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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 4

1 And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain and said, I have gained a man through God.⁠ 2 And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And it was so after some time that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought of the first born of his sheep and of his fatlings, and God looked upon Abel and his gifts,⁠ 5 but Cain and his sacrifices he did not regard, and Cain was exceedingly sorrowful and his face fell. 6 And the Lord God said to Cain, Why have you become very sorrowful and why is your face fallen? 7 Have you not sinned if you have brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still,⁠ to you shall be his submission, and you shall rule over him.⁠ 8 And Cain said to Abel his brother,⁠ Let us go out into the plain; and it happened that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him.⁠ 9 And God said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? and he said, I do not know, am I my brother's keeper? 10 And God said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me out of the ground. 11 And now you are cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the earth, then it shall not continue to give its strength to you: you shall be groaning and trembling on the earth. 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. 16 So Cain went forth from the presence of God and lived in the land of Nod over against Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, and having conceived she bore Enoch; and he built a city; and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And to Enoch was born Irad; and Irad fathered Mehujael; and Mehujael fathered Methuselah; and Methuselah fathered Lamech. 19 And Lamech took to himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those that dwell in tents, feeding cattle. 21 And the name of his brother was Jubal; he it was who invented the lute and harp. 22 And Zillah also bore Tubal; he was a smith, a manufacturer both of brass and iron; and the sister of Tubal was Naamah. 23 And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, you wives of Lamech, consider my words, because I have killed a man to my sorrow and a youth to my grief. 24 Because vengeance has been exacted seven times on Cain's behalf, on Lamech's it shall be seventy times seven.⁠ 25 And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Seth, saying, For God has raised up to me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. 26 And Seth had a son, and he called his name Enosh: he hoped to call on the name of the Lord God.⁠

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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