Genesis 4:1

Genesis 4:1-2. Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters, Genesis 5:4 : but Cain and Abel seem to have been the two eldest. Cain signifies possession; for Eve, when she bare him, said, with joy, and thankfulness, and expectation, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” Abel signifies vanity. The name given to this son is put upon the whole race, Psalm 39:5 , “Every man is, at his best estate, Abel, vanity.” Abel was a keeper of sheep — He chose that employment which did most befriend contemplation and devotion, for that hath been looked upon as the advantage of a pastoral life. Moses and David kept sheep, and in their solitudes conversed with God.

IV. THE FOUNDING OF THE FAMILY, AND COMMENCEMENT OF THE NON-PARADISIACAL LIFE. (1) She . . . bare Cain, and said . . . —In this chapter we have the history of the founding of the family of Cain, a race godless and wanton, but who, nevertheless, far outstripped the descendants of Seth in the arts of civilisation. To tillage and a pastoral life they added metallurgy and music; and the knowledge not only of copper and its uses, but even of iron (Genesis 4:22), must have given them a command over the resources of nature so great as to have vastly diminished the curse of labour, and made their lives easy and luxurious. I have gotten a man from the Lord.—Rather, who is Jehovah. It is inconceivable that eth should have here a different meaning from that which it has in Genesis 1:1. It there gives emphasis to the object of the verb: “God created eth the heaven and eth the earth,” that is, even the heaven and even the earth. So also here, “I have gotten a man eth Jehovah.” even Jehovah. The objection that this implies too advanced a knowledge of Messianic ideas is unfounded. It is we who read backward, and put our ideas into the words of the narrative. These words were intended to lead on to those ideas, but they were at present only as the germ, or as the filament in the acorn which contains the oak-tree.

If there is one thing certain, it is that religious knowledge was given gradually, and that the significance of the name Jehovah was revealed by slow degrees. (See on Genesis 4:26.) Eve attached no notion of divinity to the name; still less did she foresee that by the superstition of the Jews the title Lord would be substituted for it. We distinctly know that Jehovah was not even the patriarchal name of the Deity (Exodus 6:3), and still less could it have been God’s title in Paradise. But Eve had received the promise that her seed should crush the head of her enemy, and to this promise her words referred, and the title in her mouth meant probably no more than “the coming One.” Apparently, too, it was out of Eve’s words that this most significant title of the covenant God arose. (See Excursus on names Elohim and Jehovah-Elohim, at end of this book.) Further, Eve calls Cain “a man,” Heb., ish, a being. (See on Genesis 2:23.) As Cain was the first infant, no word as yet existed for child. But in calling him “a being, even the future one,” a lower sense, often attached to these words, is not to be altogether excluded. It has been said that Eve, in the birth of this child, saw the remedy for death. Death might slay the individual, but the existence of the race was secured. Her words therefore might be paraphrased: “I have gained a man, who is the pledge of future existence.” Mankind is thus that which shall exist.

1 . Cain … gotten ] Heb. ḳanah , to get. The word “Cain” does not mean “gotten”; but Eve’s joyful utterance gives a popular etymology, which derived the proper name from the verb whose pronunciation it resembled. The word “Cain” ( Ḳayin ) means in Hebrew “a lance”; and by some the name is interpreted to mean “a smith.” Its relation to Tubal-Cain “the artificer” is doubtful (see Genesis 4:24 ). That the name is to be identified with that of the nomad tribe of the “Kenites” (cf. Numbers 24:22 , Jdg 4:11 ) is a view which has been strongly maintained by some scholars. But the evidence seems to be very slight. The Kenites were not traditionally hostile to Israel, and did not play any important part in the history of the people so far as is known. The fact that the name appears in another form, “Kenan,” in the genealogy (chap. Genesis 5:9-14 ) should warn us against hasty identifications. Pronunciation notoriously suffers through transmission, and spelling of proper names is wont to be adapted to the sound of more familiar words. Eve gives her child its name as in Genesis 4:24 . It has been pointed out that elsewhere, where the mother is mentioned in J and E, she gives the name, cf. Genesis 29:32-35 , Genesis 30:1-24 (but see Genesis 4:26 , Genesis 5:29 , Genesis 25:25 ); whereas, in P, the father gives the name, cf. Genesis 21:3 . That the mother should name the child, has been considered to be a survival of a primitive “matriarchal” phase of society: see note on Genesis 2:24 .

But the inference is very doubtful. I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord ] Literally, “I acquired (or, have acquired) man, even Jahveh.” Eve’s four words in the Hebrew ( ḳânîthi îsh eth-Yahveh ) are as obscure as any oracle. (i) The difficulty was felt at a very early time, and is reflected in the versions LXX διὰ τοῦ θεοῦ , Lat. per Deum , in which, as R.V., the particle êth is rendered as a preposition in the sense of “in conjunction with,” and so “with the help of,” “by the means of.” König, who holds an eminent position both as a commentator and as a Hebrew grammarian and lexicographer, has recently strongly defended the rendering of êth as a preposition meaning “with,” in the sense here given by the English version “with the help of” (see Z.A.T.W. 1912, Pt i, pp. 22 ff.). The words will then express the thanksgiving of Eve on her safe deliverance of a child. It is a pledge of Divine favour. Child-birth has been “with the help of the Lord.” (ii) The Targum of Onkelos reads mê-êth = “from” (instead of êth = “with”), and so gets rid of the difficulty: “I have gotten a man from Jehovah,” i.e. as a gift from the Lord. But this is so easy an alteration that it looks like a correction, and can scarcely be regarded as the original text.

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she {a} conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man {b} from the LORD. (a) Man's nature, the estate of marriage, and God's blessing were not utterly abolished through sin, but the quality or condition of it was changed. (b) That is, according to the Lord's promise, as some read Ge 3:15, To the Lord rejoicing for the son she had born, whom she would offer to the Lord as the first fruits of her birth.

CHAPTER 4 Ge 4:1-26. Birth of Cain and Abel. 1. Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord—that is, "by the help of the Lord"—an expression of pious gratitude—and she called him Cain, that is, "a possession," as if valued above everything else; while the arrival of another son reminding Eve of the misery she had entailed on her offspring, led to the name Abel, that is, either weakness, vanity (Ps 39:5), or grief, lamentation. Cain and Abel were probably twins; and it is thought that, at this early period, children were born in pairs (Ge 5:4) [Calvin].The birth of Cain and Abel, and their employment, Genesis 4:1-2. Cain’s offering, Genesis 4:3. Abel’s sacrifice, and God’s acceptance, Genesis 4:4. Cain’s rejected; his discontent, Genesis 4:5. God expostulates it with him, Genesis 4:6-7. He murders Abel, Genesis 4:8. God makes inquiry after Abel, Genesis 4:9. The cry of his blood, Genesis 4:10. God’s curse upon Cain, Genesis 4:11-12. His complaint, Genesis 4:13-14. God mitigates it, Genesis 4:15. Its execution, Genesis 4:16. Cain’s posterity, Genesis 4:17-18. Lamech’s two wives, Genesis 4:19. They bear unto him sons, who dwell in tents, Genesis 4:20; invent musical instruments, Genesis 4:21; have skill in brass and iron, Genesis 4:22. His boasting, Genesis 4:23-24. The birth of Seth, Genesis 4:25. His son; the revival of religion, Genesis 4:26. This modest expression is used both in Scripture and other authors, to signify the conjugal act or carnal knowledge.

So Genesis 19:8, Genesis 24:16, Numbers 31:17 Matthew 1:25 Luke 1:34. Cain, whose name signifies a possession. A man, a male child, as Genesis 7:2, which was most welcome. From the Lord; or, by or with the Lord, i.e. by virtue of his first blessing, Genesis 1:28, and special favour. Or, a man the Lord, as the words properly signify: q.d. God-man, or the Messias, hoping that this was the promised Seed.

Verse 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 quovis alio mode, sed ex conjunctione maris et foeminse" (Rungius). And she conceived . The Divine blessing ( Genesis 1:28 ), which in its operation had been suspended during the period of innocence, while yet it was undetermined whether the race should develop as a holy or a fallen seed, now begins to take effect (cf. Genesis 18:14 ; Ruth 4:13 ; Hebrews 11:11 ). And bare Cain . Acquisition or Possession , from kanah , to acquire (Gesenius). Cf. Eve's exclamation. Kalisch, connecting it with kun or kin , to strike, sees an allusion to his character and subsequent history as a murderer, and supposes it was not given to him at birth, but at a later period.

Tayler Lewis falls back upon the primitive idea of the root, to create, to procreate, generate, of which he cites as examples Genesis 14:19, 22 ; Deuteronomy 32:6 , and takes the derivative to signify the seed , explaining Eve's exclamation kanithi kain as equivalent to τετοκα τοκον , genui genitum or generationem . And said, I have gotten a man from the Lord . The popular interpretation, regarding kani-thi as the emphatic word in the sentence, understands Eve to say that her child was a thing achieved, an acquisition gained, either from the Lord (Onkelos, Calvin) or by means of, with the help of, the Lord (LXX., Vulgate, Jerome, Dathe, Keil), or for the Lord (Syriac). If, however, the emphatic term is Jehovah, then eth with Makkeph following will be the sign of the accusative, and the sense will be, "I have gotten a man - Jehovah" (Jonathon, Luther, Baumgarten, Lewis); to which, perhaps, the chief objections are (1) that it appears to anticipate the development of the Messianic idea, and credits Eve with too mature Christological conceptions (Lange), though if Enoch in the seventh generation recognized Jehovah as the coming One, why might not Eve have done so in the first?