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Genesis 4:8
New English Translation
Genesis 4:8
New English Translation
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[a] While they were in the field, Cain attacked[b] his brother[c] Abel and killed him.
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- Genesis 4:8 tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Smr, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (ʾakhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָׂדֶה (bassadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָׂדֶה.
- Genesis 4:8 tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).
- Genesis 4:8 sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).
1 John 3:12
New English Translation
1 John 3:12
New English Translation
12 not like Cain[a] who was of the evil one and brutally[b] murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.
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- 1 John 3:12 sn Since the author states that Cain…was of the evil one (ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ, ek tou ponērou), in the immediate context this imagery serves as an illustration of 3:8a: The person who practices sin is of the devil (ἐκ τοῦ διαβόλου, ek tou diabolou). This is similar to John 8:44, where Jesus told his opponents “you people are from your father the devil…[who] was a murderer from the beginning.” In both Jewish and early Christian writings Cain is a model for those who deliberately disbelieve; Testament of Benjamin 7:5 looks forward to the punishment of those who “are like Cain in the envy and hatred of brothers.” It is not difficult to see why the author of 1 John used Cain here as a model for the opponents in light of their failure to “love the brothers” (see 1 John 3:17).
- 1 John 3:12 tn For the Greek verb σφάζω (sphazō) L&N 20.72 states, “to slaughter, either animals or persons; in contexts referring to persons, the implication is of violence and mercilessness—‘to slaughter, to kill.’” As a reflection of this nuance, the translation “brutally murdered” has been used.
New English Translation (NET)
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