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His countenance fell; whereas before it was lifted up and cheerful, now
it fell down through sense of guilt, disappointment of his hope, shame and
grief, and envy at his brother.
Verse 6: And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and
why is thy countenance fallen?
[Why] God summons him to repentance (Fagius, Lyra); He takes no
pleasure in our sins (Fagius).
[And why] When you ought to be cheerful because of your brother
(Lyra).
The Lord spoke unto Cain, that he might bring him to repentance, and
the knowledge of his sin. Why is thy countenance fallen? The cause of this
dejectedness is not from me, but from thyself.
Verse 7: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted (or, have the
excellency; Heb. 11:4)? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And
unto thee (or, subject unto thee; Gen. 3:16) shall be his desire, and thou shalt
rule over him.
[Shalt thou not, )wOlh]j It is to be translated, certainly; it is not always
interrogative (Castalio). But the rest of the interpreters translate, shalt thou
not.
[If thou doest well, etc. (thus Samaritan Text, Syriac, Arabic,
Montanus, Chaldean, Junius and Tremellius] by+yi t'@-M),i if thou doest well,
and emendest thy life (Fagius, Bertram’s Lucubrations in Frankenthal). God is
teaching that to do well does not consist in sacrifices, which Cain brought, but
in faith, of which he was devoid (Ainsworth). That is to say, I do not value
those external sacrifices, if faith and piety are absent (Fagius). Others refer it
to the sacrifice (Fagius). If thine oblation is pure and legitimate (Vatablus).
The Septuagint translators render it thus: Ou0k e0an o0rqw~j prosene/gkhj,
or0 qwj~ de\ mh\ di/elhj, h3martej; h9su/xason: (which Julian generally
follows [Grotius]), If thou offerest rightly, but dividest not rightly, hast thou
not sinned? Be still. He offers rightly, who offers to God alone; he does not
divide rightly, who retains better things for himself, offers poorer things to
God (Bonfrerius). This version originated from this, that in the place of
xtpf %ela, at the door, they read xta @'nlA ,; to cut up (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue
of Animals 1:2:33:324), or ttopl; i, to divide, for ttpa %f is to divide, to break,
to cut into pieces; therefore, they translated in this way, And if thou doest not
well to divide, tf)+fx,f hast thou not sinned? Cbro :, Be still1 (Bonfrerius).
1 Genesis 4:7b: “And if thou doest not well, at the door (the Septuagint reads ttpo l; ,i
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They appear to have thought that he offered either things not the best or less
than the tenth, which is the portion of God, Genesis 14:20; 28:22. Traces of
this remain even in the Greek and Latin histories, scattered here and there
(Grotius).
[Thou shalt be accepted, t)#' o;] It is equivocal (Fagius). It is infinitive,
as it is evident from Deuteronomy 1:9,1 in the place of which elsewhere it is
expressed t)#'lo ,f as in Genesis 36:7;2 but here, as elsewhere, it has the force
of a noun (Piscator). In Hebrew, it signifies eight things (Mercerus). Hence
they vary. 1. Shalt thou not receive, that is, the gift (for )#nfo F3 is to bear a gift
[Oleaster]); or, my favor and benediction by a similar sign, that is, the fire, a
testimony, peace, and joy (Menochius, Piscator)? 2. Shall there not be
remission of sin? (Targum Jerusalem, Onkelos, Pagnine, Ainsworth, Junius and
Tremellius, Kimchi, Munster). (Remission of sin was the purpose of the
sacrifices, Leviticus 6:2, 6, 7 [Ainsworth].) NwO(j )#'no O, Exodus 34:7,4 is lifting
iniquity (Piscator). I do not approve this, for Cain was not confessing his sin
(Mercerus). 3. Shall there not be a lifting up? Thou shalt lift up thy
countenance, which thou now lettest fall (Munster, Grotius, Mercerus, Fagius,
Ibn Ezra). 4. Shall there not be acceptance? that is, in the presence of God
(Theodotion, Vatablus, Pagnine). I shall receive thy face (Mercerus). Or thus:
Thine oblation will be more acceptable that thy brother’s, for thou art the
firstborn (certain interpreters in Munster). MynpI %f )#no :, to receive faces, is to
confer a benefit upon someone on account of favor, Genesis 19:215 (Piscator).
5. Shalt thou not be superior? That is to say, the law of primogeniture will
continue to thee, fearing the withdrawal of which thou dost think of killing thy
brother. Certainly in this sense t)'#o; is taken in Genesis 49:36 (Fagius) and
to divide, instead of the Massoretic xtfp%ela, at the door) sin (the Septuagint reads
tf)+fxf, thou hast sinned instead of the Massoretic t)+f@xa/sin) lieth (the Septuagint
reads Cbor,: be still, instead of the Massoretic Cbr' o, lieth.”
1 Deuteronomy 1:9: “And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear
(t)'#);o you myself alone.”
2 Genesis 36:7b: “And the land wherein they were strangers could not bear (t)#'lo f)
them because of their cattle.”
3 )#fno F is the verbal root from which t)'#o; is derived.
4 Exodus 34:7a: “Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity (NwO(f )#no' O) and
transgression and sin . . .”
5 Genesis 19:21a: “And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee (Ky1 nEpf yti)#ofn,F I
have lifted thy face) concerning this thing also.”
6 Genesis 49:3: “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my
strength, the excellency of dignity (t)#' ;o), and the excellency of power.”
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Psalm 62:41 (Bertram, Lucubrations in Frankenthal 1). Superiority shall be to
thee, that is, thou shalt recover the law of primogeniture. MynpI f% )w#@ no ,: the
exalted of face, Isaiah 3:3,2 is excelling in authority (Piscator). 6. It shall be
exaltation, or glory, to thee, no less than to thy brother (Vatablus). Shall it not
be to raise up, or, shall it not be a lifing up to thee? (Montanus, Malvenda).
If thou doest well, or, for the future shalt do well, i.e. repent of thy
sin, amend thy life, offer thy offerings with a willing and cheerful mind and
honest heart, in faith and love, as Abel did, shalt thou not be accepted? Or,
pardoned, received into favour? Or, exalted, and either preserved in or
restored unto those rights of the firstborn, which thou art conscious to thyself
that thou hast forfeited? Or, elevated in thy looks, i.e. would not, or should
not, thy countenance have been upright and pleasant, which now is sad and
dejected?
[At the door sin will be present, Cbr' o t)+%fxa xtpa le% a] Intensely
emphatic speech. He not only refuted the unjust complaint, but also showed
that nothing is going to be more adverse to him than his own sin: that is to say,
Thou advancest not at all by thine obstinacy; for sin (although thou dissemblest)
pursueth thee, neither will it alloweth thee to escape. When thou shalt come
to the end, there thy sin will rush to meet thee, keeping its vigils: then thy
conscience will be seized, which previously was esteeming itself to be unbound,
and will undergo the double punishment of the fool (Vatablus). Bertram
explains t)+fx% a as erring, that is, from one’s scope, as in Judges 20:16.3 That
is to say, Except thou emend thy life, thou wilt err from thy scope, in which
thou intendest for thyself, by the law of primogeniture, the dignity, about to
come thy way and fall to thee, of ruling the people of God (Bertram’s
Lucubrations in Frankenthal 1). Sin is put for the penalty of sin, according to
the Hebrews (Fagius, Oleaster, Lapide, Piscator, Grotius, Drusius). So it is
taken in Genesis 19:15; Leviticus 20:20; 2 Kings 7:9;4 Zechariah 14:195
(Ainsworth). The sense is, The punishment of sin is near thee; And its desire is
toward you, that is, the punishment of thy sin desires to master thee, as is usual
after sin is admitted; but thou, if thou art willing, shalt rule over it, that is, thou
1 Psalm 62:4a: “They only consult to cast him down from his excellency (wOt)'#%o;m)i .”
2 Isaiah 3:3: “. . . the captain of fifty, and the honourable man (MynIpf )w#% on:w)@ , and the
counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.”
3 Judges 20:16: “Among all this people there were seven hundred chosen men
lefthanded; every one could sling stones at an hair breadth, and not miss ()+xi yj A).”
4 2 Kings 7:9b: “If we tarry till the morning light, some mischief (NwwO (f/iniquity) will
come upon us . . .”
5 Zechariah 14:19: “This shall be the punishment (t)+@axa/sin) of Egypt, and the
punishment (t)+xa@ a/sin) of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of
tabernacles.”
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art able to turn the punishment aside. That is to say, This punishment is like a
dog, which lies at the door, desiring to come in; but it is in the power of the
master either to shut the door, lest it should come in, or to open, so that it
might enter. This sense is demonstrated: 1. The previous section speaks of
reward, thou shalt carry back, that is, a reward: therefore, the following
section speaks of punishment. 2. Sin was already at work in Cain himself, but
not yet punishment; but it was at the door, and he was immediately punished
(Oleaster).
[At the door] That is, Soon thou shalt suffer punishments (Fagius,
Grotius). It is at hand (Vatablus, Mercerus). For he was immediately sent
away into exile by the Lord (Fagius). They (for example, travelers) are said to
be at the door who are immanent and in the vicinity; Matthew 24:33, eg0 gu/j
e0stin ep0 i\ qu/raij, it is near at the doors; thus James 5:9 (Drusius’ Classes of
Proverbs 2:3:37, 38). There is an adage in Plutarch, puretou= peri\ qu/raj
on1 toj, fever standing at the door (Bonfrerius). Horace: punishment pursues
fault as a devoted follower (Grotius). Or it signifies that sin lies in ambush for
him, as wild animals wait in view of doors for men coming out (Drusius’
Classes of Proverbs 2:3:37, 38). Our translators render it thus: It lies at the
door, that is, not in a quiet place (for through doors we come in and go out);
that is to say, Sin will not keep quiet, as the impious think, but in the end it will
be brought forth into public. It shall lie at the door, so that in no path thou
mightest avoid it (Munster). Wherever thou shalt go, thy sin is lying there
(Arabic). Thus it will be accessible to me, just like those things which are
placed in a doorway (Lyra). Although there might not be anyone who will
exact the punishment from thee (for there was not yet the use of the sword
[Fagius]), thou shalt not depart with impunity. There will be a time when thou
shalt undergo punishments, namely, in the Day of Judgment, in which sin, even
if it be hidden, will be revealed (Onkelos in Fagius). Others: At the door of
the grave, where sin lies until the Day of Judgment (Munster). Against the Day
of Judgment thy sins are kept (Chaldean). Rabbi Menahen:1 At the door of
justice, whence judgment comes against transgressors, and whence the Angel of
death has power (Ainsworth). Others relate it to sin itself; that is to say, The
desire to kill thy brother is near, and it desires to go in to thee, that is, in order
to carry out the murder. But I prefer the former sense (Oleaster). Others: At
the doors of sin thou keepest watch, that is, thou art a servant of sin: for this
belongs to servants, 2 Samuel 11:9 (Leifeld in Gataker). The rationale of the
pauses refutes this, which pauses separate in this way, at the door, sin is lying2
1 Rabbi Menahem ben Benymin Recanati (late thirteenth, early fourteenth century)
was an Italian Kabbalist. He wrote a commentary on the Torah, and many of the
teachings of the ancient rabbis survive only in his works.
2 There is a Tipha accent beneath xtap%el,a at the door, and a Legarmeh accent beneath
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(Gataker). Lightfoot translates this passage completely otherwise: If thou
doest well, thou shalt be accepted; if ill, notwithstanding t)+fx% a, that is, an
expiatory sacrifice for sin (thus this word is take in Hosea 4:8;1 2 Corinthians
5:21) lies at the door. For the sacrifices used to be put at the door of the
Sactuary in Leviticus; that is, for thee, when thou art penitent, it is the hope of
pardon. This sense appears to be well-founded. For, God’s scope is to lift
Cain up (not to cast him down further), as appears from the oracle graciously
exhibited to him and from the beginning of the words (Lightfoot).
Sin is here taken, either, 1. Properly; so the sense is: Sin will be
growing upon thee; one sin will bring in another, and that malice and purpose
of revenge against thy brother, which now lies hid in the secret chamber of thy
mind and heart, lies at the door ready to break forth into the view of the world
in open murder. Or, 2. For the punishment of sin, as it is taken Genesis
19:15; Leviticus 5:1; 20:20; Numbers 18:1; 2 Kings 7:9;2 Zechariah 14:19:3
so the sense is, If thou wilt go on in sin, and execute thy wicked purpose,
which I perceive lies working in thy heart, be sure thy sin will find thee out, as
it is said Numbers 32:23. Thou shalt not long enjoy the fruits of thy
wickedness, but a dreadful judgment shall tread upon the heels of thy sin, and
lie like a furious mastiff dog at the very door of thy house, to seize upon thee at
thy first coming in or going out. For that person or thing which is very near to
us, or at hand, is said to be at the doors, Matthew 24:33; James 5:9.
[Under thee the desire, etc.] [See this phrase in Genesis 3:16.] Certain
interpreters, indeed almost all (Vatablus), refer this to the sin (Fagius); but not
in the same way. The Hebrews and certain others gather from this place the
freedom of the will (thus Estius, Bonfrerius, Tigurinus). Into thy hand I
committed the dominion of evil concupiscence (Targum Jerusalem). Thy
passions and appetites are able to allure thee to sin, but they are not able to
compel thee (Tirinus). It is obliged to entreat and to obtain consent from thee
(Menochius, thus Castalio). For by doing rightly thou shalt overcome, like thy
brother, who is not harmed by it; however, by doing perversely, thou shalt be
overcome. Wherefore, if thou desirest to be the companion of thy brother and
of blessedness, be also the companion of virtue. For, just as he who sins is the
servant of sin, so also he who lives rightly is a master over sin. Of this sort is
the expression in Numbers 32:23, sin will find you, that is, ye shall suffer
t)+xf% /a sin, both of which suggest a disjunction between the two words.
1 Hosea 4:8: “They eat up the sin (t)+%xa a, perhaps sin offering) of my people, and
they set their heart on their iniquity.”
2 2 Kings 7:9b: “If we tarry till the morning light, some mischief (NwOw(f, iniquity or its
punishment) will come upon us.”
3 Zechariah 14:19a: “This shall be the punishment (t)+a%xa/sin) of Egypt, and the
punishment (t)+%xa /a sin) of all nations . . .”
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punishments (Castalio). Others: it is an admonition to restrain depraved
passions; that is to say, Sin rises up, why dost thou not restrain it? it is yours to
master (Fagius, Vatablus). An appetite for sin is unto thee sin in thy members;
it desires the flesh over against the spirit; but thou art to rule over it through
faith, lest thou be destroyed (Munster). Unto thee the desire, etc. That is to
say, it is gripped by a desire to master thee (a choice personification), but it is
thine to master (Mercerus). Whenever this evil concupiscence stirs thee unto
fratricide, beware of giving place to that, resist, and conquer (Fagius).
However, others deny that it is to be referred to sin, but unto Abel, for
t)+xa% a/sin is feminine and Cb'ro/lying is masculine (Fagius). But this
synthesis is frequent in Hebrew; as, in Chapter 2:15, although NgA/garden,
masculine, precedes, hd@ bF ;(fl,; to dress it, follows, with its feminine object
suffix. It might be understood as t)+f%xa rbda :, a matter of sin, or h#oe(mj a, a
work of sin, or #n$ Ew(O , the punishment of sin1 (Mercerus). Differences in
gender frequently occur. Thus in the place of )byo %FwA and yhyi w: A in 1 Chronicles
18:2, 5, 6; 21:5 are )bot@wf A and yhitw@; A in 2 Samuel 8:2, 5, 6; 24:9.2 Thus in the
place of Mhle f and Mheb,@f in 1 Kings 22:17, are Nhle f and Nhebf@, 2 Chronicles
18:16; 1 Samuel 31:7; see also Exodus 1:213 (Ainsworth). In Bereshith
Rabba,4 they observe that the feminine precedes, and the masculine follows,
1 rbdf F, h#eo(mj ,a and #$n(E o, are all masculine.
2 Comparison of the cited verses: 1 Chronicles 18:2b: “And the Moabites became
(w@yhy; %IwA, masculine) David’s servants.” Compare with 2 Samuel 8:2b: And so the
Moabites became (yhit@w; ,A feminine) David’s servants.” 1 Chronicles 18:5a: “And
when the Syrians of Damascus came ()byo wF% A, masculine) to help Hadarezer king of
Zobah . . .”. Compare with 2 Samuel 8:5a: “And when the Syrians of Damascus
came ()botwf@ A, feminine) to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah . . .”. 1 Chronicles
18:6b: “And the Syrians became (yhyi :wA, masculine) David’s servants.” Compare with
2 Samuel 8:6b: “And the Syrians became (yhti ;w@ A, feminine) servants to David.” 1
Chronicles 21:5b: “And all they of Israel were (yhyi :w,A masculine) a thousand thousand
and an hundred thousand men that drew sword.” Compare with 2 Samuel 24:9b:
“And there were (yhitw@; ,A feminine) in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that
drew the sword.”
3 Comparison of the cited verses: 1 Kings 22:17a: “And he said, I saw all Israel
scattered upon the hills, like sheep to which (Mhle ,f masculine) there is no shepherd.”
Compare with 2 Chron. 18:16a: “Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the
mountains, like sheep to which (Nhel,f feminine) there is no shepherd.” 1 Samuel
31:7b: “They forsook the cities (Mr(I hf e, masculine), and fled; and the Philistines
came and dwelt in them (Nhbe f,@ feminine).” Exodus 1:21: “And it came to pass,
because the midwives feared God, that he made them (Mhelf, masculine) houses.”
4 Bereshith Rabba, or Genesis Rabbah, is a sixth century midrash on Genesis. It
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because in the beginning sin is, as it were, a woman, whom it is possible to
resist easily; but it becomes, as it were, a man, and it overcomes man. In the
beginning, it is like a fiber of hair or spider’s web; in the end, it proves to be
like the sail of a ship. In the beginning, it is, as it were, a traveler; in the end, it
is like the lord of the house (Mercerus). That t)+x%f a is in the masculine
gender is clear from the adjective Cbr' o (Castalio). Others refer it to Abel, like
Chrysostom (Mercerus). It is not permissible that thou shouldest be hostile to
thy brother, whom thou hast subject to thee. But it appears to me that this fails
and is alien to the sense of the passage as a whole. For rather he would be
stirring up the hatred of Cain (Mercerus). It has appeared otherwise to others;
they refer it also to Abel (Piscator, Rivet, Ainsworth). Thou hast no cause for
hatred; for, although his sacrifices might be more acceptable than thine,
nevertheless the law of primogeniture remains to you (Fagius, Vatablus).
Others: Shall the desire of Abel really be unto thee? Shalt thou really be his
master? This is insufficient (Fagius). There is to be a repetition of that which
precedes: If thou doest well, the desire of Abel shall be subjected to thy rule
(Grotius); thou shalt regain thy former dignity (Bertram). Thus the words, but
if not well, sin shall be immediately present before the doors, are spoken
parenqetikw~j/parenthetically, of which sort many occur in these books.
See Exodus 35:29; Numbers 4:7; Psalm 99:6, 7. It is apparent that the law of
primogeniture could be dropped because of sin, as in Genesis 49:3, 4; 1
Chronicles 5:1; 1 Kings 1:24-53 (Grotius). They thoroughly satisfy what things
Mercerus noted. But it is fitting to add a new opinion. Since Cain was unjustly
suggesting that the sacrifice of his brother was preferred to his own, although it
was not better than his, neither pertaining to the substance offered, nor
pertaining to the the external method and ceremony of offering, thus God says,
Is it not that, whether well thou offerest, or not well (according to legal rites)
thou offerest (for that is of no importance, for) sin lies at the door; dost thou
not carry sin around perpetually, and have it in readiness? or, thy best oblations
shall be spoiled by sin. Thus God advises that here the offering itself is not to
be regarded, but the offering person. Thine appetite was not obliged to extend
to sin, but the appetite of sin to thee, like that of the woman to her husband to
whom she is subordinate, and thou art obliged to rule over it. However, the
phrase, t)'#o; by+yi t@', if thou doest well, accepted, is just like yby' +iym'
tkelf, doing well in walking, in Proverbs 30:29, Ngn'@ A b+im,' doing well on an
instrument, in Ezekiel 33:32, and elsewhere. It could also be translated,
whether what thou mightest bring is excellent, or not excellent (de Dieu), etc.
provides explanations and interpretations of words and phrases, which explanations
are often only loosely connected with the text. It draws upon Mishna, Tosefta, and
the Targums.
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Unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Those two
clauses may relate either, 1. To sin, which may he here spoken of as a person,
as it is Romans 7:8, 9, 11, etc. So the place may be rendered and expounded
thus, The desire of sin is to thee, i.e. to assault, seduce, conquer, and destroy
thee; as it is said, Luke 22:31, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift
you, etc. Or thus, its desire, objectively, not subjectively taken, i.e. thy
desire, intention, or resolution of sinning, that evil motion of thy heart against
thy brother, shall be against (as the Hebrew particle el oft signifies) thee, i.e.
howsoever at present it pleaseth thee, yet it is really not only against him, but
against thyself, and will certainly turn to thy own ruin; but (for so the particle
and is commonly taken) if thou be wise, give no place to it, but resist it, do
thou rule (for the future tense is oft put imperatively, as in the ten
commandments, and it frequently signifies not what a man can or shall do, but
his duty or what he ought to do, as is evident from Genesis 20:9;1 Malachi
1:6;2 Luke 3:143) over it, i.e. conquer and subdue it, which is thy duty; or,
thou shalt rule over it, i.e. by my grace assisting thy endeavours, thou shalt be
enabled to subdue thy evil concupiscences and passions, and so overrule,
prevent, or remove those punishments which otherwise sin will infallibly bring
upon thee. Or, 2. To Abel, and so the sense is, and (as for thy brother Abel,
to whose faith and piety I have given this public and honourable testimony,
which thy naughty heart makes an occasion of envy and malice, and intention of
murder, that thou mayst not by a mistake be led to the perpetration of so
horrid a crime, know that this favour of mine concerns only his spiritual
privilege, and the happiness of the life to come, which thou despisest; but it
makes no change in civil rights, nor doth it transfer the dominion from thee,
whose it is by birth, unto him; nor doth he so understand it; for
notwithstanding this) unto thee shall be his desire, subject, i.e. he shall and will
nevertheless yield to thee as his superior, and thou, according to thy own
heart’s desire, shalt rule over him. If it be said the name of Abel is not here
mentioned, it may be answered, that this is sufficiently included in the
pronouns his and him, and it is not unusual to put those relative pronouns
alone, the antecedent being not expressed, but to be gathered either from the
foregoing or following words; of which see on Genesis 3:1.
Verse 8: And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass,
1 Genesis 20:9b: “Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done (-)l$
w#@ o(fy", not to be done).”
2 Malachi 1:6a: “A son honoureth (db'k@ ya :, ought to honor) his father, and a servant
his master.”
3 Luke 3:14b: “And he said unto them, Do violence (diasei/shte) to no man, neither
accuse any falsely (sukofanth/shte); and be content (a)rkei=sqe) with your wages.”
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when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and
slew him (Wis. 10:3;1 Matt. 23:35; 1 John 3:12; Jude 11).
[And he talked] Words either friendly, so that he might fall upon him
unawares (Fagius); or harsh, so that he might have an occasion to rise up against
his brother (Fagius, Vatablus): here l)e is against his brother (Fagius). He
related to him all the reproofs of God to him (Ibn Ezra in Fagius, Munster).
rma)f is put absolutely2 for rbda ,F to speak, as in Psalm 4:4;3 139:204
(Piscator). Others add, let us go abroad. Thus Jonathan ben Uzziel (or, if you
do thus prefer, Pseudo-Jonathan, as Drusius calls him) and Targum Jerusalem;
similarly the Syriac, the Samaritan Text, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate. Not
without reason (Fagius). In Hebrew, there is an extraordinary pause,5 implying
a further matter (Ainsworth). I almost always find this, that, if ever the Latin
disagrees with the Hebrew, it was following either the Septuagint or one of the
rabbis. Therefore, the Vulgate edition did not arise without reason, as certain
dabblers foolishly and impudently proclaim (Fagius). Rabbi Salomon thinks
that it ought to be referred to what follows, And when he was in the field
(Munster), namely, by the instigation of Cain himself (Jerome in Lyra). The
Targum, that is, the Chaldean edition, has this spoken by Cain: There is no
Judge; there is no judgment, nor a future age; there is no just recompense, nor
punishment for the wicked; the world was not founded upon compassion, nor
is it governed by compassion, for he accepts thine oblation, and not mine
(Fagius, Drusius).
Cain talked with Abel, either, 1. Familiarly and friendly, as he used to
do, thereby to make him secure and careless; or by way of expostulation and
contention; in the field, into which Abel was led, either by his own
employment, or, 2. By Cain’s persuasion; this being a fit place for the
execution of his wicked purpose.
[He rose up] Among the Hebrews, one is said to rise up who prepares
himself for a work, and who rises up against someone (Fagius). So it is in
Deuteronomy 33:11 and Psalm 3:1 (Piscator).
[He slew] He did not suffocate him, as the voice of blood confirms
(Menochius); neither with a jawbone, as painters imagine (Tirinus); but with a
1 Wisdom of Solomon 10:3: “But when the unrighteous went away from Wisdom in
his anger, he perished also in the fury wherewith he murdered his brother.”
2 It is related that Cain spoke, but not the content of his speech.
3 Psalm 4:4: “Stand in awe, and sin not: commune (wr@ m;)i/speak) with your own
heart upon your bed, and be still.”
4 Psalm 139:20: “For they speak against thee (K1w@rm;yO) wickedly, and thine enemies
take thy name in vain.”
5 There is an Atnah, a strong disjunctive accent, beneath wyxi),f his brother, separating
it from what follows.
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stone or weapon (Tigurinus, Menochius). He drove a stone into his forehead,
says Targum Jonathan. With a rustic furca, which he was wont to bear in
accordance with custom (Tirinus). It is not needful to labor over this question,
by what instrument he did this, since Cain had already given himself to
agriculture, which could not be done without iron tools (Malvenda on verse
22). It appears that he was killed in the one hundred and twenty-ninth year of
age, the one hundred and thirtieth year of the world. For Cajetan, Pererius,
Torniellus, and others deduce from the Scriptures that he was born in the
second year of the world and murdered in the same year in which Seth was
born (Tirinus).
Slew him, possibly with stone or club, or with some iron tool
belonging to husbandry.
Verse 9: And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother
(Ps. 9:12)? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper (John 8:44)?
[Where is thy brother] Not that he was ignorant, but so that perhaps
Cain might come to his senses again and say, I have killed, and I have sinned;
and thus find mercy (Hebrews in Fagius). Indeed, God does not desire man to
perish. But because he impudently denies, does not come to his senses again in
time, he is driven to desperation. In time, therefore, one ought to desist from
evil (Fagius).
Where is Abel? Not that God was ignorant where he was, but partly to
convince him of his sin, and to lead him to repentance, and partly to instruct
judges to inquire into causes, and hear the accused speak for themselves, before
they pass sentence.
[Brother] He points out both the justice of the inquiry and the
heinousness of the sin (Piscator).
Thy brother, whom nature and near relation obliged thee to love and
preserve.
[Am I the keeper] That is, paidagwgo/j/servant-attendant
(Menochius, Grotius). Thus, Horace: a beardless youth with his keeper
removed.1 It is spoken with indignation, even as if mocking God (Menochius,
Fagius). The Hebrews say that Cain, because he denied his sin, sinned twofold.
And he appeared (say they) as one who denies the providence of God (Fagius).
But he was his keeper by the law of nature (Lyra).
Am I my brother’s keeper? Why dost thou inquire of me concerning
him who is of age to look to himself? Is he such a stripling that he needs a
guardian? Or didst thou ever make me his guardian?
Verse 10: And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy
1 Ars Pœtica 161.
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brother’s blood (Heb. bloods) crieth unto me from the ground (Heb. 12:24;
Rev. 6:10).
[What hast thou done?] That thou hast despised mine admonition, that
thou shrinkest not from the penalty which I have threatened; neither didst thou
honor thy brother, nor did he hurt thee; that thou concealest the matter, as if I
Myself would not know (Fagius).
[The voice of blood] Let me be stirred unto punishment by the
complaint, so to speak, of blood. See Habakkuk 2:12 and Ezekiel 24:9
(Castalio). The shed blood testifies that thou hast killed him. This is a
consolation to the pious, who are killed because of righteousness, that they yet
live in the presence of God and are very dear to Him (Fagius). Hebrew:
bloods,1 which usually signifies homicide (Ainsworth). It is plural, either for
greater emphasis, and to instill the horror of homicide (Lapide); or because of
the abundance of shed blood (Oleaster). In slaughter, blood, issuing forth from
this place and that place, flies in various directions (Piscator). Or because he
was guilty of the blood, not only of Abel, but also of all whom he would have
begotten had he lived (Lyra). [Hence, Targum Jerusalem reads, the blood of
generations (Onkelos, of families, Targum Jerusalem, of just men) to be born
of Abel.] It alludes to this because the voice of bloods signifies natural
generation, John 1:13 (Ainsworth).
[Cries] It hides not from me, as you were imagining (Fagius, Lyra).
I hear thy words, but what say thy actions? What a hideous crime hast
thou committed! In vain dost thou endeavour to hide it or deny it. In the
Hebrew it is bloods, either to aggravate the crime, or to show the plenty of the
blood split, or to charge him with the murder of all those that might naturally
have come out of Abel’s loins; which was a far greater crime in the nonage of
the world, when the world greatly wanted people.
From the ground, upon which it was spilt by thy bloody hands.
Verse 11: And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened
her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand.
[Thou art cursed more than2 the earth] From the earth (Oleaster,
Malvenda), from the direction of the earth, with respect to the earth (Fagius,
Vatablus). That is to say, The earth itself shall testify that thou art cursed
(Fagius). He relates how the earth was cursed; it shall not yield its strength to
thee: even the best cultivated ground will respond scantily to thy wishes
(Fagius, Vatablus, Menochius); more thoroughly cursed than it was before
(Menochius). To Adam He had said, Cursed is the earth on account of thee; to
1 Hebrew: ymd' .:@
2 Genesis 4:11a: “And now art thou cursed from (Nm,i more than, or with regard to)
the earth . . .”
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Cain He says, Thou art cursed from the earth. The latter punishment is far
greater than the former: there the earth is cursed, related to man; here Cain is
cursed from the earth (Cajetan). Or rather there is an ellipsis of an exile, and
so it should read: Cursed, thou shalt be an exile from this ground, etc.
(Glassius’ “Grammar” 700); all shall curse thee on account of the murder
(Lyra).
[Cursed is the earth which opened, etc.] The sense is, it was obliged to
devour thee, the murderer (Munster). The soil, which thou didst pollute with
blood, will detest thee henceforth. It magnifies the sin of Cain; that is to say,
the earth exhibited itself to be more humane towards thy brother than thou,
because it received the blood, which thou didst shed, into its bosom (Piscator).
As the earth was cursed for thy father’s sake, so now art thou cursed in
thy own person; from the earth, or, in regard of the earth, which shall grudge
thee both its fruits and a certain dwelling-place, and which had more humanity
to thy brother than thou hadst; for it kindly received and covered that blood
which thou didst cruelly and unnaturally shed upon it.
Verse 12: When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield
unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
Or, that ground,1 which doth or shall fall to thy share, besides the first
and general curse inflicted upon the whole earth, shall have this peculiar curse
added to it, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength, i.e. its virtue
and fruit, in such proportion as it hath hitherto done.
[Wandering and fugitive (Montanus, Pagnine, Tigurinus), dnwF F (nF]
The punishment of murderers is exile, says Nahmanides. The words signify the
same thing, but they think that dnF is more emphatic than (nF. Others translate
dnF, thou shalt be mournful, always mourning the murder of thy brother
(Fagius). The Greeks render it, saleuo/menoj/agitated, kai\
a)kata/statoj, unstable and of an unsettled habitation (Drusius). The
Septuagint translators have grieving and trembling (thus the word signifies in
Isaiah 7:22 [Ainsworth]), signifying that Cain was dismayed in spirit and
trembling in body (Menochius). This disquiet is to be attributed to the
conscience (Fagius, Menochius in Lyra): thou shalt be odious to all and safe
nowhere (Lyra). Thou shalt be trembling, or agitated, namely, on the inside,
that is, fearful and wandering, or moved, on the outside; from this place, from
that place, thou shalt wander (Oleaster). Thou shalt be in hiding and concealed
1 Hebrew: hmdf )F jh.f Note the presence of the article.
2 Isaiah 7:2: “And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with
Ephraim. And his heart was moved ((nAywF% A/shook), and the heart of his people, as are
moved ((AwOnk@;/shake) the trees of the wood with the wind.”
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(Samaritan Version); trembling and staggering (Syriac); troubled and fugitive
(Arabic); moving and wandering, or harassed with agitations (Malvenda).
A vagabond shalt thou be, banished from thy own land and kindred,
and father’s house, and from the whole society of the faithful, and wandering
hither and thither. Others render the words mourning and trembling; or,
trembling and wandering. These two words note both the unquietness and
horror of his mind and conscience, and the unsettledness of his habitation and
condition, and, as some add, the trembling of his body.
Verse 13: And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater
than I can bear (or, Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven).
[Greater, etc., )#onm:@ i ynIwO(j lwdO gF] Mine iniquity is greater than that
it may be forgiven me, or dismissed (Munster, Fagius, Chaldean, Syriac,
Arabic, Pagnine, Tigurinus), or, than that I may win pardon (Vulgate), that is,
than that I may procure (Menochius); than that He might spare, understanding
God as the subject and me as the object1 (Vatablus, Montanus); or, greater than
to bear it, that is, than that God could bear it (Menochius). Thus learned
Catholics explain it with respect to desperation (Lyra). It is an expression of
desperation, not of penitence (Fagius). This is a bold confession of sin, but it is
unprofitable, because constrained and ill timed. The Hebrews say: When the
time has passed, the oblation is unprofitable. And rightly they advise: Come to
thy senses within one day before thy death, that is, in time. Observe how Cain
was obstinate and defiant at first toward the promises and warnings of God,
despising the counsel of God and denying his sin; just now, when his sin is
disclosed, he perceives the judgment of God, an angry judgment, and he
disgracefully faints and despairs (Fagius). The Hebrews explain it
interrogatively and negatively; that is to say: Is my sin so great that I might not
merit pardon? Thus he intimates that God punishes him beyond what is fitting
(Lyra). Others explain this with respect to punishment (NwO(/j sin is sometimes
taken for the punishment of sin [Fagius]): My punishment is greater than that I
may bear (thus Ibn Ezra in Fagius, Oleaster, Piscator, Junius, Ainsworth). This
is clear from the following, Behold, thou drivest me, etc. (Oleaster).
Heb. My sin; but sin seems here to be put for punishment, as before,
Genesis 4:7; 19:15; Leviticus 5:1; Psalm 69:27; Proverbs 12:21; for Cain was
not so sensible of his sin as of the ill effects of it, as himself shows, Genesis
4:14.
Verse 14: Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of
1 The subject and object of the infinitive, )w#O no :@m,i than to bear, must be determined
from context.
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the earth (Job 15:20-24); and from thy face shall I be hid (Ps. 51:11); 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 (Num. 35:19, 21, 27).
[Thou drivest out, etc., t@#f $;rgA "] This denotes expulsion with
ignominy, which sort an adultress sustains from her husband (Fagius). Hebrew:
Thou hast driven me.1 What things are soon and certainly future are often
delivered in the past tense (Hebrews in Fagius). That is to say, I despair with
good cause, when I see that thou castest away the care of me (Menochius).
[From the face of the earth] Of this land, namely, from the ancestral
land, where the assembly of the Church is (Fagius); where I was able delight in
the fellowship of fathers and brothers (Bonfrerius): from my fatherland
(Oleaster, Piscator), most pleasant and fertile; even in fact from the whole
earth, as long as thou allowest me to remain nowhere (Tirinus out of Lapide).
Or the earth is taken in the place of men; that is to say, Thou makest me odious
to men, that they might not think me worthy to look upon, and that I dare not
to visit them (Menochius).
[From thy face shall I be hid] That is, from the place where God was
especially demonstrating His grace and power (Hebrews in Fagius). That is to
say, I will not sense the grace and favor of God; I will have God as angry, a
trembling conscience (Fagius). The sense (even the hiding) can be twofold. 1.
Partly of God, Thou concealest thy face from me (Bonfrerius); I am left
without thy favor, care, and tutelage (Menochius). 2. Partly of Cain, which I
rather approve, I will hide myself, etc. Always fearful, I will seek hiding places
(Bonfrerius): I will shrink from the presence of the angry Judge, and I will flee
(Lapide, Menochius).
[And I shall be wandering, etc.] I shall not appear after this in thy sight
offering anything (Fagius, Vatablus).
[And every one that findeth me shall slay me] Some take this of men
(Oleaster, Piscator, Bonfrerius), either born (from this place we gather the
human race had already multiplied [Oleaster]), or about to be born (Piscator).
That it is spoken of men, and not of wild beasts, is apparent from the vengeance
denounced against his slayer, and from the sign, placed upon him so that men
might be warned (Piscator). Others understand it of men and of wild beasts
(Lyra). Thus he speaks as if the attacker would be preserved by God. Others
explain it with the contrary sense, as if he had desired to die, so that such great
misery might be terminated. That is to say, Let every one, therefore, etc., kill
me. And this appears to be in harmony with what follows, not, or by no
means, shall it happen in this way, but, etc. (Lyra). [In this way Lightfoot also
1 t#@f r$; Ag" is in the perfect tense.
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takes hyFhwf ,: 1 Now, therefore, let it be thus.]
[He shall slay me] He fears neither the anger of God, nor the death of
the soul, but he dreads only the loss of this life and body (Menochius). He
perceives every creature to be an adversary (Fagius). He speaks from that
precept of nature: ei1 ke pa&qoi ta& k 0 er1 ece, di/kh k 0 iq0 eia= ge/noito, It is
equitable that every one should suffer what he has done. See what things we
have in Concerning the Law of War and Peace 1, 2, 5 (Grotius). In the
writings of the ancient Romans, anyone could kill without punishment on
account of any cursed sin admitted: Dionysius Halicarnassensis,2 Of Roman
Antiquities3 2. See Sophocles’ Oedipus (Ainsworth). Let us learn that, 1.
Evils in the Church are not to be permitted: 2. Whoever is located outside of
the Church is in the midst of great dangers (Fagius).
Consider how severely thou usest me; thou hast driven me out, with
public infamy, as the word signifies, from the face of the earth, or, this earth,
my native land, and from thy face, i.e. favour and protection, as the public
enemy of mankind, and as one devoted by thee to destruction. Question.
Whom did Cain fear, when it appears not that there were any but his father and
mother? Answer. So ignorant people conceive; but it is a fond conceit to think
that there were no more men than are expressed in this book, where God
never intended to give a catalogue of all men, but only of the church, or those
who had some relation to or concern with it. Nay, that there were very many
thousands of men now in being, is very credible upon these rational grounds
and suppositions. 1. That Adam and Eve did, according to God’s precept and
blessing, Genesis 1:26, procreate children presently after the fall, and God’s
gracious reconcilement to them; and consequently their children did so, when
they came to competent age. 2. That those first men and women were
endowed by God with extraordinary fruitfulness, and might have two, three,
four, or more at a time, (as divers persons long after had), which was then
expedient for the replenishing of the world; and the like may be judged of their
children during the world’s infancy. 3. That this murder was committed but a
little before the hundred and thirtieth year of Adam’s age, which appears by
comparing Genesis 4:25 and 5:3. Before which time, how vast and numerous
an offspring might have come from Adam, none can be ignorant that can and
shall make a rational computation.
Verse 15: And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth
Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold (Ps. 79:12). And the LORD
1 Genesis 4:14b: “And it shall come to pass (hyFhwf :, let it be thus), that every one that
findeth me shall slay me.”
2 Dionysius Halicarnassensis (c. 60- c. 7 BC) was a Greek historian and rhetorician.
3 Antiquitatum Romanarum.
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set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him (Ezek. 9:4, 6).
[By no means, Nk'lf1] It is expounded in a variety of ways: Some
render it in this way, It shall not be so (Septuagint, Theodotion, Symmachus in
Drusius), as if it were from Nk@' )$l, not thus. They maintain that it is spoken
through aposiopesis;2 that is to say, It shall not be thus as thou thinkest, thou
shalt not soon die, but, etc. No one shall slay thee with impunity (Fagius).
Others translate it, therefore (as if constructed from a servile l, according to,
and Nk@'/thus [Fagius]) (thus the Samaritan Text, Oleaster, Montanus, Pagnine,
Onkelos, Ainsworth, Piscator, Junius and Tremellius, Arabic in de Dieu,
Aquila in Drusius, Fagius). It is plain that the l in this word in most cases
means because, and indeed is translated therefore; verbatim, because this is so.
But it is certain that many passages are given where this signification does not
square. But neither does it quite fit (for this passage), because no cause
precedes, whence one could infer that Cain was to be avenged sevenfold, if
anyone should kill him (de Dieu on John 7:22). Therefore, namely, so that
thou mightest see how greatly I detest murder (Piscator). Others render it,
surely, certainly (Piscator, Fagius), as in Jeremiah 2:33;3 5:2;4 Hosea 2:14;5
Zechariah 11:7,6 so that it would be the same as Nk')f (de Dieu). Indeed
(Fagius). In truth, certainly (Vatablus). I take the l for concerning, which is
common; as in Genesis 20:13, say yl,i concerning me, and in Psalm 91:11, He
shall charge K1l,; concerning thee. Thus I explain Nkl' f as Nk' rw@b(bj a,@
concerning things as such, that is, concerning this matter; whatever pertains
unto this matter. So l not rarely means as to, which Drusius shows, citing
among others Psalm 17:4, ~wgw twOl(@ upl; ,i as to the works of man, by the
words of Thy lips I have kept, etc. Therefore, while, in Genesis 4, despairing
Cain was bewailing that he would not be safe anywhere, God in a certain
1 Genesis 4:15a: “And the Lord said unto him, Therefore (Nkl' )f whosoever slayeth
Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”
2 Aposiopesis involves a sudden breaking off of speech.
3 Jeremiah 2:33: “Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore (Nk'l/f surely)
hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways.”
4 Jeremiah 5:2: “And though they say, The Lord liveth; surely (Nk'lf) they swear
falsely.”
5 Hosea 2:13-14: “And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned
incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she
went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord. Therefore (Nk'lf/surely), behold, I
will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.”
6 Zechariah 11:7: “And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even (Nk'lf) you, O poor of
the flock.”
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measure consoles him, saying, Nkl' f, as to this, if any man should kill Cain, he
shall be punished sevenfold, etc. (de Dieu on John 7:22).
Therefore; or, assuredly, as the word signifies, Jeremiah 2:33; 5:2;
Zechariah 11:17; that thou mayst see how I hate murder, and how impartially I
shall punish all murderers; and that thou mayst be unhappily free from this fear,
that thou mayst live for an example to mankind, for a terror to thyself and
others.
[He shall be punished sevenfold, Mq@yf U MytI (a bf ;#$i] In seven ways: that
is, he shall suffer many, most weighty punishments (a definite number in the
place of an indefinite [Piscator, Ainsworth, Menochius]; and Scripture uses
seven in the place of many, as in Job 5:19; Psalm 12:6; Proverbs 26:25
[Ainsworth], because all the days of the world are divided into hebdomads
[Hebrews in Fagius]), whoever kills Cain (Fagius out of Kimchi, Gerundensis in
Munster, Vatablus, Tirinus). Now, he was to be punished most sorely, either
because he was not deterred by the example of Cain (Menochius, Tirinus); or
because he was rebellious against the precept of God concerning not
murdering, which precept was so gravely and so earnestly repeated (Tirinus).
Moreover, God desired that Cain survive for a long time, first so that he might
be an example and terror to others (Fagius, Menochius, Tirinus), then, for the
punishment of his crime (Estius, Menochius, Tirinus), so that he might have
both life for his punishment and death for his consolation (Menochius). The old
Hebrews explain it otherwise: In the seventh generation, Cain will be
summoned for retribution: And they say that in the seventh generation Cain
was killed by the spear of Lamech. Onkelos was following them, says Fagius.
But wrongly do the Hebrew receive this, says Louis de Dieu. For he maintains
that the retribution of Cain (namely, upon the slayer of Cain) was continuing
through seven generations (de Dieu). Observe that it is not permitted to a
private individual to kill a murderer (Fagius). It may be asked: with what
ought the word Mqyf@ ,U he shall be avenged, to be connected, with gr"ho, the
killer, or with NyqI a/Cain? A great many interpreters embrace the former.
Nevertheless, it is plain that it pertains to NyqI a/Cain from verse 24, If Cain shall
be avenged, etc. But, you will say, in this way the construction will not agree
with itself, for the nominative subject, NyqI a grh" o lk,o@ whosoever slayeth
Cain, will not be taking the verb, shall be avenged. This certainly entangles the
learned men, yet not with a sufficiently just cause. The Hebrews are
accustomed to use the participle with the preceding noun to form an absolute
clause, like the ablative absolute in Latin.1 So it is in 1 Samuel 2:13, #$y)i lk@f
1 An absolute clause is a subordinate clause, used to describe the circumstances of the
main clause. It is called “absolute” because its subject is not the subject of the main
clause; it stands apart in this sense. In Latin, the absolute clause is formed with a
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xba 'wzO , with every man sacrificing, that is, if any man should sacrifice. Thus 2
Samuel 19:7, )c'wOy K1n:y),i with thee not going out, that is, if thou shalt not
go out. Thus 2 Kings 7:2.1 So it is in this place: with anyone killing Cain, that
is, if anyone should kill Cain, sevenfold shall he be avenged, namely, Cain. The
sense is not that the slayer is to be punished in a sevenfold way. A punishment
in kind is undoubtedly understood. It may be objected he could be killed only
one time, not seven times. But the sense is that Cain is to be avenged
sevenfold, that is, through seven generations, namely, in the posterity of the
slayer. I take Onkelos in this way. You will see the word Mqna ,F to avenge, in
the passive applied everywhere to the person who receives injury (or on behalf
of whom vengeance is exacted), not to the person who inflicted injury (or from
whom vengeance is exacted). Here, God sets forth to Cain, not a threat, but
consolation (de Dieu). The word Mqah@ u, to avenge, is used both concerning
him for whose sake another is punished, as in verse 24; Exodus 21:20, 21; 1
Samuel 24:12, and concerning him who is punished for the sake of another, as
in Joshua 10:13. Thus it is taken in this passage: Sevenfold let him be avenged,
or he shall be avenged (Piscator), understanding Cain as the subject
(Malvenda); that is, the slayer of Cain shall be punished most severely, for the
avenging of Cain (Piscator, Malvenda).
Sevenfold, i.e. abundantly; he shall be plagued with many and grievous
punishments, as the phrase is used, Leviticus 26:28; Psalm 12:6; 79:12, and in
many other places.
[He set a mark] Rabbi Salomon sets forth that the letter of a name
(either of Jehovah, or of Cain) was engraved on his forehead (Fagius): or his
appearance was grim and fierce; or mania, or a terrible shaking of all his
members (especially of his head), with confusion of face, as the Fathers
commonly thought (Bonfrerius). A trembling of body and of mind. Which
they infer from the words wandering and fugitive, which the Septuagint
translators have rendered sighing and shaking upon the earth (Fagius, Estius).
Some maintain that this sign was temporary, other permanent. God desired
both that this criminal would be recognized, and that the others would avoid his
example. At the same time, God makes His benevolence toward the cursed
known (Fagius).
[So that everyone might not kill him, twOkh@ a yti@l;bli ]; So that one
noun and participle in the ablative case. It is being here asserted that Hebrew can
form an absolute clause with a noun and participle, the subject of the participle not
being the subject of the main clause.
1 2 Kings 7:2: “Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God,
and said, Behold, if the Lord (hwhOF y:, subject differing from the main clause) would
make (h#eo(o, participle) windows in heaven, might this thing be?”
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might not strike (Oleaster, Malvenda), much less kill him (Oleaster). But to
strike is put in the place of to kill. Hence, in the place of he struck, in 2 Kings
14:5,1 is he killed, in 2 Chronicles 25:3.2 Clearly it is thus used in the
expression, to strike the soul, as it is in Genesis 37:213 (Ainsworth).
A mark upon Cain. What this was, whether a trembling of his body,
or a ghastliness of his countenance, or what other visible token of the Divine
displeasure, God hath not revealed, nor doth it concern us to know.
Verse 16: And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD (2
Kings 13:23; 24:20; Jer. 23:39; 52:3), and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the
east of Eden.
[And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, hwFhO y: yn"p;l@mi i] This
word has two subordinate letters, a m of separation (as they say) and l of being
near. Verbatim it is, from near His face, or from near His presence, that is,
from the place of the divine presence, that is to say, from the place of the
assembled Church. It is the going out (says Helias Orientalis) of him who goes
out from a place enclosed and secured. The Church is such a place, against
which the gates of hell shall not prevail (Fagius).
[And He dwelt as a fugitive in the land, dwOn] Some take dwOn
appellatively and translate it, fugitive (Vulgate), wandering and movable
(Chaldean in Munster, Fagius), fluctuating, unstable, and of an inconstant
habitation (Jerome in Nobilius, Nahmanides). Not as if he would wander in the
whole world; but that in this very land he would continuously change residence
to and fro, and would have no rest in any place; from which also the land was
called dwnO /Nod. Others say that, wherever he might go, the land trembled;
with this observed, men said, Flee; this is that bloodthirsty murderer who
killed his own brother (Fagius). In the land of refuge, that is, where there was
refuge for fugitives (Vatablus): in the land of agitation, wandering, escape,
exile (certain interpreters in Vatablus). Others take dwOn/Nod for the proper
name of the place (Munster, Vatablus, Montanus, Septuagint, Syriac, Josephus,
Malvenda, Piscator, Oleaster). The place was thus named after the refuge of
Cain (Munster). It is an historical prolepsis4 (Piscator). This is acceptable to
1 2 Kings 14:5: “And it came to pass, as soon as the kingdom was confirmed in his
hand, that he struck (K7ywA% A) his servants which had slain the king his father.”
2 2 Chronicles 25:3: “Now it came to pass, when the kingdom was established to him,
that he slew (grohyj %Aw)A his servants that had killed the king his father.”
3 Genesis 37:21: “And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and
said, Let us not kill him (#$pne F w@nk@ e@nA, strike his soul).”
4 Although the name, dwnO /Nod, is mentioned here, it is not actually given to the place
until later, after Cain removed to that place to wander.
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me, for toward the east follows. The Targum of the Complutensian edition
supports this (Fagius).
[Toward the east of Eden, NdE(' tmad:qi] Before tmda q: /i East, either
a b/@ in, or a l/toward, or a m/from, is missing, as in Genesis 2:81 (Piscator).
This is not without mystery. It was a type, that Christ was going to arise from
the east, that is, from the highest throne of heaven, as a refuge for murderers,
that is, for sinners, who is the dayspring from on high, Luke 1:78.
Furthermore, the cities of refuge for murderers were for this reason in the east
(Fagius).
[Eden] For punishment, so that thereupon he might have an occasion
of grief; for his father was banished from that place, and he himself was not
approach to approach unto that place (Lyra). In front of Eden (Estius). This
was done after God changed his perpetual flight into a sedentary exile, but with
harsher places appointed to him, such as the Arabian desert, where the first of
all men is said by Josephus to have begun to engage in brigandage (Grotius).
[This history of Moses concerning Cain and Abel the learned man exhibits with
derision, and with these machinations (although pretending that he is doing
something else) he attempts to undermine it:] Cain, he says, was a farmer;
Abel was a shepherd of sheep. Whoever asserts these things supposes many
trades and innumerable craftsmen. But if there were at that time no craftsmen
besides Cain, then Cain was certainly the rashest of men. Therefore, he alone
digs the iron mines for himself, kindles the furnaces, etc., builds mills, etc.,
and he alone was plowman, reaper, and miller. Well then, Cain alone
exercises these arts, for which nearly innumberable servants and craftsmen
were needed, which arts could be discovered only through long experience.
Additionally, it is written that Abel was a shepherd of sheep. Therefore, he
was watching over them. But why? What robbers were there to fear, besides
father, mother, and brother, if there were no other men in the earth?
Afterwards he proceeds in this way: Why is it that Cain would kill his brother
in the field? namely, that was in accordance with the custom of brigands,
cautiously, lest he be discovered by some witness. From what brigands did he
receive a sword? Of whom was Cain afraid, when he said, Every one who finds
me shall kill me? No others are mentioned, either as created or born except
Adam, Eve, and Cain. He asserts these things; from which he gathers that there
were other men before Adam, and that he was the father of the Jews only. [To
whom Maresius2 responds with what things follow, In Refutation of the Fable
of the Preadamites.3] 1. These same arguments will serve against the
1 Genesis 2:8a: “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward (MdEq@emi) in Eden.”
2 Maresius, or Samuel Desmarets (1599-1673), was a French Protestant minister and
polemist.
3 In Refutatione Fabulæ Præadamiticæ.
269
Preadamites as thy most ancient men, by whom both agriculture and
shepherding were obliged to have been begun for the first time. As the
generations of men, so also the generations of the arts were distinct, not
perfected in the first inventor. Either, therefore, thou wilt understand that
these arts, just as they are now, thus were practiced always, which Aristotle
himself has certainly said; since they obtain something of perfection even day by
day: or thou wilt concede that the beginning of agriculture in Adam and Cain
was yet rude. Indeed, so many helps were not needed; for at that time the
weather was fairer and the strength of the primeval blessing, applied to the
earth, was not yet exhausted; therefore, agriculture was easier. 2. Adam as
yet retained many rudiments of the primeval wisdom, whence he was easily
able to teach Cain the crafting and use of tools: likewise Abel the secrets of
shepherding. 3. Why could not the first agriculture proceed without iron,
either with the claws of axe wielding crabs (concerning which see Bochart’s
Sacred Geography “Phœnicia” 1:4) or sharpened flints supplying his lot, which
flints in a similar manner most peoples employ even today, and by which many
maintain that circumcision was performed, Exodus 4:25 and Joshua 5:3. [See
our Collectanea on these passages.] 4. Not all keeping of sheep is aimed
against thieves. For they must be kept against wild animals. Objection: From
these, Abel had more to fear than the sheep. Response: 1. Neither Moses nor
David was safer than Abel from these in the desert, through which they were
leading their flocks. 2. So that they might not stray from the sheepfold. 5. It
is incorrectly denied that already at this time many men existed. And for the
elucidation of this controversy, we suppose a few things, concerning the truth
of which no sound reasoning will hesitate. 1. We suppose that Adam and Eve
gave attention to childbearing and were made parents in the very first year of
the creation. Immediately after their sin it is said that he knew his wife,
Genesis 4:1. 2. It is highly probable that with any birth twins were brought
forth by Eve, which was almost ordinary among more fertile peoples, and God
was concurring with a special blessing to those through whom the human race
was to be multiplied. In general, the Jews, Muslims, and Christians understand
the same, as Selden1 relates in Concerning the Law of Nature and of the
Nations2 5:8. It is indubitable that the children of Adam, even as soon as they
were come into maturity, gave attention to childbearing, and that on account of
that oracle, Be fruitful and multiply. Objection: But Moses, Genesis 5,
attributes to none of the Partriarchs the procreation of children, except after
the seventieth, ninetieth, hundredth year. Response: It is plausible that they
1 John Selden (1584-1654) was one of the most learned men of his age. His mastery
of Rabbinic literature was profound. He sat as a lay member of the Westminster
Assembly and was perhaps the Assembly’s most powerful proponent of Erastianism.
2 De Jure Naturali et Gentium juxta Disciplinam Ebræorum.
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only are enumerated by Moses of whom, by a direct lineage, Abraham, the
founder of Moses’ people, had descended (Augustine’s The City of God1
15:15). 6. It is to be observed that the murder of Abel did not happen before
the one hundred and twenty-ninth year of Adam: For it was after many days,
Genesis 4:3, namely, many days since Cain had been made a farmer, and Abel a
shepherd of sheep. And Seth (whom Eve says that she had obtained in the place
of Abel, and whom it is quite fitting was born with the recent wound of the
fratricide inflicted upon his mother) was born in the one hundred and thirtieth
year of Adam, Genesis 5:3. It is not, however, likely that Adam and Eve begat
no children for the space of one hundred and twenty years after the births of
Cain and Abel. 7. We suppose that Cain and Abel were already for a long time
married and heads of household; if indeed Cain was already one hundred and
twenty-nine years old, Abel nearly one hundred and twenty-eight. For they
had their own estates apart from their father, Cain fields, Abel flocks; and they
left their parents, cleaving to their wives, in conformity with Genesis 2:24. 8.
Therefore, it is possible that in that space there were, not hundreds, but ten
thousands, of men. In the thirtieth year of the world, more than ten families
from Adam and Eve could have been brought forth and constituted, which how
greatly they would have been able to be multiplied in the space of a hundred
years in that fertility of youthful nature, during which no death was seen before
the murder of Abel, arithmetic will easily demonstrate. And from seventy
persons in the family of Jacob, in the space of two hundred and ten years, six
hundred thousand armed men were born; and unless death had cut off many
from them, that number could have easily been tripled. [See what things we
have on Exodus 1.] There is thus far no reason why he should anxiously
inquire, for whose use and support, etc., Cain and Abel might do these things,
or just who it was by whom Cain was frightened lest they should kill him, or
with what architects and workmen Cain erected that city. 9. It is not said that
Cain killed his brother with a sword; neither was it needful, since his fury
would supply the arms. Moreover, Cain was able to furnish a weapon for
himself for this purpose by the same art by which he already had acquired
mattocks and hoes for himself for agricultural purposes. 10. He said that no
others are named in this passage; he answers himself, to whom belong these
words: It is denied that it follows that there were no men before Adam,
because none before Adam are mentioned by name in Genesis, neither that all
things ought to be denied which Genesis suppresses. These things are found in
Maresius’ In Refutation of the Fable of the Preadamites 3.
He was banished from the place of God’s special presence and
habitation, from the society of his father, and of the only church which God had
upon earth; and dwelt in the land of Nod, in the land which was afterwards
1 De Civitate Dei.
271
called Nod, from Cain’s unsettled condition, because he continued wandering
hither and thither in it.
Verse 17: And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch
(Heb. Chanoch): and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after
the name of his son, Enoch (Ps. 49:11).
[Now Cain knew] It is the manner of Scripture to describe first the
impious, then the elect. And in this passage, Moses neatly glances over the
pursuits of the men of the world, with respect to their children, arts, cities,
tools, lusts (Fagius). This genealogy is ennumerated, not because of the seven
generations in which Cain was punished (as the Hebrews allege), but so that we
might see how his worldly sons were eminent at first(Fagius on verse 18), and
so that it might reach unto Lamech (Lyra).
[His wife] Who also was his sister (Grotius, Munster on verse 16). In
the beginning of the world it was necessary for sisters to marry their brothers
(Lapide, Menochius).
[She bare K7wnO x]j He was thus called because he was immersed in the
ancestral customs to a remarkable degree1 (Fagius).
Cain knew his wife; of which phrase see on Genesis 4:1.
[He built] Hebrew: He was building.2 In this way, the Hebrews
maintain that trouble is indicated (Fagius). He built this because of a fear of
wild animals (Menochius); for his own defense, because he was always in fear
and trembling (Lyra). Thus he betrayed his worldly affections, otherwise than
Abraham, Hebrews 11:10 (Ainsworth).
He built a city; partly to divert his troubled mind with business and
pleasure, and partly for his own security against the enemies and evils which his
guilty conscience made him fear, notwithstanding the assurance which God had
given him. And this he did as soon as he was in capacity for it, either by the
increase of his own posterity, or by the accession of other degenerate sons of
Adam to him, who either being banished, or having departed from the church,
willingly associated themselves with their brethren in iniquity.
[He called it Enoch] Not Cain, because his own name was detested by
all (Menochius).
After the name of his son, Enoch; not after his own name, which he
knew to be infamous and hateful.
Verse 18: And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael:
and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech (Heb. Lemech).
1 The root of K7wOnxj appears to be K7nAxf, which means to train up.
2 Hebrew: hnbE o yhyi w: .A
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[Enoch begat Irad, drFy(-i t)e K7wOnxlj a dl'wyF@ I%w]A This is a pleonastic
ellipsis; that is to say, And a son was born to Enoch, who of course begat Irad1
(Piscator).
[Irad dlay/F begat Mehujael] Henceforth the verb dlya F in the Qal
appears to be attributed to the man: thus Psalm 2:7; so it is in the Ethiopic of
Acts 7:8, dlw, he begat, Isaac (de Dieu).
[l)'ywF x@ m/; Mehujael] It signifies, he who is blotted out by God; from
l)/' God and hxmf f, which is to clean away dust or dirt with water. And from
this (and from the name Methusael2) the Hebrew gather that before the general
flood there was another, by which a third part of mankind was consumed. That
is to say, Man has become unclean dust and dirt on account of sins; but I shall
wipe him away with waters (Fagius).
Verse 19: And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one
was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
[He took two wives] He himself took for himself,3 ignoring the desire
of his parents (Piscator). He is the first to violate the law set forth in Genesis
2:24 (Lyra, Menochius). After the flood, when life was shorter, and Noah
alone was left with his family, lest men should propagate exceedingly slowly,
God made allowances for polygamy, as with Abraham, Isaac, etc. Christ
removed it again (Menochius, Lapide). But Lamech had a plurality of wives at
the same time without a divine dispensation. Furthermore, some interpreters
note that the word My#n$i F/wives is made from My#i$n)F j, with the head letter )
removed, because the woman ought not to be the head. Others: from h#$fn,F
that is, forgetful/oblivious, either because they are less vigorous with respect to
memory than man, or because in them the ancestral family was sent into
oblivion (Malvenda).
[Adah and Zillah] They suggest that it was the custom in that time that
whoever had two wives would make use of the one for the begetting of childen,
the other for the pleasure of the flesh. The former was Adah,4 as if separated
or widowed, because with her, after she was pregnant, he would have no
intercourse. The latter was Zillah, from lc'/shadow, for under the shadow of
1 dlya F in the Niphal, as it is here, is translated in the passive voice, he was born. This
son was born K7wOnxjla, to Enoch. The difficulty arises with the name of the child, Irad,
taking the accusative marker, t)e. The sense seems to require the reader to supply the
words, who begat.
2 It appears that l)#' $wf @tm/; Methusael is being related to the verbal root tw@m, to die.
3 Lamech took wOl, to or for himself.
4 It appears as if the name hdF(f is being here derived from the verb, hdF(f, to pass by.
273
her husband, or under his power, she would always be; for which reason she
was greatly adorned, and, lest she should become pregnant, she would drink
the cup of sterility (Fagius). Adah signifies ornament;1 Zillah, her shadow
(Ainsworth).
Lamech, the wicked branch of that cursed root of Cain, took unto him
two wives, against God’s first institution, Genesis 2:24; Malachi 2:15, and
without God’s leave.
Verse 20: And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in
tents, and of such as have cattle.
[The father] It is taken in the place of author, founder, and inventor
(Fagius, Menochius).
[Of those dwelling in tents and also of shepherds] Hebrew: of the one
inhabiting (a singular in the place of a plural [Vatablus]) a tabernacle.2
[And of private property, hnqE ;miw]@ 3] They translate it, and of cattle,
that is, the art of caring for cattle. Metonymy of the subject4 (Piscator). Or,
and of the possession (Montanus), supply of cattle. Such supplementation of
words often occurs in the text itself; as a thousand, in 2 Samuel 8:4,5 is a
thousand chariots, in 1 Chronicles 18:4. Uzzah put forth to the ark, in 2
Samuel 6:6,6 is in the place of, he extended his hand toward the ark, in 1
Chronicles 13:9. See also Genesis 5:37 (Ainsworth). Others translate it, and
of private property (Munster, Tirinus, Malvenda); and of the mule (Oleaster);
and of such as take possession of (feed [Pagnine, Septuagint], hold [Ainsworth])
cattle (Chaldean, Septuagint); of those making use of herds (Arabic). He was
the first to dwell in tabernacles, so that he might he might feed a flock; that is
to say, he was the first to invent the shepherd’s art: For from the beginning
shepherds were inhabiting tabernacles, and they were constantly changing
location (Castalio, Vatablus). From which they are called scenitæ, those
provided with scenery (Castalio). Before the flood, wealth was in herds of
cattle. Some think that the Scripture here indicates that of the worst parents
sometimes a good son is born (Fagius).
1 It appears as if the name hd(F f is now being derived from the verb, hd(F f, to
ornament.
2 Hebrew: lh)e o b#'$y yb)i .j
3 hnEq;m/i cattle is derived from the verbal root hnqF ,f to acquire.
4 The subject, cattle, is explicitly set down by the author, but an adjunct of that
subject, the art of caring for cattle, is intended.
5 2 Samuel 8:4: “And David took from him a thousand, and seven hundred horsemen,
and twenty thousand footmen.”
6 2 Samuel 6:6b: “Uzzah put forth to the ark of God, and took hold of it . . .”
7 Genesis 5:3: “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat (supply, a
son) in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.”
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He taught shepherds to dwell in tents, and to remove them from place
to place, for conveniency of pasture. The first authors or inventors of any thing
are commonly called its fathers. And he was the inventor of the art of keeping
and managing cattle.
Verse 21: And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all
such as handle the harp and organ (Rom. 4:11, 12).
[The father of those playing, etc.] Hebrew: of the one laying hold of,1
that is, handling, strumming (Fagius, Vatablus, Ainsworth). Others: of the
one taking hold of, or embracing, an instrument which the one strumming
embraces (Oleaster). The inventor of music. By means created for the
soothing of the ears we translate the soul (Fagius). The Hebrews say that Jabal
made tents for setting up idols; and Jubal was playing on musical instruments
before the idols (Lyra).
[Harp and organ (thus Montanus, Malvenda)] The translate rwOn@ki@ as
harp (Syriac, Arabic, Tigurinus).
[bgwF @(] Stringed instruments (Syriac, Tigurinus); tympanum (Arabic).
By two kinds they maintain that all musical instruments are comprehended
synecdochically, first those which are stretched out with strings, etc., then
those which are wind instruments (Malvenda). The harp is ek0 tw~n
yhlafhtw~n kai\ e0ntatw~n, of those strummed and plucked: the organ is e0k
twn~ pneumatikwn~ kai\ e0mpneu/stwn, of those which are pneumatic and
blown into (Piscator).
Or, the lovely instrument; but what kind of instrument this was, even
the Jews do not understand. The meaning is, he was the inventor of music and
musical instruments.
Verse 22: And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer (Heb.
whetter) of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was
Naamah.
[Tubal-cain, NyqI a lbwa @t@] From lbt, which signifies to season, to
supply, to allot (Hebrews in Fagius). He is so called, because that which was
yet lacking in his father’s fierceness he would invent, namely, the use of arms.
From riches and pleasures are produced rivalries and hatred (Fagius).
[Hammerer and artisan, #$rx' o-lkf@ #$+$'l] They render it in various
ways: 1. The one whetting (polishing [Fagius, Vatablus, Cajetan, Gataker])
everything work (Pagnine, Oleaster, Cajetan, Munster, Montanus, Malvenda,
Vatablus, Fagius). But #$rx" o is not rightly translated work, since he is a Ben-
1 Hebrew: #op't@o-lk@f ybi).j
275
oni,1 and here assumes the nature of his name (Piscator). 2. The whetter, that
is, the acute teacher; that is to say, the sharpener of every artisan (Junius,
Piscator, Ainsworth). Thus Nn#A $f is used in Deuteronomy 6:72 (Piscator); that
is, he shall improve the art (previously) invented (Junius, Piscator). There is
no one who does not see that the country Tubal came over to his name: of
which the traces are not slight, for the Arabs of that country call the scale
armor of iron and brass by the ancient name of Tubal: Avicenna,3 Canon of
Medicine 2 (Bochart’s Sacred Geography “Phaleg” 3:12:211).
[His sister was Naamah] Beautiful. Devotion to form and filthy lust
accompany a warlike spirit (Fagius). She was herself the lady of lamentation
and singing, says Targum Jerusalem.
Tubal-cain, whom (as the learned conceive, and the agreement of the
name and function makes probable) the heathens worshipped by the name of
Vulcan, the god of smiths; and his sister Naamah, by the name of Venus. He
first taught men how to make arms, and other instruments of iron.
Naamah; so called from her beauty, which her name signifies.
Verse 23: And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my
voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to
my wounding (or, I would slay a man in my wound, etc.), and a young man to
my hurt (or, in my hurt).
[Ye wives of Lamech] That is, my wives: It is a Hebraism (Fagius,
Vatablus). Lamech, who had introduced bigamy, was punished in his wives,
treated poorly by them: because, by whatever means someone sins, by those
he will also be tormented (Lyra). The Hebrews write that the wives of Lamech
avoided his company, either on account of Cain, who was slain, or because
already the seventh generation was approaching, in which the seed of Cain was
to be exterminated (Fagius); or, because he, the first, invented arms, and thus
provided an opportunity for murder (Munster, Fagius, Rabbi Bechai in de
Muis). To whom Lamech responds, Have I killed a man, like Cain? etc.; that is
to say, A sword is not the cause of murder; without it anyone can be killed;
and, therefore, on account of this invented art, I am not to be punished. Bechai
holds these things with sufficient probability, except the Sacred Text opposes,
which teaches that these arts were invented, not by Lamech, but by his sons (de
Muis). The insufferable violence of their husband toward men, lest all should
1 See Genesis 35:18.
2 Deuteronomy 6:7a: “And thou shalt teach them (Mt@fnn: #@" wi$ :, sharpen them) diligently
unto thy children . . .”
3 Avicenna, or Ibn Sina (980-1037), was a Muslim philosopher and physician. He is
remembered for his critical interaction with Aristotle and his groundbreaking work in
medicine.
276
conspire against him, was terrifying them. Bloody men, just as they are for a
terror to others, so also they are hated by all men everywhere: therefore, they
caution their husband, who thus far was not being softened, that he was arming
himself rather for cruelty (Vatablus). Lamech, therefore, so that his wives
might be satisfied, adds what follows (Lyra).
Adah and Zillah, observing his fierceness and cruelty, feared that the
vengeance of God or men would fall upon him, and upon them for his sake.
[For I have slain a man, ytg@i r: Ahf #$y)i yki@] This is variously
explained. Onkelos explains it in this way (than whom no one, in my
judgment, explains this most obscure passage better [de Dieu]): Have I slain
(he takes the Hebrew yk@i interrogatively, surely not?, and he translates it
negatively) a man, y(ic;pli ;, to my wounding (that is, that I might bear guilt
because of it or fear punishment; the l denotes the effect, or the result,
rightfully to be feared, as in 1 Samuel 20:30,1 to thine own confusion), or a
young man, because of whom my seed might be destroyed. The Hebrew is
ytri Fb@xu la ,; to my bruising, that is, by which law of reciprocity concerning such
a wound or bruise it is to be feared that I might receiv such (de Dieu). Have I
slain? (Arabic). It is not, therefore, that ye should fear me. I have not done as
Cain (who killed Abel). Therefore, God will punish my slayer more severely
than the slayer of that murderer (Fagius). yki@ is sometimes taken
interrogatively, for what? or surely not? or perhaps?, as in Isaiah 29:162 and
36:19.3 Sometimes it signifies not, neither, as in Isaiah 30:214 and 43:22.5
That is to say, Neither a man to my wounding, nor a young man to my bruising
have I ever killed (Malvenda). Others understand it thus: He boasts of his own
might and aggressiveness (Piscator, Ainsworth); that is to say, If I should
receive a wound from any man, although a man most powerful, I will kill him.
Therefore, fear ye not (Fagius, Vatablus, Munster, Rivet). This appears to me
to be the simplest construction. Thus yk@i is put in the place of M)/i if (as
1 1 Samuel 20:30b: “Do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine
own confusion (K1t#@; $;bfl;), and unto the confusion (t#$eblw; )@ of thy mother's
nakedness?”
2 Isaiah 29:16a: “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the
potter’s clay: surely not (yk)i@ shall the work say of him that made it, He made me
not?”
3 Isaiah 36:19: “Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? where are the gods of
Sepharvaim? and have (ykwi :) they delivered Samaria out of my hand?”
4 Isaiah 30:21b: “Ye turn neither (yk)@i to the right hand, nor (ykwi ): do ye turn to the
left.”
5 Isaiah 43:22: “But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; neither (yki@) hast thou
toiled for me, O Israel.”
277
Pagnine notes), and the perfect, I killed, is put in the place of the imperfect/
future, I will kill (thus Piscator); and y(ci p; li ; is to be translated, in relation to
my wound. Or yki@ can be translated certainly, surely, and is thus to be
explained: Certainly I shall kill a man, or would kill, in relation to my
wounding, that is, if he should attempt to inflict a wound upon me. Whoever
might touch me, even lightly, he will pay with death. Thus over-bold is the
boasting of men. And in this example, Moses desired to exhibit a specimen of
the nature of the sons of men (Rivet). Or, because of my wounding, that is, if
anyone should wound me. Or, unto my own wounding, that is, even if by
reason of a murder of this sort a wound for myself is to be feared. For Mars
faces in two directions (Piscator). Some translate it, I shall kill unto my own
wounding, with this sense: I safely receive upon my own head whatever there
is of liability; the grounds are obvious to me by which I might escape
(Vatablus). Others refer this to a murder committed by Lamech. Blamed by
his wives for the murder of Cain, etc., he responds contemptuously, I killed a
man, but what is that to you? It is unto my wounding, not your: I will be
punished, not ye (Munster, Abarbanel and many other Hebrews in de Muis).
At the same time, he imagines that he has a just cause for the murder, and,
therefore, he is to be avenged more severly than Cain (Munster). He denotes
his own twofold homicide: thus our interpreters (Fagius, Bonfrerius). For the
man and the young man are distinguished (Bonfrerius). Whom he would kill
Scripture does not express. With his conscience compelling, he now confesses
this, and he signifies the magnitude both of the sin and of the punishment,
because, even with the example of Cain, he would not guard himself against
murder and homicide. For sins of those coming after are always more severe
(Fagius). That is to say, By which wound I pierce a man, by the same I wound
myself, and I induced bruising to my own soul, a sign, namely, of murder, and
an accusation. See 2 Samuel 12 (certain interpreters in Lapide). It is probable
that these words are either of repentance over the deed, or of fear, or of
consolation to his wives, who were fearing the murder of their husband
(Bonfrerius). The Hebrews relate from tradition that Lamech, then blind,
while hunting wild animals, killed Cain, who was creeping about in the woods
(because he was always in fear), who the young man, the journey’s guide, had
said was a wild animal (the guide was Tubal-cain, says Raschi). However,
when it was known that it was Cain, he struck the young man also. Therefore,
he speaks in this way, and these interpreters translate and explain in this way:
Do ye, my wives, think that I killed a man with this intention, that that wound
might be appointed as my own, and the young man with this intention, that the
bruise might be appointed as my own? by no means; for through error I
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commited both murders, not on purpose, neither are they to be appointed as
my wounds (Rabbi Salomon in Drusius, Tanchuma1 in de Muis). yk@i is to be
taken as expressing astonishment, or by way of inquiry (Rabbi Salomon in de
Dieu). Or thus: A man, that is, Cain, I killed unto my wound, that is, with a
wound inflicted upon him by me, and a young man (the attending armiger of
the hunt) unto my bruise, that is, by reason of the bruising of the battering,
which he received from my blows, from which, poorly cared for, he died
(Menochius). But these ought to bring forward examples in which someone
calls a wound inflicted by himself, his wound: but nowhere is it taken actively
(Rivet). And this narrative smells like a fable (Malvenda). Lightfoot: God
strikes fear into him on account of the sin of polygamy; and he desired that this
would be a testimony against the sin which he had introduced: that is, Cain
only killed one, and only with respect to the body; I have killed innumerable
men, and that with respect to their souls, by the worst example, which already
they were thus far in general following (Lightfoot). [Castalio translates all these
things completely otherwise, and he calls this the famous example of Lamech,
that a murderer is held by God as exceedingly abominable:] If I (that is, if
anyone, as it is in 1 Corinthians 13, if I should speak, etc.) should kill (thus I
translate ytig@ r: Axf, for the Hebrews make use of the perfect in the place of the
subjunctive) a man with strokes, and a human being with wounds (the thought
is repeated, as it often used to be done). I translate dleyE, not as young man,
but as human being, for in this place the concern is not age, but the condition of
having been born. Thus dlye E is taken in Genesis 17:12, 13,2 27,3 the yd"l;yA of
Abraham, and Numbers 13:284 and Isaiah 2:65 (Castalio). [He also admits
what follows.] When Cain is thus avenged, and his slayer is thus punished,
K7melwe :,6 surely (thus I translate the w, which is often used to introduce a
conclusion) in Lamech, that is, in him who might kill any man not a murderer,
the punishment would be by far more severe (Castalio).
1 There are several midrashic collections called Tanchuma, or Yelammedenu. The one
cited here is likely from the ninth century, covering the entire Pentateuch. Its
explanations of a text often include Halachic (legal) material, poetry, and Messianic
prophecies.
2 Genesis 17:12, 13a: “And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you,
every man child in your generations, he that is born (dylyi :) in the house, or bought
with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born (dylyi :) in thy
house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised.”
3 Genesis 17:27: “And all the men of his house, born (dylyi :) in the house, and bought
with money of the stranger, were circumcised with him.”
4 Numbers 13:28b: “And moreover we saw the children (ydl" iy): of Anak there.”
5 Isaiah 2:6b: “And they please themselves in the children (ydl" y; bA w; )@ of strangers.”
6 Genesis 4:24b.
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Be it so that I have slain a man, and that a young man, why do you
concern yourselves in it? It is to my own wounding and hurt, not to yours; I
must suffer for it, not you. Some take this to be a sorrowful confession of his
bloody crime: q.d. I have murdered a man, to my wounding, etc. i.e. to my
utter ruin, or to the wounding and grief of my heart and conscience. But this
seems not to agree either with the quality of Cain’s family, or with the temper
of Lamech’s person, or with the scope of the Holy Ghost in this place; which is
to describe, not the virtues, but the crimes of that wicked race. According to
the marginal translation, the sense may be this, Fear not for me; for if any man,
though in his youth and strength, should assault me, and give me the first
wound, he should pay dearly for it; and though I were wounded and weakened,
the remainders of my strength would be sufficient to give him his death’s
wound. The words also may be otherwise rendered; the particle chi being
taken interrogatively, as it is Isaiah 29:6; 36:19, and elsewhere: Have I slain a
man to my wounding, and [or, or] a young man to my hurt? i.e. that thereby I
should deserve such a mortal wound or hurt to be inflicted upon me by way of
retaliation? You have therefore no cause of fear, either for my sake or for your
own.
Verse 24: If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold (Gen. 4:15), truly
Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
[Sevenfold vengeance shall be paid concerning Cain, MytI a(bf #; $i yk@i
NyqI a-Mq@ya U] For sevenfold it shall be recompensed for Cain (Syriac). If it is
greatly punished in Cain (Castalio). Others: Because (or if [Ainsworth,
Tirinus], or for [Samaritan Text, Syriac], or in the situation that [Junius and
Tremellius]) in seven ways Cain will be avenged (Montanus, Munster, Pagnine,
Oleaster, Malvenda, Tigurinus, Ainsworth, Junius and Tremellius). Seven
times it has been avenged concerning Cain (Septuagint). Others: If the
punishment was delayed for Cain unto seven generations, for Lamech (who has
not killed anyone) it is to be pushed back unto seventy-seven generations. He
was desiring to persuade them the decree made against Cain was of no effect
(Ibn Ezra in de Muis). Lest anyone should imitate the crime of Cain, God had
said that whoever might kill him was to be punished sevenfold. Perverting this
sentence, he mocks the severity of God and promises impunity for himself; and
he takes hold of a greater license to sin, as if God had presented murderers with
a special privilege: not because he earnestly thinks in this way, but, as it were,
under the pretense of a joke (Vatablus, similarly Piscator, Ainsworth). Others:
He is acknowledging the magnitude of the sin and of the punishment owed for
his own murder (Fagius). The Hebrew is, he shall be punished, that is, Cain
himself will be punished, and also Lamech; that is to say, If Cain was thus
punished, who killed one man, how much more grievously will I, who killed
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two, and who saw the punishment of Cain but did not refrain (Lapide)? [This
does not satisfy Bonfrerius.] He indeed is said to be avenged whose murder is
avenged. God avenges the martyrs, etc. Therefore, Cain and Lamech are the
same as the murders of Cain and Lamech, as it is plain, for he obviously alludes
to verse 15 where he speaks of the retribution to be returned upon the slayer
(Bonfrerius). Cain killed voluntarily, but he was not sorry for the deed; I was
unwilling and ignorant, and I am sorry. Therefore, my slayer will be punished
more severely (Menochius). [This does not satisy Rivet.] He does not speak of
vengeance to be taken up by God, but by himself; that is to say, If Cain
seventimes, etc., I shall avenge far more severely, if anyone touches me. Thus
such men use to speak, If anyone slightly pricks me, I shall run him through
(Rivet).
If the slaughter of Cain shall be punished in him that shall kill him,
whosoever he be, my death shall be much more certainly and severely revenged
by God upon any man that shall murder me. These words may be either, 1. A
profane scoff: q.d. Since Cain, my father and pattern in murder, was so far
from being punished by the hand of God, that he had a special protection from
him that no man should dare to touch him, I (whose murder is not so heinous
as his was) shall not fare worse than he, and therefore have no reason to fear
either God or men. Or, 2. An argument or ground of his security: q.d. I am
not only secured by my own puissance, but by God’s providence; which
certainly will be more watchful over me, who have not committed any such
horrid crime, than over him that killed his own innocent brother.
[3874 BC] Verse 25: And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a
son, and called his name Seth (Heb. Sheth; that is, appointed, or, put): For
God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain
slew (Gen. 5:3).
[He knew his wife] The Hebrews propose that he, on account of the
expulsion from Paradise and the murder of Abel, was in mourning for several
years, so that he thought little of coming together with his wife. Now he
comes together with her, not for the sake of wantonness, but for the sake of the
procreation of children, who might follow in the worship of God (Fagius).
[And she said] That is, the mother (Drusius, Grotius). For the verb
)rqF ;t@,i she called, is in the feminine gender (Drusius). But also with the
consent of the father, who also himself is said to call him by this name, Genesis
5:3 (Piscator). Note the custom of the imposition of names upon sons by
mothers, than which I am unaware whether any is more ancient (Drusius).
[Seth] That is, Foundation: first, because he was to be the foundation
of the city of God in the place of Abel; then, because he is a figure of Christ,
who is called the foundation of the Church, Isaiah 28:16; 1 Corinthians 3:11
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(Menochius). A just man is the foundation of the world (Drusius). He was
named after appointing, for he was given and put in the place of Abel (Fagius,
Drusius, Piscator). To give and to put explain each other, as in Joshua 7:19;1
Isaiah 42:12;2 Psalm 8:13 (Drusius). In Isaiah 42:1, it is ytti@ an.F 4 It is rendered
de/dwka, I have given; qh/sw, I shall put, in Matthew 12:18 (Drusius’ Of
Hebraic Inquiries 2:72). Ezra 10:44, they put children,5 that is, they begat
(Drusius). They were imposing names, by which they were reminding
themselves of the blessings of God and were exercising faith (Fagius).
[He hath appointed] He has raised up (Septuagint); He has substituted
(Syriac); He has granted (Arabic). Not wrongly do some explain t#/'$ Seth as
He place again; for it is noted that the Hebrews use a simple word in the place
of a composite: thus Mqf is to rise and to rise again; )rFqf is to call and to call
upon (Drusius’ Of Hebraic Inquiries 2:72).
She gave the name, but not without Adam’s consent, Genesis 5:3. She
spoke by Divine inspiration.
[Seed] Note that seed is used in this place of one person; which adds
strength to the apostle’s argument in Galatians 3:16 (Drusius, Piscator,
Ainsworth). Thus Genesis 21:13; 38:8; 28:4 (Malvenda). Others render it
otherwise: Seed among the Hebrews designates a certain perpetual succession
in which some special privilege might endure, as it is plain from Isaiah 59:21
and elsewhere. Thus it is in this place, the secession of the sons of God
(Bertram’s Lucubrations in Frankenthal).
Note that the word seed is used of one single person here, and Genesis
21:13; 38:8; which confirms the apostle’s argument, Galatians 3:16.
Instead of Abel; to succeed his father Adam, as Abel should have done
in the priesthood, and administration and care of holy things in the church of
God.
[3769 BC] Verse 26: And to Seth, to him also there was born a son;
and he called his name Enos (Heb. Enosh; Gen. 5:6): then began men to call
upon the name of the LORD (or, to call themselves by the name of the LORD;
1 Kings 18:24; Ps. 116:17; Joel 2:32; Zeph. 3:9; 1 Cor. 1:2).
1 Joshua 7:19a: “And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give (My#/oi put), I pray thee,
glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make (Ntew/: give) confession unto him.”
2 Isaiah 42:12a: “Let them give (wm@ y#oiy/F put) glory unto the Lord . . .”
3 Psalm 8:1b: “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast
set (hnFt;@/given) thy glory above the heavens.”
4 Isaiah 42:1b: “I have put (ytti@ na /F given) my spirit upon him.”
5 Ezra 10:44b: “And some of them had wives by whom they had (wm@ y#ioyw%F /A put)
children.”
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[And He called him #$wnO )/v Enos] It signifies miserable and wretched.
Thus he calls him because of that completely ulcerated age, for men lived as
brutes, without God or the worship of God (Fagius); and because he had come
to recognized the miserble future condition of his own, namely, of the just, in
this life; and because at that time the name of the Lord began to be profaned, as
it follows (Lightfoot).
Enos properly signifies a miserable man, to note the great wickedness
and wretchedness of that generation, which the Hebrew writers generally
observe.
[He began to call, etc., hwFhO y: M#b$' @; )roq;li lxwa @h z)]f This
passage troubled me for a long time, and even now it troubles me: I see from
whom I would flee, but I do not see whom I should follow (Drusius). They
vary. 1. Then they began to pray in the name of the Lord; the public worship
of God was restored (Fagius, Lapide, Bonfrerius, Oleaster, Menochius,
Tirinus). Previously they offered this only in the family of each man (certain
interpreters in Piscator). It was begun, to call upon, or to be called, the name,
or after the name, of the Lord (Pagnine, Oleaster, Cajetan, Lippom). The
interpretation is not valued at its weight in gold (Drusius). They began to pray,
etc. (Complutensian edition of the Chaldean). The language of invoking
comprehends the entire worship of God (Vatablus, Drusius). At that time,
fixed rites for the worship of God were instituted (Drusius, Bonfrerius,
Menochius). It signifies that fixed forms of supplicating were then adopted
(Drusius). I take )rqo ;li passively: as in Psalm 51:5, K+1 ep;#bf$ ; is taken
passively, when thou art judged; and in Proverbs 25:7, it is good to be said.1
Thus an) alu~sai, to depart, is put in the place of a)nalu/esqai, to be
departed (Drusius). They began to commemorate the Creator and to direct
services and prayers unto His name or glory (Cartwright out of Ibn Ezra and
Abarbanel). 2. Others: Then the worship of God began to be prostituted and
profaned. The Chaldean paraphrase: Then they began to be, or were,
profaned, inasmuch as they would no longer call upon the name of God.
lxawh@ is able to be rendered as both it was profaned, and it was begun.
Kimchi: It was profaned by calling upon the name of the Lord. Then they
began to call idols by the name of God (Fagius). Thus the Hebrews. Which
indeed is evident from this, that, in the ancient commentaries of the Hebrews,
the age of Enos is everywhere remembered as impious (Cartwright). Then
they began profanely to call upon the name of the Lord, or profanity began in
calling upon the name of the Lord (Ainsworth). [Drusius himself inclines this
way elsewhere, and he translates it, then it was profaned, etc.] I would prefer
1 Proverbs 25:7a: “For better it is that it be said (rmf)j) unto thee . . .” These verbs
are all formally active, but they are here taken in a passive sense.
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this (says he) over to be called, etc., 1. because it is not plausible that at that
time, for the first time, divine worship was instituted; 2. because it is said in
Genesis 5:22, he walked with God, acknowledging that others did not continue
in this worship (Drusius’ Concerning Things Sought by Epistle 18). This sense
is not approved by Bertram, who places these reasons opposite. 1. It is not
probable that the posterity of Seth profaned the worship of God after the
custom of the Cainites, when the former both were few, and of the meanest
generation among the men who were then living. 2. Moses derives the
corruption of the sons of God from marriage with the impious, Genesis 6:2. 3.
Moses does not number corrupt worship among the causes of the flood. 4.
Lamech appears as the first to exceed all the bounds of decency (Bertram).
[This does not satisfy Piscator.] llxa ,f when it signifies to profane, governs
some noun after itself, as in Numbers 30:21 and Ezekiel 39:7. On the other
hand, when it governs an infinitive verb, it signifies to begin, as in Genesis 6:1;
41:54; 2 Chronicles 3:1 (Piscator). 3. Others: Then pious men began to be
called by the name of the Lord, namely, the sons of God; that is, Seth and his
posterity began to call themselves after the name of Jehovah, that is, to
denominate themselves as the worshipers of God, or sons of God (Piscator,
Eusebius in Drusius). Bertram explains it in this way, and thus confirms it. 1.
In these words, from Genesis 4:7, If thou doest well, the superiority will be to
thee, that is, surpassing dignity, it is acknowledged that Abel was to be the
successor of Adam in the ministry of the Church. [Concerning which, see the
discussion on that passage.] The sense of this passage is, that with Enos born,
Seth was by God and Adam put in charge of governing the sons of God and of
setting in order sacred things, and with this duty he was charged when Adam,
through age, or illness, or employment, was not able to attend to it, and after
his death. And if God had not bestowed this law of prefecture, etc., on Abel
(as a command), it would have been said that Seth was appointed in the place of
Cain (not Abel). For, by natural law, this law was looking toward the
firstborn, except God provided otherwise. 2. From this place it is that Moses
passed over the other children of Adam, born in the meantime and before Seth,
for he was desiring to express only the prefects of both the true and the false
Church. 3. The word )rFq,f to call, is taken elsewhere in this sense, now
actively, now passively [the same expression which is in this place], as in Psalm
49:11, they called lands in accordance with, that is, after, their own names.2
1 Numbers 30:2a: “If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his
soul with a bond; he shall not profane his word (lx'y,A followed by a noun) . . .”
2 The construction exemplified in Genesis 4:26, Psalm 49:11, and the following
passages is: a form of )rqF f, to call, followed by the name, indicated by the
preposition b, in accordance with or after which something is named. Psalm 49:11b:
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Compare Job 3:141 and Numbers 32:42,2 and especially Isaiah 44:5;3 43:7;4
65:1.5 It indicates, therefore, that Seth and Enos were put in charge, over
those in the ecclesiastical polity, and in the civil, who are called the sons of
God. 4. The seed denotes a definite secession in which such a privilege
endures. (See the discussion on verse 25.) 5. Otherwise, Moses would have
inserted those things in Genesis 6:2 concerning the sons of God most abruptly
and against all the laws of teaching and historiography, unless he had indicated
just who they were (Bertram’s Lucubrations in Frankenthal 1). I would accept
this exposition, if it was in the Hebrew, hwhOF y: M#'$ )roql; i, to call the name
of the Lord, namely, MdF)fb,f upon a man, as he says in Genesis 48:16.6 But
different words bear a different sense (Drusius). 4. Others refer this to Enos,
but not in one way. The Septuagint: This one hoped (lxayF signifies this7) to
call upon the name of God, that is, he hoped through supplication to be freed
from all evil men. However, lxwa h@ does not ever signify to hope, but rather
lyxiwOh, from lxya ,F to hope. Nevertheless, Eusebius translates it, He hoped
(Drusius). Grotius: That man began to be called by the name of God. Thus
Cyril. Namely, as the ambassadors of God unto men, so also the Angels used
to be called. Irenæus, Against Heresies 1:30, favors this sense. Aquila is seen
to take it in this way: tot/ e hr! xqh tou~ kaleis= qai e0n on0 o/mati Kuri/ou,
then he began to be called by the name of the Lord (Grotius), which,
nevertheless, Drusius understands concerning supplication.
To call upon the name of the Lord; to pray unto God, to worship God
in a more public and solemn manner; praying being here put for the whole
worship of God, as Genesis 12:8; 26:25, and in many other places. According
to the marginal version, the sense is this: Then when the world was universally
corrupt, and had forsaken God and his service, good men grew more valiant
“They call (w)@ r:qf) their lands after their own names (MtfwmO #$b; )i .”
1 Job 42:14 may be intended. The prepositional phrase (b, in accordance with) is
missing, but the contrast between this verse and the others may be the point.
2 Numbers 32:42b: “And he called ()rqF ;yIw% )A it Nobah, after his own name (wOm#;$b@)i .”
3 Isaiah 44:5: “One shall say, I am the Lord’s; and another shall call ()rFqy; I) himself
(himself added to complete the sense) by the name (M#b'$ ;) of Jacob . . .”
4 Isaiah 43:7a: “Even every one that is called ()rFqn; %hI a) by my name (ymi#;b$ )i .”
5 Isaiah 65:1b: “I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called
()rFq)o by my name (ymi#$;b)i .”
6 Genesis 48:16b: “And let my name be named on them (ymi#;$ Mhbe f )rq" fy@ Iw): , and
the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.” In this place, not the name, but the ones
receiving the name are marked by the b-preposition.
7 Here it is suggested that lxawh% may be derived from lxay,F to await, rather than from
llax,f to begin or profane.
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and zealous for God, and did more publicly and avowedly own God, and began
to distinguish and separate themselves from the ungodly world, and to call
themselves and one another by the name of God, i.e. the sons, servants, or
worshippers of God as they are expressly called; and that, as it seems, upon this
occasion, Genesis 6:2. And in this sense this phrase is elsewhere taken, as
Isaiah 43:7; 44:5; 65:1. Some render the place thus, Then began men to
profane the name, i.e. the worship, of the Lord, by idolatry or superstition.
But this seems neither to agree with the Hebrew phrase, nor to suit with this
place, where he speaks of the posterity of Seth; who were the holy seed, and
the only church of God then in the world.
Chapter 5
The manner of man’s creation repeated, 1, 2. The genealogy, age, and
death of the fathers from Adam to Noah, in the line of Seth. Seth begotten of
Adam after his image, 3. The piety and translation of Enoch, 24. Lamech’s
prophecy of his son Noah, 29. Sons born to Noah, 32.
With the history of this chapter, read 1 Chronicles 1:1-4, which is an
abridgement of it (Lightfoot’s On Genesis).
[4004 BC] Verse 1: This is the book of the generations of Adam (1
Chron. 1:1; Luke 3:38). In the day that God created man, in the likeness of
God made he him (Gen. 1:26; Wis. 2:23;1 Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10).
[The book, rpes'] The catalogue, enumeration, or, as other have it,
recounting (Vatablus). This is a review (Piscator) (reckoning [Oleaster], or
narration [Oleaster, Ainsworth], or repetition [Ainsworth]) of the generation,
that is, of the children (Ainsworth, Vatablus, Menochius) begotten (Piscator)
(the word gene/sewn/generations is taken passively in this place; but, in
Matthew 1:1, the same phrase is taken actively, for those who were begetting
[Piscator, Bonfrerius]), and of the events which happened to them; as in
Genesis 2:4, 6:9; 25:19 (Ainsworth).
This is the book, i.e. the list or catalogue, as this word is taken,
Nehemiah 7:5;2 Matthew 1:1, as it is also put for any short writing, as for a bill
of divorce, as Deuteronomy 24:1, 2.3 The generations of Adam, i.e. his
posterity begotten by him; the word being passively used. But he doth not here
give a complete list of all Adam’s children, but only of his godly seed, which
preserved true religion and the worship of God from Adam to the Flood, and
from whose loins Christ came, Luke 3.
[In the day in which] From this, the Hebrews gather that Adam begat
sons in the very day of his creation, even in Paradise: but because Catholic
doctors hold the contrary, it is to be asserted that day is taken in the place of
days, as in Genesis 2, in the day in which He made the heavens . . . and every
shrub, etc. (Lyra). Day here is taken for a period of time; for he was not able
in one day to beget so many children (Oleaster).
1 Wisdom of Solomon 2:23: “For God created man to be immortal, and made him to
be an image of his own eternity.”
2 Nehemiah 7:5b: “And I found a register (rpes/' book) of the genealogy of them
which came up at the first . . .”
3 Deuteronomy 24:1b: “Then let him write her a bill (rpse /' book) of divorcement . . .”
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[In the similitude of God] That is, His own. The antecedent is put in
the place of the relative1 (Vatablus, Piscator). That is to say, Adam himself was
without father and mother, but God created him; and he had no father in
similitude except God alone (Vatablus).
God created man. This is here repeated to note the different way of
the production of Adam, and of his posterity; his was by creation from God,
theirs by generation from their parents. See Genesis 1:26.
Verse 2: Male and female created he them (Gen. 1:27); and blessed
them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
See Genesis 1:26; Matthew 19:4; Mark 10:6.
[He blessed them] He gave to them the ability to procreate (Munster,
Oleaster, Piscator).
He blessed them with power to propagate their kind, and with other
blessings. See Gen 1:28.
[He called their name Adam] He commends the inseparable union of
husband and wife; that is to say, they were as good as one man (Vatablus).
Hence the Hebrews argue, Every man who has not a wife is not MdF)/f man
(Munster). The name Adam belongs to the species (Lyra, Piscator, Bonfrerius,
Malvenda), so it might be suitable for Eve also; which the relatives, them,
their, etc., make sufficiently clear (Malvenda). It is the name of a species, not
of an individual (Lyra).
Called their name Adam; which name is given both to every man, as
Genesis 9:6;2 Psalm 49:20,3 and to the first man, as Genesis 2:23,4 and to the
whole kind, both the man and the woman, who are called by one name, to
show their intimate union and communion in all things.
[3874 BC] Verse 3: And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and
begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth (Gen.
4:25).
[He lived an hundred and thirty years] According to Methodius5 and
other learned men, here one hundred years of the life of Adam are passed over
in silence, during which time he mourned Abel (Lyra). They note that hn#F f$, in
1 Compare with Genesis 1:27.
2 Genesis 9:6: “Whoso sheddeth man’s (MdF)fh)f blood, by man (Md)F fb)@f shall his
blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man (MdF)fh)f .”
3 Psalm 49:20a: “Man (Md)F f) that is in honour, and understandeth not . . .”
4 Genesis 2:23a: “And Adam (Md)F fh)f said . . .”
5 Methodius (died c. 302) was Bishop of Patara, and later of Tyre.
289
the singular,1 is used when it is brought together with cardinal numbers greater
than ten; but Myn#I ,$f in the plural, is used when it is brought together with
numbers less than ten. The former always holds true; the latter, usually
(Malvenda).
Adam lived an hundred and thirty years after he was created, in which
time he begat other sons and daughters, as appears from what was said before.
[He begat] Supply, a son (Piscator, Ainsworth). Many such things are
omitted. Thus, David posted in Syria, 1 Chronicles 18:6, that is, he posted
garrisons in Syria, 2 Samuel 8:6. See Genesis 4:202 (Ainsworth).
[After his own image and similitude] This denotes original sin
(Munster, Vatablus, Piscator, Ainsworth): it says, his own, not God’s. For the
antithesis between these words and those of verse 1, in the similitude of God, is
to be noted (Piscator). Others otherwise: similar to himself in all respects, in
nature, body, spirit, etc. (Lapide, Bonfrerius, Menochius, Oleaster); perfect in
the knowledge and fear of God, just as Adam taught him. (If this had been
spoken of original sin, it rather ought to have been spoken concerning the
generation of Cain [Lyra].) It is here said that the same similitude of God
(which his father had received) was retained, for it could be imagined that the
first man had not been able to produce so great and so excellent a work. This is
said neither concerning Cain, nor concerning Abel, who were cut off, but
concerning Seth, of whom mankind was established (de Muis out of Isaac
Caro3). The similitude refers to the origin of his natural constitution; the
image denotes corruption (Vatablus).
After his image; either, 1. In regard of the natural frame of his body
and soul; but this was so evident of itself, that the mention of it had been
frivolous. Nor is there any reason why that should be said of Seth, rather than
of Cain or Abel. Or, 2. In regard of his corruption, q.d. a weak, sinful, mortal
man, like himself; for Adam’s image is here plainly opposed to the likeness of
God, wherein Adam is said to be created, Genesis 5:1. And this is fitly said of
Seth to signify, that although he was a worthy and good man, and, Adam
excepted, the most eminent person of the whole church of God; yet he, no less
than wicked Cain, was begotten and born in sin; and that all the difference
which was between him, and consequently between other good men, and the
wicked progeny of Cain, was not from the nature which they received from
Adam, but from the grace infused into them by God.
1 Genesis 5:3: “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years (hn#F )f$ . . .”
2 Genesis 4:20b: “He was the father of such as dwell in tents, and (supply, of such as
have) cattle.”
3 Isaac Caro (died c. 1518) was a Jewish scholar of Toledo, Spain. He was an expert
in rabbinic interpretation. Toward the end of his life, he published a commentary on
the Pentateuch, which employs both literal and allegorical methods of interpretation.
290
Verse 4: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight
hundred years (1 Chron. 1:1, etc.): and he begat sons and daughters (Gen.
1:28).
[He begat] It is certain that he had at least one daughter, the wife of
Cain (Menochius). Not all the firstborn are reckoned here, otherwise the
inequality in the years of the generations would not be such: But the Scripture
reckoned those from whom all the men after the flood were propagated
(Bonfrerius).
Sons and daughters whose names and numbers are here passed over in
silence, as not belonging to the genealogy of Christ, nor to the following
history.
Verse 5: And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and
thirty years: and he died (Gen. 3:19; Heb. 9:27).
[Nine hundred and thirty years] Some spoke nonsense (lest they should
be compelled to admit such longevity [Bonfrerius]) that these years were
actually the length of months, Egyptian years, or thirty days; or Arabian years,
six months (Estius, Tirinus). But, 1. then Enoch would have begotten in his
sixth year of age1 (Bonfrerius, Tirinus). 2. They are refuted from the flood
(Estius); for the peaks of the mountains appeared in the tenth month of the
year2 (Tirinus). 3. Moses contradicts this in Exodus, and elsewhere. 4.
Copernicus, Concerning the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres3 3:6, shows
that the mathematical year among the Egyptians was the same three hundred
and sixty-five days, and 6 hours, as among us (Estius). 5. When, I ask, did he
cease to number by means of those brief years? For, in chapter 11, the number
of years decreases, and Terah (in whom that strophe appears to cease in the
Septuagint) lived two hundred and five years, and Abraham one hundred and
seventy-five; this is not eighteen whole years, if we accept these brief years
(Bonfrerius on verse 3). Add that the first men had knowledge of astronomy,
as Josephus testifies in Antiquities of the Jews4 1:2, neither was knowledge
lacking to them, that they might record the year in accordance with the course
of the sun (Bonfrerius). Concerning the lifespan of the first men, see Pamelius5
in his edition of Cyprian’s To Demet (Estius). See what profane authors
Josephus cites in the end of Antiquities of the Jews 1:3. It is asked, Whence
were men so aged at that time? I respond, 1. From the will of God, so that
1 Genesis 5:21.
2 Genesis 8:5.
3 De Revolutionibus Orbium Cœlestium.
4 Antiquitatum Judaicarum.
5 James Pamelius (1536-1587) was a Belgian, Roman Catholic churchman and divine.
He produced editions of Cyprian, Tertullian, and Rabnus Maurus.
291
men might propagate more quickly (Lyra, Menochius, Tirinus), and learn skills
and arts more quickly, and suitably impress the knowledge and worship of God
into their posterity, even the most distant (Tirinus). 2. From the healthier
constitution of the body. 3. From sobriety (Lyra, Menochius, Tirinus). They
are believed to have abstained from wine and flesh (Tirinus). 4. From the
vigor of the earth, the fruit of which was more succulent at that time
(Menochius, Tirinus). For salty waters introduced sterility, and they cause
worse things to come forth of the earth (Lyra on verse 27). 5. From the
favorable appearance of the stars (Menochius). 6. From the expertise of
Adam, who understood optimally, and communicated to posterity, a method
for preserving health, and the potency of plants, herbs, and metals (Lapide,
Menochius, Tirinus).
The long lives of men in ancient times, here noted, are also mentioned
by heathen authors; and it was wisely so ordered by God, both for the more
plentiful increase of mankind in the first age of the world, and for the more
effectual propagation of true religion and other useful knowledge to the world.
And many natural reasons might be given why their lives were then longer than
afterwards.
[3769 BC] Verse 6: And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and
begat Enos (Gen. 4:26).
Verse 7: And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven
years, and begat sons and daughters.
Verse 8: And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years:
and he died.
[3679 BC] Verse 9: And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan
(Heb. Kenan).
[Cainan] He is said to have been a great king, whose sepulcher
Alexander the Great was shown in India, as Juchasin 6:61 teaches (de Dieu).
Verse 10: And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and
fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
Verse 11: And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years:
and he died.
1 Juchasin was composed by Abraham Zacuto, a fifteenth century Spanish Jew,
remembered for his achievements in astronomy, mathematics, and history. Juchasin
is a history of the Jews, from the creation of the world, to his own day.
292
[3609 BC] Verse 12: And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat
Mahalaleel (Gr. Maleleel).
Verse 13: And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred
and forty years, and begat sons and daughters.
Verse 14: And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years:
and he died.
[3544 BC] Verse 15: And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and
begat Jared (Heb. Jered).
Verse 16: And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and
thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
Verse 17: And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety
and five years: and he died.
[3382 BC] Verse 18: And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years,
and he begat Enoch (Jude 14, 15).
Verse 19: And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years,
and begat sons and daughters.
Verse 20: And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two
years: and he died.
[3317 BC] Verse 21: And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat
Methuselah (Gr. Mathusala).
[Methuselah, xl#a $ew@tm]; It signifies, They die by reason of a dart;1 or,
He dies, and then there is a dart;2 or, He dies, and then it is sent3 (Lightfoot):
or it signifies, with that one dead, the future releasing, namely, of waters, etc.
(Bochart’s Sacred Geography “Phaleg” 2:13). Thus, a thousand years before,
Enoch predicted the flood in this name. Only while his life edured, was the
1 Here, wt@ m; is taken as a third person plural form of tw@m, to die. xla#e$ as the nominal
form the verb xl#a f$, to send; xla#e$ signifies dart.
2 Here, tm; is taken as a third person singular form of tw@m, to die. The w is taken as a
conjunction, and then.
3 Here, xla#$e is taken as a form of the verb xla#f$, to send.
293
world going to endure (Lightfoot). This does not escape the notice of the
heathen, but they confound the histories of Enoch and of Methuselah. For
Aunacus, that is, Enoch (who is Cannacas in Erasmus,1 that is, Kw7 nO x/j Chanoch,
in the place of which Nannacus is incorrectly written is Suidas2), an ancient
king before Deucalion,3 who lived more than three hundred years (namely,
three hundred and sixty-five), when he foresaw the flood impending, with
everyone assembled at the temple, supplicated the gods with tears, that this evil
might be averted. Hence the proverb, ta_ Kanna&kou, that is, THE THINGS,
or rather THE EVILS OF CANNACAS; either concerning lamentations, or
concerning most ancient events. These things Suidas and Erasmus, A Chiliad of
Adages 2:8:19,4 have from Hermogenes5. This was Enoch, whom it is certain,
from the name of his son and from the epistle of Jude, called men unto
repentance and lamentation. They say that Iconium6 was the city of Aunacus,
concerning which he prophesied that it was going to be that, when he died, all
would perish. With this heard, the Phrygians thoroughly disseminated a great
lamentation: Stephanus, on the word 0Iko/nion in Ethnica. These things are
false, unless they be understood concerning his son. Eupolemus,7 in Eusebius’
Preparation for the Gospel 9, says that the Greeks attribute to Atlas the
invention of the study of the heavenly bodies: Now, this Atlas is the same as
Enoch; moreover, the son of Enoch was Methuselah, from whom, having been
taught all things by the Angels of God, we thus learn in turn (Bochart, Sacred
Geography “Phaleg”).
Whose name is thought by some learned men to contain a prophecy of
the flood, which was to come a thousand years after; for it signifies: He dies,
and the dart or arrow of God’s vengeance comes; or, He dies, and the sending
forth of the waters comes.
Verse 22: And Enoch walked with God (Gen. 6:9; 17:1; 24:40; 2
Kings 20:3; Ps. 16:8; 116:9; 128:1; Mic. 6:8; Mal. 2:6) after he begat
Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
He lived as one whose eye was continually upon God; whose care and
1 Desiderius Erasmus (1467-1536) was one of the greatest scholars of his age.
Although he was himself a loyal son of the Roman Church, his work in the Greek
New Testament was foundational to the scholarship of the Reformation.
2 Suidas is the compiler of the previously mentioned Suda.
3 Deucalion was a son of Prometheus, who, being warned of the impending flood by
his father, built an ark.
4 Adagiorum Chiliades.
5 Hermogenes of Tarsus was a second century Greek rhetorician.
6 Iconium was a city, located in the central plain of Anatolia, in modern Turkey.
7 Eupolemus was an ancient Jewish historians. Only a few fragments of his work
have been preserved.
294
constant course and business it was to please God, and to imitate him, and to
maintain acquaintance and communion with him; as one devoted to God’s
service, and wholly governed by his will. He walked not with the men of that
wicked age, or as they walked, but being a prophet and preacher, as may be
gathered from Jude 14, 15, with great zeal and courage he protested and
preached against their evil practices, and boldly owned God and his ways in the
midst of them. Compare Genesis 6:6; Jeremiah 12:3; Micah 6:8.
Begat sons and daughters; hence it is undeniably evident that the state
and use of matrimony doth very well agree with the severest course of holiness,
and with the office of a prophet or preacher.
Verse 23: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five
years.
Verse 24: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took
him (2 Kings 2:11; Ecclus. 44:16;1 49:14;2 Heb. 11:5).
[He walked with God] That is, blamelessly and with consent to the
divine will (Menochius). He held God as present before his eyes and familiar,
and he thus devoted himself to the pleasure of God, that he might appear
perpetually to walk with God, and to submit ubiquitously to Him as to the
greatest patron and Lord (Tirinus).
[Myh$li )vhf-t)e Kl7 @h' ta y; IwA] It can be translated, he walked, or he
made himself to walk, he advanced, toward God, toward the place determined
by God. Some: He walked with, or before the face of, God; that is, he was
engaged in public ministry and the priesthood. Compare with 1 Samuel 2:30,3
35.4 Others: He conducted himself (that is, he carried himself in a holy
manner) with God; or, He conducted himself unto God, or to God: that is, he
surrendered himself entirely to God; or, although others at that time were holy
and pious, this signifies that he was free for divine things, to adhere more
closely and familiarly to God, to be most holy and most perfect (Malvenda).
He walked in the fear (obedience [Arabic]) of God (Chaldean). He walked
incessantly after God (Junius and Tremellius). Lest he should be led away by
1 Ecclesiasticus 44:16: “Enoch pleased the Lord, and was translated, being an
example of repentance to all generations.”
2 Ecclesiasticus 49:14: “But upon the earth was no man created like Enoch; for he
was taken from the earth.”
3 1 Samuel 2:30b: “I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should
walk (wk@ l;@hta ;y,I the Hithpael form of the verb) before me for ever.” This is spoken of
Eli and his household, serving in the priesthood.
4 1 Samuel 2:35b: “And I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk (K7lh'@ ta h; wi ,:
the Hithpael form of the verb) before mine anointed for ever.” This is spoken of
Zadok, serving as high priest.
295
the corrupting influences of men, he had respect unto the one God, and he
lived, as it were, under His eyes, piously and blamelessly. It is similar to
Deuteronomy 13:4: after the Lord ye shall walk (Vatablus). To walk with
God is to live with God; which Persius1 said, to live with Jove, that is, in a holy
manner. Whoever lives otherwise, lives with the devil (Drusius). Others
translate it, He pleased God: thus the Greeks, the Syriac, and Hebrews 11:5
(Grotius).
[And he was not found (Chaldean, Samaritan Text), w@n@nye )'w:] And he
not (Vatablus, Montanus, Pagnine, Malvenda, Tirinus, Munster); supply WAS
(Ainsworth). That is, he appeared nowhere (Vatablus, Lyra). He was not,
namely, among the living (Drusius): he was not found (Septuagint, Ainsworth,
Pagnine); he was not seen any more (Bonfrerius, Piscator); he was brought to
an end (Arabic). From this place, the Jews gather that Enoch is yet alive; at
which I am amazed, for it might be true, but it is not gathered from here. For
indeed he who is dead is said to be not. Rachel is weeping, etc., because they
are not;2 and Joseph is not, when it is believed that he is dead.3 And whoever
is dead is said to be taken; Take my life from me, says Jonah4 (Drusius).
i.e. He appeared not any longer upon earth, or amongst mortal men.
The same phrase is in Genesis 42:36; Jeremiah 31:15.
[He took him, xqalf] He carried off, translated him into heaven
(Vatablus): exhibiting to us an argument for the future resurrection and
immortality (Munster). His Angel took him (Samaritan Text); He did not die
(Onkelos), that is, He did not suffer him to die, Hebrews 11:5. He was
translated into Paradise (Arabic in Ainsworth), into heaven (Piscator,
Ainsworth); an) exw&rhse pro_j to_ qeio= n, he returned to God (Josephus in
Grotius); he was led up and ascended into heaven in accordance with the word
(or, on account of a commandment, as Grotius renders it) before the face of
the Lord (Targum Jerusalem). This phrase is sometimes understood of the
reception of the soul alone, as in Ezekiel 24:16 and Jonah 4:3 (Piscator). But in
the former place, the verb, I take, is not put simply, but with an adjoined noun,
desire, or soul (Malvenda). The Jews say that, although he would be good,
nevertheless he had great propensities for evil, which he was resisting with
difficulty (for he lived inconsistently, sometimes well, sometimes poorly), and
therefore he was carried off more quickly, lest wickedness should change his
mind, as it is in the Wisdom of Solomon 4:10.5 For thus the author of the
1 Aulus Persius Flaccus (34-62) was a Roman satirist.
2 Jeremiah 31:15.
3 Genesis 42:36.
4 Jonah 4:3.
5 Wisdom of Solomon 4:10: “He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that
living among sinners he was translated.”
296
Wisdom of Solomon, with Philo, echoed what Hebrews 11 says, that he should
not see death. For the wicked are dead while they live, that is, in sins. Perhaps
the Apostle spoke of this death (Drusius). On the other hand, this falsehood of
the Hebrews is to be hissed away; for the Hithpael denotes acquaintance with
God, full, intimate, and continuous; and he reports this twice concerning him
(Malvenda).
For God took him out of this sinful and miserable world unto himself,
and to his heavenly habitation: see Luke 23:43. And he took either his soul, of
which alone this phrase is used, Ezekiel 24:16; or rather both soul and body, as
he took Elias, 2 Kings 2:11, because he so took him that he did not see death,
Hebrews 11:5.
[3130 BC] Verse 25: And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and
seven years, and begat Lamech (Heb. Lemech).
Verse 26: And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred
eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters.
Verse 27: And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and
nine years: and he died.
[Of Methuselah, nine hundred and sixty-nine years] Besides the
testimonies of this longevity, which are recorded in Josephus, Varro1 also noted
out of the histories that the ancients lived unto a thousand years: but he himself
incorrectly takes months in the place of years: in which nothing is to be
admired. See Lactantius’2 Divine Institutions 2:13 (Grotius). [To which it
could be added what Isaac Vossius3 observes in Concerning the Age of the
World4 concerning the fables of the Chaldeans, who, since they had heard
somewhat of the longevity of the first men, they were enlarging all things unto
immensity, and they made up a story that ten kings reigned before the flood for
four hundred and thirty-two thousands of years.] Methuselah died six years
before the flood (Augustine), in the very years of the flood (Jerome, Lyra,
Drusius, Ainsworth, Cappel, Bonfrerius, Ussher5). Judas, the author of Sepher
1 Marcus Terentius Varro, or Varro Reatinus (116-27 BC), was a scholar, called “the
most learned of the Romans.”
2 Lucius Cælius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 240-c. 320) was a trained rhetorician, who,
upon his conversion to Christianity, employed his rhetorical gifts in the defense and
explication of the Christian faith. His Divinæ Institutiones is one of the early attempts
at a systematic theology.
3 Isaac Vossius (1618-1689) was a man of vast learning. He was a Doctor of Law at
Oxford and Canon of Windsor.
4 De Vera Ætate Mundi.
5 James Ussher (1580-1655) was a learned Irish churchman, who eventually rose to
297
Johasin,1 says that he was dead seven days before the flood. He confirms this
out of the Bereshith Rabba on this passage, And it was after seven days. [This
passage] teaches that God delayed for those seven days of proper mourning for
Methuselah, so that they might repent (Drusius). Not one of the patriarchs
completed a thousand years, because this number has a shadow of perfection,
unto which no one in this life attains (Piscator).
This was the longest time that any man lived. But it is observable that
neither his nor any of the patriarch’s lives reached to a thousand years, which
number hath some shadow of perfection. He died but a little before the flood
came, being taken away from the evil to come.
Verse 28: And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and
begat a son.
Not that wicked Lamech mentioned in Genesis 4:18-24, for he was of
the family of Cain, but this was descended from Seth.
[2948 BC] Verse 29: And he called his name Noah (Gr. Noe; Luke
3:36; Heb. 11:7; 1 Pet. 3:20; that is, rest, or, comfort), saying, This same shall
comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground
which the LORD hath cursed (Gen. 3:17; 4:11).
[Noah, saying, He shall comfort us (Vatablus), hze rwOm)l' xawOn
w@nm'xjnyA :] The etymology does not answer to the name. Therefore, the Greeks
read wn@ x'ynIy:, and they translated it dianapau/sei, to rest.2 Philo also
promotes this position (Grotius). A rationale was not sought for the name out
of its etymology, but only an allusion (Mercerus, similarly Munster, Vatablus);
such things are many in the prophets: for xwa @n, to rest, and Mx'nI, to comfort,
are different roots, although the comfort and the rest of the heart are nearly the
same (Munster). Or the m is superfluous, as letters sometimes overflow in a
composite word (Vatablus). In proper names, often a letter is added, or
transposed, and the rationale of philological etymology is observed usually not
to be precise. Thus l)w' @m#;$/Samuel is named from l)#a f$, to ask,3 with a m
inserted; NyqI /a Cain from hnqF f, to acquire;4 and Cb'(@ ;yA/Jabez from bca(,f to
grieve,5 by the transposition of c and b. See Rabbi Bechai and Kimchi on
the office of Archbishop. He is most remembered for his Annals of the World.
1 Book of Genealogy.
2 xan/O Noah is not properly drawn from the verb Mxan,F to comfort, but from the verb
xawn% , to rest.
3 1 Samuel 1:20.
4 Genesis 4:1.
5 1 Chronicles 4:9.
298
Joshua 5:9.1 Therefore, the kri/sij/judgment of Cappel is rash, who says that
the word is corrupted in the Hebrew text, in the place of wn@ x'ynyI .: Rather, all
codices read wn@ m'xjnyA : (Buxtorf’s Vindication of the Integrity of the Hebrew
2:8). The Hebrews observe the sense, not the words, says another of the
Hebrews (Vatablus); as it appears in l(abwa@ @ry/: Jerubbaal2 and t#$be r@e uy:/
Jerubbesheth3, for Baal would be nothing other than Bosheth, a shame
(Mercerus). Comfort and rest from work and grief are the same (Vatablus).
Moreover, they imposed this name on him, because they were hoping through
him for the liberation from the curse of sin (Munster); for lessening of, and
relief, from labors (Vatablus). Or, 1. because he was the inventor of
instruments of cultivating (or plowing) the earth (Hebrews in Vatablus). Thus
he gave rest to men, and he placed the labor of plowing upon animals. And
from this, he is called a husbandman, Genesis 9:20. The Samaritan Text
translates: He shall sustain our labors and the oppression of our hands, that is,
he will be our substitute with respect to the labors of the farm (Grotius). Or,
2. because he was going to renew the world after the flood (Lyra, Menochius).
Or, 3. because all sins rested through Noah, who buried them in the flood. 4.
Because of his holiness and sacrifice, He blessed the earth, Genesis 8:21; 9:1.
5. Because he discovered wine, cheering the heart. 6. Because he rendered
God favorably disposed to the world; and, 7. from him Messiah was going to
be born, who is our rest and consolation (Menochius). 8. Because to him and,
in him, God would grant to the world the liberty of eating flesh, since
previously they had acquired nourishment only through hard labor and
cultivation of the ground (Lightfoot on Genesis 9). Chrysostom says that this
Lamech was an infidel, yet by divine inspiration it happened that he might
impose such a name. But in this place Lamech appears to be otherwise, for
through him true religion was propagated (Estius).
[And concerning the toils of our hands] A synecdoche, that is to say,
concerning our miserable state (Vatablus): from weariness (Chaldean). Thus
bce(' is taken in Proverbs 10:224 and 14:235 (Grotius).
[In the earth, which He cursed, hwOhF y: h@rFr)J ' r#)$e j hmdf F)jhf-Nmi]
Concerning the curse with which Jehovah cursed the earth (Junius and
1 Joshua 5:9b: “This day have I rolled away (ytwi Olg@ )A@ the reproach of Egypt from off
you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal (lglF% g; )%I unto this day.”
2 Judges 6:32.
3 2 Samuel 11:21.
4 Proverbs 10:22: “The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow
(bce()e with it.”
5 Proverbs 14:23: “In all labour (bc(' e) there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth
only to penury.”
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