1And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain and said, I have gained a man through God. 2And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And it was so after some time that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord. 4And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his sheep and of his fatlings, and God looked upon Abel and his gifts, 5but Cain and his sacrifices he regarded not, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his countenance fell. 6And the Lord God said to Cain, Why art thou become very sorrowful and why is thy countenance fallen? 7Hast thou not sinned if thou hast brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still, to thee shall be his submission, and thou shalt rule over him.
8And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into the plain; and it came to pass that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9And the Lord God said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? and he said, I know not, am I my brother’s keeper? 10And the Lord said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood cries to me out of the ground. 11And now thou art cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. 12When thou tillest the earth, then it shall not continue to give its strength to thee: thou shalt be groaning and trembling on the earth. 13And Cain said to the Lord God, My crime is too great for me to be forgiven. 14If thou castest me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from thy presence, and I shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth, then it will be that anyone that finds me shall slay me. 15And the Lord God said to him, Not so, anyone that slays Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance; and the Lord God set a mark upon Cain that no one that found him might slay him. 16So Cain went forth from the presence of God and dwelt in the land of Nod over against Eden.
17And Cain knew his wife, and having conceived she bore Enoch; and he built a city; and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18And to Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lamech. 19And Lamech took to himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. 20And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those that dwell in tents, feeding cattle. 21And the name of his brother was Jubal; he it was who invented the psaltery and harp. 22And Zillah also bore Tubal; he was a smith, a manufacturer both of brass and iron; and the sister of Tubal was Naamah. 23And Lamech said to his wives,
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice,
Ye wives of Lamech, consider my words,
Because I have slain a man to my sorrow
And a youth to my grief.
24Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain’s behalf,
On Lamech’s it shall be seventy times seven.
25And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Seth, saying, For God has raised up to me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26And Seth had a son, and he called his name Enosh: he hoped to call on the name of the Lord God.
The Hebrew has a wordplay (assonance) between "Cain" (קַיִן / qayin) and "gained" (קָנִ֥יתִי / qaniti). Brenton's translation retained this homonymy (similarity in sound) in English. Cain's name might mean "smith" (in the sense of "blacksmith"), but this is uncertain.
There are a number of parallels between this account and that of Adam and Eve in chapter 3, including patterns and similar language, with some notable contrasts indicating humanity is falling further away from God.
The serpent promised that Eve would know good and evil. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge and knew they were naked. And now, Adam knew his wife, Eve. The fathers discussed coitus as a form of knowledge and a practice that began after the Fall, but are somewhat divided on this.
Several commentators have noted a chiastic structure in these verses:
The Hebrew name "Abel" (הֶבֶל / Hevel) means "breath," "vapor," or "vanity." This is the same word used throughout the book of Ecclesiastes (in Hebrew) which is frequently translated as "vanity" (cf., e.g., Ecclesiastes 1:2).1
There is a lot of speculation amongst the Fathers and other commentators about why Abel's gift was regarded but Cain's was not. Theories include:
The common theme in Genesis of subverting primogeniture.
Cain did not offer the best / firstfruits whereas Abel did. This is suggested by the contrast between Abel's offering from his "firstborn" and "fatlings" with no corresponding terms applied to Cain’s offering. It also appears to be the understanding of the author of Hebrews (11:4).
Cain's attitude / heart was wrong, whereas Abel truly offered to God from a position of gratitude.
A greater regard for herdsmen (shepherding / pastoral work) than for farmers (agricultural work).
Some unspecified period of time has passed—at least enough for Cain and Abel to grow older. The Hebrew word for "offering" or "gift" (מִנְחָה / minḥah) may imply a grain offering (cf. Leviticus 2), but does not preclude animal sacrifice.
I think θυσία (thysia) would here better be translated as "offering" (it refers specifically to "that which is offered as a sacrifice").1
The verb λυπέω (lypeō) is (correctly) translated as "exceedingly sorrowful," but the Hebrew חרה (ḥarah) refers to anger, which is also the sense understood by many of the Fathers. Regardless, it was not godly sorrow:
For godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret, but worldly sorrow produces death.
2 Corinthians 7:10
The Hebrew MT has a considerably different reading for vv. 6-7:
Yahweh said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? If you do well, won't it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it."1
Concerning Brenton's (ENGLXXUP) translation of ἀποστροφή (apostrophē) as "submission," see note on Genesis 3:16.
This is the first mention of sin in the Bible.
BibleProject has a helpful explanation of "sin" (Greek: ἁμαρτία / hamartia; Hebrew: חֵטְא / khata):
Abel is the first martyr since he is killed for his faith and sacrifice to God (cf. Matthew 25:35; Hebrews 11:4), and the first human to die is killed by murder.
We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but the deeds of his brother were righteous.
1 John 3:12
The word "brother" appears exactly 7 times between vv. 2–11 (both in the in the Hebrew and the Greek text).
The Hebrew is awkward and is missing whatever Cain said to Abel. The LXX (along with several other ancient translations) has added "Let us go out into the plain" (Διέλθωμεν εἰς τὸ πεδίον / Dielthōmen eis to pedion). Some targums contain a discussion between the brothers about God prior to Abel's murder.
As with His questioning of Adam and Eve, God is patient and merciful, seeking to elicit a confession. Cain lies and is not repentant.
Cain is the first human to be cursed by God. Having polluted the ground with blood and death, the farmer is cursed from receiving any food and life from the ground. The exile continues as humans continue to further alienate themselves from God: humanity is first exiled from paradise, and now Cain has further exiled himself from the ground itself (indeed, in vv. 16–17, Cain moves even further from Eden and abandons agricultural life, creating the first city).
You see, since Cain perpetrated practically the same evil as the serpent, which like an instrument served the devil's purposes, and as the serpent introduced mortality by means of deceit, in like manner Cain deceived his brother, led him out into open country, raised his hand in armed assault against him and committed murder. Hence, as he said to the serpent, " 'Cursed are you beyond all the wild animals of the earth,' " so to Cain, too, when he committed the same evil as the serpent. In other words, just as the devil was moved by hatred and envy, being unable to bear the ineffable kindnesses done the human being right from the outset, and under the impulse of hatred rushed headlong into the deception that introduced death, so too Cain saw the Lord kindly disposed to his brother, and under the impulse of hatred rushed headlong into murder.1
St. John Chrysostom taught that Cain had a form of palsy that caused him to tremble, perhaps based on στένων καὶ τρέμων (stenōn kai tremōn, "groaning and trembling"). He also saw this suffering as a benefit to him from God (a medicine for his soul)—and as a warning to others.1 God could have killed him (capital punishment would have been appropriate under later Israelite law), but shows mercy.
St. John Chrysostom indicated that Cain's confession was too late, teaching that "it is before punishment is imposed that penance is appropriate and is so marvellously efficacious."1 He gives a similar warning to us to repent in this life before the final judgment, when it will be too late.
The verb ἐκβάλλω (ekballō) here for "throwing / casting out" (in the sense of eviction) from God's presence is the same verb used in 3:24 when God cast Cain's parents out of Eden.
Cain left "the face of God," representing humanity's choice to further alienate itself from God. The Hebrew root (binyan) of "Nod" (נוֹד / Ναὶδ) can mean "wandering," and the text further clarifies that Cain is moving further away from Eden. Similarly, in our spiritual life, moving away from God involves wandering.
God placed man in a garden, not in a city. It is notable that the first city is built by a murderer (or his son) who was alienated from God. This is perhap a critique of the ANE understanding of how various heroes of old brought technology from the gods to humanity to instantiate urban civilation (depicted through the discoveries / skills of Cain's ancestors),1 which will culminate in ch. 11 with the construction in Babel. St. Augustine uses Cain as the basis for his earthly city (as opposed to the city of God in exile on earth).2
Lamech, the seventh generation, begins to practice polygamy and is proud of his violence. This demonstrates humanity's continual fall away from God.
These verses present the rise of pastoralism, music, and metallurgy in Cain's line as deeply ambivalent "gifts": they look like civilizational blessings, but in biblical theology they expose a humanity morally unready for the power they now wield.
The early genealogies resemble other ANE lists of seven generations of antediluvian sages (apkallu or "Watchers" (cf. Daniel 4:17), semi-divine figures / demons) that introduced various technological (and magical) skills that formed the basis for urban civilization.1 These ancient sages were correlated to ANE kings.2 In contrast, Genesis portrays geneaologies of "ordinary" people who were not kings, but makes the argument that all humans are created in the image of God and therefore were given authority to rule.
Genesis carefully places the flowering of technology in Cain's line right before the escalation of violence. Jabal's mobility, Jubal's musicality, and Tubal-Cain's metallurgy are value-neutral as crafts, but the narrative hints that in this ungodly line they will serve primarily as tools of warfare / self-protection / retribution and self-glorification (cf., e.g., vv. 23-24). This is not so different from today: the majority of national resources are invested in technology for defense or pursuit of profit with blatant disregard for societal and moral (let alone spiritual) wellbeing!
Lamech's poem is often called the "Song of the Sword" and displays frequent parallelism. The name seems to assume that Tubal's developments in metallurgy were used (at least in part) to make weapons, leading to Lamech’s confidence in his (newfound, technology-enabled) combat abilities.1
I strongly dislike some of Brenton's (ENGLXXUP) translation choices in this poem.2 I've below compared the relevant phrases to the LES, NETS, and OSB, which illustrate the differences in translating εἰς τραῦμα ἐμοί (eis trauma emoi) and εἰς μώλωπα ἐμοί (eis mōlōpa emoi) in particular:
| LXX (Greek) | Brenton (ENGLXXUP) | LES | NETS | OSB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ὅτι ἄνδρα ἀπέκτεινα εἰς τραῦμα ἐμοί | Because I have slain a man to my sorrow | because I killed a man for a wound to me | because I have killed a man for a wound to me | Because I killed a man for wounding me |
| καὶ νεανίσκον εἰς μώλωπα ἐμοί | And a youth to my grief | and a young man for a bruise to me | and a young man for a welt to me | And a young man for hurting me |
The Hebrew name Seth (שֵׁת) may be etymologically related to the words "set / put / granted," which in context refer to "substitution" or "replacement," which is implied by Eve's statement about his name (which in the Hebrew is a wordplay).
The Hebrew name Enosh (אֱנוֹשׁ) means "man" / "human." Unlike the discoveries of various technologies ascribed to Cain's descendants, Seth's son (re–)introduces the practice of calling upon God's name, offering a glimmer of hope that humanity might move closer to God rather than further away from Him.
The Hebrew MT states more generally that people began calling upon the name of the Lord, whereas the LXX (and Vulgate) attributes a desire to do so to Enosh. Compare the Hebrew MT:
A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on Yahweh's name.1
Some contemporary commentators, rather than seeing Enosh's invocation of the name of God as a positive sign, see a parallel in the Sumerian flood account and believe this simply points to the establishment of the practice of worship amongst humanity (not necessarily to the God of Eden).
Old Testament text: Updated Brenton Septuagint (ENGLXXUP) — public domain. Texts & Translations →