Genesis 4

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:16

And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord . Not simply ended his interview and prepared to emigrate from the abode of his youth (Kalisch); but, more especially, withdrew from the neighborhood of the cherubim ( vide on Genesis 4:14 ). And dwelt in the land of Nod . The geographical situation of Nod (Knobel, China?) cannot be determined further than that it was on the east of Eden , and its name, Nod, or wandering (cf. Genesis 4:12 , Genesis 4:14 ; Psalms 56:8 ), was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:16-24

The kingdom of God contrasted with the kingdom of this world. Society without the Lord. The banished Cain and his descendants. I. MULTIPLICATION apart from Divine order is no blessing. II. CIVILIZATION without religion is a chaos of conflicting forces, producing violence, bloodshed, working out its own ruin. Compare France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Arts of life may grow from a mere natural root. Music, mechanical skill, scientific discovery, and invention, in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:17

EXPOSITION Domiciled in Nod, whither, impelled by woman's love, his wife had accompanied him, the unhappy fugitive began to seek, if not to find, relief from the gnawing agonies of remorse in the endearments of conjugal felicity and the occupations of secular industry. And Cain knew his wife. Who must have been his sister, and married before the death of Abel, as "after that event it can scarcely be supposed, that any woman would be willing to connect herself with such a miserable... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:17-26

The progress of the race. I. ITS INCREASE IN POPULATION . Starting from a single pair in Eden, in the course of seven generations the human family must have attained to very considerable dimensions. At the birth of Seth, Adam was 130 years old, and in all probability had other sons and daughters- besides Cain and his wife. If Lamech, the seventh from Adam in the line of Cain, was contemporaneous with Enoch, the seventh from Adam in the line of Seth, at least 600 years had passed away... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:18

Years passed away, the family of Cain grew to manhood, and, in imitation of their parents, founded homes for themselves. And unto Enoch (whose wife probably would also be his sister, few caring at this early stage to intermarry with the accursed race) was born Irad. Townsman , citizen, urbanus civilis (Keil, Lange); fleet as a wild ass (Murphy); ornament of a city, from Ir, a city (Wordsworth). And Irad begat Mehujael. Smitten of God (Keil, Gesenius, Murphy), the purified or formed... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:19

And Lamech took unto him two wives . Being the first polygamist of whom mention is made, the first by whom "the ethical aspect of marriage, as ordained by God, was turned into the lust of the eye and lust of the flesh" (Keil). Though afterwards permitted because of the hardness of men's hearts, it was not so from the beginning. This was "a new evil, without even the pretext that the first wife had no children, which held its ground until Christianity restored the original law—Matt, Genesis... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:20

And Adah bare Jabal . Either the Traveler or the Producer, from yabhal , to flow; poetically, to go to walk; hiphil, to produce; descriptive, in the one case, of his nomadic life, in the other of his occupation or his wealth. He was the father — av , father; used of the founder of a family or nation ( Genesis 10:21 ), of the author or maker of anything, especially of the Creator'( Job 38:28 ), of the master or teacher of any art or science ( Genesis 4:21 )— of such as dwell in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:21

And his brother's name was Jubal. Player on an instrument, the musician. Cf. jobel , an onomatopoetic word signifying jubilum , a joyful sound. Cf. Greek, ο ̓ λολυ ì ζειν α ̓ λαλα ì ζειν ; Latin, ululare ; Swedish, iolen ; Dutch, ioelen ; German, juchen (Geseuius). He was the father of all such as handle the harp. The kinnor , a stringed instrument, played on by the plectrum according to Josephus ('Ant.,' 7, 12, 3), but in David's time by the hand... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:22

And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain . Worker in brass or iron;related to Persian, tupal , iron dross (Gesenius, Rodiger, Delitzsch). Keil and Furst think this Persian root cannot be regarded as the proper explanation of the name. Furst suggests that the tribe may have been originally named Tubal, and known as inventors of smith-work and agricultural implements, and that Cain may have been afterwards added to them to identify them as Cainites ( vide 'Lex. sub hem.'). The name Tubal, like... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:23-24

And Lamech said unto his wives . The words have an archaic simplicity which bespeak a high antiquity, naturally fall into that peculiar form of parallelism which is a well-known characteristic of Hebrew poetry, and on this account, as welt as from the subject, have been aptly denominated The Song of the Sword . Adah and gillah, Hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a mum to my wounding (for my wound), And a young man to my hurt (because... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:16

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:16-24

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:17

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:17-26

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:18

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:19

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:20

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:21

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:22

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:23-24

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