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Genesis

About this book

Cain and Abel

Chapter 4

1 Now the man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the Lord did!”⁠ 2 Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks,⁠ while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Lord. 4 But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock—even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,⁠ 5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. So Cain became very angry, and his expression was downcast. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door.⁠ It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.”⁠ 8 Cain spoke to his brother Abel.21⁠ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.⁠ 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”⁠ 10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!⁠ 11 So now you are banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.” 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. 16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain's Descendants

17 Cain was intimate with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first of those who live in tents and keep livestock. 21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron.⁠ The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me. 24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

Seth and His Family

25 And Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 14:19 and Proverbs 8:22

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

In Genesis, Eve uses a rare verb when Cain is born, a word normally used to describe God’s creative work and also used in Proverbs 8 and Genesis 14. The language presents childbirth similarly to other descriptions of how God creates.

Passages

Genesis 4:1

Hebrew Bible
1 Now the man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the Lord did!” 2 Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Lord.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Genesis 14:19

Hebrew Bible
18 Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) 19 He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

Proverbs 8:22

Hebrew Bible
20 I walk in the path of righteousness, in the pathway of justice, 21 that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, and that I may fill their treasuries. 22 The Lord created me as the beginning of his works, before his deeds of long ago. 23 From eternity I have been fashioned, from the beginning, from before the world existed.
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Proverbs

References

"... Named in Genesis 3:20 as Mother, as Mother she now names her son - 'Cain: Qayin' because 'I produced: qaniti.' As direct and simple and punning as it seems, her brief statement has troubled translators and interpreters. For most, the awkward 'with Yahweh' is the central problem in the way it loosely and ungrammatically hangs on the end of the sentence. A common solution is to read 'with the help of Yahweh,' assuming 'the help of' is implied in 'with.' In this reading, Yahweh shares in the activity that continues human life and our story. But this is not the only potential trouble spot in her words, and a glance at the others might cast a different light on this. The use of the verb qanah for giving birth is striking. It is a word often used for acquiring or producing goods, and goods such as livestock and possessions are called miqneh. Qanah is used elsewhere for the creative activity of God. Wisdom states in Proverbs 8:22: 'Yahweh created me (qaniti) first of his ways.' El Elyon ('God Most High' in many translations) is identified as 'creator (qoneh) of heaven and earth' by Melchizedek in blessing Abram in Genesis 14:19. Linking this usage of qanah with what Eve says, we may hear echoes of a divine mode of creation that involves giving birth (creation through pro-creation), certainly the most profound human experience in creating, and a theme richly scattered throughout the ancient Near Eastern traditions. But whatever traditions lie behind the text we now have, it is clear that the Woman adopts a term here used elsewhere for God's creating. In this light her 'with Yahweh' might well be read as 'along with' or 'in the manner of.' 'I have created a man, along with Yahweh / equally with Yahweh / in the manner of Yahweh.' Rather than recognizing that Yahweh is at the core of human reproduction, she asserts that in this arena at least she is on a par with Yahweh. She too creates a Man. She creates humans - thus her strange use of 'man' ('is) for a boy-child. She is in this respect 'like one of us,' even if expelled from the garden of Eden and denied access to the Tree of Life ..."
W. Lee Humphreys, The Character of God in the Book of Genesis: A Narrative Appraisal (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001), 53–54.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 14:19 and Proverbs 8:22

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