And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
11. from the ground ] The meaning is not quite obvious. Probably, we should not understand, that the curse is to come from the ground upon Cain, but that Cain is driven by Jehovah’s curse from the ground. The emphasis is on “the ground” ( h-admh). It is the ground which Cain tilled, the ground whose fruits he offered, and the ground which he has caused to drink human blood. From this ground he is now driven by a curse. For pollution of the land by bloodshed cf. Num 35:33, “So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood, it polluteth the land: and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.”
On blood-revenge, cf. Robertson Smith, Kinship and Marriage, pp. 25 27.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Gen 4:11-12
A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be
Cain cursed by God
Cursed art THOU.
Fearful words, coming straight from the lips of God into the very ear of man, standing in the presence of God. No lightning bursting on him from the clouds could be half so terrible. The blessing is revoked, and the curse goes forth. It is a curse because of innocent blood, as if foreshowing the curses which the shedding of innocent blood was yet to bring upon men. This curse is represented as coming up from the ground, as if the ground which had been moistened with the blood were to be the instrument of inflicting the curse. In Ezekiel we read of the mountains devouring men (36:12-14), and elsewhere of the land spewing out (Lev 18:28; Lev 20:22); so here the very ground is impregnated with evil to Cain, and sends up its curses on him. The soil is to cast him off; the earth is to loathe him! inanimate nature, more tender-hearted than he (inasmuch as it drank in the blood), is to set its face against him. It had received the innocent blood into its bosom, and it was to send up unceasingly on the murderer an endless curse. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The fruits of envy
Such are the fruits of envy. Burden upon burden, stroke upon stroke, sorrow upon sorrow! From above, from beneath, and from around, the torment, and the terror, and the bitterness pour in. There is no peace to the wicked, no rest, no settlement. How sin uproots and unsettles, making a man to flee hither and thither, in order to get away from himself! How vain! O SIN, sin! what horrid things are all wrapt up even in its smallest indulgence! An unkind thought, a harsh word, an envious feeling,–then sullenness, anger, murder–a brothers murder!
How little do we know sin, or reckon on its results, or calculate the fruits that come from its womb! (H. Bonar, D. D.)
The bitter curse which sin brings on an individual life
I. THAT IT RENDERS A MAN SUBJECT TO THE SOLEMN AND CONVINCING ENQUIRIES OF GOD.
II. THAT IT SENDS A MAN ON THROUGH LIFE WITH THE MOST TERRIBLE MEMORIES OF WRONG-DOING WITHIN HIS SOUL.
III. THAT IT OFTEN RUINS THE TEMPORAL PROSPERITY OF A MAN.
1. It destroys reputation.
2. Wastes earnings.
3. Enfeebles agencies.
IV. THAT IT COMMITS A MAN TO A WANDERING AND RESTLESS LIFE.
V. THAT IT CRUSHES MAN WITH A HEAVY BURDEN AND ALMOST RENDERS HIM DESPAIRING. Lessons–
1. That sin is the greatest curse of human life.
2. That God is the avenger of the good.
3. That the sinner is the greatest sufferer in the end.
4. That good men go from their worship into heaven. (J. S.Exell, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
As the earth was cursed for thy fathers sake, so now art thou cursed in thy own person;
from the earth, or, in regard of the earth, which shall grudge thee both its fruits and a certain dwelling-place, and 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.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11, 12. now art thou cursed from theeartha curse superadded to the general one denounced on theground for Adam’s sin.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And now [art] thou cursed from the earth,…. From receiving benefit by it, and enjoying the fruits of it as before, and from having a settled dwelling in it, as is afterwards explained:
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; the blood of his brother, which was shed by his own hand, was received and sucked into the earth, where it was spilt, through the pores of it, and drank up and covered, so as not to be seen; in which it was as it were more humane to Abel, and as it were more ashamed of the crime, and shuddered more, and expressed more horror at it, than Cain.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ And now (sc., because thou hast done this) be cursed from the earth.” From: i.e., either away from the earth, driven forth so that it shall no longer afford a quiet resting-place ( Gerlach, Delitzsch, etc.), or out of the earth, through its withdrawing its strength, and thus securing the fulfilment of perpetual wandering ( Baumgarten, etc.). It is difficult to choose between the two; but the clause, “ which hath opened her mouth,” etc. seems rather to favour the latter. Because the earth has been compelled to drink innocent blood, it rebels against the murderer, and when he tills it, withdraws its strength, so that the soil yields no produce; just as the land of Canaan is said to have spued out the Canaanites, on account of their abominations (Lev 18:28). In any case, the idea that “the soil, through drinking innocent blood, became an accomplice in the sin of murder,” has no biblical support, and is not confirmed by Isa 26:21 or Num 35:33. The suffering of irrational creatures through the sin of man is very different from their participating in his sin. “ A fugitive and vagabond ( , i.e., banished and homeless) shalt thou be in the earth.” Cain is so affected by this curse, that his obduracy is turned into despair, “ My sin,” he says in Gen 4:13, “ is greater than can be borne.” signifies to take away and bear sin or guilt, and is used with reference both to God and man. God takes guilt away by forgiving it (Exo 34:7); man carries it away and bears it, by enduring its punishment (cf. Num 5:31). Luther, following the ancient versions, has adopted the first meaning; but the context sustains the second: for Cain afterwards complains, not of the greatness of the sin, but only of the severity of the punishment. “ Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from Thy face shall I be hid;…and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me.” The adamah , from the face of which the curse of Jehovah had driven Cain, was Eden (cf. Gen 4:16), where he had carried on his agricultural pursuits, and where God had revealed His face, i.e., His presence, to the men after their expulsion from the garden; so that henceforth Cain had to wander about upon the wide world, homeless and far from the presence of God, and was afraid lest any one who found him might slay him. By “ every one that findeth me ” we are not to understand omnis creatura , as though Cain had excited the hostility of all creatures, but every man; not in the sense, however, of such as existed apart from the family of Adam, but such as were aware of his crime, and knew him to be a murderer. For Cain is evidently afraid of revenge on the part of relatives of the slain, that is to say, of descendants of Adam, who were either already in existence, or yet to be born. Though Adam might not at this time have had “many grandsons and great-grandson,” yet according to Gen 4:17 and Gen 5:4, he had undoubtedly other children, who might increase in number, and sooner or later might avenge Abel’s death. For, that blood shed demands blood in return, “is a principle of equity written in the heart of every man; and that Cain should see that earth full of avengers is just like a murderer, who sees avenging spirits ( ) ready to torture him on every hand.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
11. And now art thou cursed from the earth. Cain, having been convicted of the crime, judgment is now pronounced against him. And first, God constitutes the earth the minister of his vengeance, as having been polluted by the impious and horrible parricide: as if he had said, ‘Thou didst just now deny to me the murder which thou hast committed, but the senseless earth itself will demand thy punishment.’ He does this, however, to aggravate the enormity of the crime, as if a kind of contagion flowed from it even to the earth, for which the execution of punishment was required. The imagination of some, that cruelty is here ascribed to the earth, as if God compared it to a wild beast, which had drunk up the blood of Abel, is far from the true meaning. Clemency is rather, in my judgment, by personification, (245) imputed to it; because, in abhorrence of the pollution, it had opened its mouth to cover the blood which had been shed by a brother’s hand. Most detestable is the cruelty of this man, who does not shrink from pouring forth his neighbor’s blood, of which the bosom of the earth becomes the receptacle. Yet we must not here imagine any miracle, as if the blood had been absorbed by any unusual opening of the earth; but the speech is figurative, signifying that there was more humanity in the earth than in man himself. Moreover, they who think that, because Cain is now cursed in stronger words than Adam had previously been, God had dealt more gently with the first man, from a design to spare the human race; have some color for their opinion. Adam heard the words, “Cursed is the ground for thy sake:” but now the shaft of divine vengeance vibrates against, and transfixes the person of Cain. The opinion of others, that temporal punishment is intended, because it is said, Thou art cursed from the “earth,” rather than from “heaven,” lest the posterity of Cain, being cut off from the hope of salvation, should rush the more boldly on their own damnation, seems to me not sufficiently confirmed. I rather interpret the passage thus: Judgment was committed to the earth, in order that Cain might understand that his judge had not to be summoned from a distance; that there was no need for an angel to descend from heaven, since the earth voluntarily offered itself as the avenger.
(245) “ Κατὰ προσωποποιΐαν ”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11, 12) And now (because of thy crime) art thou cursed from the earth.Heb., from the admh, or cultivated ground. Cain was the first human being on whom a curse was inflicted, and it was to rise up from the ground, the portion of the earth won and subdued by man, to punish him. He had polluted mans habitation, and now, when he tilled the soil, it would resist him as an enemy, by refusing to yield unto him her strength. He had been an unsuccessful man before, and outstripped in the race of life by the younger son; for the future his struggle with the conditions of life will be still harder. The reason for this follows: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. Restless and uneasy, and haunted by the remembrance of his crime, he shall become a wanderer, not merely in the admh, his native soil, but in the earth. Poverty must necessarily be the lot of one thus roaming, not in search of a better lot, but under the compulsion of an evil conscience. Finally, however, we find that Cains feelings grew more calm, and being comforted by the presence of a wife and children, he builded a city, and had at last a home.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Cursed from the earth The curse shall seem to come forth out of the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood. As the next verse further explains, the ground, which so readily drank the innocent blood, will not be fruitful to the murderer’s tilling . The earth, cursed by reason of Adam’s sin, (iii, 17,) will seem to pour forth special judgments upon Cain . Others explain, less in keeping with the natural meaning of the words and the context: Thou art cursed away from the land; that is, banished out of this land, or district, where thy father and brothers dwell .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And now you are cursed from the ground which has opened its mouth to receive the blood of your brother from your hand.’
What dreadful seed Cain has sown, and what dreadful consequences it will bring. Cain will no longer be able even to ‘work the ground’, that pitiful alternative to the fruit of the garden. He will be driven out into the desert to survive as he can. So as man’s sin grows, so do the benefits he receives from God decrease. Note that it is Cain who is cursed directly in contrast with the curse on the ground in Genesis 3.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
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.
Rev 14:11Rev 14:11 . How striking a difference to Eze 9:4 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 4:11 And now [art] thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
Ver. 11. And now thou art cursed. ] The Pope contrarily blesses and saints traitors to their country, and murderers of their natural sovereigns; as Ravilliac, and others his assassins, those sworn swordsmen of the devil. Aphonsus Diazius, who killed his own brother for the cause of religion, as above said, fled to Rome, and was there highly commended for his zeal, and largely rewarded, as Bucer reports a But, driven thereto by the terrors of his own guilty conscience, like another Judas, he afterwards hanged himself upon the neck of his own mule, for want of a better gallows.
a Bucer in Praefat. ad Senarclaei Histor. de Morte Diaz. – Lonicer .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
from the earth. The Hebrew accent athnach. after “cursed” suggests “more than the ground’ (Gen 3:17).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Gen 4:14, Gen 3:14, Deu 27:16-26, Deu 28:15-20, Deu 29:19-21, Gal 3:10
opened: Job 16:18, Job 31:38-40, Isa 26:21, Rev 12:16
Reciprocal: Gen 4:25 – God Gen 5:29 – because Gen 9:25 – Cursed Num 16:32 – the earth Deu 28:16 – in the field 2Sa 4:11 – from 1Ki 2:32 – return Hab 2:12 – him Mar 4:28 – the earth Heb 6:8 – beareth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 4:11. And now art thou cursed 1st, Separated to all evil, laid under the wrath of God, as it is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. 2d, He is cursed from the earth. Thence the cry came up to God, thence the curse came up to Cain. God could have taken vengeance by an immediate stroke from heaven: but he chose to make the earth the avenger of blood; to continue him upon the earth, and not presently to cut him off; and yet to make even that his curse. That part of it which fell to his share, and which he had the occupation of, was made unfruitful, by the blood of Abel. Besides, 3d, A fugitive and a vagabond (says God) shalt thou be in the earth By this he was condemned to perpetual disgrace and reproach, and to perpetual disquiet and horror in his own mind. His own guilty conscience would haunt him wherever he went.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:11 And now [art] thou cursed {k} from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
(k) The earth will be a witness against you, which mercifully received the blood you most cruelly shed.