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Genesis 4

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Cain and Abel Are Born 1–7

1
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. ​
2
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ​
3
And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
4
And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: ​
5
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6
And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. ​

Cain Murders Abel 8–16

8
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
9
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? ​
10
And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. ​
11
And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
12
When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13
And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. ​
14
Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15
And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. ​
16
And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. ​

The Line of Cain 17–24

17
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. ​
18
And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
19
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ​
20
And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. ​
21
And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. ​
22
And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. ​
23
And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. ​
24
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. ​

The Birth of Seth 25–26

25
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. ​
26
And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 4

Verse 1

I have gotten a man from the LORD — 'Gotten' is qanah, to acquire, which sounds like the name Qayin, Cain. Eve names the LORD as the giver, after the promise of the woman's 'seed' in 3:15. Of the child she received, 1 John 3:12 says he 'was of that wicked one'. 'Knew' (yada) is the verb for the marriage union.

Verse 2

a tiller of the ground — 'Tiller' is abad, to serve or work, the verb of Adam's task 'to dress it' (2:15) and of his exile 'to till the ground from whence he was taken' (3:23). Both callings are honourable: David was taken 'from the sheepfolds' (Ps 78:70). The name Abel, Hebel, is the word rendered 'vanity' in Eccl 1:2.

Verse 4

the LORD had respect unto Abel — Sha'ah, to gaze upon with regard, is also the verb of v.5, where to Cain and his offering 'he had not respect'. The fat is the part later reserved: 'all the fat is the LORD'S' (Lev 3:16). Hebrews names the difference: 'By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain' (Heb 11:4).

Verse 7

sin lieth at the door — Rabats is to crouch or lie down as an animal does: flocks 'lying by' a well (29:2) and Judah, who 'couched as a lion' (49:9). 'His desire' and 'thou shalt rule over him' use the two words of 3:16, teshuqah (desire) and mashal (rule). The LORD sets before Cain what he is to master.

Verse 9

Am I my brother's keeper? — Shamar, to keep or guard, is the verb of Adam's charge 'to dress it and to keep it' (2:15) and of the cherubim set 'to keep the way of the tree of life' (3:24). The LORD's question, 'Where is Abel thy brother?', echoes 3:9, 'Where art thou?' Cain answers with denial: 'He that covereth his sins shall not prosper' (Prov 28:13).

Verse 10

the voice of thy brother's blood crieth — Tsa'aq, to cry out, is the cry of the wronged. The ground 'opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood' (v.11), and Num 35:33 says 'blood it defileth the land'. Heb 12:24 sets beside it 'the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel'.

Verse 13

greater than I can bear — Avon is both iniquity and its punishment, so the word holds guilt and its consequence together. Nasa, 'bear', is the verb of carrying iniquity away: the goat 'shall bear upon him all their iniquities' (Lev 16:22); 'thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin' (Ps 32:5). The verse records no confession of the killing.

Verse 15

set a mark upon Cain — Oth is a sign or token, the word for the rainbow, 'the token of the covenant' (9:12), and for the sign given to Moses (Ex 3:12). The text does not say what the mark was or where; it states its purpose, 'lest any finding him should kill him'. The 'sevenfold' is the number Lamech takes up in v.24.

Verse 16

from the presence of the LORD — The Hebrew is 'from the face of the LORD', the words of Cain's own fear, 'from thy face shall I be hid' (v.14). 'Nod' sounds like nad, 'vagabond' (vv.12, 14). He settles 'on the east of Eden', the side where the cherubim were placed at the garden (3:24).

Verse 17

he builded a city — The first city named in Scripture is Cain's, called after his son as Ps 49:11 describes: 'they call their lands after their own names'. Ir, 'city', is a place guarded by a watch. Abraham later 'looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God' (Heb 11:10).

Verse 19

took unto him two wives — Lamech is the first man in Scripture said to take two wives, against the pattern of 2:24, 'they shall be one flesh'. The Lord returns to it in Matt 19:4–6: 'he which made them at the beginning made them male and female… they twain shall be one flesh'.

Verse 20

the father of such as dwell in tents — 'Father' means the originator of a way of life: here the herdsman who lives in tents (ohel) with his 'cattle' (miqneh, livestock as possessions). Jacob is later 'a plain man, dwelling in tents' (25:27), and Heb 11:9 says of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that they dwelt 'in tabernacles'.

Verse 21

the harp and organ — Kinnor, the harp, is the instrument David took up before Saul (1 Sam 16:23); ugab, the 'organ', is a reed instrument, named beside the strings in Ps 150:4, 'praise him with stringed instruments and organs'. Both arts begin in Cain's line, and both are later taken into the praise of the LORD.

Verse 22

an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron — Chorash is a craftsman, and latash, 'instructer', is to hammer out an edge. Brass and iron are the metals of the promised land: 'a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass' (Deut 8:9). Bezaleel is later 'filled… with the spirit of God' to work 'in brass' (Ex 31:3–4).

Verse 23

I have slain a man to my wounding — The speech is poetry, in parallel lines: 'Hear my voice… hearken unto my speech'. Chaburah, 'hurt', is a weal or stripe, the word of 'with his stripes we are healed' (Isa 53:5). Lamech boasts to his wives of a killing for a bruise; Cain had denied his own (v.9).

Verse 24

seventy and sevenfold — Lamech takes the LORD's sevenfold promise for Cain (v.15) and sets his own at 'seventy and sevenfold'. When Peter asks, 'how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?', the Lord answers, 'Until seventy times seven' (Matt 18:21–22): the Greek Old Testament words Lamech's number the same way: vengeance there, forgiveness here.

Verse 25

hath appointed me another seed — Shith, to set or appoint, gives the name Seth (Sheth). 'Seed' (zera) is the word of the promise in 3:15, and Eve speaks of the replacement as God's gift, 'instead of Abel, whom Cain slew'. Luke's genealogy runs through him: 'which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God' (Luke 3:38).

Verse 26

to call upon the name of the LORD — Qara, to call, with 'the name of the LORD': the phrase Abram uses at his altars (12:8), and which Joel 2:32 attaches to deliverance, 'whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered'. Paul quotes it in Rom 10:13. 'Enos' is Enosh, a mortal man, the word of Ps 8:4, 'What is man'.