Genesis 4:14-15

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 4:13-15

We have here a further account of the proceedings against Cain. I. Here is Cain's complaint of the sentence passed upon him, as hard and severe. Some make him to speak the language of despair, and read it, My iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven; and so what he says is a reproach and affront to the mercy of God, which those only shall have the benefit of that hope in it. There is forgiveness with the God of pardons for the greatest sins and sinners; but those forfeit it who despair... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 4:14

Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth ,.... Not from being upon the earth, or had chased him out of the world as a wicked man is at death, but from a quiet settlement in it, and from society and converse with the inhabitants of it; and especially he was driven from that part of it, where he was born and brought up, and which he had been employed in manuring; where his parents dwelt, and other relations, friends, and acquaintance: and to be banished into a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 4:15

And the Lord said unto him ,.... In order to satisfy him, and make him easy in this respect, that: he need not fear an immediate or bodily death, which was showing him great clemency and lenity; or in answer to his begging for death, "therefore", or as some render the word, taking them for two, "not so" F25 לכן "quasi" לא כן ουχ ουτω , Sept. "nequaquam ita fiet", V. L. ; it shall not be that whoever finds thee shall slay thee, thou needest not be afraid of that; nor shall thy... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:14

Behold, thou hast driven me out - In Genesis 4:11 , Genesis 4:12 , God states two parts of Cain's punishment: The ground was cursed, so that it was not to yield any adequate recompense for his most careful tillage. He was to be a fugitive and a vagabond having no place in which he could dwell with comfort or security. To these Cain himself adds others. His being hidden from the face of God; which appears to signify his being expelled from that particular place where God had... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:15

The Lord set a mark upon Cain - What this mark was, has given rise to a number of frivolously curious conjectures. Dr. Shuckford collects the most remarkable. Some say he was paralytic; this seems to have arisen from the version of the Septuagint, Στενων και τρεμων εση , Groaning and trembling shalt thou be. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says the sign was from the great and precious name, probably one of the letters of the word Yehovah . The author of an Arabic Catena in the Bodleian... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:14

Verse 14 14.Every one that findeth me. Since he is no longer covered by the protection of God, he concludes that he shall be exposed to injury and violence from all men. And he reasons justly; for the hand of God alone marvelously preserves us amid so many dangers. And they have spoken prudently who have said, not only that our life hangs on a thread, but also that we have been received into this fleeting life, out of the womb, from a hundred deaths. Cain, however, in this place, not only... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:15

Verse 15 15.Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain. They who think that it was Cain’s wish to perish immediately by one death, in order that he might not be agitated by continual dangers, and that the prolongation of his life was granted him only as a punishment, have no reason, that I can see, for thus speaking. But far more absurd is the manner in which many of the Jews mutilate this sentence. First, they imagine, in this clause, the use of the figure ἀποσιώπησις, according to which something not... 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 4:9-15

The condemnation and judgment of the first murderer. Notice— I. The Divine APPEAL TO CONSCIENCE , affording opportunity to repentance and confession, and therefore to the exercise of mercy. II. THE BLINDING EFFECT OF A GREAT SIN . The man who Anew that God knew all persisting in a lie, and insulting the Divine majesty at the very throne of judgment, i.e. defying God by the monstrous extravagance of self-assertion, which is the effect of indulged sin, not only... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:13-14

And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment (or my sin) is greater than I can bear . Or, than can be borne away. Interpreted in either way, this is scarcely the language of confession, "sufficiens confessio, sod intempestiva" (Chrysostom); but, as the majority of interpreters are agreed, of desperation (Calvin). According to the first rendering Cain is understood as deploring not the enormity of his sin, but the severity of his punishment, under which he reels and staggers as one amazed... read more

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