Texts in Conversation
Genesis 4 has Cain cry that his punishment is too great to endure. The Greek Septuagint changes this to a confession, saying his guilt is too great to be forgiven, transforming a complaint into repentance.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 4:13
Hebrew Bible
13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure! 14 Look, you are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me!” 15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
LXX Genesis 4:13
Septuagint
13 And Cain said to the Lord, My crime is too great for me to be forgiven. 14 If you cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from your presence, and I shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth, then it will be that any one that finds me shall kill me. 15 And the Lord God said to him, Not so, any one that kills Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance; and the Lord God set a mark upon Cain that no one that found him might kill him.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... And Cain said to the Lord God: My guilt is too great for me to be forgiven. -- Septuagint Gen. 4:13 / My sins are too great to bear ... -- Targum Neophyti 4:13 / My iniquity is too great for me to merit forgiveness. -- (Vulgate) Gen. 4:13" ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 120.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,