Matthew Poole and continuators on Genesis 4

1. AND Adam knew Eve his Wife, and she Conceived and bare Cain , and said, I have gotten a Man from the LORD .

This modest expression is used both in Scripture and other Authours to signifie the Conjugal act or Carnal knowledge. So Gen. 19. 8. and 24. 16. Numb. 31. 17. Matth. 1. 25. Luk. 1. 34.

Whose name signifies a possession.

A Male Child, as Gen. 7. 2. which was most welcome.

Or, By or with the Lord, (i. e.) By vertue of his first blessing, Gen. 1. 28. and special favour. Or, a man the Lord, as the words properly signifie, q. d. God-man, or the Messias, hoping that this was the promised Seed.

2. And she again bare his Brother Abel : and Abel was a Keeper of Sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground .

Signifying vanity, a vain, mortal, miserable man, whereas she thought Cain to be more than an ordinary man: or this name might prophetically design his miserable life, and untimely and unnatural death.

Which was esteemed a more honourable calling than that of a Shepherd, and therefore either chosen by the Elder Brother, or allotted to him by his Father.

Marginal references: Heb. Hebel.; Heb. a feeder.

3. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, an offering unto the LORD.

Either 1. In general at the return of the set time then appointed and used for the solemn service of God. Or, 2. At the end of the year, when there might be now, as there was afterward among the Jews, more solemn Worship and Sacrifices: The word Days, being often put for a year, as Levit. 25. 29, 1 Sam. 1. 3. and 27. 7. Or, 3. More probably, at the end of the days of the week, or, upon the seventh and last day of the week, Saturday, which then was the Sabbath day, which before this time was blessed and sanctified, Gen. 2. 3.

Either to the place appointed for the solemn Worship of God: Or, to his Father, who at that time was both King, and Prophet, and Priest. Or brought i. e. offered.

Marginal references: Heb▪ at the end of days. Exod▪ 2. 23. Or, of the year. 2 Sam. 15. 26. Neh. 13. 6. Isai. 24. 22.; Exod. 2. 23.

4. And Abel, he also brought of the Firstlings of his Flock, and of the fat thereof . And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering.

Either. 1. The First-born, which God reserved to himself both at this time, and afterwards by an express Law, Exod. 13. 2. Numb. 3. 13. Or, 2. The choicest and most eminent of the Flock: For the best of any kind are oft called First-born, as Ioh 18. 13. Ier. 31. 19. Heb. 12. 23.

Either 1. Properly, the fat being properly now required by God, as afterwards was expressed, Ex. 29. 13, 22. Levit. 3. 3. Or, 2. The best of them, as the word fat is often used, as Gen. 45. 18. and 49. 20. Numb. 18. 12. Nehem. 8. 10. Psal. 147. 14.

Or, looked to him with a gracious eye, kindly accepted and owned him and his Sacrifice, and testified this Heb. 11. 4. to Cain and all there present, either by express word, or by some visible sign, probably by consuming his Sacrifice by Fire from Heaven, as the Fathers generally think, whereby also God did afterwards frequently signifie his acceptance of Sacrifices, as Levit. 9. 24. Iud. 6. 21. 1 King. 18. 38. 1 Chron. 21. 26. 2 Chron. 7. 1.

Unto Abels person, who was a truly good Man; and then to his Sacrifice, which was offered with Faith in Gods Mercy, and in the promised Mediatour, Heb. 11. 4.

Marginal references: Heb. Sheep or Goats.; Heb. 11. 4.

5. But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect: And Cain was very wroth , and his countenance fell .

Partly with God, who had cast so publick a disgrace upon him, and given the preference to his younger Brother: And partly with Abel, because he had received more Honour from God, and therefore was likely to have more respect, and priviledge from his Parents than himself.

Whereas before it was lifted up and chearful, now it fell down through sense of guilt, disappointment of his hope, shame, and grief, and envy at his Brother.

6. And the LORD said unto Cain , why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen ?

That he might bring him to Repentance and the knowledge of his sin.

The cause of this dejectedness is not from me, but from thy self,

Marginal references: Job 29. 24.

7. If thou doest well , shalt thou not be accepted ? And if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door : And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him .

Or, for the future shalt do well, (i. e.) repent of thy sin, amend thy Life, offer thy Offerings with a willing and chearful mind and honest heart in Faith and Love, as Abel did.

Or, pardoned, received into favour? Or, exalted, and either preserved in or restoredunto those rights of the First-born, which thou art conscious to thy self, 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?

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 mali[illegible: 1+ letters] 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 Gen. 19. 15. Levit. 5. 1. and 2[illegible: 1+ letters]. 20. Numb. 18. 1. 2 King. 7. 9. Zach. 14. 19. 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 o[illegible: 1+ letters]t, as is said Numb. 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 Mastive-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, Matth. 24. 33. Iam. 5. 9.

Those two clauses may relate either 1. To sin, which may be here spoken of as a person; as it is Rom. 7▪ 8, 9▪ 11▪ &c. So the place may be rendred 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, &c. Or thus, its desire, objectively, not subjectively taken, (i. e.) Thy desire, intention, or resolution of smning; 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 thy self, and will certainly turn to thy own ruine: 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 Commandements, 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 Gen. 20. 9. Mal. 1. 6. Luke 3. 14.) 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 over-rule, 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 publick and honourable testimony, which thy naughty heart makes an occasion of envy, and malice, and intention of Murther, 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 priviledge, and the happiness of the Life to come, which thou despisest, but it makes no change in civil rights, nor doth it transfer the domimon 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 Superiour, and thou according to thy own hearts 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 my notes on Gen. 3. 1.

Marginal references: Or, have the excellency.; Or, subject unto thee.

8. And Cain talked with Abel his Brother : And it came to pass, when they were in the Field , that Cain rose up against Abel his Brother, and slew him .

Either 1. Familiarly and friendly, as he used to do, thereby to make him secure and careless: Or by way of expostulation and contention.

Into which Abel was led either by his own employment, or by Cains perswasion, this being a fit place for the execution of his wicked purpose.

Possibly with stone or club or with some Iron tool belonging to Husbandry.

Marginal references: Heb spake to, &c.; Matth. 23. 35. 1 John 3. 12. Jude 11.

9. And the LORD said unto Cain, where is Abel thy Brother ? And he said, I know not: Am I my Brothers Keeper ?

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 enquire into causes, and hear the accused speak for themselves, before they pass sentence.

Whom nature and near relation obliged thee to love and preserve.

Why dost thou enquire 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?

10. And he said, what hast thou done ? The voice of thy brothers Blood crieth unto me from the ground .

I hear thy words, but what say thy actions? What an 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 shew the plenty of the blood spilt: Or, to charge him with the Murder of all those that might naturally have come out of Abels loyns, which was a far greater crime in the nonage of the World, when the World greatly wanted people.

Upon which it was spilt by thy bloody hands.

Marginal references: Heb. bloods.; Rev. 6. 10.

11. And now art thou cursed from the Earth , which hath opened her mouth to receive thy Brothers blood from thy hand .

As the earth was cursed for thy Fathers sake, so now art thou cursed in thy own person.

Or, In regard of the Earth, which shall grudge thee both its Fruits, and a certain dwelling place.

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.

12. When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength . A fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in the Earth.

Or, That ground, which doth or shall fall to thy share, which besides the first and general curse inflicted upon the whole Earth, shall have this peculiar curse added to it.

(i. e.) Its vertue, and fruit, in such proportion as it hath hitherto done.

Banished from thy own Land and Kindred, and fathers house, and from the whole society of the faithful, and wandring hither and thither. Others render the words mourning and trembling: or, trembling and wandring. These two words note both the unquietness and horrour of his Mind and Conscience, and the unsettledness of his habitation and condition, and as some add, the trembling of his Body.

13, And Cain said unto the LORD, my punishment is greater than I can bear.

Heb. My Sin: But Sin seems here to be put for punishment, as before ver. 7. and Gen. 19. 15. Levit. 5. 1. Psal. 69. 27. Prov. 12. 21. For Cain was not so sensible of his sin, as of the ill effects of it, as himself shews ver. 14.

Marginal references: Or, mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven.

14. Behold , thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the Earth , * and from thy face shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive, and a vagabond in the Earth: And it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me .

Consider how severely thou usest me.

With publick infamy, as the word signifies.

Or, This Earth, my native Land.

(i. e.) Favour and Protection.

As the publick Enemy of mankind, and as one devoted by thee to destruction. Quest. Whom did Cain fear, when it appears not that there were any but his Father and Mother? Answ. 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 Gods precept and blessing, Gen. 1. 26. procreate Children presently after the fall, and Gods 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 Worlds infancy. 3. That this Murder was committed but a little before the hundred and thirtieth year of Adams Age, which appears by comparing Gen. 4. 25. and 5. 3. Before which time how vast and numerous an off-spring might have come from Adam, none can be ignorant that can and shall make a rational computation.

15. And the LORD said unto him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold . And the LORD set a mark upon Cain , lest any finding him should kill him.

Or, Assuredly, as the word signifies Ier. 2. 32. and 5. 2. Zach. 11. 17. That thou mayst see how I hate murther, and how impartially I shall punish all Murtherers, and that thou mayst be unhappily free from this fear, that thou mayst live for an example to mankind, for a terrour to thy self and others.

(i. e.) Abundantly he shall be plagued with many and grievous punishments, as the phrase is used, Levit. 26. 28. Psal. 12. 7. and 79. 12. and in many other places.

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.

16. And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD , and dwelt in the Land of Nod , on the East of Eden.

(i. e.) Was banished from the place of Gods special presence and habitation, from the society of his Father, and of the only Church which God had upon Earth.

In the Land which was afterwards called Nod, from Cains unsetled condition, because he continued wandring hither and thither in it.

17. And Cain knew his Wife , and she conceived and bare Enoch, and he built a City , and called the Name of the City after the name of his Son Enoch .

Of which phrase see on Chap. 4. 1.

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.

Not after his own name, which he knew to be infamous and hateful.

Marginal references: Heb. Cha[illegible: 1+ letters]och.

19. And Lamech took unto him two Wives , the Name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

The wicked branch of that cursed root of Cain.

Against Gods first institution, Gen. 2. 24. Mal. 2. 15. and without Gods leave.

20. And Adah bare Iubal: He was the Father of such as dwell in Tents , and of such as have Cattle .

He taught Shepherds to dwell in Tents, and to remove them from place to place, for conveniency of Pasture. The first Authors or Inventers of any thing are commonly called its Fathers.

Heb. And of Cattle, i. e. The Inventor of the art of keeping and managing Cattle.

21. And his Brothers name was Iubal: He was the Father of all such as handle the Harp and Organ .

Or, the lovely instrument. But what kind of instrument this was even the Jews do not understand. The meaning is he was the Inventer of Musick and musical instruments.

22. And Zillah she also bare Tubal-Cain , an Instructer of every Artificer in Brass, and Iron : And the Sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah .

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.

Who first taught men how to make arms and other instruments of Iron.

So called from her beauty, which her Name signifies.

Marginal references: Heb. Wh[illegible: 1+ letters]tter.

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, and a young man to my hurt .

Who, observing his fierceness and cruelty, feared that the vengeance of God or men would fall upon him, and upon them for his sake.

(i. e.) Be it so that I have slain a man, and that a young man, why do you concern your selves 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, &c. (i. e.) to my utter ruine or to the wounding and grief of my Heart and Conscience. But this seems not to agree either with the quality of Cains Family, or with the temper of Lamechs Person, or with the scope of the Holy Ghost in this place, which is to describe not the vertues, 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 weakned, the remainders of my strength would be sufficient to give him his deaths wound. The words also may be otherwise rendred, the particle chi being taken interrogatively, as it is, Isa. 29. 6. and 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.

Marginal references: Or, I would slay a man in my wound, &c.; Heb. a Child.; Or, in my hurt.

24. If Cain shall be avenged seven-fold, truly Lamech seventy and seven-fold .

If the slaughter of Cain shall be punished in him that shall kill him, whosoever he be.

(i. e.) 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 scoffe. q. d. Since Cain my Father and pattern in murther 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 murther is not so hainous 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 onely 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.

25. And Adam knew his Wife again, and she bare a Son, and called his name Seth : For God, said she , hath appointed me another seed in stead of Abel , whom Cain slew.

She gave the name, but not without Adams consent, Gen. 5. 3.

By divine inspiration.

Note, that the word Seed is used of one single person, here and Gen. 21. 13. and 38. 8. Which confirms the Apostles argument Gal. 3. 16.

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.

Marginal references: Heb. Sheth.

26. And to Seth, to him also there was born a Son; and he called his name Enos , then began men to call upon the Name of the LORD .

Which properly signifies a miserable man, to note the great wickedness and wretchedness of that Generation, which the Hebrew Writers generally observe.

To pray unto God, to Worship God in a more publick and solemn manner: Praying being here put for the whole Worship of God, as Gen. 12. 8. and 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 and zealous for God, and did more publickly 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 expresly called, and that, as it seems, upon this occasion, Gen. 6. 2. And in this sense this phrase is elsewhere taken, as Isa. 43. 7. and 44. 5. and 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 only Church of God then in the World.

Marginal references: Heb. Enosh.; Or, to call themselves by the name of the Lord.