Genesis Chapter 4 centers around Cain, Abel, and the Bible’s first murder.
Griffin Ministries invites you to continue your curated tour of Genesis Chapter 4. Through a deep and historically significant dive into biblical text, the Bible comes alive in new and exciting ways. Allow your love and understanding of God to grow ever deeper as you transform your thinking through the renewal of your mind. (Rom 12)
Encounter God in the Bible with a 10-part video series exploring Genesis 1-3. View Course.
Genesis Bible Study: How to Study Genesis Chapter 4
Study Genesis Chapter 4 with a fresh translation of the Hebrew text to gain a deeper understanding of these biblical figures. Begin to understand the Bible the way an ancient Hebrew would have heard it, so you can apply these ancient lessons in an entirely new way in your modern life.
As you begin this bible study, you’re invited to use the practice of Lectivo Divino as you read Genesis Chapter 4. Lectivo Divino is the practice of incorporating prayer and meditation into scripture reading. Learn more about Lectivo Divina and how to apply it to your bible study.
As you read through a passage aloud several times, invite the Holy Spirit to be present and ask for insights into what the passage has to say. What is the meaning of this passage in general, and what is its significance specifically to you? What did it mean then, and what does it mean now? Write out your insights and questions and ask the Holy Spirit to give you answers (Luke 11:9 Ask and you will receive) as you proceed.
What Can We Learn from Genesis Chapter 4 Study?
In our previous post on Genesis Chapter 4, we were introduced to the first sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, the birth of envy, and the Bible’s first murder.
Read it: Genesis Bible Study: The Introduction of Cain and Abel.
Read it: Genesis Bible Study: Brother vs, Brother
Genesis 4.9 Yahweh asked Cain, “Where is your brother?” And he answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s protector?”
The Birth of Blasphemy
In this brief interchange we witness the birth of the lie and of blasphemy. Yahweh’s question is not from his own lack of information. Just as in the judgment scene in Genesis 3, here also Yahweh starts with a question to which he already knows the answer. This sets the scene for Cain to admit guilt or to lie and deny.
Cain lies, but he also uses the interchange to redirect the responsibility for what has happened, as Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the Serpent. The implication from Cain’s question is that it is Yahweh’s responsibility to act as protector, not Cain’s. This is the second instance of a human blaming God and questioning God’s character for what was the result of a human deed. This is blasphemy. Cain is saying, “The problem is not with me. It is with your bad management, God.”
Genesis 4.10 and he (Yahweh) asks, “What have you done?” The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out (screaming) to me from the earth.
Yahweh’s question could be expanded to say what it implies, “Do you know the consequences of what you have done?” Cain has murdered his brother. The guilt unequivocally lies with him, but Cain’s murder has a deeper, darker dimension that will play out in the next verses. Cain’s murder has given Abel’s blood –a symbol of life– a new tragic voice; it screams out in anguish and terror.
Blood, the symbol of life, has been forced into signaling the opposite of its purpose. It is now a voice or symbol of death. Blood is bright red and to see it is to know instantly that something is terribly wrong.
Abel’s Shed Blood Pollutes the Earth
Cain’s murder affects not just him but the realm over which he is to rule. The earth is depicted symbolically as a semi-living being whose “mouth” unwillingly swallows Abel’s blood. We might say that the ground absorbs the blood, but the way the blood on the ground is depicted, the audience witnesses a kind of forced act of pollution. The earth here becomes an unwilling participant in the consequences of Cain’s act.
It is violated and spoiled.
It is ruined.
Here, we see the intimate connection between humans (Adam as category) and the earth. Yahweh told Adam (Genesis 3) that the earth will not produce properly for him, and we are about to see how that sad prophecy plays out again. The disorder is realized through the deeds of Adam’s son, Cain.
This whole narrative from Genesis 3 shows the interconnected nature of the actions of the first humans. One generation’s deeds become the platform for the next generation in a gradually accelerating downward spiral.
Genesis 4.11 Now you are bound with a curse (away) from the earth which has opened its mouth to swallow the blood of your brother by your hand.
Yahweh announces the consequences of what Cain has done to himself. The nuance of the Hebrew passive Qal participle here is that Cain has terribly ruined himself in his relationship with the earth. The earth has been forced to participate in Cain’s evil deed. It has undergone an act of disordering and pollution, and that disordering now affects Cain’s own life.
Genesis 4.12 For even though you work the ground it will not continue to give its strength to you. You will roam around aimlessly.
The Hebrew עבד abad can be translated as “serve” or “work,” as in labor. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve “served” Yahweh as priests, but here Cain, as Adam after his disobedience of Gen 3, “labors” on the ground which he has now polluted. What was meant to bless him (to give strength is one of the definitions of to bless) will now no longer function. Where Adam would deal with a poorly functioning land, for Cain the land will not function at all.
Genesis Chapter 4, verses 9-12, explores the consequences of Cain’s rebellious nature and the killing of his brother.
Take a moment and reflect on the insights you obtained in verses 9-12.
What did these verses mean for ancient Hebrews?
How can you apply these lessons in your own life?
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