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Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

Genesis 4:11

‘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 the garden. He will be driven out into the desert to survive as he can. So as man's sin grows, so do the benefits he receives from God decrease. Note that it is Cain who is cursed directly in contrast with the curse on the ground in Genesis 3.

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See also Genesis 4:11 in other biblical comments:

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    - Section IV - The Family of Adam - Cain and Abel 1. קין _qayı̂n_, Qain (Cain), “spear-shaft,” and קנה _qānah_, “set up, establish, gain, buy,” contain the biliteral root קן _qan_, “set up, erect, g...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    CHAPTER 4 After the Fall and the Two Seeds _ 1. Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1)_ 2. Their offerings (Genesis 4:3) 3. The divine remonstrance (Genesis 4:6) 4. Abel slain by his brother ...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    The Story of Cain and Abel. This belongs to the J cycle of stories, but apparently not to the same stratum as Genesis 4:3, for it is assumed that the earth has a population from which Cain fears venge...

  • B. W. Johnson's Bible Commentary

    III. THE MURDERER'S DOOM. 11. NOW ART THOU CURSED FROM THE EARTH. Life was held so sacred that, at first, even the murderer did not forfeit his life, but in the covenant with Noah it was enacted that...

  • Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes

    FROM THE EARTH. The Hebrew accent _athnach._ after "cursed" suggests "more than the ground' (Genesis 3:17)....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    _from the ground_ The meaning is not quite obvious. Probably, we should not understand, that the curse is to come from the ground upon Cain, but that Cain is driven by Jehovah's curse from the ground....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PART SEVENTEEN THE BEGINNING OF TRUE RELIGION (Genesis 4:1-15) 1. _Preliminary Definitions_ It is doubtful that there is a more ambiguous word in our language today than the word religion. It has li...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    _AND NOW ART THOU CURSED FROM THE EARTH, WHICH HATH OPENED HER MOUTH TO RECEIVE THY BROTHER'S BLOOD FROM THY HAND;_ NOW ART THOU CURSED FROM THE EARTH. Here a curse is added to the general one denounc...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    THE EARTH] RV 'the ground.' Cain is banished from the ground which he had formerly tilled and had now polluted, to the wide world (Genesis 4:12), a sterner punishment than that of Adam and Eve....

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    CAIN AND ABEL. THE DESCENDANTS OF CAIN The narrative, which forms part of the Primitive document, impressively shows how sin, having once appeared, became hereditary in the human race, and speedily de...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    GOD’S ANCIENT PEOPLE GENESIS _ALUN OWEN_ CHAPTER 4 CAIN KILLS ABEL V1 Adam had sex with his wife Eve and she became *pregnant. Her son Cain was born. She said, ‘I have gained a man by the *Lord’...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Cain deserved to die, but God did not kill Cain. Instead, he sent Cain away so that Cain would not kill anyone else. And God protected Cain so that nobody else would kill Cain. (See verse 15.) So Cain...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    AND NOW (BECAUSE OF THY CRIME) ART THOU CURSED FROM THE EARTH. — Heb., _from the adâmâh, o_r cultivated ground. Cain was the first human being on whom a curse was inflicted, and it was to rise up from...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    וְ עַתָּ֖ה אָר֣וּר אָ֑תָּה מִן ־הָֽ אֲדָמָה֙

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    CAIN AND ABEL Genesis 4:1 IT is not the purpose of this narrator to write the history of the world. It is not his purpose to write even the history of mankind. His object is to write the history of r...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

    CAIN'S CAREER Genesis 4:9 God's first question to the soul is, “Adam, where art thou?” The next, “Where is thy brother?” We _are_ our brother's keepers. All related to us, within our reach, or needin...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    The degeneration of the first man and woman was transmitted, the firstborn being manifestly an inheritor of the fallen nature of his parents. His mother named him Cain, intimating a hope that the seed...

  • Gary Hampton Commentaries

    HE YET SPEAKS! Abel is dead, but he still speaks (Hebrews 11:4). His blood calls for vengeance, thus speaking (Hebrews 12:24; Genesis 4:10). However, it seems he speaks more clearly through his exampl...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    And now [art] thou cursed (k) from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; (k) The earth will be a witness against you, which mercifully received the bloo...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    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. Revelation 14:11; Reve...

  • Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly

    There is one characteristic of divine revelation to which attention may be profitably called as a starting point. We have to do with facts. The Bible alone is a revelation of facts, and, we can add (n...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    11._And now art thou cursed from the earth_. Cain, having been convicted of the crime, judgment is now pronounced against him. And first, God constitutes the earth the minister of his vengeance, as ha...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    But grace could work. The grace of a God above the evil of man, and Abel approaches Him by faith. Hereon follows the separation of the families of God and of the enemy, of the world and of faith. Abel...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    AND NOW [ART] THOU CURSED FROM THE EARTH,.... From receiving benefit by it, and enjoying the fruits of it as before, and from having a settled dwelling in it, as is afterwards explained: WHICH HATH O...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; Ver. 11. _And now thou art cursed._] The Pope contrarily blesses and saints traitor...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _And now art thou cursed_ 1st, Separated to all evil, laid under the wrath of God, as it is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and _unrighteousness of men._ 2d, He is cursed _from the earth....

  • KJV Original Language Details

    1 The birth, trade, and religion of Cain and Abel. 8 The murder of Abel. 9 The curse of Cain. 17 Enoch the first citie. 19 Lamech and his two wiues. 25 The birth of Seth, 26 and Enos. 1 AND Ada...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    GOD'S JUDGMENT UPON CAIN...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. The curse of God rested upon Cain in such a way that it denied him a form of sustenanc...

  • Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures

    SECOND SECTION _Cain and Abel. The Cainites. The ungodly Worldliness of the First Civilization._ GENESIS 4:1-26 1And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain [the gotten, or possessi...

  • Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible

    CAIN AND ABEL Adam and Eve, having acquired a sinful nature, could only communicate the same nature to their children. Their firstborn was named Cain, which means "smith" or "fabricator," one who plan...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    8-15 Malice in the heart ends in murder by the hands. Cain slew Abel, his own brother, his own mother's son, whom he ought to have loved; his younger brother, whom he ought to have protected; a good...

  • Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible

    As the earth was cursed for thy father's sake, so now art thou cursed in thy own person; FROM THE EARTH, or, _in regard of the earth, _ which shall grudge thee both its fruits and a certain dwelling-p...

  • Notes on the Pentateuch by Charles Henry Mackintosh

    & Genesis 5:1-32 As each section of the Book of Genesis opens before us, we are furnished with fresh evidence of the fact that we are travelling over, what a recent writer has well termed, "the seed-...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Genesis 4:11 cursed H779 (H8803) earth H127 opened H6475 (H8804) mouth H6310 receive H3947 (H8800) brothers...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Genesis 4 I. From the story of Cain we gather the following thoughts: I. Eve's disappointment at the birth of Cain should be a warning to all mothers. Over-estimate of children may be traced somet...

  • Sermon Bible Commentary

    Genesis 4:8 Sin finds in the very constitution of the human mind the enginery of its own retribution. I. The very consciousness of sin is destructive of a sinner's peace. II. Sin tends to develop s...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: First sons of Adam, Cain and Abel. Murder of Abel. First civilization. Birth of Seth. CHARACTERS: Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth. CONCLUSION: Attainment can never take the place of Atonement....

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    Genesis 4:1. _I have gotten._ קניתי _kaniti,_ from the root _kana,_ he possessed. The LXX have betrayed their ignorance of the Eternal Word, or Wisdom, by frequently rendering this word _created._ God...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be_ CAIN CURSED BY GOD “Cursed art THOU. ” Fearful words, coming straight from the lips of God into the very ear of man, standing in the presence of God. No lig...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground_ THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABEL I. RELIGION ACTUATED MEN IN THE VERY EARLIEST TIMES. II. THE MERE NATURAL RELIGION IS ESSENTIALLY DEFECT...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    GENESIS—NOTE ON GENESIS 4:10 Because his brother’s blood cries out to God FROM THE GROUND, Cain will no longer be able to cultivate the soil. As seen throughout Scripture, human sin has an impact on t...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    _MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Genesis 4:9_ THE BITTER CURSE WHICH SIN BRINGS UPON AN INDIVIDUAL LIFE We have been thoroughly educated in the nature and effects of sin by the sacred narrative, n...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION GENESIS 4:1 Exiled from Eden, o'er, canopied by grace, animated by hope, assured of the Divine forgiveness, and filled with a sweet peace, the first pair enter on their life experience of...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Lets turn to Genesis Chapter four. Adam and Eve have been expelled from the Garden of Eden because of their disobedience to God. And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said...

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Genesis 4:14 Genesis 3:14 Deuteronomy 27:16 Deuteronomy 28:15...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    SEEING CHRIST IN CAIN AND ABEL Genesis 4:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS 1. Cain and Abel came by natural generation. The only human beings God ever created were Adam and Eve. They were created with the power...

  • Wells of Living Water Commentary

    CAIN AND ABEL Genesis 4:1 INTRODUCTORY WORDS It falls to our lot to connect the links between our last study and today's. 1. WE HAVE ADAM NAMING HIS WIFE, "EVE." Here is the Scripture: "And Adam ca...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    And now art thou cursed from the earth — 1. He is cursed, separated to all evil, laid under the wrath of God, as it is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 2. He is...

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