Things certainly went on a freefall after the original sin of Adam and Eve. In Chapter 4 alone, we have the world's first murder and first recorded bigamy.
Cain and Abel
Eve made an interesting comment when Cain was born. She probably assumed that Cain was the promised seed that God had mentioned in Chapter 3. Hence the naming of Cain ("possession" or "acquire"). Perhaps Cain did not match up to Eve's expectation in his life and when the 2nd child was born, Eve gave him the name Abel which meant breathe or vapour and probably alluded to the vanity of her hopes that Cain was the seed child.
The Sacrifice
There seems to be a lot of confusion with regards to the occupation of Cain (tiller of the ground) and Abel (keeper of flocks), and the meaning of the sacrifices that they had made. Some tried to make the case that blood sacrifices were required from the beginning while others, who were keen to divorce themselves from Israel and Mosaic Laws, made the case that it was the either the value of the gift (firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions [Abel] versus fruit of the ground [Cain]) or the attitude of the giver (Heb 11:4) that was the key point here.
I would lean towards the view that God had already set the basic fundamentals of the sacrificial system which was to become the Mosaic Law in the future. Why? I take my reference from the point that Noah knew about which animals are clean and which are unclean before the advent of the Flood (Gen 7:2-3).
Whatever your point of view, the bottomline was that Cain and Abel knew exactly what God's requirements of the sacrifice were. While Abel's sacrifice met with God's approval, Cain's did not. How did the two of them know which sacrifice did God accept? One speculation was that God consumed the sacrifice that was deemed acceptable (see 1 Kings 18:38 and 2 Chron 7:1)
Given God's omniscience and foreknowledge, He nonetheless held out hope that Cain would not do what he eventually did. God first asked Cain to reflect on his anger (If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted?), warned him not to escalate his anger into sinful actions (sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you) and urged him not to succumb (but you must master it).
The First Murder
Unfortunately, Cain chose otherwise. Verse 8 started abruptly and you wonder what exactly did Cain told Abel. The Septuagint and some translations (NRSV and NET) cleared up the "mystery" and reflected Cain telling Abel to go out to the field. The purpose? To rise against his brother Abel and kill him.
Even after Cain had crossed the line, I believed God still held out hope that Cain would come clean with what he had done. God could have directly indicted Cain for what he had done but chose to ask Cain to come clean by asking him where Abel was (verse 9) [and not as some has suggested - that God did not know what Cain had done]. Unfortunately, Cain again chose otherwise and denied any knowledge of what he had done. God's indictment of Cain was immediate and since capital punishment was not mandated till Chapter 9:6 after the flood, Cain's punishment is ironically that the ground in which he tilled would no longer bear fruits for him and that Cain would be a vagrant and wanderer on the earth.
Cain's reaction baffles me. Instead of being contrite, he complained to God that it was too great a punishment and rightly feared for his life against those who would want to seek revenge for Abel's murder. God, in his lovingkindness, gave His personal assurance to Cain that he would not be harmed and appointed a sign for Cain to ensure his safety. There has been much speculations on what this sign was but I personally think that there is no point trying to figure this out since we will have no way to determine one way or the other. More importantly, I don't think this is what God wants us to focus our mental efforts on.
Why did God not demand for the capital punishment to be imposed on Cain? At this point of human history, there was only Adam, Eve and Cain. In order to impose capital punishment, either God Himself or the parents would have to do the deed. God not doing it and Him not imposing Adam and Eve to kill their only surviving son then both demonstrated His lovingkindness.
Abel seems to be a footnote of the the Biblical characters but God ensured that Abel's name was mentioned:
By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. [Hebrews 11:4]
Cain's Descendants
Verse 16 mentioned that Cain went out from God's presence and this could possibly mean that Cain's lineage was no longer under God's personal protection and care. From here, Cain moved east of Eden, settled in the land of Nod, found a wife, had a son Enoch (meaning consecrated or dedicated), built a city and named it after his son. This presented a strange situation since Cain was destined to lead a wandering lifestyle. In Hebrew, the word built is translated from בּנה (banah). The word allows for the expression to mean "to begin to build". This is further strengthened by the word היה (hayah), which on most occasions translate to the word "it came to pass". In summary, Cain probably begin to build the city in defiance of God's decree and had to leave it to Enoch to finish building the city named after him, perhaps as a result of Cain having to continue his vagrant life.
7 generations of Cain's line was mentioned:
Cain (possession)
Enoch (consecrated)
Irad (city dweller or fugitive)
Mehujael (blotted out by God)
Methushael (traditionally, man of God)
Lamech (warrior or strong youth)
Jabal (flowing stream or to bring forth), Jubal (flowing stream or to bring forth), Tubal-Cain (bring forth a possession) and Naamah (pleasant or sweet).
[If you still haven't know where Cain got his wife, you can check out here.]
Several observations can be derived from the geneology:
(1) Despite God's decree regarding Cain, 2 names (Enoch and Methushael) seem to indicate that there were descendants from the Cain line that believed in God. This will also help us better understand verse 26 later.
(2) Of interest are the 3 sons of Lamech. Contrary to anthropologists, within seven generations, human beings have discovered bronze/iron work, wide-scale animal rearing and music.
(3) Lamech was the Bible's first recorded bigamist. His wives were Adah (ornament) and Zillah (shade or shadow).
Lamech's poem in verse 23-24 reflects also the rapid degeneration of the human beings in its morals and statement of arrogance and rebellion. Hebrew poetry is not constructed based on rhymes but on similar meaning couplets. Here, there are 3 couplets:
Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice,
You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech,
For I have killed a man for wounding me;
And a boy for striking me;
If Cain is avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.
Starting Again
After the death of Abel, Adam and Eve conceived Seth (meaning appointed) and Eve herself named him, saying that God had appointed him to be Abel's replacement. Seth then produced a son, Enosh (meaning man frail and miserable or mortal). Even within the 3rd generation from Adam, the effects of the Fall seemed to have been fully felt by the people.
A Strange Epilogue
Many commentaries seemed to stumble over the meaning of verse 26:
To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD.
Given that Cain and Abel were already bring sacrifices to God, it seemed strange that it was only during Enosh's generation that men began to call upon God's name. Many tried to harmonise this by speculating that it was during Enosh's time that formal or corporate worship took root.
I personally think this is unnecessary. If you take a look at the Strong's Concordance or Brown-Driver-Briggs' (BDB) Hebrew definition, the Hebrew word for call (qara, קרא, H7121) has the meaning of "to call, call out, recite, read, cry out, proclaim". What is interesting is that both references pointed to a primitive root from which this word comes - (qara, קרא, H7122):Strong: A primitive root; to encounter, whether accidentally or in a hostile manner: - befall, (by) chance, (cause to) come (upon), fall out, happen, meet.
BDB: to encounter, befall, meet
Both alluded to a negative connotation to the word translated as "call". Hence, I will go out on a limb here to suggest that instead of translating verse 26 as "Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD", this should be translated as "Then men began to profane the name of the LORD".
This makes for a more logical flow that by Enosh's time, people began to turn away from God, the beginning of apostasy.
As we shall see in Chapter 6 later, this will culminate in God's judgment of the world.
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