Genesis 4

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:26

THE FIRST TRUE WORSHIPPERS‘Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.’ Genesis 4:26 Prayer is speaking to God—on any subject, with any object, in any place, and in any way. I. Prayer so regarded is an instinct.—It seems to be natural to man to look upwards and address himself to his God. Even in the depth of lost knowledge and depraved feeling, the instinct of prayer will assert itself. A nation going to war with another nation will call upon its God for success and victory; and an... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:1

‘And the man knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain (qayin from the stem qon), saying, “I have obtained (qanithi from the stem qanah) a man with Yahweh.” ’ “Knew” is a regular euphemism for sexual intercourse. Eve’s words are interesting. Notice that she does not say ‘I have borne a child’ but ‘I have obtained a man’. There may possibly be the thought here that here is someone to help them with their hard labour (the birth of a boy in agricultural areas in many Eastern countries is... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:1-16

The Story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1 to Genesis 5:1 a). Genesis 4:1-16 . The Sin of Cain TABLET III It is quite clear that this section once existed separately from Genesis 2-3. The immediate and lasting change from ‘Yahweh Elohim’ (Lord God) to ‘Yahweh’ (Lord), after the almost pedantic use of the former in the previous narrative, suggests this, as does the rather abrupt way in which the connection is made between the two accounts. The account is in covenant form being built around two... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:2

‘And again she bore his brother Abel (Hebel). And Abel was a keeper of sheep while Cain was a worker of the ground.’ Abel was a keeper of ‘sheep’ (the word strictly means what we might call ‘small cattle’ i.e. including goats). We must not read into this the suggestion that he was a shepherd in its later ‘advanced’ form. The sheep and goats were there and he took an interest in them and herded them for clothing and milk, and possibly for food. Thus he provided the coats of skins necessary to... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:3

‘And after a certain amount of time had passed Cain brought to Yahweh an offering of the fruit of the ground.’ The cereal offering was an acknowledgement of God’s blessing and an expression of human gratitude. It would later be quite acceptable to God, so that there is no reason here to assume it was unacceptable here. It was what Cain had laboured for. Why then was it not accepted? The word for ‘offering’ is ‘minchah’ meaning ‘a gift’. It is noticeable that Cain’s offering is described very... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:4

‘And Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.’ We are not to read into this any cultic requirements. The cult is not established until Genesis 4:26. It is specifically intended to bring out Abel’s attitude of heart. His first thought was to show his gratitude to God, and thus he gave of his best. He gave of the firstlings of the flock, in other words he thought of God first, and he especially selected the best portions. This is in contrast with the abrupt way in... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:4-5

‘And Yahweh had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard.’ But how did they know that one was accepted and the other not? The answer would seem to lie in the fact that Abel prospered, whereas Cain was having a difficult time in some way. This would certainly explain why Cain was so angry. In the Old Testament prosperity is regularly seen as a sign of the approval of God. read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:5

‘So Cain burned with anger, and his face fell.’ He was clearly extremely furious (the description is powerful), and the more he thought about it the more the anger showed on his face. No doubt he went about for some time with a face like thunder, and his anger grew and grew. read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:6-7

‘Yahweh said to Cain, ‘why are you angry, and why does your face express such disapproval? If you do well, is there not a lifting up? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door. It longs to grab you, but you must overcome it.’ We do not know how God communicated with Cain. Possibly it was in his heart. But Cain well knew, as we so often do when we would rather not, what God was trying to tell him. His problem lay in not ‘doing well’. There was something wrong with his attitude and... read more

Peter Pett

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:8

‘And Cain said to Abel his brother, and when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.’ The passage appears abrupt and ungrammatical. AV possibly has it correctly when it translates ‘talked with Abel his brother’ although the actual phrase is as abrupt in Hebrew as we have translated it (compare similarly in Exodus 19:25). Alternately we may add ‘it’ (i.e. ‘told it to Abel’), signifying that Cain discussed his thoughts with his brother. We may then even see... read more

James Nisbet's Church Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:26

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:1

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:1-16

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:2

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:3

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:4

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:4-5

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:5

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:6-7

Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:8

Verse of the Day

Daily Devotional

Group of Brands