_AND ADAM KNEW EVE HIS WIFE; AND SHE CONCEIVED, AND BARE CAIN, AND SAID, I HAVE GOTTEN A MAN FROM THE LORD._ AND ADAM KNEW EVE HIS WIFE - Murphy translates 'the man;' but there is no good reason for this change. The word is evidently used as the designation of the first man, and it occurs exactly in... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND SHE AGAIN BARE HIS BROTHER ABEL. AND ABEL WAS A KEEPER OF SHEEP, BUT CAIN WAS A TILLER OF THE GROUND._ And she again bare his brother Abel - Hebrew, 'she added to bear.' "Abel," or, according to the Hebrew, _ HAABEL_ (H1893), a breath-metaphorically, vanity, weakness, transitoriness (Psalms 39... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND IN PROCESS OF TIME IT CAME TO PASS, THAT CAIN BROUGHT OF THE FRUIT OF THE GROUND AN OFFERING UNTO THE LORD._ And in process of time - literally, at the end of days. The original words are sometimes used in a vague, indefinite sense, to denote a considerable lapse of time (as 1 Kings 17:7, wher... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND ABEL, HE ALSO BROUGHT OF THE FIRSTLINGS OF HIS FLOCK AND OF THE FAT THEREOF. AND THE LORD HAD RESPECT UNTO ABEL AND TO HIS OFFERING:_ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. Grotius and LeClerc consider this offering to have consisted of the wool and th... [ Continue Reading ]
_BUT UNTO CAIN AND TO HIS OFFERING HE HAD NOT RESPECT. AND CAIN WAS VERY WROTH, AND HIS COUNTENANCE FELL._ And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. He seems to have been naturally a man of an irritable, morose, choleric, discontented, malignant temper; and as the scene described most prob... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND THE LORD SAID UNTO CAIN, WHY ART THOU WROTH? AND WHY IS THY COUNTENANCE FALLEN?_ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_IF THOU DOEST WELL, SHALT THOU NOT BE ACCEPTED? AND IF THOU DOEST NOT WELL, SIN LIETH AT THE DOOR. AND UNTO THEE SHALL BE HIS DESIRE, AND THOU SHALT RULE OVER HIM._ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? The Lord here remonstrates with Cain as a wayward child; and the passage affords a ve... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND CAIN TALKED WITH ABEL HIS BROTHER: AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN THEY WERE IN THE FIELD, THAT CAIN ROSE UP AGAINST ABEL HIS BROTHER, AND SLEW HIM._ AND CAIN TALKED WITH ABEL HIS BROTHER. The original word does not signify, in strict propriety, "talked," but 'said;' and, as the object is frequently... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND THE LORD SAID UNTO CAIN, WHERE IS ABEL THY BROTHER? AND HE SAID, I KNOW NOT: AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?_ Where is Abel thy brother? When Cain saw the fatal result of his attack on his brother, he would anxiously endeavour to conceal all traces of his crime by burying the corpse somewhere under... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND HE SAID, WHAT HAST THOU DONE? THE VOICE OF THY BROTHER'S BLOOD CRIETH UNTO ME FROM THE GROUND._ The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground - Hebrew, bloods. The word in the plural is commonly used to signify blood as shed-murder. The blood of Abel is said to have had a 'vo... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 denounced on the ground for Adam's sin. The meaning of the words, according to our version, which is suppor... [ Continue Reading ]
_WHEN THOU TILLEST THE GROUND, IT SHALL NOT HENCEFORTH YIELD UNTO THEE HER STRENGTH; A FUGITIVE AND A VAGABOND SHALT THOU BE IN THE EARTH._ A fugitive and a vagabond - condemned to perpetual banishment; a degraded outcast, the miserable victim of an accusing conscience. The Septuagint translates th... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND CAIN SAID UNTO THE LORD, MY PUNISHMENT IS GREATER THAN I CAN BEAR._ My punishment is greater than I can bear. The original words have been variously interpreted. х_ `ªWON_ (H5771) signifies, primarily, iniquity, sin; and _ NAASAA'_ (H5375), when applied to God, to take away, when to man, to be... [ Continue Reading ]
_BEHOLD, THOU HAST DRIVEN ME OUT THIS DAY FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH; AND FROM THY FACE SHALL I BE HID; AND I SHALL BE A FUGITIVE AND A VAGABOND IN THE EARTH; AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, THAT EVERY ONE THAT FINDETH ME SHALL SLAY ME._ Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth х_ HAA... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. Several versions, the Septuagint, the Syri... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND CAIN WENT OUT FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD, AND DWELT IN THE LAND OF NOD, ON THE EAST OF EDEN._ And Cain ... dwelt in the land of Nod. This name, derived from a cognate verb, to wander, go be a fugitive, denotes merely the land of flight or exile, No conclusion, therefore, can be drawn from i... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND CAIN KNEW HIS WIFE; AND SHE CONCEIVED, AND BARE ENOCH: AND HE BUILDED A CITY, AND CALLED THE NAME OF THE CITY, AFTER THE NAME OF HIS SON, ENOCH._ And Cain knew his wife. Her name is traditionally said to have been Save; and as it was an uninhabited region in which Cain sought refuge, it follow... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND UNTO ENOCH WAS BORN IRAD: AND IRAD BEGAT MEHUJAEL: AND MEHUJAEL BEGAT METHUSAEL: AND METHUSAEL BEGAT LAMECH._ Unto Enoch was born Irad. The genealogy of Cain's family is here given to the sixth generation. Since the persons mentioned seem to have been the oldest sons, they would be the success... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND LAMECH TOOK UNTO HIM TWO WIVES: THE NAME OF THE ONE WAS ADAH, AND THE NAME OF THE OTHER ZILLAH._ Lamech took unto him two wives. The irreligious and sensual character of the Cainites reached its acme in the time and person of Lamech, who is the first polygamist on record, and whether from his... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND ADAH BARE JABAL: HE WAS THE FATHER OF SUCH AS DWELL IN TENTS, AND OF SUCH AS HAVE CATTLE._ Jabal the father of such as dwell in tents, and ... have cattle. Jabal means "flowing". The Hebrew х_ MIQNEH_ (H4735)] properly denotes possession, property, but always of cattle, in which alone the weal... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND HIS BROTHER'S NAME WAS JUBAL: HE WAS THE FATHER OF ALL SUCH AS HANDLE THE HARP AND ORGAN._ Jubal the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. Jubal means "sound" or "music". [Hebrew, _ KINOWR_ (H3658), a stringed instrument; _ `UWGAAB_ (H5748), a reed, a musical instrument consisting o... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND ZILLAH, SHE ALSO BARE TUBALCAIN, AN INSTRUCTER OF EVERY ARTIFICER IN BRASS AND IRON: AND THE SISTER OF TUBALCAIN WAS NAAMAH._ Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. Delitzsch remarks that the Hebrew verb must be construed as neuter, and consequently the proper translat... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND LAMECH SAID UNTO HIS WIVES, ADAH AND ZILLAH, HEAR MY VOICE; YE WIVES OF LAMECH, HEARKEN UNTO MY SPEECH: FOR I HAVE SLAIN A MAN TO MY WOUNDING, AND A YOUNG MAN TO MY HURT._ Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah. The passage which follows is poetical, as is evident from the use of certain... [ Continue Reading ]
_IF CAIN SHALL BE AVENGED SEVENFOLD, TRULY LAMECH SEVENTY AND SEVENFOLD._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND ADAM KNEW HIS WIFE AGAIN; AND SHE BARE A SON, AND CALLED HIS NAME SETH: FOR GOD, SAID SHE, HATH APPOINTED ME ANOTHER SEED INSTEAD OF ABEL, WHOM CAIN SLEW._ Called his name Seth - or Sheth; i:e., compensation, being derived from a verb signifying to place or replace. FOR GOD, SAID SHE, HATH AP... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND TO SETH, TO HIM ALSO THERE WAS BORN A SON; AND HE CALLED HIS NAME ENOS: THEN BEGAN MEN TO CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD._ Called his name Enos - or Enosh; i:e., man, weak, frail mortal. The name was a suitable designation to be bestowed by a pious father on a son who, he believed, inherited a... [ Continue Reading ]