Genesis 4 Revisited Notes

         Genesis 4 Revisited Notes 

Adam and Eve have their first child, Cain. Compare Eve's prideful response with Hannah (1 Samuel 1:27) and Mary (Luke 1:26-38). It's difficult to say if Cain and Abel were twins or born relatively soon apart from each other. 

Cain's name meant "Possessor of the inheritance" while Abel's name meant breath/temporary/fleeting life. They represented the Earth/Land and Heavens/Sky respectively.  Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer.

" In the course of time", can be translated as the end of the harvest. This most likely was a Thanksgiving offering due to a good return on their family's harvest.

Cain brings a low quality fruit offering-Malachi 1:6-9. It is bad quality. He chooses not to work harder or holds back in order to provide a better quality offering for God- No first fruits. Abel brings a first born offering of his flocks with their fat portions. God showed approval for Abel's sacrifice, but rejected Cain's. It's probable that Cain and Abel brought their sacrifices at the entrance way to the Garden of Eden. See Leviticus 1:3,17:5.

 God notices Cain's angry disposition . The Infamous Verse 7 about sin crouching at your door has been translated erroneously. According to "Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?" By Michael Morales, sin can be translated as a sin offering. Also, it's probable that the Hebrew word teshuqah (flowing out) was confused from the word teshuba(to return). Hence, the verse should be rendered as "And your sin offering will keep returning  to the door of your tent until you master it correctly." Commentators like Adam Clarke (1762–1832), Adoniram Judson (1788–1850), Young’s Literal Translation (1862), Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (1877), and Matthew Henry (1662–1714) (p. 57n51) agree with this alternate translation. In order to get an animal, Cain would have to humble himself and ask his brother for help. Instead, Cain leads Abel into the field and kills him. God confronts Cain giving him an opportunity to repent, but he chooses to deflect the question. God then curses the Land once again, resulting in a double portion curse. Just like Adam, Cain is forced into early retirement as a farmer. In addition, Cain would be a forever wanderer. Always looking behind his back. Was Cain repentant ? Some commentators render verse 13 as, “Is my guilt too great to be forgiven?” (b. Sanhedrin 101b) In Hebrew, the word “punishment” can also be rendered “guilt” (ʿăwōnî, Ex. 28:43; Num. 5:31; 14:34-35), and the word “bear” can also be rendered “forgiven” (nāśāʾ, cf. Ex. 34:7; Ps. 85:2; Isa. 33:24). The context decides the meaning. Cain is then exiled from God's presence and leaves the Land of Eden (not the garden) to the Land of Nod (the City means Wanderer).

God then extends mercy to Cain by giving him a mark/banner/sign, so that no one would kill him. If someone would disobeyed, and killed Cain,a sevenfold curse was placed on them. This is not a physical mark on the flesh. Translations such as the NASB 1977,1995, ASV,ERV, and the LSB states that "God has appointed a mark (sign) for Cain. According to John Sailhammer and Joel N. Lohr , the City of Enoch was the Mark. It functioned as a prototype to the cities of refuge-Num 35:12; Dt 19:11-13. Since there was no mention of two or three witnesses, it is very probable that Cain was declared innocent of the murder of Abel. Furthermore, it was outside of Eden's jurisdiction. Eerily, Abel never says a word in Genesis, but his blood speaks volumes post mortem. The other people that Cain was afraid of was the Pre-Adamic race born on the 6th day, not children of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had other children AFTER Seth. This also explains Cain's wife. Notice, carefully, it says He KNEW his wife, not MET his wife. Perhaps Adam would have placed a bounty on Cain's head since he was Covenant King.

Instead of showing gratitude to God for providing a refuge for him, he names the City after his son, Enoch, which means Dedication. Cain is all about the "name/reputation"/legacy. Conceiving children is like a flesh-like resurrection. It keeps the name "immortal." The son is a resurrection of his father.

We then transition to the genealogy of Cain. They have no birthdates or death dates mentioned in the text. They are an afterthought in the redemption narrative. One noticeable characteristic is that there is a significant similarity between the names of the Cainites in Genesis 4 and the Sethites in Genesis 5 regardless of birth order. See chart below.

Lamech, the Cainite Patriarch, is known for marrying two wives simultaneously. Both wives bore out a total of four talented children: Jabal-The Father of Animal Husbandry/breeding practices. Tubal Cain- The Father of iron smithing (weapons/tools) and construction, Jubal- The Father of Music and Entertainment, and Naamah. The word Father is described as known for, not being a literal father. The same argument can be applied to Eve as the Mother of all the Living. Perhaps, this is what Jesus meant about titles in Matthew 23:9. With Naamah, she's not referred to as mother or known for any special talent. Some proposed that she was known for her beauty, singing, or prostitution. For me, I believe she is Noah's wife who leaves her Cainite heritage in order to marry Noah. She defected to the Sethites. My reasoning is that Noah is a typological figure of Christ and his wife has to be a person of a foreign origin. We see this pattern used frequently in Scripture. First, with Adam, who bore Eve out of his side (not from the dust) Moses and his Midianite /Ethiopian wife, Joseph and his Egyptian wife, David from Judah and his wife, Michel from the Benjamin tribe, and lastly Solomon and his wife, Naamah-who is an Ammonite. Even with a second Naamah is it really farfetched to presume this is Noah's wife?!

In contrast, to Adam's love song/poem, Lamech sings his prideful Song of the Sword. In boast, Lamech states that the transgression towards him invites greater mercy than Cain's crime. This is because the man physically or emotionally wounded him while Abel did nothing to warrant his brother's murderous rage. Adam and Eve have a third child called Seth. Seth means " the appointed one." Eve's attitude changes by the end of chapter. She is more humble. There is no mention of "I" , but God has appointed her a son. Seth is the new son of the double portion inheritance. He then has a son name Enosh. One of the big misconceptions is that Enosh and Enoch means the same -dedication. Enosh means frail, incurable, vulnerable, weak, sick, diseased,etc. This is reflective of the spiritual condition of the Line of Seth.  An alternative reading of Genesis 4:26 in the KJV margin notes state that this verse should be translated as " then men profanely began to call themselves by the name of YHVH." This translation makes sense and transitions well into Genesis 6-The Sons of God. Genesis 5 appears to be an interlude about the Sethite Genealogy. When reading Cain's Genealogy, it has been said that there is a secret code. Although it sounds interesting, this should be taken with a grain of salt. See below. 

The Possessor (Cain) will wander away (Nod) from the East of Eden, and commit a dedicated (Enoch) army(Irad) to wiping out God (Mehujael). God will be replaced by a God-Man (Methusael) with power(Lamech) who will overwhelmingly (Jabal/Jubal) cover(Zillah) you forever with the delightful (Adah/Naamah) fruits of Cain (Tubal-Cain).