THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABEL (GENESIS 4:1 TO GENESIS 5:1 A). Genesis 4:1. The Sin of Cain TABLET III It is quite clear that this section once existed separately from Genesis 2-3. The immediate and lasting change from ‘Yahweh Elohim' (Lord God) to ‘Yahweh' (Lord), after the almost pedantic use of the... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And the man knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain (qayin from the stem qon), saying, “I have obtained (qanithi from the stem qanah) a man with Yahweh.” ' “KNEW” is a regular euphemism for sexual intercourse. Eve's words are interesting. Notice that she does not say ‘I have borne a chil... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And again she bore his brother Abel (Hebel). And Abel was a keeper of sheep while Cain was a worker of the ground.' Abel was a keeper of ‘sheep' (the word strictly means what we might call ‘small cattle' i.e. including goats). We must not read into this the suggestion that he was a shepherd in its... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And after a certain amount of time had passed Cain brought to Yahweh an offering of the fruit of the ground.' The cereal offering was an acknowledgement of God's blessing and an expression of human gratitude. It would later be quite acceptable to God, so that there is no reason here to assume it w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.' We are not to read into this any cultic requirements. The cult is not established until Genesis 4:26. It is specifically intended to bring out Abel's attitude of heart. His first thought was to show his gratitude to God, a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Yahweh had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.' But how did they know that one was accepted and the other not? The answer would seem to lie in the fact that Abel prospered, whereas Cain was having a difficult time in some way. This would certainly... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So Cain burned with anger, and his face fell.' He was clearly extremely furious (the description is powerful), and the more he thought about it the more the anger showed on his face. No doubt he went about for some time with a face like thunder, and his anger grew and grew.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Yahweh said to Cain, ‘why are you angry, and why does your face express such disapproval? If you do well, is there not a lifting up? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door. It longs to grab you, but you must overcome it.' We do not know how God communicated with Cain. Possibly it w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Cain said to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.' The passage appears abrupt and ungrammatical. AV possibly has it correctly when it translates ‘talked with Abel his brother' although the actual phrase is as abrupt in Hebrew a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother's shepherd (guardian).” ' The question parallels the ‘where are you?' of Genesis 3:9. Again God is giving the man an opportunity to express his repentance. Cain's reply demonstrates how far he has f... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's bloods (literally) is crying to me from the ground.” ' “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” compare Genesis 3:13. These parallels suggest that the story of the Garden of Eden was known to the original author in some form. The plural for blood is i... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand.' What dreadful seed Cain has sown, and what dreadful consequences it will bring. Cain will no longer be able even to ‘work the ground', that pitiful alternative to the fruit of th... [ Continue Reading ]
‘When you work the ground it will no longer yield to you its fruit, you will be a fugitive and wanderer on the earth.' He is to be banished to a place where the ground is totally unfruitful, driven as a consequence of his own sin. There will be nowhere for him to go, for his blood will be sought by... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is beyond bearing.” ' Cain can only think of the consequences for himself of his sin. There is no repentance, only regret over what he has lost. How can he cope with a life of loneliness and wandering, ever afraid of every kinsman he meets? Living in terror... [ Continue Reading ]
“See, this day you have driven me away from the face of the ground, and from your face I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me.” He has lost his two most treasured possessions. The ‘face of the ground' on which he has laboured, which... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 4:15 A ‘Then Yahweh said to him, “It shall not be so. If anyone slays Cain vengeance will be exacted on him sevenfold”.' Note that these words are in the form of a pronouncement. Cain is mentioned in the third person and not as ‘you'. This is God's covenant, a unilateral covenant given in... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Cain went away from the place of Yahweh, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.' The land of Nod (nod = ‘wandering') refers to the desert, the ‘land of wandering'. Man moves ever onward, eastwards from Eden, driven by sin, getting further and further away from Paradise. Leaving ‘the place... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 4:17 . THE LINE OF CAIN. The following account was probably originally a second covenant record. It is built around the covenant recognised between Lamech and Yahweh, but in view of its reference back to Yahweh's covenant with Cain it may well have been conjoined with the previous record im... [ Continue Reading ]
The line of Cain is then outlined. In accordance with ancient genealogies only important descendants would be listed and the length of time to Lamech may have been considerable. The similarity to names in the line of Seth need not surprise us. They came of the same family roots and similarity of nam... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Lamech took two wives, the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah.' Here we have the first suggestion of someone having more than one wife. It may have been a boast to Lamech, but the compiler of the Genesis 1-11 epic probably saw it as another downward step in man's co... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Adah bore Jabal, he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have domesticated animals.' This is looking from the Cainite point of view. It may suggest that he invented the tent as opposed to more primitive shelters, but more probably that under him domestication of animals by the nomads of... [ Continue Reading ]
‘His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe.' The wandering life of the family would encourage the need for diversions. Perhaps he invented these musical instruments, or perhaps he was the first one to introduce them to the tribe. Either way he was remem... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Zillah bore Tubal-Cain, he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.' Tubal-Cain was the one who shaped metals. Mitchell (NBD) suggests that perhaps ‘he discovered the possibilities of cold forging native copper and meteoric iron, a practise atteste... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, you wives of Lamech listen to what I say, I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me, if Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and seven fold”.' Lamech has killed a young man and claims that it was in sel... [ Continue Reading ]
Genesis 4:25 TO GENESIS 5:1 A THE BIRTH OF SETH This section may have been written (from source material) specifically to connect the Cainite records with the following record of Seth's genealogy, and also to interconnect the Cainite records with Genesis 2 and Genesis 3. This probably occurred at t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And Seth, to him was born a son and he called his name Enosh. At that time men began to call on the name of Yahweh.' Enosh is another word for ‘man'. It stresses the frailty of man. The phrase ‘call on the name of Yahweh' does not mean that men have not acknowledged Yahweh before, but that the wors... [ Continue Reading ]