Genesis 4
4
Cain and Abel
1Now Adam knew#Or “had intercourse with” Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain. And she said, “I have given birth to a man with the help of Yahweh.” 2Then she bore#Literally “And she added to bear” his brother Abel. And Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the ground. 3And in the course of time#Literally “it came to pass at the end of days” Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground to Yahweh, 4and Abel also brought an offering from the choicest firstlings of his flock.#Literally “from the firstlings of his flock and from their fat” And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering, 5but to Cain and to his offering he did not look with favor. And Cain became very angry, and his face fell. 6And Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your face fallen? 7If you do well will I not accept you?#Literally “a lifting up”; this is an abbreviation of the Hebrew idiom “to lift up the face,” which means “to accept or regard with favor” But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. And its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”
8Then#Or “And” Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out into the field.”#This phrase is not present in the Hebrew; it is supplied in other versions Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9Then#Or “And” Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10And he said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. 11So now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand. 12When you till the ground it shall no longer yield its strength to you.#Literally “it shall not add to give its strength to you” You shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth.” 13And Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me.” 15Then#Or “And” Yahweh said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” Then#Or “And” Yahweh put a sign on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. 16And Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh, and he settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
17And Cain knew#Or “had intercourse with” his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. And when he built a city he named the city after his son, Enoch.#Literally “he called the name of the city as the name of his son, Enoch” 18And to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19And Lamech took to himself two wives.#Or “women” The name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and those who have livestock. 21And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and wind instruments. 22Then#Or “And” Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain who forged all kinds of tools of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23Then#Or “And” Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to my voice;
O wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man for injuring me.
24If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech will be avenged seventy and seven times.
25Then#Or “And” Adam knew#Or “had intercourse with” his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. And she called his name Seth, for she said “God has appointed to me another child in the place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26And as for Seth, he also fathered a son, and he called his name Enosh. At that time he#Or “humankind,” if the 3ms form is considered collective began to call on the name of Yahweh.
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Genesis 4
4
Cain and Abel
1Now the man #The name Adam is the Hebrew word for “man,” so when the word is used with the article (“the”) as it is here, it can be inferred that the writer (Moses) is referring to Adam as “the man.”Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a man (baby boy, son) with the help of the Lord.” 2And [later] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground. 3And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. 4But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the #That is, the fat that covered the entrails of the animals. Later, in the Mosaic Law, the Israelites were forbidden to eat this fat (Lev 7:23), which was reserved as an offering to God, especially for sin (Lev 4:8, 26, 35; 9:10; 16:25).fat portions. And the Lord had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering; 5but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and #Lit his countenance fell.he looked annoyed and hostile. 6And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed? 7If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.” 8Cain talked with Abel his brother [about what God had said]. And when they were [alone, working] in the field, Cain #Lit rose up against.attacked Abel his brother and killed him.
9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he [lied and] said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice]. 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand. 12When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast].” 13Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Your face (presence) I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and an [aimless] vagabond on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15And the Lord said to him, “#Some ancient versions read, “Not so!”Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me].” And the Lord set a [protective] #Many commentators believe this sign not to have been like a brand on the forehead, but something awesome about Cain’s appearance that made people dread and avoid him. In the Talmud, the rabbis suggested several possibilities, including leprosy, boils, or a horn that grew out of Cain. But it was also suggested that Cain was given a pet dog to serve as a protective sign.mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.
16So Cain went away from the [manifested] presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod [wandering in exile], east of Eden.
17Cain knew his #The simplest explanation for the origin of Cain’s wife is that she was one of his sisters, whom Scripture does not mention specifically, but implies (5:4). It is also possible that she was a niece or more distant relative descended from the original family, but in any case it is evident that the unrecorded children of Adam and Eve married each other. This was possible because the human gene pool was at its purest with Adam and Eve, so at some point their children could begin families of their own.wife [one of Adam’s descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son. 18Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. 19And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock. 21His brother’s name was Jubal; he became the father of all those [musicians] who play the lyre and flute. 22Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, the smith (craftsman) and teacher of every artisan in instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah,
Hear my voice;
You wives of Lamech,
Listen to what I say;
For I have killed a man [merely] for wounding me,
And a boy [only] for striking (bruising) me.
24If Cain is avenged sevenfold [as the Lord said he would be],
Then Lamech [will be avenged] #Lamech arrogantly declares to his wives that if someone kills him, he will be entitled to far greater vengeance since he merely retaliated for harm suffered, while Cain’s murder of Abel was by comparison unprovoked.seventy-sevenfold.”
25Adam knew [Eve as] his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for [she said], “God has granted another child for me in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26To Seth, also, a son was born, whom he named Enosh (mortal man, mankind). At that [same] time men began to call on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].
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