The punishment Before CHRIST 4004. seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy | in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the 16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire. || Or, subject shall be || to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. to thy husband. e 1 Cor. 14. 34. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; woman shall destroy thy power, 1 John iii. 8; John xii. 31; Rev. xii. 7, 8, 10; Heb. ii. 14; 1 Cor. xv. 55, 56, 57. “Thou shalt bruise his heel;” that is, thou shalt persecute the woman's seed, but thou shalt not be able to destroy. Bp. Kidder. days of thy life; Before CHRIST 4004. 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it + bring forth to thee; and thou Heb. cause shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. to bud. sion, 1, the ground is cursed: and 2dly, mankind is condemned to labour for bread, that is, for necessary food. Compare Gen. xviii. 5, and xxviii. 20. Bp. Kidder. -for thy sake;] Because of thy sin; which shall be punished partly by the barrenness of the earth, in its being "cursed," or not bringing forth fruit so plentifully, nor so easily as it did. Bp. Patrick. 66 God in the midst of judgment remembers mercy; and here promises a deliverance, the seed of a woman, (not of a man,) who should break the head of the serpent, 18. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to the devil, by whom our first parents had been led into thee;] The word thorns" seems to be put for all sin and misery; at the same time that the promised seed noxious plants, shrubs, &c. by which the labours of the should receive some damage from the serpent, though husbandman are impeded, and which are only fit for not in any principal part. So that Jesus Christ was burning. Our word" thistle" does not denote the plant appointed from the beginning to sufferings. Bp. Wilson. or plants, meant by the Hebrew word, which signifies Though this promise was not fulfilled till four thou-something of a prickly kind. The word in the Greek sand years after, yet the benefits commenced from this version is the same as in Heb. vi. 8, where it is rendered very time which was before God had rejected Cain and "briers." We are not to suppose that thorns and briers preferred Seth to him; and long before any restriction were now for the first time created: but they now bewas made to Noah's family, or Shem's, who derived came vexatious; as they grew more abundantly and from him; that all the world might look upon the Mes- vigorously, perhaps from favourable seasons; and as siah as a common benefit to all the sons of Adam. Bps. man was expelled from his garden to till the land, where Patrick and Wilson. they were native, and consequently most prolifick and troublesome. Script. illustr. Expos. Ind. : and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;] Be content with such things as the common field produces, instead of the delicious fruits of Paradise. Bp. Patrick. it shall bruise thy head,] "It," that is, the seed of the woman, which is Christ, as our translation rightly expounds it. But the Latin Vulgate renders it, "Ipsa conteret caput tuum," " She shall bruise thy head," as if a woman should do it: which the Papists interpreting God made this earth amiable and sweet, and the world of the Virgin Mary, ascribe to her this great victory and a scene of happiness to a creature that was to continue triumph over sin and Satan; and are taught to say in in it: but when sin introduced death, God in his goodtheir addresses to her, "Adoro et benedico sanctissimos ness "cursed the earth" by a diminution of its excelpedes tuos, quibus antiqui serpentis caput calcâsti:" "Ilence, to make the world less desirable to a creature who adore and bless thy most holy feet, whereby thou hast was so soon to leave it. Dr. Delaney. bruised the head of the old serpent.' Bp. Beveridge. 16. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception] That is, "thy sorrow in thy conception:" a figure of speech not unusual in Scripture. See Ps. cxvi. 1; Jer. xxix. 11. Jos. Mede. The sentence upon womankind consists, 1, in her sorrow and pain in conceiving and bringing forth children; it being observed that brute creatures bring forth their young with far less pain, difficulty, and danger than women do; 2dly, in her more helpless condition, by reason of which she would need to have recourse to her husband, and be more subject to him and his corrupt will; for whom at first she was designed for a meet-help. Compare 1 Cor. xiv. 34; 1 Tim. ii. 11, 12; 1 Pet. iii. 6. Bp. Kidder. God condemned man to toil and misery, that he might look for rest somewhere else than on earth. Bp. Wilson. 19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,] As some of God's curses (such is his goodness) are promises as well as curses; as is that of the "enmity," between the woman's seed and the serpent's; so some of God's curses (such is his justice) are precepts as well as curses; as is that of the woman's subjection to the man. This of eating our bread in the sweat of our face is all the three: it is a curse; it is a promise; it is a precept. It is a curse; in that God will not suffer the earth to afford us bread, without our sweat. It is a promise; in that God assureth us, we shall have bread for our sweat. And it is a precept too, in that God enjoineth us, if we will have bread, to sweat for it. Bp. Sanderson. All Adam's children are bound to labour; for that which was said unto Adam, "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," is likewise said unto us. Bp. Latimer. 20. And Adam called his wife's name Eve;] He had before called her "woman" as her common name, or a name for her and all her sex, because she was taken out of man: and now he called her Eve, because he had found she was still to be "the mother of all living." Their first clothing: Before CHRIST 4004. CHAP. III, IV. wife did the LORD God make coats 22 ¶ And the LORD God said, Be- 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden Or, as some interpret it, because in her fall, (and his consequent upon hers,) all men being become mortal, in her seed all men were to be made alive. This naming of his wife then may be looked upon as an act of faith, exercised by Adam upon the words of God just delivered in the sentence on the serpent. Dr. Kennicott. and casting out of Paradise. of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming Before CHRIST 4004. 4003. of our reach, unless Jesus Christ give us power to eat of the tree of life. Bp. Wilson. This "flaming sword," or as it may be rendered by an usual figure of speech, sword-like or pointed flame, is generally considered as a sensible symbol of the Divine Presence resembling perhaps the flame, that appeared to Moses in the bush, Exod. iii. 2, or that afterwards rested on the heads of the Apostles at the day of Pentecost, in the form of "fiery tongues," or tongue-like tioned between two cherubim, or glorious angels, according to the ancient Jewish interpretation, furnishing probably the archetype of the Shechinah, first in the tabernacle in the wilderness, and afterwards in Solomon's temple. Dr. Hales. God in the promise of a Redeemer did a particular kindness to Adam: for he having been seduced by his wife to eat the forbidden fruit, it might have occasioned a breach between them, had not God taken care to pre-flames, Acts ii. 3. And it was here "placed" or stavent it, by making this gracious promise to depend upon his union with his wife; from whom, he assures them, One should descend, who should repair their losses. Besides, although the fore-mentioned promise was sufficient to induce them to live together as man and wife, yet it seems not enough to have taken away all grounds for man (namely Adam or any of his male posterity) reproaching woman, (namely Eve or any of her female posterity,) as having been the occasion of human misery. Wherefore, to prevent this, the promised Redeemer is styled peculiarly the woman's seed, forasmuch as He was to be born of a woman, without the concurrence of a man. So that the means of our having a Redeemer would be owing to the woman alone of the two, not at all to the man, immediately, or in respect of the birth of Christ himself; whereas the occasion of our misery was owing indeed first, but not only, to the woman, but also to the man jointly, though in the second place. Dr. Allix, Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells. 21.- did the Lord God make coats of skins,] This is not to be understood literally. God is frequently said to do that which is done by his order and approbation. Dr. Kennicott. It is probable that they were the skins of beasts slain in sacrifice, which was then first instituted in ratification of the gracious covenant, just made by God with our first parents; and which was intended the better to represent to them their guilt, and that the promised Seed should vanquish the devil, and redeem them by shedding his blood. Bp. Patrick. The garden of Eden was the emblem of the Church upon earth. Man was not made in this Paradise, but placed there, after he was formed out of the earth, chap. ii. 8; so we are not of the Church by nature, but by grace. By nature we are all framed out of the same common and corrupt mass of human generation; which made David say, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.' But by the grace of God we are taken at Baptism out of that state of pollution, and planted within the pale of his own garden the Church: here we are sanctified and cleansed; here we enter into covenant with God. But as Adam, on his breach of covenant, was expelled from the garden of Eden, to "till the ground from whence he was taken," so shall we be ejected out of the communion of saints, and Church of the living God, if wilfully we break our solemn vow, and do not return to God by a true repentance, founded on a lively faith in his mercy through Jesus Christ. Wogan. Chap. IV. The portion of Scripture at the beginning of this chapter, contains a very remarkable history, in which the first man that ever was born, is represented as a murderer; and the first person that ever died, as murdered. These were the sad effects of Adam's coats of skins,] Skins have been worn as cloth-transgression. The guilt of it was manifested in his ing by many nations; the Tartars, the Hungarians, the first-born, and its mischievous consequences in his Laplanders, the Finlanders, the Russians, still wear skins second. Bp. Conybeare. or furs; the ancient heroes of Greece and of Asia covered themselves with the spoils of lions, of tigers, and wild animals; while the ancient Germans wore short coats of sheep-skins. A skin in its natural state is an effectual defence against both heat and cold; and for duration nothing surpasses it. Script. illustr. Expos. Ind. Ver. 1. Cain,] A name emphatically signifying possession, and given him, either to express the satisfaction they had in seeing the general promise of their living yet longer, and propagating their kind, actually fulfilled; or else from the earnest expectation they had, that this son was to be the promised Seed, the Messiah and Saviour of mankind. Pyle. I have gotten a mun from the Lord.] As the by the first sentence he uttered after God's promise of a Redeemer, expressed his faith in the promise, man, The birth and occupation Before CHRIST 4003. + Heb Hebel. + Heb. a feeder. GENESIS. a of Cain and Abel. 2 And she again bare his brother of the fat thereof. And the LORD + Abel. And Abel was a keeper had respect unto Abel and to his of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the offering: ground. 3 And in process of time it came end of days. to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of + Heb. sheep, the firstlings of his flock and or, goats. and his expectation of life and redemption by the "Seed of the woman, (chap. iii. 20;) so likewise did the woman herself, in the first speech which is recorded of her, when, upon the birth of Cain, she expressed herself in this manner, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." Dr. Berriman. 2.- she again bare his brother Abel.] But gives no reason of his name, which signifies vanity. Nor is it said who gave him his name; whether his parents at his birth, or others after he was murdered. It seems, however, that his parents made no account of him, in comparison with the first-born; because they did not place in him their hope of the promised Seed; as they did in Cain. Bp. Patrick, Dr. Wells. 3.-in process of time] That is, at the return of some set and solemn time of Divine worship. Bp. Kidder. 66 4.-Abel, brought of the firstlings &c.] Thereby instructing us, as the law afterwards did the children of Israel, that we ought not to appear before the Lord "empty," or to offer to Him of that which cost us nothing." The prime of our years, the flower of our strength, the best of our substance, the first fruits of our increase, should be dedicated and devoted to Him, who makes us all we are, and gives us all we have. So shall the benedictions of Heaven descend upon all things around us, and upon ourselves in the use of them. Bp. Horne. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:] First to his person, (his faith and purity of mind,) and then to his external service. Bp. Wilson. Why had Almighty God respect to Abel's offering, and not to Cain's? To me the reason seems plainly this, that Cain offered only of the fruit of the ground, which had no respect to Christ, but only to God as the Creator of the world; whereas Abel offered the firstlings of his flock, and the fat thereof, which was a bloody sacrifice, typifying the death of Christ, "the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world;" and so exercised his faith in the promised Messiah. And therefore the Apostle saith, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain," Heb. xi. 4. By faith; that is, by believing the promise, which God had made to mankind in Christ; and manifested his faith by offering such a sacrifice, as represented the death of Christ; by whom therefore his sacrifice was well pleasing and acceptable to God. Bp. Beveridge. In this particular the righteous Abel is a constant and useful monitor to every Christian, who comes into the presence of his heavenly Father, to come with the commemoration, as he did with the prefiguration, of the body and blood of Christ his Saviour. And let the one stir up at least as lively a faith in those who live since the manifestation of the Messiah in the flesh, as the other did in those who lived before it. Bp. Horne. It is not improbable (and it seems to be suggested in the history itself) that there was a main difference in this; namely, that Cain offered the vile and refuse, and Abel the most precious, part of his treasures. Thus it is said of the one, that he "brought (barely) of the 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen ? Before CHRIST 4003. a Hebr. 11. 4. fruit of the ground;" and of the other, that he "brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof." If this were truly the case, the sacrifice of Abel was therefore more acceptable than Cain's, because it expressed a more grateful sense of the Divine goodness. To this may be added, that probably the general course of Cain's life was vicious and immoral; and the very offering up of his sacrifices was not attended with that devotion which was necessary. The conjecture proposed may receive some confirmation from observing what the Apostle to the Hebrews tells us, (Heb. xi. 4,) By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain; by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts." And St. John more fully declares, (1 John iii. 12,) That Cain was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous." Bp. Conybeare. 66 -the Lord had respect &c.] It is probable that God testified his acceptance of Abel's sacrifice by fire coming from heaven; traces of which we meet with in Gen. xv. 17, and very many examples of it in aftertimes: when Moses offered the first great burnt-offerings according to the law, Lev. ix. 24; when Gideon offered upon the rock, Judg. vi. 21; when David stayed the plague, 1 Chron. xxi. 26; and Solomon consecrated the temple, 2 Chron. vii. 1; and when Elijah contended with the worshippers of Baal, 1 Kings xviii. 38, &c. Whence the Israelites, wishing all prosperity to their king, pray that God would "accept" (in the Hebrew, turn into ashes) "his burnt sacrifice," Psalm xx. 3. Bp. Patrick. Hereby it was declared, that the innocent was taken for the guilty; and the sacrifice sustained the vengeance, that must otherwise have been inflicted on the sinner. Bp. Horne. 5. And Cain was very wroth,] He was highly incensed against Abel; instead of making severe reflexions on himself, and considering what had provoked God to slight his sacrifice; that so he might amend it and procure his favour. Bp. Patrick. his countenance fell] Became not only dejected through grief, but lowering and cloudy, as of one meditating revenge. Bp. Patrick. 6. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? &c.] The judgments of God are intended by Him to lead us to repentance. In the very midst of judgment He thinketh upon mercy; and the punishments which are inflicted in this life, are graciously intended for our advantage in another. Happy would it have been for Cain, had he made a proper use of his misfortunes. But it seems a mad passion blinded him. He went on to add sin to sin, and to cut off the very possibility of repentance. And yet numerous as his offences had been, and great as the present provocation was, the Divine mercy was still the greater. God was pleased to condescend so far, as to expostulate the matter with him: Why," said He, "art thou wroth?" &c. One might have imagined, this would have corrected his extravagance. So gracious a representation of the case must be sufficient to allay his present heat; or, if it were not attended with this effect, it must render him the more inexcusable. Bp. Conybeare. 7. If thou doest well, &c.] We may consider these words, either as setting forth the true reason of Cain's misfortunes; or else as directing him what use and improvement he ought to make of them. In the former view, they represent the unreasonableness of his present anger against his brother. All the disappointments he met with are here charged home upon himself. “If thou doest" thy duty, "shalt thou not be accepted?" and receive the same marks of approbation which have been vouchsafed unto thy brother? But, "if thou doest not well, sin" (that is, the punishment of sin) will constantly attend thee. In the other view, they are a direction how he ought to behave for the future; and a kind of promise, that his past sins should be forgiven him on his repentance. To what purpose is it to disquiet thyself; and by thy impatience to aggravate the evils which thou endurest? Rather consider, that they are the punishments of thy crimes; and know, that as sin hath been the occasion of thy calamities, so repentance must be their cure. If thou reformest, "shalt thou not be accepted?" But if thou persistest in the same course of provocations, expect to suffer a greater train of evils. Bp. Conybeare. sin lieth at the door.] Thy punishment is not far off. "Your sin will find you out," Numb. xxxii. 23. "Sin," is sometimes put for its reward or punishment, as well as for the sacrifice, by which it is atoned. Numb. xii. 11; 2 Cor. v. 21; Levit. iv. 24. And it may be said to "lie at the door," when it is near at hand, Matt. xxiv. 33; James v. 9. Bp. Kidder. The word rendered "sin" may be rendered " a sin-offering.' The sense then is, “If thou doest not well," or, "if thou didst not well," "a sin-offering lieth (that is, croucheth) at the door," in readiness to be sacrificed, as an atonement for thy offence. Dr. Kennicott, Dr. Hales. unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.] He is still thy younger brother, and shall be subject to thee, (see chap. iii. 16,) and thou shalt be his superiour, and retain the privilege of thy birth-right. Bp. Patrick. These words are connected with the clause, "If thou doest well," and not with the words which immediately go before. See an example to the same purpose, chap. x. 12. Bp. Kidder. That which aggravated Cain's guilt was, that God Himself was pleased to argue with him before he committed the horrid fact, in order to deter him from it. And is not this the very case of all sinners? Does not God, by his ministers and by his word, warn them and set before them the danger and dreadful consequences of sin? And yet it makes no impression upon a heart set upon wickedness, as Cain's was. Bp. Wilson. 8. — Cain — slew him.] Thus his impiety at length ended in murder. One sin draws on another; a disregard to God naturally shews itself in hatred to man. Cain is cursed. CHRIST 9 ¶ And the LORD said unto Cain, Before Where is Abel thy brother? And he about 3875. said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's + blood crieth unto me from the Heb. bloods. ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her And it is vain to hope, that he, who hath a contempt of religion, will retain the sentiments of humanity. We may in this example see the gradual progress of sin. The first crime mentioned was a disregard of sacred matters: this was followed by envy, and murmuring against God: and at last finished by the impious and inhuman murder of his brother: a crime, at which nature starts: and the very mention of which is enough to fill every ingenuous mind with horror. Bp. Conybeare. Let every Christian take care, that he fall not after the similitude of this transgression. It is a determined case that, "whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer:" it is an unquestionable truth, that he, who envieth his brother, will soon hate him: and it is no less certain, that "the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy." How earnestly and fervently then ought we to pray, as our excellent Church enjoins us to do, that "from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness" our "good Lord" would vouchsafe to "deliver us!" Bp. Horne. 9. And the Lord said unto Cain, &c.] See note on chap. iii. 9. And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?] I can give no account of him. Was he committed like a little child to my care; to look after him, and see that he took no harm? Bp. Patrick. Thus adding both falsehood and insolence to all his other crimes; and in a manner, defying the Deity in his own more immediate presence. Bp. Conybeare. For this complication of crimes, envy, which led him to murder his brother, and then to attempt to hide it by a lie, and by an insolent rebellious answer to God, Cain is styled in the New Testament, a child "of that wicked one," 1 John iii. 12, as imitating his works, who through envy seduced our first parents, and was a liar" and a "murderer" from the beginning. Dr. Hales. 66 10. And he said, What hast thou done? &c.] Though there should be no living witness of thy guilt, beside thyself, yet thine own conscience cannot but accuse thee, and the Almighty Judge of heaven and earth is Himself a spectator of thy crimes. In vain is it to hope for impunity. The innocent blood, which thou hast shed, crieth aloud for vengeance, and hath entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. Though God doth not, in the present age of the world, discover Himself in so astonishing a manner as formerly, still He is not unconcerned in human affairs. Those crimes of men, which are committed with the utmost secrecy, are generally brought to light by the conduct of Providence. Sin will either discover itself, or be discovered. The blood of an Abel will cry aloud from the earth: and almighty vengeance will pursue the murderer. Bp. Conybeare. 11. And now art thou cursed from the earth, &c.] I pass a sentence upon thee of perpetual banishment from this country, which hath drunk in the blood of thy brother. Hitherto Adam and his children had lived together: but now Cain was banished into a region, far off from his father, who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Paradise. Bp. Patrick. The punishment of Cain. Before CHRIST GENESIS. mouth to receive thy brother's blood about 3875. from thy hand; | Or, My iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven. 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me. out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 12. her strength;] That is, her fruit or increase, which speaks the strength of the earth, Joel ii. 22. Bp. Kidder. a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.] In that strange country thou shalt have no rest; but wander up and down unquietly, and not know where to settle. Bp. Patrick. 13. My punishment is greater than I can bear.] This is too heavy a punishment; for I sink under the weight of it. Others interpret it, as appears by the margin of our Bible, "My sin is unpardonable; or too great to be forgiven." Thus he, who at first was not so sensible of his sin as to confess it, now thinks it to no purpose to beg for mercy. Bp. Patrick. Cain, when he had slain his righteous brother, and God had laid a judgment upon him for it, complained of the burden of it, as if the Lord had dealt hardly with him, in laying more upon him than he was able to bear. Solomon noteth it as a fault common among men, when by their own sinful folly they have pulled misery upon themselves, then to murmur against God, and complain of his providence. "The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord," Prov. xix. 3. Bp. Sanderson. 14. — driven me — from the face of the earth;] Banished me from my own native country, ver. 11. Bp. Patrick. From the land, where he then was; not the earth, in the largest sense, for in this he was to be a fugitive and a vagabond. Bp. Kidder. and from thy face shall I be hid;] And more than that, I am banished from thy blessed presence, ver. 16, and shall not have the liberty to come before thy glorious majesty. Bp. Patrick. every one that findeth me shall slay me.] By the usual progress of guilt, Cain adds to his former sins that of despair, for he does not attempt to supplicate mercy from God; and terror, lest he should find no mercy from man. Dr. Hales. He was not only burdened with the sense of present evil, but suspicious of what was farther yet to come. Every crime naturally suggests to us some punishment attending it but the horror of blood, shed unjustly, will make men suspect the danger even of their own lives. And in truth it is no wonder that the common enemies of mankind should expect to be treated as enemies; and imagine, that the rest of the world will be apt to purchase their own security at their expense. A life, forfeited in this manner, must, according to the common course of things, be in continual danger: and fears, thus grounded, will supply the room of that punishment which is feared. Bp. Conybeare. Enoch the first city. Before CHRIST 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, about 3875. vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 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: + Heb. and he builded a city, and called the Chanoch. name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and 15. — Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, &c.] Or, as the word we translate "therefore" may be rendered, "not so;" it shall not be as thou suspectest. Or the word may signify "surely:" so that the sense will be, Take it for a certain truth, that if any man slay Cain, &c. Bp. Patrick. sevenfold.] The number seven is an indication of an indeterminate, but great number; signifying as much as, he shall endure many punishments. God intended that the life of Cain should be prolonged in a miserable state, as an example of his vengeance; to deter others from committing the like sin. Bp. Patrick. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain,] What this mark was is not agreed by interpreters. Probably it might be such an one as at once answered the purposes of punishment, and secured him from human vengeance. We may therefore fairly suppose, that it consisted in a certain horrour of countenance, occasioned by the inward horrour of his mind, which proved, at the same time, the sign and punishment of his guilt. This must affect every spectator with a very lively concern: it must deter men from the commission of the like sin; and make the wretched Cain a living warning to the world. Bp. Conybeare. "Set a mark;" or, as the Seventy say, "God set a sign or wonder to Cain;" that is, he wrought a miracle to convince him, or satisfy him, that whoever met him should not kill him. The murder of Abel was not long before the birth of Seth, (see ver. 25,) which was about the year of the world 130. So that at that time the earth was greatly peopled. Bp. Wilson. 16.—from the presence of the Lord,] It is the opinion of many commentators that there was a Divine Glory, called by the Jews the SCHECHINAH, which appeared from the beginning; the sight of which Cain never after this time enjoyed, but was banished from it. And God withdrawing his gracious presence from him, he was also forsaken by God, and put out of his special protection. Bp. Patrick. In the persons of these two brothers, whose history is recorded as an example "for our admonition," are characterized the two opposite spirits, that have ever since divided the world between them, and will continue to do so, till the consummation of all things; that is to say, the humble, obedient, and suffering spirit of faith; and the haughty, rebellious, and persecuting spirit of infidelity. He who would be remembered with the children of God, must copy the example of Abel: he who chooses to have his portion with the seed of the evil one, may go." in the way of Cain." Bp. Horne. the land of Nod,] Or of exile, to which Cain re |