B. Genesis 4:10 – And He said, “What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”
1. There is no use trying to hide sin from God
2. Matthew 23:33 -35 – Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all righteous blood shed upon the earth, from righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the alter.
a. Whom is Christ addressing? Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites from v. 29
b. Why does he refer to them as serpents, generation of vipers? Could it be that they are of the serpent?
c. Christ is directly accusing them, his present audience of slaying Zacharius the prophet some 400 years ago.
3. John 8:42 -44 – Jesus said unto them, “If God were your Father, ye would love Me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because ye cannot hear My Word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
a. Who is Christ addressing? Scribes and Pharisees
b. This serves to confirm Matthew 23:33-35 when Christ refers to them as “serpents” He is stating “Ye are of your father the devil”
c. State “your father” was a “murderer from the beginning” who was a murderer from the beginning? Cain was the first murderer
II. Cain’s Punishment (Genesis 4:11 -16)
A. Genesis 4:11 – And now thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
1. cursed – ארר 'arar, (verb), to curse
2. from the earth – אדמה 'adamah,
3. earth “opened her mouth”?
B. Genesis 4:12 – When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be on the earth.”
1. Since from 4:2 we know Cain was a “tiller of the ground” the punishment is evidently stripping him of that occupation.
2. Genesis 3:17 already places a curse upon the ground that it will produce thorns and thistles, here with Cain it simply won’t produce.
3. Is this curse for Cain only or his posterity as well?
4. If this is for Cain’s posterity as well as for himself how then are they to survive? Merchants, Money Changing (usery), other industries not dependent upon growing agriculture
5. fugitive – נוע nuwa`(verb), to quiver, totter, shake, reel, stagger, wander, move, sift, make move, wave, waver, tremble
6. vagabond – נוד nuwd (verb), to shake, waver, wander, move to and fro, flutter, show grief, have compassion on
7. These are verbs, not nouns they are describing Cains actions and tendencies. Leupold says “shifting and straying”
C. Genesis 4:13 – And Cain said unto the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
1. Punishment – עון `avon,(masculine noun), perversity, depravity, iniquity, guilt or punishment of iniquity
2. Instead of repenting and accepting the consequences of his actions, Cain despairs.
3. Difference of opinion on whether Cain is referring to the punishment or the sin.
4. It is not the enormity of his guilt that strikes heavily into his conscience…Cain merely cringes at the thought of what he must bear. ~H.C. Leupold
5. My sin is too great to be forgiven. ~Luther
D. Genesis 4:14 – 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.”
1. earth – אדמה 'adamah, (feminine noun) ground, land, whole inhabited earth
2. Cain is worried that whoever finds him will kill him. Things to consider:
a. As far as we know the only people on earth at this time is Adam, Eve and Cain
b. Who would kill Cain?
c. If he had other siblings wouldn’t he have said something like “If my brothers find me they will slay me?” Why is he throwing out the general term “anyone” who finds me?
d. Could there have been other (unrelated) people on earth that has not been named? (See Genesis 1:27 vs. Genesis 2:7, where 2:7 is the first verse with the article ‘eth preceding adam or “The Man”. Without the article adam simply means mankind similar to how we use man in the statement “since the dawn of man”)
e. Were these two verses speaking of separate creations of man, one being mankind in general and the other being The Man, Adam?
f. Somewhat confusing since Genesis 2:4 clearly states “These are the Generations of the Heavens and of the Earth” followed by the fall and posterity of Cain and Seth. We will see in Chapter 5 that it starts with “This is the Book of the Generations of Adam” which begins with Seth and no mention of Cain.
E. Genesis 4:15 – 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.
1. Again, who would God be referring to if the only other people on earth were Adam and Eve. Why does the Lord take a very impersonal word “whosoever” rather than take the opportunity to be much more specific? Seems that God is justifying Cain’s fear and it is not mere paranoia.
2. Sevenfold – שבעתים shib`athayim (feminine noun) sevenfold, seven times or seven times over would the murder be avenged. How is a murder avenged seven times over? Seven times worse than Cain’s punishment. Possibly to seven generations.
a. Why does God spare Cain at all?
b. Is this an act of mercy to perhaps bring about repentance?
c. Or is it to perpetuate the collision course spoken of in 3:15 ?
3. a mark – אות 'owth (feminine noun) sign, signal, token, ensign, standard, miracle, proof (set a sign or gave him a pledge) this sounds remarkably like the word “oath” in today’s English…was this an oath and not a physical mark? Only place in KJV where this word is translated “a mark”. The word is used 79 times in the KJV as follows: sign(s) 60, token(s) 14, ensign(s) 2, miracles 2, mark 1
4. Most often it is understood that the sign was “set upon” Cain, according to Leupold the text does not say in or on Cain, but for Cain.
5. This word is also used with reference to signify His people. Here are some other examples of the word אות 'owth:
a. Ezekiel 20:12 – Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
· Sabbaths – שבת shabbath
· Sign – אות 'owth
· We normally don’t think of the Sabbaths as being a physical mark upon His people. This, however is the same word God speaks to Cain, should they be separated in meaning?
b. Genesis 9:17 – And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.
· Token - אות 'owth
· Here God is speaking of the rainbow as a symbol of His covenant, a rainbow is the reflection of a spectrum of light not a physical mark.
c. Genesis 4:15 – (NASB) So the LORD said to him, "Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.
· Here we see in the NASB that it was a sign appointed for Cain. Whatever it was is a mystery today.
F. Genesis 4:16 – And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod Eden
1. Appears that this was most likely a description of the region and not the proper name of a region.
2. Nod – נוד Nowd, (proper locative noun) wandering, very similar to the word translated to vagabond in 4:12
· Cuneiform Inscriptions – “Land of the Nomads”
· Leupold “The land of wandering or straying” rendering no significance to the noun as being proper.
· Currently no archaeological support for such a place
· May be the etymology of the word nomad à no__d
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