Cain Murders Abel
1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a child like my ancestors.”
2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the parents.
4 Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the parents respected Abel and his offering,
5 but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
6 So the parents said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”
(the parents don’t see their wronging, they have high expectations of their first born. They are teaching him perseverance: ‘sin lies at the door’, when you leave home, you will learn the hardship and not being able to provide, you will fall to poverty. At the moment you want to leave (the desire is for you), you should be able to stand (on) your own.)
8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother;[a] and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
(A bit ambiguous, but this can be a moral act within any society that is bad)
9 Then the parents asked Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 And they noticed his disdain. Abel’s absence being a forebode, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”
(This could have been written by Edgar Allen Poe)
13 And Cain said to the parents, “My punishment is greater than I can bear!
14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”
(Cain understands he can not undo the wrong. He knows he will be send away. ‘I will shy away from your view, I will accept my punishment’ and a young boy without the protection of his family, might get into danger with robbers and other things from the world)
15 And the parents said to him, “Therefore,[b] whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.”
(parents will always love their children: If anyone would harm their now only child, they will feel the wrath) And the parents set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. (yet the parents had no choice to send their son out on his own, into the dangers of a mature life)
The Family of Cain
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the parents and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.(Remember, humanity spread out to the east.)
17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.
(he settled down)
18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
(and so generation after generation was born. Are the translations of these names anything in old languages? numbers? characteristics? A list of historical settlements?)
19 Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
(nothing is precised about time, life was short in that day, so Adah could have died before Zillah was his wife, but then again, bigotry was not uncomon)
20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
(he became a nomad/wanderer)
21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute.
(music and art)
22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.
(new generations learned new skills, they had arrived in bronze and iron)
And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
(man and woman were born more equal. Remember, though the first chapters learn of the view that man was above woman, the third chapter speaks of only the man born of importance, wives are just called wives, but now in the new era, man and woman are born with their own rights.)
23 Then Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man for hurting me.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
(philosophically introspect: he understands that every man with a past, even a parent, with violence will have problems. Yet, here he claims: If my great (7x) grandfather would have been revenged 7x, I am already more important. This seems like a fraudulous claim, so perhaps this is more of a selfish/narcistic claim)
A New Son
25 And the modern man knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth (setember?), “For the ancestors has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel (second born), whom Cain (first born) killed.”
26 And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh.(Cain ‘enoch’, Seth ‘enosh’) [c]Then men began to call on the name of the ancestors.