Genesis 4:16 - Exposition

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 clearly derived from Cain's fugitive and vagabond life, "which showeth, as Josephus well conjectureth, that Cain was not amended by his punishment, but waxed worse and worse, giving himself to rapine, robbery, oppression, deceit" (Willet).