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Genesis 4

1The human knew Eve his wife. She conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man with Yahweh's help.” 2She bore again, his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of flocks, while Cain worked the ground. 3After some time Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground. 4Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock, with their fat portions. Yahweh looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5but he did not look with favor on Cain and his offering. Cain grew very angry, and his face fell.

6Yahweh said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has your face fallen? 7If you do well, will there not be a lifting up? But if you do not do well, sin crouches at the doorway. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” 8Cain spoke to Abel his brother. When they were in the field, Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him. 9Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?” 10He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground! 11Now you are cursed away from the ground, which opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand. 12When you work the ground, it will no longer give you its strength. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

13Cain said to Yahweh, “My punishment is too great to bear. 14Look, today you have driven me from the surface of the ground, and I will be hidden from your face. I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15Yahweh said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance sevenfold.” Yahweh set a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would strike him down. 16Cain went out from Yahweh's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

17Cain knew his wife; she conceived and bore Enoch. He was building a city, and he named the city Enoch, after his son. 18Irad was born to Enoch. Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19Lamech took two wives. One was named Adah, and the other Zillah. 20Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and keep livestock. 21His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and pipe. 22Zillah also bore Tubal-cain, a sharpener of every implement of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain's sister was Naamah.

23Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice! Wives of Lamech, listen to my words! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. 24If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

25Adam knew his wife again. She bore a son and named him Seth, “because God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on Yahweh's name.

Translation notes 5

4:1, 25 — Names; knew. “Knew” is the Hebrew sexual expression. Cain sounds like the verb “acquire,” and Seth like “appoint.” Eve's statement in verse 1 can also mean “with Yahweh”; “help” makes the understood relation explicit without suggesting that she has given birth to Yahweh.

4:7 — Lifting up; crouching sin. The compressed first clause can mean acceptance, forgiveness, or a lifting of Cain's fallen face. The draft preserves the lifting image. The next clause personifies sin as a lurking creature. “You can rule” is another possible force of the final verb; the draft takes it as a demand for mastery.

4:8 — Unreported speech. The Hebrew says that Cain spoke to Abel but gives no words. Samaritan Hebrew and ancient Greek have words inviting Abel into the field. These could preserve lost speech or clarify the abrupt shorter text. The draft retains the Hebrew base without inventing its missing object.

4:13–16 — Punishment; sign. The word translated “punishment” can also mean guilt or wrongdoing: “My guilt is too great to bear,” or “to be forgiven,” is possible. The sign protects Cain; the text neither describes its form nor identifies it as a bodily or racial mark. Nod echoes the word for wandering.

4:20–24 — Founders; violence. “Father” describes the remembered founder of a way of life. The exact metalworking expression in verse 22 is difficult; “forger of every tool” is another rendering. Lamech's verse boasts of disproportionate retaliation. The Hebrew says seventy-seven, not explicitly seventy times seven.