Genesis 4

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:24

Verse 24 24.Cain shall be avenged sevenfold. It is not my intention to relate the ravings or the dreams of every writer, nor would I have the reader to expect this from me; here and there I allude to them, though sparingly, especially if there be any color of deception; that readers, being often admonished, may learn to take heed unto themselves. Therefore, with respect to this passages which has been variously tortured, I will not record what one or another may have delivered, but will content... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:25

Verse 25 25.Adam knew his wife again. Some hence infer that our first parents were entirely deprived of their offspring when one of their sons had been slain, and the other was cast far away into banishment. But it is utterly incredible that, when the benediction of God in the propagation of mankind was in its greatest force, Adam and Eve should have been through so many years unfruitful. But rather before Abel was slain, the continual succession of progeny had already rendered the house of... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:26

Verse 26 26.Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. In the verb ‘to call upon,’ there is a synecdochee, for it embraces generally the whole worship of God. But religion is here properly designated by that which forms its principal part. For God prefers this service of piety and faith to all sacrifices, (Psalms 50:14.) Yea, this is the spiritual worship of God which faith produces. This is particularly worthy of notice, because Satan contrives nothing with greater care than to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:1

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... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:1-8

The kingdom of God. Another "genesis" is now described, that of sinful society , which prepares the way for the description of the rising kingdom of God . I. THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORAL EVIL IS CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH HUMAN SOCIETY . We must still bear in mind that the aim of the narrative is not scientific, but religious and didactic. The sketch of the first family in Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 4:2 is plainly an outline to be filled in. The keeper of sheep and the tiller... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:1-15

The first brothers. I. THE BROTHERS AT HOME . 1. The first home. Of Divine appointment, and among the choicest blessings that have survived the fall, homes are designed for— 2. A pious home . Its locality , though outside the garden, was still in Eden, which was a mercy, and probably not far from the cherubim, Adam's gate of heaven, which was hopeful. When man founds a home it should never be far removed from God, heaven, or the Church. Its structure , mayhap,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:2

And she again bare (literally, added to bear , a Hebraism adopted in the New Testament; vide Luke 20:11 ) his brother Abel. Habel (vanity), supposed to hint either that a mother's eager hopes had already begun to be disappointed in her eider son, or that, having in her first child's name given expression to her faith, in this she desired to preserve a monument of the miseries of human life, of which, perhaps, she had been forcibly reminded by her own maternal sorrows. Perhaps... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:3

And in process of time . Literally, at the end of the days , i.e. — 1. Of the year (Aben Ezra, Dathe, De Wette, Rosenmüller, Bohlen), at which season the feast of the ingathering was afterwards kept— Exodus 23:16 (Bush). Aristotle, 'Ethics,' 8.2, notes that anciently sacrifices were offered after the gathering of the fruits of the earth (Ainsworth). 2. Of the week (Candlish). 3. Of an indefinite time, years or days (Luther, Kalisch). 4. Of some set time, as the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:4

And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock . Either the firstborn, which God afterwards demanded ( Exodus 13:12 ), or the choicest and best ( Job 18:13 ; Jeremiah 31:19 ; Hebrews 12:23 ). And the fat thereof. Literally, the fatness of them , i.e. the fattest of the firstlings, "the best he had, and the best of those best"; a proof that flesh was eaten before the Flood, since "it had been no praise to Abel to offer the fatlings if he used not to eat of them"... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:5

But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect . Because of the absence of those qualities which distinguished Abel and his offering; not because the heart of Cain was "no more pure," but "imbued with a criminal propensity" (Kalisch), which it was not until his offering was rejected. The visible sign, whatever it was, being awanting in the case of Cain's oblation, its absence left the offerer in no dubiety as to the Divine displeasure with both himself and his offering. In the... read more

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:24

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:25

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:26

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:1

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:1-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:1-15

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:2

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:5

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