 Yahweh said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" He said, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.
11 Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
12 From now on, when you till the ground, it won't yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth."
13 Cain said to Yahweh, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, you have driven me out this day from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth. It will happen that whoever finds me will kill me."
15 Yahweh said to him, "Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." Yahweh appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should strike him.
16 Cain went out from Yahweh's presence, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
17 Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
18 To Enoch was born Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have cattle.
21 His brother's name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe.
22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron. Tubal Cain's sister was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, For I have slain a man for wounding me, A young man for bruising me.
24 If Cain will be avenged seven times, Truly Lamech seventy-seven times."
25 Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth. For, she said, "God has appointed me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him."
26 There was also born a son to Seth, and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on Yahweh's name.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 4
Commentary on Genesis 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
Ge 4:1-26. Birth of Cain and Abel.
1. Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord—that is, "by the help of the Lord"—an expression of pious gratitude—and she called him Cain, that is, "a possession," as if valued above everything else; while the arrival of another son reminding Eve of the misery she had entailed on her offspring, led to the name Abel, that is, either weakness, vanity (Ps 39:5), or grief, lamentation. Cain and Abel were probably twins; and it is thought that, at this early period, children were born in pairs (Ge 5:4) [Calvin].
2. Abel was a keeper of sheep—literally, "a feeder of a flock," which, in Oriental countries, always includes goats as well as sheep. Abel, though the younger, is mentioned first, probably on account of the pre-eminence of his religious character.
3. in process of time—Hebrew, "at the end of days," probably on the Sabbath.
brought … an offering unto the Lord—Both manifested, by the very act of offering, their faith in the being of God and in His claims to their reverence and worship; and had the kind of offering been left to themselves, what more natural than that the one should bring "of the fruits of the ground," and that the other should bring "of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof" [Ge 4:4].
4. the Lord had respect unto Abel, not unto Cain, &c.—The words, "had respect to," signify in Hebrew,—"to look at any thing with a keen earnest glance," which has been translated, "kindle into a fire," so that the divine approval of Abel's offering was shown in its being consumed by fire (see Ge 15:17; Jud 13:20).
7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?—A better rendering is, "Shalt thou not have the excellency"? which is the true sense of the words referring to the high privileges and authority belonging to the first-born in patriarchal times.
sin lieth at the door—sin, that is, a sin offering—a common meaning of the word in Scripture (as in Ho 4:8; 2Co 5:21; Heb 9:28). The purport of the divine rebuke to Cain was this, "Why art thou angry, as if unjustly treated? If thou doest well (that is, wert innocent and sinless) a thank offering would have been accepted as a token of thy dependence as a creature. But as thou doest not well (that is, art a sinner), a sin offering is necessary, by bringing which thou wouldest have met with acceptance and retained the honors of thy birthright." This language implies that previous instructions had been given as to the mode of worship; Abel offered through faith (Heb 11:4).
unto thee shall be his desire—The high distinction conferred by priority of birth is described (Ge 27:29); and it was Cain's conviction, that this honor had been withdrawn from him, by the rejection of his sacrifice, and conferred on his younger brother—hence the secret flame of jealousy, which kindled into a settled hatred and fell revenge.
8. And Cain talked with Abel his brother—Under the guise of brotherly familiarity, he concealed his premeditated purpose till a convenient time and place occurred for the murder (1Jo 3:12; Jude 11).
9. I know not—a falsehood. One sin leads to another.
10. the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me—Cain, to lull suspicion, had probably been engaging in the solemnities of religion when he was challenged directly from the Shekinah itself.
11, 12. now art thou cursed from the earth—a curse superadded to the general one denounced on the ground for Adam's sin.
12. a fugitive—condemned to perpetual exile; a degraded outcast; the miserable victim of an accusing conscience.
13, 14. And Cain said … My punishment is greater than I can bear—What an overwhelming sense of misery; but no sign of penitence, nor cry for pardon.
14. every one that findeth me shall slay me—This shows that the population of the world was now considerably increased.
15. whosoever slayeth Cain—By a special act of divine forbearance, the life of Cain was to be spared in the then small state of the human race.
set a mark—not any visible mark or brand on his forehead, but some sign or token of assurance that his life would be preserved. This sign is thought by the best writers to have been a wild ferocity of aspect that rendered him an object of universal horror and avoidance.
16. presence of the Lord—the appointed place of worship at Eden. Leaving it, he not only severed himself from his relatives but forsook the ordinances of religion, probably casting off all fear of God from his eyes so that the last end of this man is worse than the first (Mt 12:45).
land of Nod—of flight or exile—thought by many to have been Arabia-Petræa—which was cursed to sterility on his account.
17-22. builded a city—It has been in cities that the human race has ever made the greatest social progress; and several of Cain's descendants distinguished themselves by their inventive genius in the arts.
19. Lamech took unto him two wives—This is the first transgression of the law of marriage on record, and the practice of polygamy, like all other breaches of God's institutions, has been a fruitful source of corruption and misery.
23, 24. Lamech said unto his wives—This speech is in a poetical form, probably the fragment of an old poem, transmitted to the time of Moses. It seems to indicate that Lamech had slain a man in self-defense, and its drift is to assure his wives, by the preservation of Cain, that an unintentional homicide, as he was, could be in no danger.
26. men began to call upon the name of the Lord—rather, by the name of the Lord. God's people, a name probably applied to them in contempt by the world.