1Ang tawo miila kang Eva nga iyang asawa; ug kini nanamkon ug nag-anak kang Cain, ug miingon: Nakabaton ako ug usa ka lalake tungod sa panabang ni Jehova. 2Ug unya usab nag-anak siya kang Abel nga iyang igsoon. Ug si Abel magbalantay sa mga carnero; apan si Cain mag-uuma sa yuta. 3Ug sa nagairog ang panahon, nahitabo nga si Cain nagdala gikan sa mga abut sa yuta usa ka halad kang Jehova. 4Ug si Abel nagdala usab sa mga panganay sa iyang mga carnero ug sa mga matambok niini ug gitamod ni Jehova si Abel, ug ang iyang halad. 5Apan kang Cain ug sa iyang hatad wala siyay pagtamod. Ug nangisog si Cain sa hilabihan gayud, ug nangil-ad ang iyang panagway. 6Ug si Jehova miingon kang Cain: Nganong nasuko ikaw, ug nganong nagngil-ad ang imong panagway? 7Kong maayo ang imong gibuhat, kini dili ba pagadayegon? Ug kong dili ka magbuhat ug maayo, ang sala nagahay-ad sa ganghaan; ug kanimo mamao ang iyang tinguha; apan ikaw magabuot niini. 8Ug namulong si Cain kang Abel nga iyang igsoon. Ug nahitabo, nga sa didto sila sa kapatagan, si Cain mitindog batok kang Abel nga iyang igsoon, ug iyang gipatay siya. 9Ug miingon si Jehova kang Cain, Hain si Abel nga imong igsoon? Ug mitubag siya, Ambut: magbalantay ba ako sa akong igsoon? 10Ug miingon siya, Unsa ang gibuhat mo? Ang tingog sa dugo sa imong igsoon nagatu-aw kanako gikan sa yuta. 11Ug karon tinunglo ikaw sa yuta, nga nagbuka sa iyang baba sa pagdawat sa dugo sa imong igsoon gikan sa imong kamot; 12Sa diha nga magauma ikaw sa yuta, dili na kini magahatag kanimo sa iyang kusog; magalaaglaag ug magadumuloong ikaw sa yuta. 13Ug miingon si Cain kang Jehova, Ang akong silot labi nang daku kay sa akong mamaantus. 14Ania karon ginaabug mo ako niining adlawa gikan sa nawong sa yuta, ug ako magatago gikan sa imong atubangan; magalaaglaag ug magadumuloong ako sa yuta ug mahitabo nga bisan kinsa ang makakita kanako, mopatay kanako. 15Ug si Jehova miingon kaniya: Sa tungod niana bisan kinsa nga magapatay kang Cain, ang panimalus ipahamtang kaniya sa pito ka pilo. Ug gibutangan ni Jehova ug patik si Cain aron siya dili pagapatyon ni bisan kinsa nga makakita kaniya. 16Ug mipahawa si Cain sa atubangan ni Jehova, ug mipuyo sa yuta sa Nod sa silangan sa Eden. 17Ug giila ni Cain ang iyang asawa, ug kini siya nanamkon ug nag-anak kang Enoch; ug nagtukod siya ug usa ka lungsod ug gihinganlan niya ang ngalan sa lungsod nga sunod sa ngalan sa iyang anak nga Enoch. 18Ug kang Enoch natawo si Irad, ug si Irad nanganak kang Mehujael, ug si Mehujael nanganak kang Methusael, ug si Methusael nanganak kang Lamech. 19Ug mikuha si Lamech alang kaniya duruha ka asawa; ang ngalan sa usa mao si Ada, ug ang ngalan sa usa si Zilla. 20Ug si Ada nanganak kang Jabal, nga mao ang amahan sa mga nagapuyo sa mga balongbalong, ug may mga hayup. 21Ug ang ngalan sa iyang igsoon mao si Jubal, siya mao ang amahan sa tanan nga mga nagatogtog sa alpa ug sa flauta. 22Ug si Zilla usab nanganak kang Tubal-Cain nga magsasalsal sa tanang galamiton nga tumbaga ug puthaw; ug ang igsoon nga babaye ni Tubal-Cain mao si Naama. 23Ug si Lamech miingon sa iyang mga asawa: Ada ug Zilla, patalinghugi ninyo ang akong tingog; kamo nga mga asawa ni Lamech, patalinghugi ninyo ang akong pakigpulong; kay gipatay ko ang usa ka tawo tungod sa pagsamad kanako ug usa ka batan-on tungod sa pagbun-og kanako: 24Kong sa pito ka pilo pagapanimalusan si Cain, si Lamech sa pagkamatuod pagapanimalusan ug kapitoan ug pito ka pilo. 25Ug giila pag-usab ni Adam ang iyang asawa, ug kini nanganak ug usa ka anak nga lalake, ug gitawag niya ang iyang ngalan si Seth; kay ang Dios, miingon siya , naga tudlo kanako ug usa ka kaliwat nga ilis ni Abel, nga gipatay ni Cain. 26Ug kang Seth usab natawo ang usa ka anak nga lalake; ug gitawag niya ang iyang ngalan si Enos. Unya ang mga tawo nanagsugod sa pagtawag sa ngalan ni Jehova.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 BIRTH OF CAIN AND ABEL. (Gen. 4:1-26)
Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord--that is, "by the help of the Lord"--an expression of pious gratitude--and she called him Cain, that is, "a possession," as if valued above everything else; while the arrival of another son reminding Eve of the misery she had entailed on her offspring, led to the name Abel, that is, either weakness, vanity (
Ps 39:5), or grief, lamentation. Cain and Abel were probably twins; and it is thought that, at this early period, children were born in pairs (
Gen 5:4) [CALVIN].
2 Abel was a keeper of sheep--literally, "a feeder of a flock," which, in Oriental countries, always includes goats as well as sheep. Abel, though the younger, is mentioned first, probably on account of the pre-eminence of his religious character.
3 in process of time--Hebrew, "at the end of days," probably on the Sabbath.
brought . . . an offering unto the Lord--Both manifested, by the very act of offering, their faith in the being of God and in His claims to their reverence and worship; and had the kind of offering been left to themselves, what more natural than that the one should bring "of the fruits of the ground," and that the other should bring "of the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof" [
Gen 4:4].
4 the Lord had respect unto Abel, not unto Cain, &c.--The words, "had respect to," signify in Hebrew,--"to look at any thing with a keen earnest glance," which has been translated, "kindle into a fire," so that the divine approval of Abel's offering was shown in its being consumed by fire (see
Gen 15:17;
Judg 13:20).
7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?--A better rendering is, "Shalt thou not have the excellency"? which is the true sense of the words referring to the high privileges and authority belonging to the first-born in patriarchal times.
sin lieth at the door--sin, that is, a sin offering--a common meaning of the word in Scripture (as in
Hos 4:8;
2Cor 5:21;
Heb 9:28). The purport of the divine rebuke to Cain was this, "Why art thou angry, as if unjustly treated? If thou doest well (that is, wert innocent and sinless) a thank offering would have been accepted as a token of thy dependence as a creature. But as thou doest not well (that is, art a sinner), a sin offering is necessary, by bringing which thou wouldest have met with acceptance and retained the honors of thy birthright." This language implies that previous instructions had been given as to the mode of worship; Abel offered through faith (
Heb 11:4).
unto thee shall be his desire--The high distinction conferred by priority of birth is described (
Gen 27:29); and it was Cain's conviction, that this honor had been withdrawn from him, by the rejection of his sacrifice, and conferred on his younger brother--hence the secret flame of jealousy, which kindled into a settled hatred and fell revenge.
8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother--Under the guise of brotherly familiarity, he concealed his premeditated purpose till a convenient time and place occurred for the murder (
1John 3:12;
Jude 1:11).
9 I know not--a falsehood. One sin leads to another.
10 the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me--Cain, to lull suspicion, had probably been engaging in the solemnities of religion when he was challenged directly from the Shekinah itself.
11 now art thou cursed from the earth--a curse superadded to the general one denounced on the ground for Adam's sin.
12 a fugitive--condemned to perpetual exile; a degraded outcast; the miserable victim of an accusing conscience.
13 And Cain said . . . My punishment is greater than I can bear--What an overwhelming sense of misery; but no sign of penitence, nor cry for pardon.
14 every one that findeth me shall slay me--This shows that the population of the world was now considerably increased.
15 whosoever slayeth Cain--By a special act of divine forbearance, the life of Cain was to be spared in the then small state of the human race.
set a mark--not any visible mark or brand on his forehead, but some sign or token of assurance that his life would be preserved. This sign is thought by the best writers to have been a wild ferocity of aspect that rendered him an object of universal horror and avoidance.
16 presence of the Lord--the appointed place of worship at Eden. Leaving it, he not only severed himself from his relatives but forsook the ordinances of religion, probably casting off all fear of God from his eyes so that the last end of this man is worse than the first (
Matt 12:45).
land of Nod--of flight or exile--thought by many to have been Arabia-Petrća--which was cursed to sterility on his account.
17 builded a city--It has been in cities that the human race has ever made the greatest social progress; and several of Cain's descendants distinguished themselves by their inventive genius in the arts.
19 Lamech took unto him two wives--This is the first transgression of the law of marriage on record, and the practice of polygamy, like all other breaches of God's institutions, has been a fruitful source of corruption and misery.
23 Lamech said unto his wives--This speech is in a poetical form, probably the fragment of an old poem, transmitted to the time of Moses. It seems to indicate that Lamech had slain a man in self-defense, and its drift is to assure his wives, by the preservation of Cain, that an unintentional homicide, as he was, could be in no danger.
26 men began to call upon the name of the Lord--rather, by the name of the Lord. God's people, a name probably applied to them in contempt by the world.
