Worthy.Bible » STRONG » Genesis » Chapter 4 » Verse 11-17

Genesis 4:11-17 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

11 And now art thou cursed H779 from the earth, H127 which hath opened H6475 her mouth H6310 to receive H3947 thy brother's H251 blood H1818 from thy hand; H3027

12 When H3588 thou tillest H5647 the ground, H127 it shall not henceforth H3254 yield H5414 unto thee her strength; H3581 a fugitive H5128 and a vagabond H5110 shalt thou be in the earth. H776

13 And Cain H7014 said H559 unto the LORD, H3068 My punishment H5771 is greater H1419 than I can bear. H5375

14 Behold, thou hast driven me out H1644 this day H3117 from the face H6440 of the earth; H127 and from H5921 thy face H6440 shall I be hid; H5641 and I shall be a fugitive H5128 and a vagabond H5110 in the earth; H776 and it shall come to pass, H1961 that every one that findeth me H4672 shall slay me. H2026

15 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto him, Therefore H3651 whosoever slayeth H2026 Cain, H7014 vengeance shall be taken H5358 on him sevenfold. H7659 And the LORD H3068 set H7760 a mark H226 upon Cain, H7014 lest H1115 any finding H4672 him should kill H5221 him.

16 And Cain H7014 went out H3318 from the presence H6440 of the LORD, H3068 and dwelt H3427 in the land H776 of Nod, H5113 on the east H6926 of Eden. H5731

17 And Cain H7014 knew H3045 his wife; H802 and she conceived, H2029 and bare H3205 Enoch: H2585 and he builded H1129 a city, H5892 and called H7121 the name H8034 of the city, H5892 after the name H8034 of his son, H1121 Enoch. H2585

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.