And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
16. from the presence of ] Cf. 14, “from thy face.” Cain going out “from the presence of” Jehovah, quits the land in which that presence was revealed. Jonah in fleeing from Palestine fled “from the presence of the Lord” (Jon 1:3).
in the land of Nod ] That is, Wandering, cf. the word “wanderer” ( nd) in Gen 4:12 ; Gen 4:14. This region cannot be identified; it serves as a vague designation for all the country in the unknown East, which was thought to be inhabited only by nomads.
on the east of ] This rendering, like the Lat. ad orientalem plagam, is preferable to that of the marg. in front of (LXX ). See notes on Gen 2:14 and Gen 3:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 4:16-17
Cain went out from the presence of the Lord
The future of a God-forsaken life
I.
THAT A GOD-FORSAKEN MAN IS NOT CUT OFF FROM THE MITIGATING INFLUENCES OF DOMESTIC LIFE.
1. Here the future of the cursed life has some relief. Cain had his wife to share his sorrow, and, for all we know, to help him in it. The domestic relationship is a great relief and comfort to a sad life. When all goes wrong without, it can find a refuge at home.
2. The children of a cursed life are placed at a moral disadvantage. They are the offspring of a God-forsaken parent. It is awful to commence life under these conditions.
II. THAT A GOD-FORSAKEN MAN IS LIKELY VERY SOON TO SEEK SATISFACTION IN EARTHLY EMPLOYMENTS AND THINGS. Cain built a city. This would find occupation for his energies. It would tend to divest his mind of his wicked past. It would enrich his poverty. It might become the home of his posterity.
III. THAT OFTEN A GOD-FORSAKEN MAN IS DISPOSED TO TRY TO BUILD A RIVAL TO THE CHURCH FROM WHENCE HE HAS BEEN DRIVEN. If he has been driven from God, he will engage his energies to build a city for Satan. In this work some wicked men are active. And today the city of evil is of vast dimensions, is thickly populated, but is weak in its foundation, and will ultimately be swept away by the prayerful effort of the Church, and the wrath of God..
IV. THAT MEN WHOSE NAVIES ARE NOT WRITTEN IN HEAVEN ARE VERY ANXIOUS TO MAKE THEM FAMOUS ON EARTH. They build cities rather than characters. Lessons:
1. Earth cannot give the soul a true substitute for God.
2. Family relationship is unsanctified without Him.
3. Cities are useless without Him. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Cain going out from Gods presence
It is an awful thought, that of the lost, to the sound of the dead march, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, flocking away from the judgment seat. But scarcely inferior in horror is the sight of Cain going out from the presence of the Lord. He goes out alone, save for his poor weeping wife, for children as yet he had none. He goes out in silence, without venturing to utter one word of remonstrance or regret. He goes out withered and accursed, although not utterly crushed. He goes out bearing, and showing that he is conscious of bearing, his character burnt and branded on his brow. He goes out, preserved indeed, but preserved as the criminal on the scaffold is preserved from the guns of the soldiery and the missiles of the crowd, that he may abide the executioners axe, or feel the hangmans gripe. He goes out alone, but you see in him the representative of the giant race of transgressors, who are yet in his loins as he goes forth. He goes out into a thinly peopled earth, but into an earth where he knows that every man is aware of his crime, and would kill him but for a mark which identifies and renders infamous while it secures him. He goes forth into the young world, a region as silent as it is vast; but hark! as he leaves the presence of the Lord a peal of harsh thunder behind proclaims the departure of the murderer, and worse than this still, the trembling hollows of his ear (like the sea shell by the sound of the deep) are filled with the cry, which he feels is forever his music, Cain, Cain, where is thy brother? (G. Gilfillan.)
Cains banishment
Like Judas from the presence of Jesus, so does Cain go out from the face of God, from the place where the visible glory of God, the Shekinah, had its abode. Partly troubled at his banishment, and partly relieved at getting away from the near presence of the Holy One, he goes forth, a banished criminal, whose foot must no longer be permitted to profane the sacred circle of Eden; an excommunicated man, who must no longer worship with the Church of God, round the primeval altar. He goes out, not like Abraham to the land of promise, the land flowing with milk and honey, but to the land of the threatening, the land where no divine presence was seen and on which no glory shone, and where no bright cherubim foreshadowed redemption, and proclaimed restoration to paradise, and the tree of life. He goes out to an unknown and untrodden land; a land which, from his own character as the wanderer, received in after days the name of Nod. He goes out, the flaming sword behind him, driving him out of his native seat, and forbidding his return. A banished man, an excommunicated worshipper (the sentence of excommunication pronounced by God Himself)–one delivered over to Satan (1Ti 1:20), he takes up his abode in the land of Nod. There he sits down, not as if at rest, for what had he to do with rest? Can the cloud rest? Can the sea rest? Can the guilty conscience rest? He sits down in Nod, but not to rest, only to drown his restlessness in schemes of labour. He went towards the rising sun. He and his posterity spread eastward, just as Seth and his posterity spread westward. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The land of Nod
The land of Nod
Cain settled in the land of Nod, in the east of Eden. It is evident that the name Nod expresses the nature and character of the locality; it signifies flight or exile; and the same root means, sometimes, grief and mourning. Nod is, therefore, the land of misery and exile. But, although this appellative signification of Nod is clear, it is not less certain that the historian intended to describe thereby a distinct country. He designates its position in the east of Eden, and he mentions a town which Cain built in that land of flight, Nod is, therefore, as little as Eden itself, a mere abstraction, or a fictitious name, invented for the embodiment of a myth. But, as it is only described by its relative position to Eden, its situation is, naturally, as disputed as that of paradise itself. It has been placed in Susiana, Lydia, and Arabia; in Nysa and China; in the mountains of the Caucasus and the vast steppes in the east of Cashmere; in Tartary, in Parthia, or any part of India. However, it appears that the whole extent of Asia eastward of Eden, was comprised under the name of Nod. Cain was expelled to the east of paradise, where the cherubim with their flaming swords forever prevented the access; we are, thus, expressly reminded that the murderer who with one audacious step ascended the whole climax of crime, was removed far from the seat of blessedness and innocence. (M. M.Kalisch, Ph. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 16. The land of Nod] As nod signifies the same as sa, a vagabond, some think this verse should be rendered, And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, from the east of Eden, and dwelt a vagabond on the earth; thus the curse pronounced on him, Ge 4:12, was accomplished.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. He 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;
and dwelt in the land of Nod, in the land which was afterwards called Nod, from Cains unsettled condition, because he continued wandering hither and thither in it.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. presence of the Lordtheappointed place of worship at Eden. Leaving it, he not only severedhimself from his relatives but forsook the ordinances of religion,probably casting off all fear of God from his eyes so that the lastend of this man is worse than the first (Mt12:45).
land of Nodof flightor exilethought by many to have been Arabia-Petrawhich wascursed to sterility on his account.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord,…. Either from the place where the Lord was talking with him; or from the place where his glorious Majesty usually resided, where was some visible token of his presence, some stream of light and glory which showed him to be there, and which was at the east of the garden of Eden; from whence Cain was obliged to go, not being suffered to appear any more before God, or among his worshippers: there was a place near Tripoli in Syria, near where Mount Lebanon ends, called
, “the face of God”, made mention of by Polybius e, and Strabo f: and was near those parts where some place the garden of Eden; and it is possible might have its name from some tradition that this was the place where the face of God was seen, or his presence enjoyed by our first parents after their ejection from Eden, and from whence Cain went forth:
and dwelt in the land of Nod; so called, not before he went there, but from his wandering up and down in it; continuing in no one place in it, as well as his mind was restless and uneasy; Jarchi mentions another reason of its name, that in every place where he went the earth shook under him, and men said, Depart from him, this is he that slew his brother:
on the east of Eden; further east from the place where his father Adam and his other children dwelt; not being allowed to continue any longer with them, or converse with them, after he had been guilty of so horrid a crime.
e Hist. l. 5. p. 260. f Geograph. l. 16. p. 519.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The family of the Cainites. – Gen 4:16. The geographical situation of the land of Nod, in the front of Eden ( , see Gen 2:14), where Cain settled after his departure from the place or the land of the revealed presence of God (cf. Jon 1:3), cannot be determined. The name Nod denotes a land of flight and banishment, in contrast with Eden, the land of delight, where Jehovah walked with men. There Cain knew his wife. The text assumes it as self-evident that she accompanied him in his exile; also, that she was a daughter of Adam, and consequently a sister of Cain. The marriage of brothers and sisters was inevitable in the case of the children of the first men, if the human race was actually to descend from a single pair, and may therefore be justified in the face of the Mosaic prohibition of such marriages, on the ground that the sons and daughters of Adam represented not merely the family but the genus, and that it was not till after the rise of several families that the bands of fraternal and conjugal love became distinct from one another, and assumed fixed and mutually exclusive forms, the violation of which is sin. (Comp. Lev 18.) His son he named Hanoch (consecration), because he regarded his birth as a pledge of the renovation of his life. For this reason he also gave the same name to the city which he built, inasmuch as its erection was another phase in the development of his family. The construction of a city by Cain will cease to surprise us, if we consider that at the commencement of its erection, centuries had already passed since the creation of man, and Cain’s descendants may by this time have increased considerably in numbers; also, that does not necessarily presuppose a large town, but simply an enclosed space with fortified dwellings, in contradistinction to the isolated tents of shepherds; and lastly, that the words , “he was building,” merely indicate the commencement and progress of the building, but not its termination. It appears more surprising that Cain, who was to be a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth, should have established himself in the land of Nod. This cannot be fully explained, either on the ground that he carried on the pursuits of agriculture, which lead to settled abodes, or that he strove against the curse. In addition to both the facts referred to, there is also the circumstance, that the curse, “the ground shall not yield to thee her strength,” was so mollified by the grace of God, that Cain and his descendants were enabled to obtain sufficient food in the land of his settlement, though it was by dint of hard work and strenuous effort; unless, indeed, we follow Luther and understand the curse, that he should be a fugitive upon the earth, as relating to his expulsion from Eden, and his removal ad incertum locum et opus, non addita ulla vel promissione vel mandato, sicut avis quae in libero caelo incerta vagatur . The fact that Cain undertook the erection of a city, is also significant. Even if we do not regard this city as “the first foundation-stone of the kingdom of the world, in which the spirit of the beast bears sway,” we cannot fail to detect the desire to neutralize the curse of banishment, and create for his family a point of unity, as a compensation for the loss of unity in fellowship with God, as well as the inclination of the family of Cain for that which was earthly.
The powerful development of the worldly mind and of ungodliness among the Cainites was openly displayed in Lamech, in the sixth generation. Of the intermediate links, the names only are given. (On the use of the passive with the accusative of the object in the clause “ to Hanoch was born (they bore) Irad,” see Ges. 143, 1.) Some of these names resemble those of the Sethite genealogy, viz., Irad and Jared, Mehujael and Mahalaleel, Methusael and Methuselah, also Cain and Cainan; and the names Enoch and Lamech occur in both families. But neither the recurrence of similar names, nor even of the same names, warrants the conclusion that the two genealogical tables are simply different forms of one primary legend. For the names, though similar in sound, are very different in meaning. Irad probably signifies the townsman, Jared, descent, or that which has descended; Mehujael, smitten of God, and Mahalaleel, praise of God; Methusael, man of prayer, and Methuselah, man of the sword or of increase. The repetition of the two names Enoch and Lamech even loses all significance, when we consider the different places which they occupy in the respective lines, and observe also that in the case of these very names, the more precise descriptions which are given so thoroughly establish the difference of character in the two individuals, as to preclude the possibility of their being the same, not to mention the fact, that in the later history the same names frequently occur in totally different families; e.g., Korah in the families of Levi (Exo 6:21) and Esau (Gen 36:5); Hanoch in those of Reuben (Gen 46:9) and Midian (Gen 25:4); Kenaz in those of Judah (Num 32:12) and Esau (Gen 36:11). The identity and similarity of names can prove nothing more than that the two branches of the human race did not keep entirely apart from each other; a fact established by their subsequently intermarrying. – Lamech took two wives, and thus was the first to prepare the way for polygamy, by which the ethical aspect of marriage, as ordained by God, was turned into the lust of the eye and lust of the flesh. The names of the women are indicative of sensual attractions: Adah, the adorned; and Zillah, either the shady or the tinkling. His three sons are the authors of inventions which show how the mind and efforts of the Cainites were directed towards the beautifying and perfecting of the earthly life. Jabal (probably = jebul, produce) became the father of such as dwelt in tents, i.e., of nomads who lived in tents and with their flocks, getting their living by a pastoral occupation, and possibly also introducing the use of animal food, in disregard of the divine command (Gen 1:29). Jubal (sound), the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe, i.e., the inventors of stringed and wind instruments. a guitar or harp; the shepherd’s reed or bagpipe. Tubal-Cain, “ hammering all kinds of cutting things (the verb is to be construed as neuter) in brass and iron;” the inventor therefore of all kinds of edge-tools for working in metals: so that Cain, from to forge, is probably to be regarded as the surname which Tubal received on account of his inventions. The meaning of Tubal is obscure; for the Persian Tupal, iron- scoria, can throw no light upon it, as it must be a much later word. The allusion to the sister of Tubal-Cain is evidently to be attributed to her name, Naamah, the lovely, or graceful, since it reflects the worldly mind of the Cainites. In the arts, which owed their origin to Lamech’s sons, this disposition reached its culminating point; and it appears in the form of pride and defiant arrogance in the song in which Lamech celebrates the inventions of Tubal-Cain (Gen 4:23, Gen 4:24): “ Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: Men I slay for my wound, and young men for my stripes. For sevenfold is Cain avenged, and Lamech seven and seventy-fold.” The perfect is expressive not of a deed accomplished, but of confident assurance ( Ges. 126, 4; Ewald, 135 c); and the suffixes in and are to be taken in a passive sense. The idea is this: whoever inflicts a wound or stripe on me, whether man or youth, I will put to death; and for every injury done to my person, I will take ten times more vengeance than that with which God promised to avenge the murder of my ancestor Cain. In this song, which contains in its rhythm, its strophic arrangement of the thoughts, and its poetic diction, the germ of the later poetry, we may detect “that Titanic arrogance, of which the Bible says that its power is its god (Hab 1:11), and that it carries its god, viz., its sword, in its hand (Job 12:6)” ( Delitzsch). – According to these accounts, the principal arts and manufactures were invented by the Cainites, and carried out in an ungodly spirit; but they are not therefore to be attributed to the curse which rested upon the family. They have their roots rather in the mental powers with which man was endowed for the sovereignty and subjugation of the earth, but which, like all the other powers and tendencies of his nature, were pervaded by sin, and desecrated in its service. Hence these inventions have become the common property of humanity, because they not only may promote its intended development, but are to be applied and consecrated to this purpose for the glory of God.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Family of Cain. | B. C. 3875. |
16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.
We have here a further account of Cain, and what became of him after he was rejected of God.
I. He tamely submitted to that part of his sentence by which he was hidden from God’s face; for (v. 16) he went out from the presence of the Lord, that is, he willingly renounced God and religion, and was content to forego its privileges, so that he might not be under its precepts. He forsook Adam’s family and altar, and cast off all pretensions to the fear of God, and never came among good people, nor attended on God’s ordinances, any more. Note, Hypocritical professors, that have dissembled and trifled with God Almighty, are justly left to themselves, to do something that is grossly scandalous, and so to throw off that form of godliness to which they have been a reproach, and under colour of which they have denied the power of it. Cain went out now from the presence of the Lord, and we never find that he came into it again, to his comfort. Hell is destruction from the presence of the Lord, 2 Thess. i. 9. It is a perpetual banishment from the fountain of all good. This is the choice of sinners; and so shall their doom be, to their eternal confusion.
II. He endeavoured to confront that part of the sentence by which he was made a fugitive and a vagabond; for,
1. He chose his land. He went and dwelt on the east of Eden, somewhere distant from the place where Adam and his religious family resided, distinguishing himself and his accursed generation from the holy seed, his camp from the camp of the saints and the beloved city, Rev. xx. 9. On the east of Eden, the cherubim were, with the flaming sword, ch. iii. 24. There he chose his lot, as if to defy the terrors of the Lord. But his attempt to settle was in vain; for the land he dwelt in was to him the land of Nod (that is, of shaking or trembling), because of the continual restlessness and uneasiness of his own spirit. Note, Those that depart from God cannot find rest any where else. After Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, he never rested. Those that shut themselves out of heaven abandon themselves to a perpetual trembling. “Return therefore to thy rest, O my soul, to thy rest in God; else thou art for ever restless.”
2. He built a city for a habitation, v. 17. He was building a city, so some read it, ever building it, but, a curse being upon him and the work of his hands, he could not finish it. Or, as we read it, he built a city, in token of a fixed separation from the church of God, to which he had no thoughts of ever returning. This city was to be the head-quarters of the apostasy. Observe here, (1.) Cain’s defiance of the divine sentence. God said he should be a fugitive and a vagabond. Had he repented and humbled himself, this curse might have been turned into a blessing, as that of the tribe of Levi was, that they should be divided in Jacob and scattered in Israel; but his impenitent unhumbled heart walking contrary to God, and resolving to fix in spite of heaven, that which might have been a blessing was turned into a curse. (2.) See what was Cain’s choice, after he had forsaken God; he pitched upon a settlement in this world, as his rest for ever. Those who looked for the heavenly city chose, while on earth, to dwell in tabernacles; but Cain, as one that minded not that city, built himself one on earth. Those that are cursed of God are apt to seek their settlement and satisfaction here below, Ps. xvii. 14. (3.) See what method Cain took to defend himself against the terrors with which he was perpetually haunted. He undertook this building, to divert his thoughts from the consideration of his own misery, and to drown the clamours of a guilty conscience with the noise of axes and hammers. Thus many baffle their convictions by thrusting themselves into a hurry of worldly business. (4.) See how wicked people often get the start of God’s people, and out-go them in outward prosperity. Cain and his cursed race dwell in a city, while Adam and his blessed family dwell in tents. We cannot judge of love or hatred by all that is before us,Ecc 9:1; Ecc 9:2.
3. His family also was built up. Here is an account of his posterity, at least the heirs of his family, for seven generations. His son was Enoch, of the same name, but not of the same character, with that holy man that walked with God, ch. v. 22. Good men and bad may bear the same names: but God can distinguish between Judas Iscariot and Judas not Iscariot, John xiv. 22. The names of more of his posterity are mentioned, and but just mentioned; not as those of the holy seed (ch. v.), where we have three verses concerning each, whereas here we have three or four in one verse. They are numbered in haste, as not valued or delighted in, in comparison with God’s chosen.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 16-18:
“Cain went out,” denotes more than an end to the conversation with Jehovah. It marks the beginning of his exile from the center of human society in the environs of Eden. His journey took him from Jehovah’s presence physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This progression away from Jehovah is evident in his offspring. It follows the downhill path of sinful humanity which Paul describes in Ro 1:18-32.
“Nod,” nodh, “wanderings.” The geographical location of the land of Cain’s wanderings is unknown, except that it was eastward from Eden.
Where did Cain get his wife? This is a standard clich of those who quibble over technicalities, and use these quibbles to discredit the authenticity of the Scriptures. The answer is obvious- Cain’s wife was either his sister, his niece, or his cousin.
Among the children of Cain and his wife was a son whom they named Enoch. He is the first recorded city-builder. The verb “builded” is literally “was building,” implying that he began, but did not complete this project.
“Enoch,” chanoch means “dedicated.” On the surface it may appear that Cain and his wife dedicated this son to Jehovah. However, subsequent events show this is not the case. Cain is dedicated to his own selfish way, and he raised his sons to follow in his steps.
The fact that the first city-builders and urban dwellers were descendants from the rebel Cain may indicate that it was not God’s direct will for men to settle in cities, at least in the early stages of human history. It is evident that throughout history cities have been centers of crime, violence, immorality, poverty, disease, and corruption, much more so than rural or pastoral environs. The reason for this could be the moral character of those who found and govern them.
Names in the Bible are significant. They often reflect the hope or ambition of the parents for the child; and they are often prophetic to describe what the child will be when he grows to maturity. Cain’s descendants reflect the nature and aspirations of Cain and his sons.
“Irad” means “townsman” or citizen. This was a fitting name in view of Enoch’s role as a city-builder.
“Mehujael” is “smitten of God.”
“Methusael” is “man asked of God,” or “man of God.” In this name there appears to be no recognition of Jehovah as God, but rather of the fact that God is powerful.
“Lamech” is of uncertain meaning, but likely denotes “strong man.”
There are similarities in the names of some in Cain’s descendants to some in Seth’s offspring.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord. Cain is said to have departed from the presence of God, because, whereas he had hitherto lived in the earth as in an abode belonging to God, now, like an exile removed far from God’s sight, he wanders beyond the limits of His protection. Or certainly, (which is not less probable,) Moses represents him as having stood at the bar of judgment till he was condemned: but now, when God ceased to speak with him, being freed from the sense of His presence, he hastens elsewhere and seeks a new habitation, where he may escape the eyes of God. The land of Nod (249) without doubt obtained its name from its inhabitant. From its being situated on the eastern side of Paradise, we may infer the truth of what was before stated, that a certain place, distinguished by its pleasantness and rich abundance of fruits, had been given to Adam for a habitation; for, of necessity, that place must be limited, which has opposite aspects towards the various regions of the world.
(249) “ נוד signifies motion, flight, wandering, exile, and is the name of the region into which Cain was exiled.” — Schindler
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Gen. 4:16-18
THE FUTURE OF A GOD-FORSAKEN LIFE
I. That a God-forsaken man is not cut off from the mitigating influences of domestic life.
1. Here the future of the cursed life has some relief. Cain had his wife to share his sorrow, and, for all we know, to help him in it. The domestic relationship is a great relief and comfort to a sad life. When all goes wrong without, it can find a refuge at home.
2. The children of a cursed life are placed at a moral disadvantage. They are the offspring of a God-forsaken parent. It is awful to commence life under these conditions. It is dangerous for their future. We should pity and strive to aid the little ones who are brought up in godless homes. They start in the world at a great peril. Thus Cain had the comfort of domestic life. One ray of mercy gleams even through the dark history of a God-forsaken man.
II. That a God-forsaken man is likely very soon to seek satisfaction in earthly employments and things. Cain built a city. This would find occupation for his energies. It would tend to divest his mind of his wicked past. It would enrich his poverty. It might become the home of his posterity. Here he could dwell in safety, and without annoyance. Society would be much benefitted if many men of kindred spirit to Cain would to-day bid it farewell, to erect their own city in the present solitudes of nature. We could spare them without serious loss. They would be better in a city alone. The contagion of their wicked life would then be stayed. It was no easy task for Cain to build a city. But when men are going to enrich themselves they think not of ease. They would rather build a city for themselves, than even a church for God. Many men are energetic in worldly enterprise, who have altogether fallen away from God.
III. That often a God-forsaken man is disposed to try to build a rival to the Church from whence he has been driven. If he has been driven from God, he will engage his energies to build a city for Satan. In this work some wicked men are active. And to-day the city of evil is of vast dimensions, is thickly populated, but is weak in its foundation, and will ultimately be swept away by the prayerful effort of the Church, and the wrath of God.
IV. That men whose names are not written in heaven are very anxious to make them famous on earth. They build cities rather than characters. They hope thus to awe the world by their exploit. To gain the admiration of men by their enterprise. A man who establishes a city is useful to society. But the man who does it may be a fugitive murderer. Whereas a man who builds up a good, noble life is doing a grand social work, and will be God-remembered. LESSONS:
1. Earth cannot give the soul a true substitute for God.
2. Family relationship is unsanctified without Him.
3. Cities are useless without Him.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen. 4:16-18. The geographical situation of the land of Nod, in the front of Eden, where Cain settled after his departure from the place or the land of the revealed presence of God, cannot be determined. The name Nod denotes a land of flight and banishment, in contrast with Eden, the land of delight, where Jehovah walked with men. There Cain knew his wife. The text assumes it as self-evident that she accompanied him in his exile; also, that she was a daughter of Adam, and consequently a sister of Cain. The marriage of brothers and sisters was inevitable in the case of the children of the first men, if the human race was actually to descend from a single pair, and may therefore be justified in the face of the Mosaic prohibition of such marriages, on the ground that the sons and daughters of Adam represented not merely the family but the genus, and that it was not till after the rise of several families that the bands of fraternal and conjugal love became distinct from one another, and assumed fixed and mutually exclusive forms, the violation of which is sin. [Keil and Delitzsch.]
By building a city we cannot fail to detect Cains desire to neutralize the curse of banishment, and create for his family a point of unity, as a compensation for the loss of unity in fellowship with God, as well as the inclination of the family of Cain for that which was earthly. [Delitzsch.]
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
PART EIGHTEEN
THE BEGINNINGS OF HUMAN CULTURE
(Gen. 4:16-24)
1. The Patriarchal Age
The story of Cain and Abel introduces the Patriarchal form of government and worship. Family government is the oldest form of social organization known to history; family worship is the oldest form of worship described in the Bible. The patriarch was the head of his family; as such, he acted as prophet, priest and king. As prophet, he communicated the will of God, which he received by direct revelation, to his household; as priest, he offered sacrifice and acted as mediator between Yahweh and his family; and as king, his will was absolute law. The institution of worship during this Dispensation was the altar. This may have been a mound of earth, or a huge stone, or several stones placed one on top of the other, or a heap of unhewn stones and native earth (Exo. 20:24-26, Deu. 27:5-6). The patriarchs were nomadic, of course, and the altar was usually a heap of unhewn stones and native earth thrown together wherever the patriarch pitched his tents and on which he offered sacrifices to Jehovah. The first period of the Patriarchal Dispensation was the Antediluvian Period in the story of which, in the Biblical account, we have the history of the Messianic Genealogy from Adam to Noah.
2. The Line of Cain
16 And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methushael; and Methushael begat Lamech. 19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle. 21 And his brothers name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe. 22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. 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 for wounding me,
And a young man for bruising me:
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Truly Lamech seventy and seven fold.
(1) Gen. 4:16. In view of the repeated affirmations in Scripture of Gods omnipresence (everywhereness: cf. Psa. 139:7-10, Isa. 66:1, Jer. 23:23-24, Amo. 9:2-3, Act. 17:27-28), how can it be said that any human being went out from His presence? (Cf. Gen. 3:8; Gen. 11:5; Gen. 18:20-21; 1Ki. 19:11-12, Jon. 1:3.) Obviously, the presence of Jehovah (Yahweh) in these latter passages had reference either (a) to special and visible manifestations of Deity at the times indicated, or (b) to the place of those manifestations (probably at the entrance of the Garden where the Cherubim were stationed), or (c) to both. All such passages are anthropomorphic in character. It will be noted that Cain became a dweller in the land of Nod, that is, the land of Wandering, on the east of Eden. The name of this unidentified land recalls the description of Cain as a wanderer, nad, in the land of Nod (JB, 19, n.). It may carry a connotation of the mans obvious restlessness: was the Biblical Cain a counterpart of the Greek Prometheus? Does this mean, as Josephus conjectures, that Cain was not in any sense reformed by his punishment, but waxed worse and worse, giving himself to rapine, robbery, oppression, deceit (Whitelaw, PCG, 82)?
(2) Gen. 4:17. (a) Cains wife. Starting from a single pair in Eden, in the course of seven generations the human family must have attained to very considerable dimensions. At the birth of Seth, Adam was 130 years old, and in all probability had other sons and daughters besides Cain and his wife. If Lamech, the seventh from Adam in the line of Cain, was contemporaneous with Enoch, the seventh from Adam in the line of Seth, at least 600 years had passed away since the race began to multiply; and if Abrahams stock in less than 400 years amounted to 600,000 [men alone, a mixed multitude, Exo. 12:37-42], Cains posterity in the like time might arise to the like multitude. If to these the descendants of Seth be added, it will appear that the earths population in the time of Lamech was considerably over 1,000,000 inhabitants (PCG, 90). Murphy (MG, 158): The wife of Cain was of necessity his sister, though this was forbidden in after times, for wise and holy reasons, when the necessity no longer existed. (b) The first city. Cain built the city and named it Enoch after the name of his son. A city in that day was a stronghold, a fort, built on high ground, and walled.
(3) Gen. 4:18. A series of three nondescript characters, progenitors of three successive generations: Irad (townsman, wild ass?), Mehujael (smitten by God), Methushael (strong man of God?). And Methushael begat Lamech (strong youth). In this genealogy Lamech stands out in bold relief as a man of authority, aggressiveness, even violence.
(4) Lamechs Family, Gen. 4:19-24. (a) Gen. 4:19. The first record and evidently the first instance of polygamy. (b) Note the names of the two wives: Adah (the adorned, ornament, beauty), and Zillah (shadow, tinkling, musical player). These seem to indicate the charms which attracted Lamech and caused him to turn marriage from a moral into a sensual institution. (c) Gen. 4:20-21Adahs sons were named Jabal (yabal, to lead flocks), and Jubal (yobel, trumpet). (d) Gen. 4:25Zillahs son was Tubal-cain (hammer blow of the smith). Tubal (name of a northern race, Gen. 10:2, famous for its deposits of metal). Cain means smith in other Semitic languages (JB, 66n.). Murphy (MG, 159): The three names Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal are formed from a root signifying to flow, run, go forth, perhaps blow, from which comes the blast or trumpet-note of joy or release, Accordingly, all sorts of going forth, that were suitable to the life of a nomad, seem to have distinguished this family. We have here an account of the beginnings of stockbreeding, of the invention and use of musical instruments, and of various forms of metal-working. Some say that we have described here the three classes of nomads: shepherds, traveling musicians, and tinkers (JB, 66, n.). (e) Note the name of Tubal-cains sister, Naamah, meaning lovely. Does not this indicate that the Cainites selected their wives for their sensual (voluptuous) forms and lovely faces rather than for their pious hearts? Thus we find in comparing the name of Tubal-cains sister (the lovely) with that of Adams wife (the living) a growing symptom of the degeneracy which was gradually coming upon man, and especially onand throughthe line of Cain.
(5) The Song of Lamech (Gen. 4:23-24). This ferocious song, composed in honour of a desert paladin named Lamech, is recorded here as evidence of the increasing ferocity of Cains descendants (JB, 21, n.). Whitelaw (PCG, 89): In protestations and assurances in which the mind of the speaker views the action as already accomplished, being as good as done . . . then the father of Tubal-cain is depicted as exulting in the weapons which his sons genius had invented, and with boastful arrogance threatening death to the first man that should injure him, impiously asserting that by means of these same weapons he would exact upon his adversary a vengeance ten times greater than that which had been threatened against the murderer of Cain. Considering the character of the speaker and the spirit of the times, it is probable that this is the correct interpretation. Lamechs song in Gen. 4:23 f. is frequently thought to be a sword-lay glorifying the weapons of war invented by his son. He boasts to his wives that he has killed men, and, because of his superior strength due to his weapons, he has no need of Gods protection, but is well able to defend himself. He appears as a cruel man, destitute of all humanity (Calvin) (NBD, 706). Murphy (MG, 159, 160): In this fragment of an ancient song, we have Lamek, under the strong excitement of having slain a man in self-defence, reciting to his wives the deed, and at the same time comforting them and himself with the assurance that if Cain the murderer would be avenged sevenfold, he the manslayer in self-defence would be avenged seventy and seven fold. This short ode has all the characteristics of the most perfect Hebrew poetry. Every pair of lines is a specimen of the Hebrew parallelism or rhythm of sentiment and style. They all belong to the synthetic, synonymous, or cognate parallel, the second member reiterating with emphasis the first. Here we observe that Lamek was a poet; one of his wives was possibly a songstress, and the other had a taste for ornament. One daughter was the lovely, and three sons were the inventors of most of the arts which sustain and embellish life. This completes the picture of this remark-able family. Remarkable, yes, but unfortunately proud, self-assertive, and irreligious. Cornfeld (AtD, 23, 24): The Song of Lamech or in fact a fragment of the original, is one of the oldest examples of epic style in the Old Testament. Other very ancient epic fragments, artistically moulded, will be found elsewhere and may easily be distinguished by their style and spirit as different from the literary material in which they are embedded. Lange (CDHCG, 261): The song of Lamech is the first decidedly poetic form in the Scriptures, more distinct than ch. Gen. 1:27 and ch. Gen. 2:23, as is shown by the marked parallelism of the members. It is the consecration of poetry to the glorification of a Titanic insolence, and, sung as it was in the ears of both his wives, stands as a proof that lust and murder are near akin to each other. Rightly may we suppose . . . that the invention of his son, Tubal Cain, that is, the invention of weapons, made him so excessively haughty, whilst the invention of his son Jubal put him in a position to sing to his wives his song of hate and vengeance. This indicates, at the same time, an immeasurable pride in his talented sons. He promises himself the taking of blood-vengeance, vastly enhanced in degree, but shows, at the same time, by the citation of the case of his ancestor Cain, that the dark history of that bad man had become transformed into a proud remembrance for his race. (Could the Battle of the Gods and Giants (Titans) in Greek tradition rightly be regarded as an echo of this Song of Lamech? See Platos Sophist.)
3. The Degeneracy of the Cainites
The brief account of Cains posterity which is given us in this section of the fourth chapter of Genesis (Gen. 4:16-24) shows clearly the kind of people they were. It is evident that they inherited the corrupt, restless character of their common ancestor. Thus, in a few striking statements the inspired writer pictures the retrogression of the human race into wickedness and violence, beginning with the Cainites, and the subsequent intermingling of the two lines of Cain and Seth. It was this intermingling, moreover, that resulted in the universal wickedness which precipitated Divine Judgment in the form of the Flood. The degeneracy of the Cainites is evidenced: (1) By their names. Enoch (the initiated and his city), Irad, Mehujael, and Lamech, are all names that suggest this-worldliness: even Methushael is a name which indicates this tendency, although there is some confusion as to what this name really did mean. Adah, Zillah, and Naamah, are names that indicate sensual attraction rather than true nobility of womanhood. (2) By their works. The building of a city was unnecessary and productive of sin. Urbanization has always multiplied sin, crime, disease, insanity, intoxication, prostitution, strife, violence, indeed every kind of wickedness (cf. Gen. 1:28; Gen. 11:4). There is no evidence that God ever looks with favor on the concentration of population. And though it certainly cannot be sinful to handle a harp, or to cultivate poetry, yet when we put all of these things togetherbeautiful wives, iron weapons, musical instru-ments, warlike ballads, if not bacchanalian songsit is not difficult to perceive a deepening devotion to the things of life which invariably proclaims a departure from the things of God. Of course this does not mean necessarily that the facets of human culture which take in what we ordinarily speak of as the useful arts and the fine arts are evil in themselves: they become evil, however, when they are prostituted to profane, licentious and violent ends, when they become the means used by man to glorify, even to deify, himself and his kind. History certainly testifies that so many persons who devote their lives to the production of the fine arts especially (music, poetry and other forms of literature, painting, sculpture, etc.) are notoriously lacking in religious (spiritual) sensitivity or practice. Why is this so? (3) By their immoral lives. We see, in the profane careers of the Cainites a growing disregard for divine things, and this profanity seems to gather momentum with each succeeding generation. Lamech prostituted the institution of marriage into a sensual and polygamous relationship. We see the growth of a turbulent and lawless spirit, in the warlike weapons of Tubal-cains invention and in the boastful ballad which Lamech sang to his wives. These two thingslicentiousness tnd lawlessnessare always indicative of moral and spiritual degeneracy.
4. The Antiquity of Human Culture
In sociological jargon, culture is usually defined as the sum total of behavior patterns handed down from generation to generation. It includes the various facets of what are commonly called the fine arts and the useful arts. In the section of chapter 4 now before us we find brief references to the progenitors of certain cultural pursuits, namely, those of herdsmen, musicians, and smiths (metalworkers). Some interesting comments on this development are to be found in works by modern writers. For example, Skinner writes (ICCG, 123): The three sons of Lamech represent not the highest stages of social evolution, but three picturesque modes of life, which strike the peasant as interesting and ornamental, but by no means essential to the framework of society. Butby what authority do we assume that the author of this account was writing for peasants in particular? Simpson (IB, 524): It may be noted here that the implication of Gen. 4:20-22 a is that Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal (-cain) were the fathers of the nomads, musicians, and metalworkers existing at the time of writing, i.e., that the author of this account of the origins of civilization knew nothing of the Flood. This is a purely arbitrary assumption, and is completely out of harmony with the obvious design of the text which surely is to point up the growing worldliness of the Cainites and so to lead to an explanation of the universal wickedness which brought Divine judgment on the antediluvian world. Again, it has been supposed by the analytical critics that these cultural developments as depicted in Gen. 4:16-24, not the least of which by any means was the building of a city, occurred much later than in antediluvian times, and hence that the narrative presents an anachronism which can be resolved only by assuming that it was composed at a much later date, probably after the beginning of the Iron Age about 1500 B.C. To this argument we reply that the inspired writerwhom we believe to have been Moses, although he might well have been making use of ancient traditionsis not picturing contemporary events, that is, events occurring in his own lifetime, but is simply referring back to the particular age in which these cultural developments occurred, and to those individuals who originated the phases of culture which are specifically mentioned. Moreover, the fundamental purpose of the writer is obvious (as stated above), namely, to chronicle the growing degeneracy of the Cainites, their sheer worldliness and irreligiousness, rather than to emphasize the historical or sociological content of what he is putting in the record. It is not surprising, therefore, that he makes no attempt to trace the Line of Cain beyond seven generations. Since he is interested only in accounting for the universal wickedness which later overtook the human race, in the intermingling of the more pious Sethites with the worldly Cainites, his purpose is accomplished fully in his description of the profane character of Lamech and his wives and offspring.
The notion of anachronism in these verses before us has been thoroughly debunked by archaeology. It is clearly understood in our day, as proved by archaeological discoveries, that many aspects of human culture are very ancient. In the Neolithic Age, which extended roughly from about 8000 B.C. to 5000 B.C., plant and animal domestication was fully developed and even pottery began to appear about the latter date. (Indeed we must take account even of the polychrome paintings on the cave walls, of the hand-carved artifacts (such as batons especially, probably used for magical purposes), many specimens of which have been brought to light by archaeological excavations, and which must have been in existence about the beginning of the Neolithic Period.) The Chalcolithic Age (c. 50003000 B.C.) was marked by many cultural advances. For example, Albright tells us (FSAC, 173, 174) that the decorative art of the Chalcolithic Age is very instructive as compared with that which preceded it. He writes: In the chalcolithic cultures of Halaf, Susa, and Ghassul after 4000 B.C. we find an extraordinary development of the imaginative-aesthetic powers of man, resulting in astonishingly complex geometrical figures of dragons which carry us into the realm of phantasmagoria. It is very doubtful whether mans artistic capabilities are actually any higher today than they were in late prehistoric times, though the number of motifs, techniques, and media available to him now is, of course, immeasurably greater. Nelson Glueck (RD, 4250) tells us that advanced copper industry was developed in some areas of Palestine as early as the beginning of the Chalcolithic Age. It is written that the cousins of the Kenites, called the Kennizites, lived in the Valley of the Smiths (the Wadi Arabah), and, furthermore, that Tubal-cain, the latter part of whose name is just a different English spelling for Kenite, was the first forger of copper and iron instruments (1Ch. 4:12-14, Gen. 4:22). . . . I am inclined to think that there is a link of hereditary and industrial union, which binds the Kenite and Judaean miners and craftsmen of the Wadi Arabah with their very distant Chalcolithic predecessors at Tell Abu Matar, even as its primitive copper crucibles, unchanged in style throughout the centuries, may have served as models for those in Solomons intricate smelter at Ezion-geber (p. 45, cf. Num. 21:8-9). Again (ibid., 5 8): The Chalcolithic farming communities in the Northern Negev belonged to an advanced agricultural civilization, which extended throughout the Fertile Crescent. Again (p. 48): Tell Abu Matar was not a mean village lacking in comfort and culture. Among its residents were farmers, shepherds, potters, weavers, smiths and other arti-sans of high attainments. They stored their grain in pits made moisture-proof with plaster linings. The furniture of their households and the tools of their trades were fashioned out of flint, basalt, limestone, ivory and bone. Distinctive pottery was shaped by hand with partial or occasional use of the tournette, and fired so well in kilns that some of it has survived the passage of six millenia. Men and women adorned themselves with stone and ivory bracelets, copper rings, pendants of mother of pearl and amulets sometimes of striking beauty, etc. He concludes: In many respects, the Chalcolithic civilization of Tell Abu Matar was indistinguishable from that of sites of the same period elsewhere. It obviously did not exist in a vacuum. Remember that these statements describe cultures that flourished at the very beginning of the Chalcolithic Age, about 4000 B.C., and probably earlier. (Chalcolithic means literally copperstone. Bronze (brass), which came in later, was an alloy of copper and tin.) Finally, in this connection, Cornfeld (AtD, 23): Whether the Cainite civilization referred to in Genesis 4 originated in Anatolia, in Kurdistan, or farther east of Eden, or how it spread, is uncertain. The Biblical representation of the progress of the arts and crafts is well borne out by archaeology. The potters wheel, the use of donkeys, primitive wheeled vehicles, bricks and cylinder seals are among mans discoveries in these earliest prehistoric sites. There can be no doubt that the phases of human culture described in Gen. 4:16-24 flourished not too long after the very beginnings of the history of homo sapiens. Indeed archaeology has, in recent years, confirmed the historicity of practically every event recorded in Scripture.
* * * * *
REVIEW QUESTIONS ON PART EIGHTEEN
1.
With what events did the Patriarchal Dispensation begin and end?
2.
What was the earliest form of government? Of worship?
3.
What was the duty of the patriarch as prophet, as priest, and as king?
4.
What is the correlation between this threefold function and the meaning of the titles, Messiah, Christos, and Christ?
5.
Of what did the patriarchs household consist?
6.
What was the altar throughout the Patriarchal Dispensation? Of what was it constructed?
7.
What was the nature of the sacrifice offered in the Patriarchal Dispensation?
8.
What is the first period of the Patriarchal Dispensation called, and why?
9.
What genealogical line is given us in Gen. 4:16-24?
10.
In what sense did Cain go out from the presence of Jehovah?
11.
What is probably indicated by the phrase, the land of Nod?
12.
Summarize the suggestions offered in regard to Cains wife.
13.
Who built the first city and what was it named?
14.
What was the moral significance of this act?
15.
What evils usually result from concentration of population?
16.
What was Gods original injunction to man in re the occupancy of the earth? Instead of obeying this command, what did man do?
17.
Is there any evidence in Scripture that God looks with favor on concentration of population?
18.
List the descendants in the Line of Cain terminating with Lamech.
19.
What is suggested by the meaning of the names given these men?
20.
Who is represented as introducing polygamy?
21.
Who were Lamechs wives, and what is the meaning of their names?
22.
What facets of human culture were introduced by Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain, respectively?
23.
What was the name of Tubalcains sister and what did it mean?
24.
What is meant by the Song of Lamech?
25.
What was the character of this song from the literary and from the moral points of view?
26.
What does it reveal about the person who composed and sang it?
27.
On what grounds can we say that Cains evil propensities were handed down to his offspring?
28.
What were the phases of human culture originated by the sons of Lamech?
29.
What is meant by the term culture, and of what does culture consist?
30.
What are the evidences of the growing degeneracy of the Cainites?
31.
Show how this presentation of the development of culture harmonizes with the actual cultural developments in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages.
32.
What, obviously, was the authors purpose in inserting this brief account in the Scripture record of the origins of these facets of culture?
33.
Why, probably, did he stop tracing the Line of Cain after seven generations?
34.
What is the obvious relation of Gen. 4:16-24 to the material that is presented in succeeding chapters?
35.
Explain what is meant by the Chalcolithic Age and the Bronze Age. What is bronze (in Scripture, brass)?
REVIEW QUESTIONS
See Gen. 4:25-26.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(16) Cain went out from the presence of the Lord.See Note on Gen. 3:8. Adam and his family probably worshipped with their faces towards the Paradise, and Cain, on migrating from the whole land of Eden, regarded himself as beyond the range of the vision of God. (See Note on Gen. 4:14.)
The land of Nod.i.e., of wandering. Knobel supposes it was China, but this is too remote. Read without vowels, the word becomes India. All that is certain is that Cain emigrated into Eastern Asia, and as none of Noahs descendants, in the table of nations in Genesis 10, are described as having travelled eastward, many with Philippson and Knobel regard the Mongol race as the offspring of Cain.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE CAINITES, Gen 4:16-24.
16. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord From that sacred spot on the east of the garden, where Jehovah had revealed his presence and glory to Adam and his sons . Comp . Gen 4:14.
Land of Nod The word Nod means wandering, and is from the same root as that translated vagabond in Gen 4:12; Gen 4:14. It probably took this name from Cain’s fleeing and dwelling there, and the writer uses it here proleptically . Its location, on the east of Eden, may serve to suggest the contrast between Nod ( flight, banishment, wandering) and Eden, ( delight, pleasure.) Arabia, Susiana, India, and other countries have been fixed upon as the land of Nod, but these are mere conjectures.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Cain went away from the place of Yahweh, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.’
The land of Nod (nod = ‘wandering’) refers to the desert, the ‘land of wandering’. Man moves ever onward, eastwards from Eden, driven by sin, getting further and further away from Paradise. Leaving ‘the place of Yahweh’ suggests that the writer has in mind that Cain has now lost even that place where food could be obtained, the place that Yahweh had allowed man (the ‘face of the ground’? – v.14). Now he would have to search out for himself whatever he ate.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Family of Cain
v. 16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. v. 17. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived and bare Enoch. v. 18. And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methusael; and Methusael begat Lamech.
There is a brief account of the family of Cain:
v. 19. And Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of the one was Adah and the name of the other Zillah. v. 20. And Adah bare Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. v. 21. And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. v. 22. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. v. 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.
v. 24. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly, Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Ye wives of Lamech, listen to my speech;
For a man have I killed for my wound and a young man for my welt;
For sevenfold will Cain be avenged, and Lamech seven and seventy fold.
Thus Lamech boastfully sang in praise of his son’s invention which had enabled him to take quick vengeance on some man with whom he had had a quarrel and who managed to wound him. Far from feeling any remorse over his deed, he glorifies the name of his forefather Cain, whom the Lord had given the assurance that He would avenge him in case any one should dare to harm him, and claims for himself a much greater glory for his murder. That reveals the depravity of the children of the world as it had fully developed in the age of Lamech. And thus today also the culture of the world does not hinder sin, but offers new opportunities to it. Arts and crafts, commerce, industry, they all are in the service of mammon, they all are used to harm one’s neighbor.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Gen 4:16. Went out from the presence, &c. From the altar of God, says Mr. Locke, after Bertram. “There was a divine glory, called by the Jews, the Shechinah, which appeared from the beginning, (as I often remarked before, says Bp. Patrick,) the sight of which, it is probable, Cain never again enjoyed.”
Dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east, &c. Great inquiries have been made, where, and what, this land of Nod was. It appears to us, and we are not singular in the opinion, that no particular land is mentioned; nor do we conceive the word rendered Nod, to be a proper name. The curse denounced upon Cain was, that he should be a vagabond nod; and the sacred historian says in this verse, that (in completion of the curse) Cain dwelt in the land, or on the earth nod, a vagabond, wandering about, an exile, from the east of Eden.
From the view which we have taken of this account of the murder of Abel, it is plain, that it stands clear of all contradiction. The time when his brother murdered him was in the hundred and twenty-ninth year of the world’s creation, when, according to a moderate computation, their descendants and those of their parents could not but be very numerous. The manner in which he murdered him, might not be with a sword or spear, (which, perhaps, were not then in use,) since a club, or stone, or any rural instrument, in the hand of rage and revenge, was sufficient to do the work. The place where he murdered him, is said to be, the field, not in contradistinction to any large and populous city then in being, but rather to the tents, where their parents, and others, might live. The cause of his murdering him was a spirit of envy and malice. Ainsworth observes, that “as there are seven abominations in the heart of him who loveth not his brother, Pro 26:25 there were the like number of transgressions in Cain’s whole conduct: for, 1st, he sacrificed without faith: 2nd, he was displeased that God respected him not: 3rdly, he hearkened not to God’s admonition: 4thly, he spake dissembling to his brother: 5thly, he killed him in the field: 6thly, he denied that he knew where he was: 7thly, he neither asked nor hoped for mercy from God, but despaired, and so fell into the condemnation of the devil.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
Ver. 16. And Cain went out from the presence, &c. ] But whither could he go from God’s Spirit? or whither could he fly from his presence? a Psa 139:7 From the presence of his power he could not: for,
“Enter, praesenter, Deus hic et ubique potenter.”
God is “not very far from any one of us,” saith St Paul. Act 17:27 Not so far surely as the bark is from the tree, “for all things consist in him”; Col 1:17 so that a wicked man cannot wag hand or foot without his privity. But it was the presence of his grace, and use of his ordinances that this wretch fled from; as did likewise Jonah, Jon 1:3 in that, as wise as he, so going out of the grace of God into the warm sun, as we say. God fetched Jonah home again by weeping-cross, and made him feelingly acknowledge, for it had like to cost him a choking, that “they that observe lying vanities,” as he had done, “forsake their own mercies.” Jon 2:8 But Cain seated himself in the land of Nod, and there fell to building and planting, in contempt, as it is thought, of the divine doom denounced against him; or rather to drown the noise of his conscience, as the old Italians were wont to do the noise of the heavens in time of thunder, by ringing their greatest bells, and letting off their greatest ordinance. b
a Ubi est Deus? quid dixi miser? sed ubi non est? – Bern .
b Sigon.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Gen 4:16
16Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Gen 4:16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD This seems to be a physical result typifying the spiritual result (went out BDB 422, KB 425, Qal IMPERFECT). Gen 4:16-24 really show banished mankind starting a world system apart from God. This anti-YHWH world system can be seen in the kingdoms of Daniel’s visions. It becomes typified in the great whore of Babylon in the book of Revelation and in John’s use of the term world.
the land of Nod Nod is a Hebrew term for wandering or the land of wanderers (BDB 627 II). This is an obvious play on Cain’s name. We do not know where this place is located but it is obviously more east of Eden than Adam and Eve had gone.
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
presence, &c, i.e. the Tabernacle placed by God for His worship (Gen 3:24), whither offerings were brought (Gen 4:3, Gen 4:4).
Nod = wandering. Compare Gen 4:12 = the Manda of the Cuneiform Inscriptions = the land of the Nomads.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Nod
Lit. wandering.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
went: Gen 4:14, Gen 3:8, Exo 20:18, 2Ki 13:23, 2Ki 24:20, Job 1:12, Job 2:7, Job 20:17, Psa 5:11, Psa 68:2, Jer 23:39, Jer 52:3, Joh 1:3, Joh 1:10, Mat 18:20, Luk 13:26, 1Th 1:9
Nod: So called from nad, “a vagabond,” which Cain is termed in Gen 4:12.
Reciprocal: Gen 2:8 – eastward Jdg 5:19 – they took Pro 27:8 – man Jon 1:3 – from 2Th 1:9 – from the presence
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 4:16. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt on the east of Eden Somewhere distant from the place where Adam and his religions family resided: distinguishing himself and his accursed generation from the holy seed; in the land of Nod That is, of shaking or trembling, because of the continual restlessness of his spirit. Those that depart from God cannot find rest anywhere else. When Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, he never rested after.