Chapter Four

The first birth.

Genesis 4:1. Adam knew Eve, his wife; and she conceived, Here is the first account in the Bible of childbearing, on the basis of which many are inclined to think that in paradise there was no marital union and that it arose only after the Fall as one of its consequences. But such an opinion is mistaken, as it contradicts the divine blessing of multiplication given by God himself to the first couple at the very moment of their creation (Gen 1:28). At most, one can only suppose from this that the paradise state probably lasted very briefly, so that the first people, always absorbed in higher spiritual concerns, did not yet have time to indulge in the physical, lower side of their nature. and she bore Cain, and said: I have acquired a man from the Lord. It is clear that Eve regarded her firstborn son as a gift from God, or as an inheritance received from Him; in this way, on the one hand, she confessed her faith in God, which had been violated by the disobedience of the Fall, and on the other, expressed hope for receiving from God a blessed Offspring, destined to crush the power of the devil.

Genesis 4:2. And she also bore his brother, Abel. The name of the second son of Adam, known from the Bible, is interpreted and translated in various ways: “breath, nothingness, vanity” or, as Josephus thought, “weeping.” Like the preceding name, this one, in all likelihood, also had a connection with the idea of the first promises. As much as Eve rejoiced over the first son, from whom she expected to see great consolation for herself, just as much was she grieved at the birth of the second, as is evident from the name given to him—Abel, which means “vanity, nothingness.” Eve wished, probably, through this naming to express that just as she did not find in the first son what she expected, so from the second she no longer hopes for joy (Visarion). And Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain became a tiller of the ground. Consequently, within the first family itself, at a very early stage, there arose representatives of two original human occupations—prototypes of the Bedouin (nomadic shepherd—Abel) and the fellah (farmer—Cain). “We completely deny the theory that humanity passed through all stages of primitive occupations, that is, that it first hunted, then moved to pastoral life, and finally became sedentary and took up farming. This theory is not confirmed by a single example, at least during the two thousand years of which we have reliable information” (Vlastov).

The sacrifices of the first sons of Adam

Genesis 4:3–4. After some time; This is how our Russian text translates the chronological notation of the Hebrew text, which literally means “at the end of days.” Penetrating the thought of the biblical author, interpreters differently determine the period of time at the end of which the described event occurred: some think that “a year” is meant (more precisely, “the time of the new year”), others see an indication of the end of a month, or the completion of a week, specifically “the Sabbath,” or in particular, the establishment of “times of worship,” sanctified by the offering of sacrifice. Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord, and Abel also brought an offering of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. Although the significance of these sacrifices was determined, according to the interpretation of the Apostle Paul, not by the worth of what was offered, but by the inner disposition of the one offering (Heb 11:4), yet, since everything inward finds a corresponding expression outwardly, the gifts themselves were not without significance. Saint John Chrysostom on this subject remarks: “Discerning minds already understand from the very reading what is said... See how Scripture shows us the love of God in Abel’s intention and that he brought not simply from the sheep, but from the ‘firstborn,’ that is, the precious, choice ones: furthermore, from these choice ones the most precious: and ‘from their fat,’ that is, from the most pleasant, the best. About Cain, Scripture says nothing of the sort, but only says that he brought an offering of the fruit of the ground, whatever happened to fall in, without any effort or discernment.”

Genesis 4:4–5. And the Lord looked upon Abel and upon his offering, but he did not look upon Cain and upon his offering. The sacrifices of the two brothers, different in their worth, character, and especially in the inner disposition (mood) of the one offering, were accompanied by completely different results: the Lord “looked upon” Abel’s sacrifice, that is, as John Chrysostom interprets it, “received it, approved the intention, crowned the disposition, was, as it were, satisfied with what was done...” And in another place the same renowned interpreter says: “since Abel brought with the proper disposition and from a sincere heart, God ‘looked upon,’ that is, received, approved, praised... But the foolishness of Cain he rejected” (John Chrysostom). The Apostle Paul gives the same illumination of this fact (Heb 11:4), saying that Abel’s sacrifice was fuller (πλέιονα), more perfect than Cain’s, that is, more corresponded to the fundamental idea of sacrifice, since it was permeated with living and effectual faith, by which above all is understood faith in the promised Messiah. Cain’s sacrifice, by contrast, bore in itself the spirit of pride, vanity, arrogance, and external formalism, which created entirely understandable obstacles to its acceptance. Since, judging from the context, both the offerers themselves came to know the different outcome of these sacrifices, it is certain that the aforementioned divine treatment of them was expressed to Cain by an obvious, external sign. Relying on suitable biblical analogies, it is thought that such a sign was either heavenly fire, shooting forth upon the accepted sacrifice, or a lofty column, rising from it to the very heavens (Lev 9:24; Judg 6:21; 1 Chr 21:26; 1 Sam 18:38, etc.). Cain was deeply grieved, Most precisely the thought of the Hebrew text is rendered by the Latin translation, where instead of “grieved” stands iratus—“became angry”; namely, “became angry both at his younger brother, preferred before him by God, and at God Himself, as if He had done him an injury, revealing the sign of His favor not to him, but to his brother” (Visarion). and his countenance fell, that is, the features of his face, under the influence of envy and malice, took on a gloomy and dark expression. It was not sorrow, not feelings of repentance or heartfelt grief for sin that darkened Cain’s face, but the spirit of restless envy and dull, suppressed enmity toward the favored brother.

Genesis 4:6. And the Lord [God] said to Cain: Why are you grieved? Great is the mercy of God, unwilling that the sinner should die, but seeking all paths and means to his understanding and instruction (Ezek 18:23)!

Genesis 4:7. if you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin lies at your door; This is one of the difficult passages of the Bible to interpret, chiefly because it reads quite differently in the Russian and Slavonic Bible. The latter, following the translation of the Septuagint, has this passage in such a form as to give it an entirely new meaning, having no support in the context. This misunderstanding is explained, in all likelihood, by the fact that the Greek translators did not understand the meaning of the basic Hebrew verb naschat precisely enough, and having made one inaccuracy, were then obliged to alter the rest of the phrase accordingly. The Russian translation is closer to the original; its thought may be more clearly expressed in the following phrase: since the face is a mirror of the soul, a dark appearance and downcast gaze serve as a reflection of dark thoughts and moods. When you act rightly and your conscience is clear, you experience a pleasant, light state of spirit, and joyfully and gladly raise your countenance. When, however, you do something wrong, the feeling of spiritual heaviness oppresses your heart and causes you to cast down your gaze. As soon as this has happened, know that sin lies at the door of your heart and you are close to falling; therefore, while it is not yet too late, gather all your strength and try to repel the coming temptation to sin. he desires you, but you must rule over him. Concluding the preceding instruction to Cain, God as if spoke to him thus: “You are tempted by an evil inclination, but you must keep watch and suppress it, do not allow the malice nestling within you and personified here as the beast lying at the door of your heart to ripen into a determination to commit evil.” Throughout this entire biblical section, therefore, is given a profound analysis of human psychology and an artistically true depiction of his inner, hidden processes with the dramatic struggle of various impulses, the results of which inevitably are reflected in the outward appearance of man.

The murder of Abel by Cain

Genesis 4:8. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. As death itself, appearing in the world as the price of sin, was an act of violence and destruction of the God-established order, so the first experience of this death was the most typical expression of all these properties. The ancient Christian tradition, founded on the words of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Matt 23:31; Luke 11:49-51; Heb 12:24), has preserved the memory of Abel as the first righteous man. This was the first manifestation of the enmity between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, predicted by God, running through all of human history, as John the Theologian beautifully explains in one of his epistles (1 John 3:10-12).

The judgment and punishment of Cain

Genesis 4:9. And the Lord [God] said to Cain: Where is Abel, your brother? Following the pattern of the judgment over the fallen first parents (Gen 3:9), the judgment over their transgressing son too begins with a merciful God calling [to the offender] to repentance. By His question the Lord wishes to awaken the conscience of the murderer, to draw him to sincere repentance and to a plea for forgiveness. He said: I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper? But Cain was in a completely opposite mood: with the obstinacy of a hardened sinner, not only does he deny his crime, but gives a brazen answer to God, as if even accusing Him of such an inappropriate question.

Genesis 4:10. And [the Lord] said: What have you done? Since Cain showed no readiness to repent and accept forgiveness, God finally proceeds to condemn him, in which He displays His omniscience, omnipotence, justice, and mercy. the blood of your brother cries out to Me from the ground; This is a rather common designation in the Bible for grave crimes, remaining unpunished among men through ignorance or negligence, but finding due retribution with God (Gen 18:20-21; Exod 3:9; Job 24:12; Jas 5:4; Heb 5:7). “The blood of Abel cries out, that is, demands vengeance (Rev 6:9-10), it cries out from the ground by the very act of destruction, which by the order of nature excites against itself other destructive forces, and its cry reaches even to God, for Abel even after death speaks by faith (Heb 11:4), placing him in the gracious presence of God” (Philaret). In the fact that this cry reaches heaven, there is found an imagery expression of the thought of divine omniscience, which is represented as hearing the cries even where man tries to cover everything with deaf silence.

Genesis 4:11. and now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand; Here we have the first example of divine curse directed immediately upon man. In the condemnation of, for example, Adam, only the devil and the earth were cursed, the latter for man’s sake (Gen 3:17); now, however, the very earth, stained with the blood of an innocent sufferer, becomes an instrument of punishment for the murderer, depriving him of its natural gifts (Lev 18:28; Job 31:38-40; Deut 28:39-42).

Genesis 4:12. you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. In place of these words of the Russian translation, the Slavonic text has: “groaning and trembling shall you be on the earth” (στένων καὶ τρέμων—Septuagint). “This latter translation,” according to the apt remark of Metropolitan Philaret, “seems to have been made for an enigmatic interpretation of the mark placed upon Cain (Gen 4:15), while the first is confirmed by Cain’s own clear words, in which he finds in God’s punishment his expulsion from the face of the earth” (Gen 4:14). Since the earth serves man simultaneously as a source of food and as a place of dwelling, and the curse from it corresponds to this, having two forms: it consists of the barrenness of the soil and in homeless wandering over the face of the earth. And indeed, in the example of Cain we see a clear confirmation of the saying of the Wise Man: “The wicked man flees when no one pursues him” (Prov 28:1).

Genesis 4:13. And Cain said to the Lord [God]: My punishment is greater than I can bear; The Slavonic text, following the Greek translation of the Septuagint, has its own variation here: “my guilt is greater, so that I should be forsaken.” Its origin is explained by the fact that the Hebrew term—awon, having two meanings: sin and punishment for it, was taken by some in the first sense (Septuagint) and by others in the second. But from the connection of the context of the speech, the first reading, which appears in the Russian Bible, is much preferable: it presents to us this exclamation of Cain as the cry of despair and cowardice of a sinner, unwilling to bear the deserved sufferings with patience, at least in part to atone for his guilt.

Genesis 4:14. Behold, You are now driving me from the face of the earth, By the face of the earth in the Hebrew text (hadama—land inhabited by people and cultivated) is understood, obviously, the land of Eden, which was the first habitation of humanity: Adam was driven from paradise or the garden of the land of Eden, Cain is driven from all this land. This, of course, does not exclude the possibility of seeing here also a comparison with dust swept away by the wind from the face of the earth (Ps 1:4; Hos 8:3). and from Your face I shall be hidden, and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth; This is a parallel to the same thought of expulsion from Eden, as a land sanctified by special gracious presence of God and marked by the promises given by Him. and everyone who finds me will kill me. “So everyone who brings sin into the world instinctively feels that he is subject to the same evil by the law of retribution, which he brought into society” (Vlastov). Whom was Cain afraid of? The most reasonable and plausible answer to this will be the supposition that he feared vengeance from his father’s entire family, both present and future. It is possible to suppose that even by the time of Abel’s murder, Cain’s family did not consist only of these two sons mentioned in the Bible, but also of other sons and daughters (Gen 5:4).

Genesis 4:15. And the Lord [God] said to him: For this reason, whoever kills Cain will suffer seven times over. In response to the cowardly complaint of the sinner, God gives a solemn assurance of his inviolability, promising to avenge sevenfold upon whoever willfully takes his life. The number seven, by the property of sacred language, can mean many times. In this way God, on one hand, reveals the extreme criminality of murder and all the gravity of responsibility for it, and on the other, manifests the inexhaustible riches of His mercy, unwilling that the sinner should die, but opening to him the possibility of atoning for his sin in the course of his remaining life. And the Lord [God] put a mark on Cain, so that anyone who found him would not kill him. On the question of the “sign” placed by God upon Cain so that he would not be killed through ignorance, in exegetical literature there reigns complete diversity of opinions, and the vast majority of them are unsatisfactory: they all explain only that Cain could be recognized, but not that he was strictly forbidden to be killed. Relying on biblical analogies, it is permissible to see in the sign made by God to Cain an indication of some external, miraculous action, serving both for Cain himself, and chiefly for all others as a sign (assurance) of his inviolability, like, for example, the rainbow later served as a sign of the non-repetition of the flood (Gen 9:13), the unburned bush as a testimony of Moses’ divine commission (Exod 3:2), the return of the sun ten degrees as a sign of King Hezekiah’s healing (Isa 38:5-8). The Blessed Theodoret in his commentary on this passage says: “God’s very determination was the sign forbidding his murder,” thereby supposing, along with some other modern exegetes, that this determination was known to all either through special divine inspiration, or—which is far simpler—because it was written in full upon his forehead. A somewhat similar case appears to exist in the book of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 9:4-6).

Genesis 4:16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod, to the east of Eden. By God’s command, Cain was forced to leave the homeland where God had been pleased to reveal His presence in the most tangible manner, and became a homeless, shelterless wanderer. The place of Cain’s new, nomadic dwelling and that of his descendants is called the land of Nod and is described as to the east of Eden. According to the opinion of some commentators, the land of Nod is not the proper name of any country, but a common designation of all the wanderings of the Cainites, as a land of exile and a region of distress, located indeed to the east of Eden, “the land of bliss.”

The building of the first city

Genesis 4:17. And Cain knew his wife; An involuntary question arises: who was Cain’s wife? Obviously, one of his sisters, explain Saint John Chrysostom and the Blessed Theodoret: “since this was at the beginning, and humanity needed to multiply, it was allowed to marry sisters.” Probably she was already in union with him before Abel’s murder, since it would be doubtful that any woman would risk joining her fate to a known murderer. Later Rabbinic tradition ascribes to Cain as a wife a sister born simultaneously with him, calling her either Azura or Sava. and she conceived and bore Enoch. From this point begins a brief history of a new, separating branch of primeval humanity, or more precisely—the genealogy of the Cainites. It consists of almost only a listing of the main names, accompanied only rarely by brief explanatory remarks. But, taking into account the special property of ancient biblical names to express the distinctive features and the position of each person in the patriarchal family, we must find (read) the history of their lives in the analysis of the very names themselves. For example, the name of Cain’s first son, Enoch, means “sanctifier, founder, renewer”—it could be given to him as the firstborn (cf. Exod 6:14; Num 26:5) and as the “initiator” of a new form of life—“urban,” instead of the previous anxious wandering. In naming his son with the name “founder, renewer,” Cain, obviously, was expressing his cherished dream that with the birth of a son at the moment of beginning the construction of a city as a kind of settled, cultured dwelling, if not for himself personally, then for his descendants there would come a new, brighter period of life; that Enoch, born not as a homeless wanderer, but as a settled city-dweller, would open a new, happier era in the history of the Cainites. And he built a city; and called the name of the city by the name of his son: Enoch. or, more precisely from the Hebrew—“and he was building a city,” that is, laid the foundation, made the beginning, and left the actual building to Enoch and later generations. This city should be imagined only as a simple fortified point, probably surrounded by a ditch and fenced with a stockade for protection against wild beasts. From the perspective of material culture, the building of the first city is an event of extraordinary importance, as it marks the transition from nomadic life to settled life and even indicates significant progress in the latter.

Genesis 4:18. To Enoch was born Irad [Gaiidad]; called erroneously in the Slavonic Bible “Gaiidad,” due to the confusion in the Greek translation of the Septuagint of two similar in shape initial letters of this name and their transposition. Philologically the name Irad means “city” and thereby points to him as a city-dweller par excellence, as the first true city-dweller. From this we should conclude that the building of the city begun by Cain and continued by Enoch was relatively completed only at the birth of his son, whom he, to commemorate this memorable event, called “Irad.” Irad begot Mehujael [Mahelelel]; The name of Irad’s son, according to etymology from the Hebrew, means “struck, annihilated by God,” and, according to the conjecture of commentators, contains a hint of some particularly divine instruction of the forgotten Cainites. But in what exactly this instruction consisted cannot be said definitively: perhaps, here was preserved the memory of some terrible natural disaster, in which the Cainites recognized divine punishment. Mehujael begot Methuselah; The name of this new Cainite patriarch, according to the more plausible interpretation, means: “man, the man of God,” that is, asked of God, given by Him; in it, as well as in the preceding name, scholars not without reason see traces of some humbling of the proud descendants of Cain and their temporary turning to God, which was a consequence of divine punishment that befell them. Methuselah begot Lamech. The biography of Lamech himself and the history of his family receive from the writer of Genesis some detail, giving thereby indication that Lamech’s family is particularly typical for the characterization of the entire Cainite tribe. What first catches the attention is the very name “Lamech,” which means “destroyer, adversary.”

Genesis 4:19. And Lamech took two wives; Lamech shamefully immortalized his name by being the first to introduce polygamy, thereby he perverted the God-established character of marriage (Gen 2:24) and revealed his moral licentiousness and lust. the name of one: Adah, and the name of the other: Zillah [Sella]. The names of his wives reveal the character of Lamech’s marriage: the first means “ornament, attraction,” the second—“shadow, veil.”

The beginning of pastoral and industrial life.

Genesis 4:20–22. Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those living in tents and with herds. The name [of] his brother was Jubal: he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. Zillah also bore Tubal-cain [Tovela], who was a forger of every instrument of bronze and iron. The three first names of this section are interpreted in the text itself, which greatly facilitates the establishment of their philological meaning. Thus, the first son of Adah, Jabal, means “nomad, herding flocks,” and in the Bible he is called “the father of those living in tents with livestock,” that is, the ancestor or, more precisely, only the organizer of the pastoral-nomadic way of life. The name of the second son of Adah—Jubal, derived from the word jobel (jubilee)—a prolonged musical sound produced by a trumpet—points to him as the inventor of “stringed and wind” instruments, which is directly stated in the biblical text itself. Finally, the third son of Lamech, born of another wife, bore the name Tubal-cain (in the Greek of the Septuagint—Tovela). The Bible does not explain the meaning of this patriarch’s name, but it excellently defines his role as the inventor of all kinds of copper and iron instruments, needed for agriculture, animal husbandry, hunting, war, and music. The brief note of the writer of Genesis about all of this serves as a passing indication of a very important cultural-historical moment, marking the transition from the Stone Age to the Metal Age; and what particularly catches the attention is the curious detail that the Bible, in complete agreement with positive history of culture, places the working of “bronze” before the working of “iron.” And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. Now Scripture mentions a woman separately for the first time, says Chrysostom: “The blessed prophet did not do this simply and without reason, but to prove to us something hidden.” And since the name “Naamah” means “beautiful, lovely,” scholarly exegetes conjecture that Naamah, alongside her brothers, was also a kind of inventor, specifically initiated a well-known social institution, particularly characteristic of the depraved Cainites. Some even think that she stood at the head of those “daughters of men” who drew the “sons of God” into ruin and thereby planted impiety on the earth (Gen 6:2).

Lamech and his wives—the song of Lamech.

Genesis 4:23–24. And Lamech said to his wives: Adah and Zillah! These two biblical verses, known as the “Song of Lamech,” constitute the oldest monument of Semitic poetry, as in it we encounter for the first time its characteristic feature—the parallelism of thoughts and strophes. “In all world literature there is no monument older than this passage of Semitic poetry,” says one scholar of a skeptical bent (Lenormant). Listen to my voice; wives of Lamech! Give ear to my speech: behold, a typical example for Hebrew poetry of the parallelism of thoughts, that is, the repetition of one and the same idea, only in different words. I have slain a man for striking me, and a young man for wounding me; if sevenfold vengeance is taken on Cain, then on Lamech seventy-seven times. Here too the same idea is repeated, though with some variations. The question of what sense should be given to this entire speech of Lamech to his wives about some murder he supposedly committed is much more difficult. Is all of this said only in a questioning form, that is, in the sense of “did I kill a man... and a youth,” or in the positive—as already accomplished fact of double murder, or perhaps only in the suppositive—namely, that I will kill any one who stands in my way, whether a mature man or a young lad? The majority of modern exegetes incline toward the last solution, finding that here the past tense of the verb “killed” is used instead of the future, to express the certainty of the action it expresses: “I will certainly kill, as if I had already killed,” Lamech boldly and boastfully declares of himself. Depending on such a view of the character of the text, the entire song of Lamech takes on the meaning of a victory hymn to the sword. Enraptured by the bloody invention of his son Tubal-cain, Lamech, as it were, comes to his wives and, shaking a terrible weapon, arrogantly boasts before them of this new cultural victory, creating for him the position of a despot and ruler. “I will kill any one, whether a respected, mature man or a thoughtless youth, if he dares to do me even the slightest offense. And if God promised to avenge sevenfold for Cain’s death, then I, armed with the terrible invention of my son, will be able to defend myself seventy-seven times better!” Thus, “the oldest of all monuments of poetry to reach us—reproduced in the Bible the bloody Song of Cain’s grandson Lamech, breathes not material need, but wild malice and fierce arrogance,” remarks, contrary to the positivists, our well-known philosopher-theologian V. S. Solovyov.

The birth of Seth

Genesis 4:25. And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son, and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed. In place of the two oldest children of Adam and Eve, of whom one did not live up to the expectations placed on him (Cain), while the other perished prematurely (Abel), God gave them a third son as a keeper of true faith and godliness—named Seth. The significance of his name is explained in the text itself, in the sense of “establishment, foundation” of true faith, or “substitution, recompense” for the loss caused by Abel’s death. “All this shows that in Seth Eve places hope in the restoration and preservation of the blessed Seed, and names him in the spirit of faith and foresight of the future” (Philaret). And indeed, being the ancestor of the godly patriarchs of the antediluvian period (the Sethites), Seth became the pillar upon which stood and was established the primitive religion and church. In this respect, Seth seems to be a prototype of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (1 Cor 3:11).

The religion of Enosh

Genesis 4:26. To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh; The name of this patriarch in literal translation from the Hebrew means: “weak, sickly, infirm, mortal,” from which—as a derivative noun: “man,” characterized precisely by these properties of his nature (Ps 8:5). This name alone is sufficient testimony to the spirit of humble submission before God which distinguished the godly Sethites, in contrast to the proud conceit and arrogance of the Cainites. then men began to call upon the name of the Lord [God]. The Slavonic text has its own variation here, namely instead of “men began”—“he trusted”; this arose from the confusion of two phonetically similar Hebrew words, one meaning “to begin” and the other “to rise, to trust”; preference should be given here to the Russian translation. As to the meaning of this biblical phrase, it first of all speaks of the solemn calling upon the name of God as Jehovah in the days of Enosh, that is, of the beginning of public worship. Secondly, as some of the Fathers of the Church think (Chrysostom, Theodoret, Ephrem the Syrian)—it points to the fact that the godly Sethites, for their zeal toward Jehovah, [his] solemn glorification, began to be called “by the name of Jehovah,” “Jehovists” (Isa 45:3). All this particularly distinguished the godly Sethites, zealots for God, and gave them the right to that title “sons of God,” which we encounter later (Gen 6:2). And so, while the generation of Cainites, through the founding of a city, the invention of secular crafts and arts, laid the first stone of worldly power, the tribe of Sethites, through the joint calling upon God, lays the foundation of the Kingdom of God on earth—the Church, as a society of people united by faith in the Redeemer (Jehovah) and hope for deliverance through Him.