Genesis 4:7

_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 very interesting example of the way in which the family of the first pair were instructed in the nature and right use of his ordinances. It has been translated in many different ways, some of which have greatly increased the difficulty inherent in it; and our own version is not free from this charge. The Septuagint translators, who seem to have had a different text from our present Hebrew copies, render the verse thus-`If thou hast rightly brought, but hast not rightly divided thy offering, hast thou not sinned? Be still.' A far superior translation is given in the Targum of Onkelos, who paraphr...

7._If thou does well_. In these words God reproves Cain for having been unjustly angry, inasmuch as the blame of the whole evil lay with himself. For foolish indeed was his complaint and indignation at the rejection of sacrifices, the defects of which he had taken no care to amend. Thus all wicked men, after they have been long and vehemently enraged against God, are at length so convicted by the Divine judgment, that they vainly desire to transfer to others the cause of the evil. The Greek interpreters recede, in this place, far from the genuine meaning of Moses. Since, in that age, there were none of those marks or points which the Hebrews use instead of vowels, it was more easy, in consequence of the affinity of words to each other, to strike into an extraneous sense. I however, as any one, moderately versed in the Hebrew language, will easily judge of their error, I will not pause to...

1-7 When Cain was born, Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Perhaps she thought that this was the promised seed. If so, she was wofully disappointed. Abel signifies vanity: when she thought she had the promised seed in Cain, whose name signifies possession, she was so taken up with him that another son was as vanity to her. Observe, each son had a calling. It is the will of God for every one to have something to do in this world. Parents ought to bring up their children to work. Give them a Bible and a calling, said good Mr. Dod, and God be with them. We may believe that God commanded Adam, after the fall, to shed the blood of innocent animals, and after their death to burn part or the whole of their bodies by fire. Thus that punishment which sinners deserve, even the death of the body, and the wrath of God, of which fire is a well-known emblem, and also the sufferings of Chris...

Verse Genesis 4:7. _IF THOU DOEST WELL_] That which is right in the sight of God, _shalt thou not be accepted_? Does God reject any man who serves him in simplicity and godly sincerity? _But if thou doest_ _not well_, can wrath and indignation against thy righteous brother save thee from the displeasure under which thou art fallen? On the contrary, have recourse to thy Maker for mercy; לפתח חטאת רבץ _lappethach chattath robets_, a _sin-offering_ lieth at thy door; an animal proper to be offered as an atonement for sin is now _couching_ at the door of thy fold. The words חטאת _chattath_, and חטאת _chattaah_, frequently signify _sin_; but I have observed more than a hundred places in the Old Testament where they are used for _sin-offering_, and translated αμαρτια by the Septuagint, which is the term the apostle uses,...

- 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, gain.” The relations of root words are not confined to the narrow rules of our common etymology, but really extend to such instinctive usages as the unlettered speaker will invent or employ. A full examination of the Hebrew tongue leads to the conclusion that a biliteral root lies at the base of many of those triliterals that consist of two firm consonants and a third weaker one varying in itself and its position. Thus, יטב _yāṭab_ and טיב _ṭôb_. So...

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 labor and sorrow, and the human race begins its onward course of development in sight of the mystic cherubim and flaming sword. AND ADAM KNEW EVE, HIS WIFE. I_.e._ "recognized her nature and uses" (Alford; cf. Numbers 31:17). The act here mentioned is recorded not to indicate that paradise was "_non nuptiis, sed virginitate destinatum_" (Jerome), but to show that while Adam was formed from the soil, and Eve from a rib taken from his side, the other members of the race were to be produced "neque ex terra neque

IF THOU DOEST WELL, SHALT THOU NOT BE ACCEPTED?.... That is, either if thou doest thy works well in general, doest good works in a right way and manner, according to life will of God, and directed to his glory, from right principles, and with right views: so all the Targums, "if thou doest thy works well;'' for it is not merely doing a good work, but doing the good work well, which is acceptable to God; hence that saying, "that not nouns but adverbs make good works:'' or particularly it may respect sacrifice; if thou doest thine offering well, or rightly offereth, as the Septuagint; or offers not only what is materially good and proper to be offered, but in a right way, in obedience to the divine will, from love to God, and with true devotion to him, in the faith of the promised seed, and with a view to his sacrifice for atonement and acceptance; then thine offering would be well ple...

SIN Or, sin-offering. In Hebrew the same word is used for "sin," and "sin-offering," thus emphasizing in a remarkable way the complete identification of the believer's sin with his sin offering (cf) (John 3:14); (2 Corinthians 5:21). Here both meanings are brought together. "Sin lieth at the door," but so also "a sin-offering croucheth at the tent door." It is "where sin abounded" that "grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20). Abel's offering implies a previous instruction (cf) (Genesis 3:21) for it was "by faith" (Hebrews 1

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 (Genesis 4:8) 5. Cain's judgment (Genesis 4:9) 6. Cain and his offspring and the progress of the world (Genesis 4:17) 7. Seth in place of Abel (Genesis 4:25)...

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 vengeance, and the curse in Genesis 4:11 f. ignores the cursing of the ground in Genesis 3:17. Originally then the story was placed in a later period of human history: its present position is perhaps due to the identification of Cain the murderer with Cain the firstborn of Eve. Whether the original story had to do with peoples or individuals is uncertain; in any case Stade's theory that it accounted for the nomad life of the Kenites is improbable in spite of the identity in the name. The two brothers naturally brought their offerings from