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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 4:13 and LXX Genesis 4:13

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

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.

Passages

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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

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.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

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 sense of the Hebrew text is debated. As Sarna (1989, 34) and Westermann (1984, 309) acknowledge, can mean both sin and its punishment. Although context usually helps determine which meaning is more appropriate, here both meanings are reasonable but have very different implications. Sarna offers two translations: "my punishment is too great to bear" and "my sin is too great to be forgiven" (1989, 34). In other words, Cain could be lamenting his punishment or admitting his sin." ..."
Susan Brayford, Septuagint Commentary Series: Genesis (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 264.
"... T.O.: And Cain said before the Lord: "Great is my guilt, more than to be forgiven." C.G.: And Cain said before the Lord: "Many are my sins, more than to be defended, and they are many before you to be absolved and forgiven."" ..."
John Bowker, The Targums and Rabbinic Literature: An Introduction to Jewish Interpretations of Scripture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1969), 157.

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 4:13 and LXX Genesis 4:13

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