own. it could only arise from obedience, and obedience (alone) could justify it.' Delaney. Thus the divine institution of sacrifices would seem to be unquestionable. -T Shalt thou not be accepted? An interrogation carrying with it the force of an affirmation; implying that the principle of the divine dealings was so well known to Cain, that he might be directly and confidently appealed to respecting it. The scope of the passage is clearly to intimate that God's respect to sincere obedience was impartial; that he rewarded it wherever he found it; and that if Cain's offering was not equally acceptable with that of his brother, the fault was purely his He had only to evince the same piety of spirit with Abel to receive the same tokens of approbation.-The original word for acceptance properly signifies lifting up, elevation, excellency, and points not only to the removal of his sadness, of that gloomy and dejected air which he exhibited, and the lifting up of his face in the erectness of conscious innocence, but also that precedence and preeminence which formed a part of his birthright as the elder brother. In this sense the word unquestionably occurs Gen. 49. 3, 'Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity (Heb. r elevation, eminence).' From the latter clause of the verse it is evident that God alludes to the prerogatives of the birthright which Cain would be in no danger of losing if his conduct were such as it ought to be.- -T And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. That is, the guilt and punishment of sin await thee; deserved judgment shall follow close upon thy transgression; it shall be like a fierce mastiff or furious beast of prey crouching, as it were, at the very door of thy house to seize upon thee unawares. By enclosing these words in a parenthesis, a far more clear .croucheth רבץ .Heb and satisfactory view of the coherency of the verse is obtained and the common, but somewhat forced version, 'a sin-offering,' rendered unnecessary. The sense of the passage, then, may be given thus:-'If thou doest well, shalt thou not enjoy the appointed preeminence? (but if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door) and unto thee shall be his obsequious respect, and thou shalt rule over him.' This construction brings the first and last clauses of the verse into immediate connection, and in such a way, if we mistake not, as to afford the only true key to the interpretation. There are some who affect to smile at the idea of SIN lying at the door: it is, however, an Eastern figure. Ask a man who is unacquainted with Scripture, what he understands by sin lying at the threshold of the door; he will immediately speak of it as the guilt of some great crime which the owner had committed. A man accused of having murdered a child, would be accosted in the following language: -'If you have done this, think not to escape; no! for sin will ever lie at your door: it will descend from generation to generation.' To a man accused of having committed any other dreadful crime, it would be said, 'Ah! if I had done it, do I not know sin would ever lie at my door?'' The idea is sin personified in the shape of some fierce animal crouched at the door. Its criminality and punishment remain. Taking the other view of it, seems to amount to this; Now, Cain, if thou doest well that will be thy excellency, thou shall be accepted: but if thou doest not well, it is a matter of no very great consequence, because there is a sin-offering at thy door.' Roberts. Unto thee shall be his desire. That is, Abel's desire. See this phrase explained in the note on Gen. 3. 16. That the respect and honour implied in this expression was a distinction of the elder brother forming an important part 8 And Cain talked with Abe! | Cain rose up against Abel his his brother; and it came to pass brother, and slew him. when they were in the field, that f Matt. 23. 35. 1 John 3. 12. Jude. 11. of the birthright is clear from Gen. 27. 29, Let people serve thee and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee.' If, as Venema supposes, Cain understood from the tokens of the divine approbation towards Abel that he had forfeited the birthright and that it was now transferred to the younger brother, it will account more satisfactorily for the settled hatred which now took possession of his breast. It makes the case of Cain also entirely analagous to that of Esau and of Joseph's brethren, whose disaffection towards the favoured one arose from pre-Had it been the effect of sudden wrath, cisely the same cause. See note on Gen. 37. 3, 4. him quietly.' 2 Sam. 20. 9, 10, 'To Amasa he said, Art thou in health, my brother? and took him by the beard to kiss him;' but these pretences of friendship, like those of Cain on this occasion, were only to secure access to their persons that he might with surer effect strike the dagger to their hearts. In like manner Absalom compassed the murder of Amon, making a hospitable entertainment a cover to effect the destruction of his brother in the midst of his convivial mirth. Viewed in this light the treachery of Cain awfully enhanced his guilt as a fratricide. though criminal beyond expression, yet our instinctive feelings would have found some apology for him; but being the result of premeditation and contrivance, of deceit and treachery, its enormity is increased an hundred-fold. ¶ Rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 'And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous,' And Cain talked with Abel his brother. Heb. And Cain said unto Abel his brother;' after which there is, in many of the Hebrew copies, a blank space left, as if something had been omitted. Accordingly the Sept. and Sam. versions supply the supposed omission by adding the words, 'Let us go into the fields;' but for such a sup-1 John, 3. 12. In this fearful transaction plement there is no authority beyond we trace the legitimate results of an conjecture, nor is it at all necessary. indulged envious spirit. There is inThe meaning probably is that Cain dis- deed such a connection between the links sembled his hatred, conversing freely of the chain of eviis mentioned by the and familiarly with his brother, till an apostle, 'envy, debate, deceit, murder,' opportunity occurred of executing his that wherever the first is harboured the murderous purpose. Had he disclosed rest would follow of course, if God in the sentiments of his heart, he would his infinite mercy did not interpose to have put his brother on his guard; limit the operation of our sinful propenwhereas by feigning affection towards sities. 'O envy, the corrosive of all him he would remove all fear and sus-ill minds, and the root of all desperate picion from the mind of his intended victim, and thus facilitate the accomplishment of the fatal deed. To similar means assassins have had recourse in all ages. It was thus that Joab slew Abner and Amasa; 2 Kings 3. 26, 27. He sent messengers after Abner, and took him aside in the gate to speak with actions! The same cause that moved Satan to destroy the first man, the same moves the second man to destroy the third.-If there be an evil heart there will be an evil eye;-and if both these, there will be an evil hand. There never was an envy that was not bloody; if not in act, yet in affection,' Bp. Hall. g Ps. 9. 12. h John 8. 44. Death thus began its ravages, and the first man that died, died a martyr for religion. But though his parents' hearts must have bled over the mangled remains of their son, yet they doubtless felt acuter pangs for living Cain than for dead Abel. He died in faith; and, from a sinner on earth, became a saint in heaven. He was the first of the noble army of martyrs, the first of human kind who entered the abodes of the blessed. 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. i Heb. 12. 24. Rev. 6. 10. question, as if he had no right to interrogate him respecting it! 'Am I my brother's keeper.' Is he not capable of taking care of himself? Does he need a guardian? or was I appointed one over him? Had he been innocent the question would have awakened the deepest anxiety in his bosom; for a kindly concern for those who are near to us by kindred is not only one of the first duties of religion, but one of the most instinctive promptings of nature. But what a hardened indifference to a brother's fate is indicated in every word, and what fearful impiety must that have been which could give rise to such an answer! Indeed were it not for the indisputable record of the facts, it would be scarcely conceivable that a worm of the dust should have been guilty of such heaven-daring effrontery. 10. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground. He had effectually silenced his brother's voice; so that no testimony could be borne by him. But the blood which he had shed had a voice which cried aloud; a voice which reached the throne of Almighty God and brought him down to plead the cause of injured innocence. Indeed every sin has a voice which 9. Where is Abel thy brother? A question proposed not for the sake of obtaining information, but to awaken in the culprit a sense of his crime and thus to lead him to repentance. The words 'thy brother' would tend to remind him of the tender ties of flesh and blood which he had broken, and if he had any workings of conscience remaining within him, must have pierced him to the quick. The circumstance affords moreover a striking instance of the divine forbearance that God should have deigned to hold a colloquy with one whom his justice might have smitten down by a sudden stroke. But he would set an example of clemency by affording to the most guilty an opportunity of speaking in his own defence. -¶ I know not, am 1my broth-speaks powerfully in the ears of God, er's keeper? Alas! how inseparable the connection between guilt and falsehood! He who dares to commit sin will never hesitate to cover it with a lie! It would hardly be possible to express in human language a reply more fraught with falsehood, insolence, and contempt of divine authority than is couched in these words. He not only boldly denies all knowledge of the fact, but with amazing hardihood charges impertinence upon his Judge in putting to him this and calls for vengeance on the head of him who has committed it. But it is not always that the vengeance wakes so suddenly as in the present instance. The Hebrew instead of 'voice of thy brother's blood' has 'voice of thy brother's bloods,' which the Chaldee Targum thus interprets;-"The voice of the bloods of the generations (the multitudes of just men) which should have proceeded from thy brother.' The word however in the plural usually signifies 11 And now art thou cursed thee her strength: A fugitive and from the earth, which hath open- a vagabond shalt thou be in the ed her mouth to receive thy broth-earth. er's blood from thy hand. 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto murder and its conscquent guilt, and the habitual perpetrators of this crime are called by the Psalmist, Ps. 5. 7, · men of bloods.' This is probably its import here. The original for crieth is in the plural agreeing with bloods-' are crying'- —an idiom of peculiar emphasis, which cannot well be transferred into English. In allusion to and by way of contrast to this blood of Abel demanding vengeance, it is said, Heb. 12. 24, that the blood of Christ speaketh better things than the blood of Abel, i. e. cries for pardon. 11. Cursed from the earth. Heb. MAT ground. That is, in regard to the ground; as far as the ground is concerned. That ground which had drank the blood of a murdered brother was to become an instrument of inflicting the merited punishment upon the guilty fratricide. Nature herself is here represented as setting her face against one who had violated the most sacred of human ties. The earth is made to harden her bosom against the cruel wretch, who could so far conquer every fraternal feeling as to shed the blood of an unoffending brother. The precise manner in which this part of the sentence was to be carried into effect is described in the ensuing verse. 12. It shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. Heb. 'It shall not add to yield.' A further explanation of the curse denounced above. The earth, as a general rule, was designed to afford its occupants sustenance and settlement. But both these are in great measure here denied to Cain. The ordinary amount of labour would not suffice to procure the ordinary returns from the 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can hear. cultivated soil. the original one denounced for Adam's offence should cause the earth comparatively to withhold its increase; and not only so it should, in a sense, deny him a permanent abode. He was thenceforth to become a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, condemned to perpetual disgrace and reproach among men. A curse superadded to Instead of dwelling in peace among his own family and kindred, he was to be banished from their society, and compelled to withdraw to some distant and lonely part of the earth, as a wretched outcast abhorred and rejected of all his kind. To this were to be added the stings of a guilty conscience, the perpetual disquietude and horror that would not fail to haunt the breast of the first murderer. Yet even in this severe sentence there was a mixture of mercy, inasmuch as he was not immediately cut off but had space given him to repent; for God is long-suffering and not willing that any should perish. 13. My punishment is greater than I can bear. Heb. 7 my iniquity, my sin. But we have elsewhere remarked (ch. 19. 15,) that the original for sin is often used but as another term for the punishment of sin, and such is perhaps the true rendering here. Yet it may be remarked that the Heb. will admit the rendering, 'My sin is greater than can be forgiven,' as if it were the exclamation of one who was just sinking in despair. This mode of speech, it appears, is still common in the East. person committed a great crime; he will go to the offended individual and piteously plead for mercy, and at intervals keep crying, "Ah, my guilt is too great 'Has a 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. k Job 15. 20-24. 1 Ps. 51. 11. m ch. 9. 6. Num. 35. 19, 21, 27. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him, " seven-fold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. n Ps. 79. 12. o Ezek. 9. 4, 6. which I have hitherto inhabited and cultivated. The original is not the word usually rendered earth (7), but a term of narrower import frequently implying tilled or improved ground (8), as in v. 11. It is evident that it cannot mean earth in its largest sense, for in that he was to be a fugitive and vagabond. From thy face shall I be hid. That is, from the place where thy presence is most peculiarly manifested, from the visible symbols of thy glory, and so from converse and communion with thee. See on v. 16.—T Every one that findeth me shall slayme. Will attempt to slay me, will be prompt to be forgiven. My hopes are gone.'' Roberts. On the whole, however, the former is, we think, the correct interpretation, and yet we know not that it is necessarily to be understood as a crimination of the sentence of the Judge. We take it rather as the voluntary acknowledgment and recital of the overwhelming yet deserved misery which he had brought upon himself by his murderous act. As human nature is constituted, we see not how the inward insuppressible voice of conscience could have failed to respond to the sentence uttered against him, and if it did so respond, it is scarcely conceivable that these words were those of remon-ed to do it. Mr. Roberts remarks that strance. They were rather a natural exclamation in view of the fearful consequences of his guilt of which he had now become sensible, and which he goes on to specify at length in the ensuing verse. Whether there was any thing of the working of penitence in his confession, does not appear from the text. The probability is that it was the prompting of remorse rather than of godly sorrow, and so was merely equivalent to the extorted confession of Judas, Mat. 27. 4, 'I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.' 14. Thou hast driven me out this day. He now proceeds to specify the circumstances which conspired to make his doom so intolerable; and so well assured is he of the execution of the sentence, that he speaks of it as already accomplished. From the face of the earth. Heb. 'from the face of the ground.' That is, from that region modern usages of speech among the Orientals illustrate this language of Cain. 'Has a man escaped from prison; the people say, 'Ah, all men will catch and bring that fellow back.' Has a man committed murder; 'Ah, all men will kill that murderer.' This means, the feeling will be universal; all will desire to have that individual punished.' The question may here be asked whom, besides his father and mother, Cain had to fear? To this it may be answered, that as the death of Abel probably occurred somewhat upwards of a hundred years from the creation, ch. 5. 5, and Adam had many sons and daughters besides those here mentioned, ch. 5. 4, the population of the earth might at this time have increased to many hundreds or even thousands of souls. It was by no means the object of the sacred writer to give a full account of all Adam's |