1Adam poznal Evu, svou ženu, ta počala a porodila Kaina a řekla: „S Hospodinovou pomocí jsem obdržela mužského potomka.“ 2Znovu porodila, jeho bratra Ábela. Ábel byl pastýřem koz a ovcí a Kain obdělával půdu. 3Po nějaké době Kain přinesl Hospodinu oběť z polních plodin. 4Také Ábel obětoval z prvorozeňat svého bravu a z jejich tuku. Hospodin shlédl na Ábela a jeho oběť, 5ale na Kaina a jeho oběť neshlédl. Kain se nad tím velmi rozhněval a chodil se svěšenou tváří. 6Hospodin řekl Kainovi: „Proč se zlobíš a proč chodíš se svěšenou tváří? 7Budeš-li jednat správně, budeš chodit s hlavou radostně vztyčenou! Nebudeš-li však jednat správně, u brány se usadí hřích, bude se chtít k tobě přimknout, ale ty ho musíš ovládnout!“ 8Kain řekl Ábelovi, svému bratru: „Pojďme na pole!“ A když byli na poli, vrhl se Kain na svého bratra Ábela a zabil ho. 9Tu se Hospodin zeptal Kaina: „Kde je tvůj bratr Ábel?“ On odpověděl: „Nevím. Copak jsem já strážcem svého bratra?“ 10Hospodin řekl: „Cos to udělal? Hlas krve tvého bratra volá ke mně ze země. 11Proto buď proklet, vyhnán z úrodné země, která otevřela ústa, aby z tvé ruky přijala krev tvého bratra. 12Když budeš obdělávat půdu, nedá ti už svou úrodu. Budeš pobíhat a toulat se po zemi.“ 13Tu pravil Kain Hospodinovi: „Větší je můj trest, než mohu snést. 14Hle, vyháníš mě dnes z úrodné půdy, musím se před tebou skrývat, budu pobíhat a toulat se po zemi. Kdo mě najde, zabije mě.“ 15Hospodin mu řekl: „Nebude tomu tak: Kdo by zabil Kaina, propadne sedminásobné pomstě.“ Proto dal Hospodin Kainovi znamení, aby ho nikdo, kdo by ho nalezl, nezabil. 16Kain pak odešel od Hospodina a usadil se v zemi Nod na východ od Edenu. 17Kain poznal svou ženu, ta počala a porodila Henocha. Kain vystavěl město a nazval je podle jména svého syna Henocha. 18Henochovi se narodil Irad, který zplodil Mechujaela, a ten zplodil Metušaela, a ten zase Lamecha. 19Lamech si vzal dvě ženy: jedna se jmenovala Ada a druhá Silla. 20Ada porodila Jabela, který byl praotcem těch, kdo bydlí ve stanech a chovají stáda. 21Jeho bratr se jmenoval Jubal; byl praotcem všech, kdo hrají na citeru a flétnu. 22Také Silla porodila: Tubalkaina, kováře, který zhotovoval různé výrobky z mědi a železa. Měl sestru Noemu. 23Jednou Lamech řekl svým ženám: „Ado a Sillo, slyšte můj hlas, Lamechovy ženy, dejte pozor na mé slovo! Zabiji muže, abych pomstil svou ránu, a jinocha, abych pomstil svou podlitinu. 24Měl-li být Kain pomstěn sedmkrát. Lamech bude pomstěn sedmdesátsedmkrát.“ 25Adam poznal znovu svou ženu a ona porodila syna a dala mu jméno Set, neboť řekla: „Udělil mi Bůh jiného potomka za Ábela, kterého Kain zabil.“ 26I Setovi se narodil syn a dal mu jméno Enoš. Tehdy se začalo vzývat Hospodinovo jméno.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 BIRTH OF CAIN AND ABEL. (Gen. 4:1-26)
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 (
Gen 5:4) [CALVIN].
2 Abel was a keeper of sheep--literally, "a feeder of a flock," which, in Oriental countries, always includes goats as well as sheep. Abel, though the younger, is mentioned first, probably on account of the pre-eminence of his religious character.
3 in process of time--Hebrew, "at the end of days," probably on the Sabbath.
brought . . . an offering unto the Lord--Both manifested, by the very act of offering, their faith in the being of God and in His claims to their reverence and worship; and had the kind of offering been left to themselves, what more natural than that the one should bring "of the fruits of the ground," and that the other should bring "of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof" [
Gen 4:4].
4 the Lord had respect unto Abel, not unto Cain, &c.--The words, "had respect to," signify in Hebrew,--"to look at any thing with a keen earnest glance," which has been translated, "kindle into a fire," so that the divine approval of Abel's offering was shown in its being consumed by fire (see
Gen 15:17;
Judg 13:20).
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?--A better rendering is, "Shalt thou not have the excellency"? which is the true sense of the words referring to the high privileges and authority belonging to the first-born in patriarchal times.
sin lieth at the door--sin, that is, a sin offering--a common meaning of the word in Scripture (as in
Hos 4:8;
2Cor 5:21;
Heb 9:28). The purport of the divine rebuke to Cain was this, "Why art thou angry, as if unjustly treated? If thou doest well (that is, wert innocent and sinless) a thank offering would have been accepted as a token of thy dependence as a creature. But as thou doest not well (that is, art a sinner), a sin offering is necessary, by bringing which thou wouldest have met with acceptance and retained the honors of thy birthright." This language implies that previous instructions had been given as to the mode of worship; Abel offered through faith (
Heb 11:4).
unto thee shall be his desire--The high distinction conferred by priority of birth is described (
Gen 27:29); and it was Cain's conviction, that this honor had been withdrawn from him, by the rejection of his sacrifice, and conferred on his younger brother--hence the secret flame of jealousy, which kindled into a settled hatred and fell revenge.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother--Under the guise of brotherly familiarity, he concealed his premeditated purpose till a convenient time and place occurred for the murder (
1John 3:12;
Jude 1:11).
9 I know not--a falsehood. One sin leads to another.
10 the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me--Cain, to lull suspicion, had probably been engaging in the solemnities of religion when he was challenged directly from the Shekinah itself.
11 now art thou cursed from the earth--a curse superadded to the general one denounced on the ground for Adam's sin.
12 a fugitive--condemned to perpetual exile; a degraded outcast; the miserable victim of an accusing conscience.
13 And Cain said . . . My punishment is greater than I can bear--What an overwhelming sense of misery; but no sign of penitence, nor cry for pardon.
14 every one that findeth me shall slay me--This shows that the population of the world was now considerably increased.
15 whosoever slayeth Cain--By a special act of divine forbearance, the life of Cain was to be spared in the then small state of the human race.
set a mark--not any visible mark or brand on his forehead, but some sign or token of assurance that his life would be preserved. This sign is thought by the best writers to have been a wild ferocity of aspect that rendered him an object of universal horror and avoidance.
16 presence of the Lord--the appointed place of worship at Eden. Leaving it, he not only severed himself from his relatives but forsook the ordinances of religion, probably casting off all fear of God from his eyes so that the last end of this man is worse than the first (
Matt 12:45).
land of Nod--of flight or exile--thought by many to have been Arabia-Petrća--which was cursed to sterility on his account.
17 builded a city--It has been in cities that the human race has ever made the greatest social progress; and several of Cain's descendants distinguished themselves by their inventive genius in the arts.
19 Lamech took unto him two wives--This is the first transgression of the law of marriage on record, and the practice of polygamy, like all other breaches of God's institutions, has been a fruitful source of corruption and misery.
23 Lamech said unto his wives--This speech is in a poetical form, probably the fragment of an old poem, transmitted to the time of Moses. It seems to indicate that Lamech had slain a man in self-defense, and its drift is to assure his wives, by the preservation of Cain, that an unintentional homicide, as he was, could be in no danger.
26 men began to call upon the name of the Lord--rather, by the name of the Lord. God's people, a name probably applied to them in contempt by the world.