Discovery BoxGenesis 4:15-26
Context4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, 1 if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” 2 Then the Lord put a special mark 3 on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. 4 4:16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, 5 east of Eden.
4:17 Cain had marital relations 6 with his wife, and she became pregnant 7 and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after 8 his son Enoch. 4:18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father 9 of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.
4:19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first 10 of those who live in tents and keep 11 livestock. 4:21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 4:22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped 12 all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
4:23 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah! Listen to me!
You wives of Lamech, hear my words!
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man 13 for hurting me.
4:24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much,
then Lamech seventy-seven times!” 14
4:25 And Adam had marital relations 15 with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given 16 me another child 17 in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 4:26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people 18 began to worship 19 the Lord.
[4:15] 1 tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”
[4:15] 2 sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.
[4:15] 3 tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.
[4:15] 4 sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.
[4:16] 5 sn The name Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew (see vv. 12, 14).
[4:17] 6 tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
[4:17] 7 tn Or “she conceived.”
[4:17] 8 tn Heb “according to the name of.”
[4:18] 9 tn Heb “and Irad fathered.”
[4:20] 10 tn Heb “father.” In this passage the word “father” means “founder,” referring to the first to establish such lifestyles and occupations.
[4:20] 11 tn The word “keep” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. Other words that might be supplied instead are “tend,” “raise” (NIV), or “have” (NRSV).
[4:22] 12 tn The traditional rendering here, “who forged” (or “a forger of”) is now more commonly associated with counterfeit or fraud (e.g., “forged copies” or “forged checks”) than with the forging of metal. The phrase “heated metal and shaped [it]” has been used in the translation instead.
[4:23] 13 tn The Hebrew term יֶלֶד (yeled) probably refers to a youthful warrior here, not a child.
[4:24] 14 sn Seventy-seven times. Lamech seems to reason this way: If Cain, a murderer, is to be avenged seven times (see v. 15), then how much more one who has been unjustly wronged! Lamech misses the point of God’s merciful treatment of Cain. God was not establishing a principle of justice when he warned he would avenge Cain’s murder. In fact he was trying to limit the shedding of blood, something Lamech wants to multiply instead. The use of “seventy-seven,” a multiple of seven, is hyperbolic, emphasizing the extreme severity of the vengeance envisioned by Lamech.
[4:25] 15 tn Heb “knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.
[4:25] 16 sn The name Seth probably means something like “placed”; “appointed”; “set”; “granted,” assuming it is actually related to the verb that is used in the sentiment. At any rate, the name שֵׁת (shet) and the verb שָׁת (shat, “to place, to appoint, to set, to grant”) form a wordplay (paronomasia).
[4:26] 18 tn The word “people” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation. The construction uses a passive verb without an expressed subject. “To call was begun” can be interpreted to mean that people began to call.
[4:26] 19 tn Heb “call in the name.” The expression refers to worshiping the
