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.

Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. Several versions, the Septuagint, the Syriac, the Arabic, the Vulgate, read, instead of laakeen (H3651), therefore, lo' (H3808) keen (H3651), not so, which is more in accordance with the context. God allayed Cain's apprehensions by assuring him that whoever should dare to shed his blood would be considered guilty of a far worse crime than Cain himself had perpetrated; inasmuch as he would sin against greater light and a better knowledge of the atrocity of murder, now that God had given public and solemn deliverance upon the subject in the case of Cain. The word "sevenfold," which occurs here for the first time, seems to have been early used as a common and familiar phrase for expressing intensity; and in the present context it intimates that any one who should dare to avenge the death of Abel, by taking the life of Cain, would be considered guilty of a more aggravated murder, and be condemned to a far severer punishment than that unhappy fratricide.

The Lord set a mark upon Cain. Conjectures almost innumerable have been formed and expressed regarding this mark. It has been supposed to have been a miraculous change on his external appearance, significant of his offence; a mark imprinted upon his forehead, containing the letters of the divine name, or of Abel's name; the sign of the cross; the leprosy, a general paralysis of his frame, by which his arms especially trembled so violently that he could not carry either meat or drink to his mouth; and finally, a wild ferocity of aspect, that rendered him an object of universal horror and avoidance.

Others have suggested that it was a mental affection, a settled melancholy, or perhaps lunacy, as supposing that remorse, and the total lack of those ordinances that minister comfort to 'a mind diseased,' drove him mad; and Montgomery, in a beautifnl passage of his poem, 'The World before the Flood,' taking up this idea, represents Cain as a poor, haggard, wretched maniac, roaming at large, and suddenly calmed during a violent paroxysm by the soothing influence of music, played by the harp of his descendant Jubal. LeClerc supposed it to be a distinct dress-a meaning which the original word will not bear. Bryant, that it was an impediment in his speech, which was inherited by his posterity, who gradually became dumb, as are the orangutans, his lineal descendants! But all these are mere fancies, unsupported by the tenor of the sacred narrative, and, indeed, they could never have been for a moment entertained by any one who paid the least attention to the Hebrew text.

The original words, literally rendered, are, 'the Lord gave a sign, a token or pledge, to Cain, that no one who found him should kill him;' i:e., God assured him of his personal safety by some external sign or evidence, which allayed his apprehensions from the snares or pursuit of the blood-avenger. This translation is confirmed by the expression of the Septuagint version [which is too (G3588) Kain (G2535), to Cain; not en (G1722), or epi (G1909) too (G3588 Kain (G2535), upon him]; and that God, not unfrequently confirmed his declarations to individuals by the appointment or exhibition of a sign is abundantly evident from many incidents recorded in the Old Testament (cf. Genesis 9:12; Genesis 17:11; Exodus 3:12; Judges 6:17; Judges 6:36; 2 Kings 20:8; Isaiah 7:14, in all of which passages the same word х 'owt (H226)] occurs).

In this sense, the word 'sign' is frequently used in Scripture. The import of the statement, then, 'that God gave a sign to Cain,' perhaps may amount to no more than this, that the Divine Being strictly charged Adam and all his family to offer no violence to Cain, under the penalty of condign punishment; and that the knowledge of this positive interdict was to the fratricide a satisfactory assurance of his immunity from danger. That such is the proper view of the passage will appear more clearly by translating the connecting particle "and" as Noldius ('Concordance') shows it often is rendered, 'thus,' 'after this manner,' the Lord gave a sign to Cain. But this rendering, though doubtless the correct one, does not bring us any nearer to a knowledge of what the sign given to Cain was. Knobel supposes that it was a sign in the visible heavens accompanied with a revelation of its meaning. But ungodly men would have disregarded that, as they do other subjects of divine communication; and besides, it would have been unknown to the next generation, unless, like the rainbow, it had been frequently renewed. All that can be said with certainty is, that whatever was the nature or form of this sign, it was sufficient to dispel the fear of Cain, as well as to deter others from endangering his life,