Genesis 4:7

If thou doest well, &c. A verse well known for its difficulties. The rendering in the marg. "shall it not be lifted up?" should be followed. Literally the first clause runs thus: "Is there not, if thou doest well, to lift up?" The infinitive "to lift up" must be taken as an infinitival substantive = "a lifting up," with reference, in all probability, to the previous phrase, "the falling" of Cain's countenance. The meaning then is, "If thou doest well, and makest thy offering with a pure and right motive, thy face, instead of falling, shall be lifted up in happiness." This, on the whole, seems better than the alternative rendering "is there not forgiveness?" The word "to lift up" admits of the meaning "to forgive," but is hardly likely to be used in this sense without an object, and before any mention of sin has been made.

sin coucheth The meaning is, "and, if thou doest not well and cherishest evil in thy heart, then, remember, sin, like a savage wild beast, is lying in ambush ready to spring out upon you."

"Sin" is here mentioned for the first time. Ḥattâ"thhas a varied significance, and might here mean either "guilt," or "punishment," or "the active principle of sin." And in view of the personification in the next clause, this last meaning is here to be preferred.

The Hebrew text of Genesis 4:7 is probably corrupt.

The LXX took the first clause to refer to a ritual inaccuracy in sacrifice, and mistranslated the words "sin coucheth," failing to perceive the metaphor: οὐκ, ἐὰν ὀρθῶς προσενέγκῃς, ὀρθῶς δὲ μὴ διέλῃς, ἥμαρτες; ἡσύχασον. "If thou madest thine offering rightly, but didst not rightly divide it, didst thou not sin? hold thy peace." In other words: "you broke the ritual rules of offering; you have no right to complain."

The Latin reads: Nonne, si bene egeris, recipies? sin autem male, statim in foribus peccatum aderit; sed sub te erit appetitus ejus, et tu dominaberis illius.

shall be his desire, &c. Better, as marg., "is its desire, but thou shouldest rule over it." Evil, like a savage animal, is ravening for thee; but thou hast strength, if thou hast the will, to overcome it. The alternative rendering of the text, "his desire … over him," introduces the idea of one brother's authority over the other, which seems foreign to the context.

The metaphor of sin as a wild beast ready at any moment to spring upon, and get the mastery of, the man who will not make the effort to do what he knows to be right, embodies deep spiritual truth. The evil passions, always ready to take advantage of the will that refuses to hear the voice of the better self, have often in literature been likened to a wild beast, cf. Tennyson's In Memoriam, Canto 118:

"Arise and fly

The reeling Faun, the sensual feast;

Move upward, working out the beast,

And let the ape and tiger die";

and George Meredith's expression: "The unfailing, aboriginal, democratic, old monster, that waits to pull us down" (Diana of the Crossways, p. 14, edit. 1892).

his desire … rule over The phrase is identical with that in Genesis 3:16, but obviously the words have a different signification suitable to the context. That these words should refer to the younger brother is the interpretation of the text (R.V.), to which no exception can be taken on lexical or grammatical grounds. But the relation of a younger to an elder brother is not that which is likely to be described in this way. It is better to refer the phrase to the personification of sin, over which Cain can, if he will, obtain the mastery.