Genesis 4
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 4
Cain and Abel. 1 The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying, “I have produced a male child with the help of the Lord.”[a] 2 Next she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel became a herder of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the ground.[b] 3 In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground, 4 while Abel, for his part, brought the fatty portion[c] of the firstlings of his flock.(A) The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and dejected. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain: Why are you angry? Why are you dejected? 7 If you act rightly, you will be accepted;[d] but if not, sin lies in wait at the door: its urge is for you, yet you can rule over it.(B)
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.”[e] When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(C) 9 Then the Lord asked Cain, Where is your brother Abel? He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 God then said: What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are banned from the ground[f] that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.(D) 12 If you till the ground, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a constant wanderer on the earth. 13 Cain said to the Lord: “My punishment is too great to bear. 14 Look, you have now banished me from the ground. I must avoid you and be a constant wanderer on the earth. Anyone may kill me at sight.” 15 Not so! the Lord said to him. If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged seven times. So the Lord put a mark[g] on Cain, so that no one would kill him at sight. 16 Cain then left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[h] east of Eden.
Descendants of Cain and Seth. 17 [i]Cain had intercourse with his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. Cain also became the founder of a city, which he named after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael; Mehujael became the father of Methusael, and Methusael became the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who became the ancestor of those who dwell in tents and keep livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, who became the ancestor of all who play the lyre and the reed pipe. 22 Zillah, on her part, gave birth to Tubalcain, the ancestor of all who forge instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. 23 [j]Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, listen to my utterance:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for bruising me.
24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
25 [k]Adam again had intercourse with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth. “God has granted me another offspring in place of Abel,” she said, “because Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth, in turn, a son was born, and he named him Enosh.
At that time people began to invoke the Lord by name.(E)
Footnotes
- 4:1 The Hebrew name qayin (“Cain”) and the term qaniti (“I have produced”) present a wordplay that refers to metalworking; such wordplays are frequent in Genesis.
- 4:2 Some suggest the story reflects traditional strife between the farmer (Cain) and the nomad (Abel), with preference for the latter reflecting the alleged nomadic ideal of the Bible. But there is no disparagement of farming here, for Adam was created to till the soil. The story is about two brothers (the word “brother” occurs seven times) and God’s unexplained preference for one, which provokes the first murder. The motif of the preferred younger brother will occur time and again in the Bible, e.g., Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and David (1 Sm 16:1–13).
- 4:4 Fatty portion: it was standard practice to offer the fat portions of animals. Others render, less satisfactorily, “the choicest of the firstlings.” The point is not that Abel gave a more valuable gift than Cain, but that God, for reasons not given in the text, accepts the offering of Abel and rejects that of Cain.
- 4:7 You will be accepted: the text is extraordinarily condensed and unclear. “You will be accepted” is a paraphrase of one Hebrew word, “lifting.” God gives a friendly warning to Cain that his right conduct will bring “lifting,” which could refer to acceptance (lifting) of his future offerings or of himself (as in the Hebrew idiom “lifting of the face”) or lifting up of his head in honor (cf. note on 40:13), whereas wicked conduct will make him vulnerable to sin, which is personified as a force ready to attack. In any case, Cain has the ability to do the right thing. Lies in wait: sin is personified as a power that “lies in wait” (Heb. robes) at a place. In Mesopotamian religion, a related word (rabisu) refers to a malevolent god who attacks human beings in particular places like roofs or canals.
- 4:8 Let us go out in the field: to avoid detection. The verse presumes a sizeable population which Genesis does not otherwise explain.
- 4:11 Banned from the ground: lit., “cursed.” The verse refers back to 3:17 where the ground was cursed so that it yields its produce only with great effort. Cain has polluted the soil with his brother’s blood and it will no longer yield any of its produce to him.
- 4:15 A mark: probably a tattoo to mark Cain as protected by God. The use of tattooing for tribal marks has always been common among the Bedouin of the Near Eastern deserts.
- 4:16 The land of Nod: a symbolic name (derived from the verb nûd, to wander) rather than a definite geographic region.
- 4:17–24 Cain is the first in a seven-member linear genealogy ending in three individuals who initiate action (Jabal, Jubal, and Tubalcain). Other Genesis genealogies also end in three individuals initiating action (5:32 and 11:26). The purpose of this genealogy is to explain the origin of culture and crafts among human beings. The names in this genealogy are the same (some with different spellings) as those in the ten-member genealogy (ending with Noah), which has a slightly different function. See note on 5:1–32.
- 4:23–24 Lamech’s boast shows that the violence of Cain continues with his son and has actually increased. The question is posed to the reader: how will God’s creation be renewed?
- 4:25–26 The third and climactic birth story in the chapter, showing that this birth, unlike the other two, will have good results. The name Seth (from the Hebrew verb shat, “to place, replace”) shows that God has replaced Abel with a worthy successor. From this favored line Enosh (“human being/humankind”), a synonym of Adam, authentic religion began with the worship of Yhwh; this divine name is rendered as “the Lord” in this translation. The Yahwist source employs the name Yhwh long before the time of Moses. Another ancient source, the Elohist (from its use of the term Elohim, “God,” instead of Yhwh, “Lord,” for the pre-Mosaic period), makes Moses the first to use Yhwh as the proper name of Israel’s God, previously known by other names as well; cf. Ex 3:13–15.
Genesis 4
1599 Geneva Bible
4 1 The generation of mankind. 3 Cain and Abel offer sacrifice. 8 Cain killeth Abel. 23 Lamech a tyrant encourageth his fearful wives. 26 True religion is restored.
1 Afterward the man knew Eve his wife which [a]conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have obtained a man [b]by the Lord.
2 And again she brought forth his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 ¶ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought an [c]oblation unto the Lord of the fruit of the ground.
4 And Abel also himself brought of the firstfruits of his sheep, and of the fat of them, and the Lord had respect unto (A)Abel, and to his offering,
5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had no [d]regard: wherefore Cain was exceedingly wroth and his countenance fell down.
6 Then the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance cast down?
7 If thou do well, shalt thou not be [e]accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the [f]door: also unto thee his [g]desire shall be subject, and thou shalt rule over him.
8 ¶ Then Cain spake unto Abel his brother. And (B)when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9 Then the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? Who answered, I cannot tell. [h]Am I my brother’s keeper?
10 Again he said, What hast thou done? the [i]voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me, from the earth.
11 Now therefore thou art cursed [j]from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thine hand.
12 When thou shalt till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength: a [k]vagabond and a runagate shalt thou be in the earth.
13 Then Cain said to the Lord, [l][m]My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast cast me out this day from [n]the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and shall be a vagabond, and a runagate in the earth, and whosoever findeth me shall slay me.
15 Then the Lord said unto him, Doubtless whosoever slayeth Cain, he shall be [o]punished seven fold. And the Lord set a [p]mark upon Cain, lest any man finding him, should kill him.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod toward the East side of Eden.
17 Cain also knew his wife, which conceived and bore Enoch: and he built a [q]city, and called the name of the city by the name of his son, Enoch.
18 And to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begat Mehujael, and Mehujael begat Methushael, and Methushael begat Lamech.
19 ¶ And Lamech took to him [r]two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
20 And Adah bare Jabal, who was the [s]father of such as dwell in the tents, and of such as have cattle.
21 And his brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all that play on the harp and [t]organs.
22 And Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain, who wrought cunningly every craft of brass and of iron: and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech; hearken unto my speech: [u]for I would slay a man in my wound, and a young man to mine hurt.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech [v]seventy times sevenfold.
25 ¶ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and she called his name Seth: for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed for Abel, because Cain slew him.
26 And to the same Seth also there was born a son, and he called his name Enosh. Then began men to [w]call upon the name of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Genesis 4:1 Man’s nature, the estate of marriage, and God’s blessing were not utterly abolished through sin, but the quality or condition thereof was changed.
- Genesis 4:1 That is, according to the Lord’s promise, as Gen. 3:15, some read, To the Lord, as rejoicing for the son which she had born, whom she would offer to the Lord as the firstfruits of her birth.
- Genesis 4:3 This declareth that the father instructed his children in the knowledge of God, and also how God gave them sacrifices to signify their salvation, albeit they were destitute of the sacrament of the tree of life.
- Genesis 4:5 Because he was an hypocrite, and offered only for an outward show without sincerity of heart.
- Genesis 4:7 Both thou and thy sacrifice shall be acceptable to me.
- Genesis 4:7 Sin shall still torment thy conscience.
- Genesis 4:7 The dignity of the firstborn is given to Cain over Abel.
- Genesis 4:9 This is the nature of the reprobate when they are reproved of their hypocrisy, even to neglect God and despite him.
- Genesis 4:10 God revengeth the wrongs of his Saints, though none complain: for the iniquity itself crieth for vengeance.
- Genesis 4:11 The earth shall be a witness against thee, which mercifully received that blood which thou most cruelly sheddest.
- Genesis 4:12 Thou shalt never have rest: for thine heart shall be in continual fear and care.
- Genesis 4:13 He burdeneth God as a cruel judge because he did punish him so sharply.
- Genesis 4:13 Or, my sin is greater than can be pardoned.
- Genesis 4:14 Hebrew, from off the face of.
- Genesis 4:15 Not for the love he bare to Cain, but to suppress murder.
- Genesis 4:15 Which was some visible sign of God’s judgment, that others should fear thereby.
- Genesis 4:17 Thinking thereby to be sure, and to have less occasion to fear God’s judgments against him.
- Genesis 4:19 The lawful institution of marriage, which is, that two should be one flesh, was first corrupted in the house of Cain by Lamech.
- Genesis 4:20 Or, first inventor.
- Genesis 4:21 Or, flutes, and pipes.
- Genesis 4:23 His wives seeing that all men hated him for his cruelty, were afraid, therefore he braggeth that there is none so lusty that were able to resist, although he were already wounded.
- Genesis 4:24 He mocked at God’s sufferance in Cain, jesting as though God would suffer none to punish him and yet give him license to murder others.
- Genesis 4:26 In these days God began to move the hearts of the godly to restore religion, which a long time by the wicked had been suppressed.
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