Genesis 4:9

_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 ground; and we can easily conceive of him pretending ignorance of what had become of Abel, so far as to join in the search that doubtless would be instituted regarding the missing relative. It might be that a considerable time had elapsed ere the following scene took place; and Cain had probably, in order to lull suspicion, been engaging in the solemnities of religion at the established place of worship, when he was challenged directly from the Shechinah itself. I KNOW NOT - `I have not ascertained' (Murphy). This was a direct and unblushing falsehood, and hence, Cain is said to be of the wic...

9._Where is Abel ? _They who suppose that the father made this inquiry of Cain respecting his son Abel, enervate the whole force of the instruction which Moses here intended to deliver; namely, that God, both by secret inspiration, and by some extraordinary method, cited the parricide (242) to his tribunal, as if he had thundered from heaven. For, what I have before said must be firmly maintained that, as God now speaks until us through the Scriptures, so he formerly manifested himself to the Fathers through oracles; and also in the same meaner, revealed his judgements to the reprobate sons of the saints. So the angel spoke to Agar in the wood, after she had fallen away from the Church, (243) as we shall see in the eighth verse of the sixteenth chapter: Genesis 16:8. It is indeed possible that God may have interroga

8-15 Malice in the heart ends in murder by the hands. Cain slew Abel, his own brother, his own mother's son, whom he ought to have loved; his younger brother, whom he ought to have protected; a good brother, who had never done him any wrong. What fatal effects were these of our first parents' sin, and how must their hearts have been filled with anguish! Observe the pride, unbelief, and impenitence of Cain. He denies the crime, as if he could conceal it from God. He tries to cover a deliberate murder with a deliberate lie. Murder is a crying sin. Blood calls for blood, the blood of the murdered for the blood of the murderer. Who knows the extent and weight of a Divine curse, how far it reaches, how deep it pierces? Only in Christ are believers saved from it, and inherit the blessing. Cain was cursed from the earth. He found his punishment there where he chose his portion, and set his hea...

- 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

AND THE LORD SAID UNTO CAIN, WHERE IS ABEL THY BROTHER?.... Perhaps this was said to him the next time he came to offer, he not being with him: this question is put, not as being ignorant where he was, but in order to bring Cain to a conviction and confession of his sin, to touch his conscience with it, and fill it with remorse for it; and, for the aggravation of it, observes the relation of Abel to him, his brother: AND HE SAID, I KNOW NOT; which was a downright lie; for he must know where he had left him or laid him: this shows him to be under the influence of Satan, who was a liar, and the father of lies, as well as a murderer from the beginning; and that he was so blinded by him, as to forget whom he was speaking to; that he was the omniscient God, and knew the wickedness he had done, and the falsehood he now delivered, and was capable of confronting him with both, and of inflicting...

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

WHERE IS ABEL, THY BROTHER? The context seems to imply that he had concealed his brother's body in the hope that his crime would be undiscovered. He had not yet learned that there are no concealments from the All-seeing Eye. As God called to the sinful Adam, "Where art thou?" not because he did not know, but to reveal to him the divine knowledge, so he asks Cain of his brother, not for information, but to bring him to. sense of his awful wickedness. Cain thought to be rid of his hated brother, but had forgotten that he could not escape from the eye and hands of God. I KNOW NOT. A crime is usually followed by lies in order to conceal, and thus one sin continually broods more. Cain, like his father, Adam, tries to deceive God. AM. MY BROTHER'S KEEPER? His next step is the acme of effrontery. He questions the right of God to hold him in any sense responsible for his brother. It is also...

_And the Lord said_, &c. The condensed narrative does not say whether Cain tried to conceal the body of Abel, or had fled at once from the spot. Apparently Jehovah speaks to him suddenly, when at a distance from the scene of the murder. The process of interrogation may be compared with that in Genesis 3:9-13. _I know not: am I my brother's keeper?_ Cain's reply consists of (_a_) a statement which is a falsehood; and (_b_) a question which is defiance. "Keeper," perhaps with reference, in a mocking tone, to Abel's occupation as a keeper of sheep. "Am I the keeper's keeper?" The first words of the first murderer renounce the obligations of brotherhood. The rejection of the family bond is the negation of love; it is the spirit of murder; cf. 1 John 3:12;...