IV. THE FOUNDING OF THE FAMILY, AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE NON-PARADISIACAL LIFE. (1) SHE... BARE CAIN, AND SAID... — In this chapter we have the history of the founding of the family of Cain, a race godless and wanton, but who, nevertheless, far outstripped the descendants of Seth in the arts of civi... [ Continue Reading ]
ABEL. — Of this name Dr. Oppert imagined that it was the Assyrian _Abil,_ a son. Really it is _Hebel;_ and there is no reason why we should prefer an Assyrian to a Hebrew etymology. An Accadian derivation would have been important, but Assyrian is only a Semitic dialect, and _Abil_ is the Hebrew _be... [ Continue Reading ]
IN PROCESS OF TIME. — Heb., _at the end of days:_ not at the end of a week, or a year, or of harvest-time, but of a long indefinite period, shown by the age of Adam at the birth of Seth to have been something less than 130 years. AN OFFERING. — Heb., _a thank-offering, a present._ We must be careful... [ Continue Reading ]
CAIN WAS VERY WROTH. — Heb., _it burned to Cain exceedingly:_ that is, his heart was full of hot indignant feelings, because of the preference shown to his younger brother.... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU DOEST WELL. — This most difficult verse is capable of a satisfactory interpretation, provided that we refuse to admit into this ancient narrative the ideas of a subsequent age. Literally, the words mean, _If thou doest well, is there not lifting up?_ It had just been said that his countenanc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CAIN TALKED WITH ABEL HIS BROTHER. — Heb., _And Cain said unto Abel his brother._ To this the Samaritan Pentateuch, the LXX., the Syriac, and the Vulg. add, _“_Let us go out into the field;” but neither the Targum of Onkelos nor any Hebrew MS. or authority, except the Jerusalem Targum, give this... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE LORD SAID UNTO CAIN, WHERE IS ABEL THY BROTHER? — It is the beauty of these early narratives that the dealings of the Deity with mankind are all clothed in an anthropomorphic form, for the reasons of which see Note on Genesis 2:7. It seems, then, that Cain at first went away, scarcely consci... [ Continue Reading ]
THY BROTHER’S BLOOD CRIETH UNTO ME. — The sight he has seen of death cleaves to him, and grows into a terror; and from above the voice of Jehovah tells him that the blood he has shed calls aloud for vengeance. Thus with the first shedding of human blood that ominous thought sprang up, divinely besto... [ Continue Reading ]
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 the ground, the portion of the earth won and subdued by man, to punish him. He had polluted man’s h... [ Continue Reading ]
MY PUNISHMENT (OR _MY INIQUITY_) IS GREATER THAN I CAN BEAR. — Literally, _than can be borne,_ or _“_forgiven.” It is in accordance with the manner of the Hebrew language to have only one word for an act and its result. Thus _work_ and _wages_ are expressed by the same word in Isaiah 62:11. The full... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SAID UNTO HIM, THEREFORE. — Most of the versions have _Not_ so, which requires only a slight and probable change of the Hebrew text. SEVENFOLD. — Cain’s punishment was severe, because his crime was the result of bad and violent passions, but his life was not taken because the act was not p... [ Continue Reading ]
CAIN WENT OUT FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD. — See Note on Genesis 3:8. Adam and his family probably worshipped with their faces towards the Paradise, and Cain, on migrating from the whole land of Eden, regarded himself as beyond the range of the vision of God. (See Note on Genesis 4:14.) THE LAND... [ Continue Reading ]
CAIN AND HIS DESCENDANTS. (17) CAIN KNEW HIS WIFE. — As Jehovah had told Eve that He would “greatly multiply her conception” (Genesis 3:16), we cannot doubt but that a numerous offspring had grown up in the 130 years that intervened between the birth of Cain and that of Seth, the _substitute_ for Ab... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO ENOCH WAS BORN IRAD. — Cain was building a city, _‘Ir,_ and it was this probably which suggested the name _‘Irad._ It has little in common with Jared, as it begins with a harsh guttural, usually omitted in English because unpronounceable, but which appears as _g_ in Gomorrah. Possibly ‘Irad mea... [ Continue Reading ]
(19-22) LAMECH TOOK UNTO HIM TWO WIVES. — Whether polygamy began with Lamech is uncertain, but it is in keeping with the insolent character of the man. The names of his wives bear testimony to the existence, even at this early date, of considerable refinement; for I can scarcely believe that we need... [ Continue Reading ]
LAMECH SAID... — Following quickly upon music, we have poetry, but it is in praise of ferocity, and gives utterance to the pride of one who, by means of the weapons forged by his son, had taken violent revenge for an attack made upon him. Many commentators, however, regard the poem as hypothetical.... [ Continue Reading ]
SUBSTITUTION OF SETH FOR ABEL. (25) ANOTHER SEED INSTEAD OF ABEL, WHOM CAIN SLEW. — Cain, the firstborn, and Abel, who had outstripped him in prosperity, were both lost to Adam. But instead of the third son succeeding to the place of the firstborn, it is given to one specially marked out, probably... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CALLED HIS NAME ENOS. — Heb., _Enosh,_ that is, _man._ We thus find language growing. Up to this time there had been two names for _man:_ Adam, which also in Assyrian — another Semitic dialect — has the same meaning, as Sir H. Rawlinson has shown: and Ish, a _being._ (See on Genesis 2:23.) We hav... [ Continue Reading ]