Genesis 4:12

when thou tillest, &c. The meaning is, that when, or if, after this curse, Cain continues to till the ground, the ground will refuse to give a return for his labour. Therefore, he will not be able to live on the cultivated ground. He must leave it and wander forth.

her strength That is, "her fruits." So the Vulg. "fructus suos." The word "strength" is used in this sense for the produce of the soil in Job 31:39, "If I have eaten the fruits (marg. Heb. strength) thereof (i.e. of the land) without money."

a fugitive and a wanderer The alliteration of the two words in the original (n-â vâ-nâd) is difficult to reproduce in English. The word for "a fugitive" means "one who staggers, or reels," from weakness, faintness, or weariness.

"Weary and wandering," or "staggering and straying" would be attempts at reproducing the original. The LXX στένων καὶ τρέμως = "groaning and trembling," is more of a comment than a translation; and the Lat. "vagus et profugus," like the English version, is inexact.

Two points are to be noticed in this sentence upon Cain:

(1) He is sent forth from the cultivated soil: in other words, he is banished into the desert. He is to lead the life, neither of the shepherd, nor of the tiller of the soil, but of the roaming Bedouin of the desert.

(2) His wandering is not the result of a guilty conscience, but of a Divine sentence. It is his penalty to lead the nomad life of the desert, homeless and insecure and restless. Whereas Adam was banished from the garden to till the soil (Genesis 3:17), now that soil is to refuse its fruits to Cain, and he must fly into the desert.