than that of this Church of hypocrisy and blood. For in all political
or civil rage there is some degree of humanity still left. No assassin
is led to execution, however savage his nature may be, with pity for
whom men are not in some measure touched. But when that false and
blood-thirsting Church falls upon a poor son of the true Church, she
is not satisfied with shedding his blood; she loads him also with her
curses and execrations, and devotes him to every ignominy and insult,
and even vents her rage upon his miserable, breathless corpse. Just
like the Jews, who were not content with having nailed Christ to the
cross, with the full purpose of not taking him down till he was dead,
but even while he was breathing out the last breath of his soul they
gave him in his thirst vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Such fury
as this is never found in political wrath!
The wrath therefore and the pharasaic fury of the false Church is a
fury in its very nature diabolical. This wrath began in Cain, and it
continues in all Cainites to this very day. And we can most truly
glory that we also have to endure with godly Abel, just such wrath as
this in our day. For who entertains a doubt, that if our bishops and
certain furious princes could do it, they would slaughter us all in
one moment? Who doubts that, if according to the prayers of the
notorious Roman emperor, we all together had but one neck, they would
with the greatest delight rush upon us sword in hand and cut off our
head? Only look at the councils of these later years and their
designs, and you will say that my testimony is true.
That which Moses adds, "And his countenance (_vultus_) 'appearances,'
'looks,' 'whole aspect,' fell," is a Hebrew expression; an expression
which not only represents the deed done, or the fact, but also implies
that the mind also was in such a state of commotion that it could not
rest; and that although Cain could do no further harm, yet his
wrathful will to do so was manifested by his countenance. He did not
lift up his fallen brow nor speak in a friendly voice to his parents
as before. And every answer he made them was rather a sullen murmur
than a natural utterance. He was struck pale at the first sight of his
brother after his offering, which God had accepted. And he showed by
the threatening looks of his eyes that his mind was burning with the
desire of revenge.
Moses expresses all this, when he says, "And his countenance fell;"
for he does not mean his countenance or visage only, nor merely one
part of his countenance; but he intends all his appearances, his whole
appearance; his every look, gesture and motion; in the same manner as
the apostle uses a Hebrew expression, when he says concerning charity
that it "doth not behave itself unseemly;" that is, doth not carry an
unseemly countenance, doth not contract its brow, doth not look with
anger or disdain, doth not wear a threatening aspect; but is of a free
and open visage, expressing with its eyes kindness and affection. For
the latter are becoming, but the former are unbecoming and indicative
of vice within. This clause therefore, "And his countenance fell,"
contains a particular description of the anger and hypocrisy of Cain.
He could neither look at his brother Abel, nor hear his voice, nor
speak to him, nor eat nor drink with him in rest or quietude of mind.
If any one desires to witness an example of this Cain-like wrath, let
him put himself in the presence of some Papist, who is seeking
distinguished praise for doctrine or piety in his day and generation;
and he will find that such an one is the subject of a rage against the
truth, perfectly diabolical; to which fury, if you compare the anger
of a judge, the latter will appear in comparison to be the greatest
kindness, mercy and open candor. For in the judge anger is merely a
duty; he is not angry with the person of the prisoner, but with his
crime. But the Cainite wrath fires and distorts the eyes, scowls the
brow, swells the cheeks with rage, and arms the hands. In a word, it
is evident in every part of the body and in its every gesture, and
that unceasingly. For it does not die away by time, as political or
domestic wrath does.
Next follows the fatherly and most grave admonition of Adam, who would
willingly have healed and saved his son if he could have done so. But
this wrath knows no medicine or cure. Neither Cain nor any Cainite
will hear either father or mother, or God Himself!
V. 6. _And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy
countenance fallen?_
All these circumstances plainly prove that the present was not the
first time that Cain had been confounded in this offering of his
sacrifice; but that from the hour of this sacrifice he had gone in
perturbation of mind, filled with sadness and gnashing his teeth; and
looking neither upon his father nor upon his mother without an evil
eye; affected just as we have already said that pharasaic rage affects
the whole man, and changes the whole visage and gesture. For Cain
considered it to be a great indignity that at a public sacrifice, and
in the midst of divine worship, and before the eyes of his father and
his mother, Abel whom he had always despised and whom even his parents
themselves had accounted a child of naught, should be preferred of God
to himself; and thus pronounced of God worthy the glory of the
kingship and the priesthood.
II. As soon therefore as he had fully shown that he was of a hostile
mind towards his brother, he receives from his father Adam the
admonition in our text. For my belief is, that these words are spoken
by Adam himself, and that Moses says they were spoken "by the Lord,"
because Adam had now been justified and had been gifted with the Holy
Spirit; and therefore those things which he now spoke by the Holy
Spirit according to the Word of God are rightly said by Moses to have
been spoken by God himself. Just as at the present day those who
preach the Gospel are not in reality themselves the preachers and
teachers, but Christ, who speaks and teaches in them and by them. And
most certainly these words are spoken by Adam with peculiar gravity
and intent; for he saw that his son could not patiently endure the
indignity put upon him; he saw him grieve over his lost superiority;
and he felt what havoc the Tempter might make in the corrupt nature of
his son, who had done such evil to himself and Eve, when in a state of
innocency and perfection. Adam therefore was filled with deep anxiety
and addressed his son with that solemn gravity of language, which
Moses records in the text. And although no one of the fathers has
explained that speech of Adam to his son Cain in a manner worthy its
gravity and importance; because perhaps none of them had sufficient
leisure from their ecclesiastical engagements; yet I will attempt to
move this stone of difficulty out of the way; and, as I hope and
think, not without some advantage to the truth.
V. 7a. _If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up, (shall there
not be a remission,) and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth (lieth)
at the door._
I cannot sufficiently wonder how Moses was able to condense so mighty
a subject in so few words. Our translation does not properly express
the sense. And although Augustine was not altogether unacquainted with
the Hebrew language, yet his knowledge of it was not thorough; for he
renders this important text thus, "If thou offerest aright, and yet
dost not rightly divide the offering, thou hast sinned. Rest, and be
quiet." What such sins are those well acquainted with the Hebrew know.
Though the doctrine which Augustine deduces from his rendering of the
passage is theologically correct and good, the Septuagint translators
of the Hebrew seem also not to have been duly qualified for the
magnitude of the work they undertook. Wherefore, leaving for the
present both the translations and the opinions of all other
commentators, we will now strictly follow the proper sense of the
Hebrew in the text before us. That sense is the following, "If thou
doest well, there shall be remission, or alleviation; if thou doest
not well, sin lieth at the door," etc.
Moreover it is ordained by nature, as even the philosopher testifies,
that words should be made to serve things, and not things made
subservient to words. The sentiment of Hilary is well known, which a
certain master of sound opinions also thus cites: "Words ought ever to
be understood according to the matter contained in them, and intended
to be expressed by them." In every exposition or explanation of the
Scriptures therefore the subject-matter is first to be considered;
that is, we are first clearly to see the thing spoken of in each case.
When this is strictly done, then the words are to be brought to a due
application to the thing, if the grammatical laws of the language will
permit; but the things are never to be made to bend to the words. And
it is because the Rabbins and those who follow them do not this, for
they have lost the things, and so cleave hard to the words only, that
they often fall into the most absurd sentiments and opinions. For, as
they possess not thoughts worthy of those spiritual things, of which
the sacred Scriptures speak, they err from the subject-matter treated
in each case by the Word and draw the words after them into vain and
carnal cogitations.
But it is certain that the Jews have lost Christ; how then can they
possibly understand aright either the things of the Gospel or the
things of the Law? They know not what sin is, nor what grace is, nor
what righteousness is. How then should they be able to explain
successfully such passages of the Scriptures? Just so the Jews are in
general the "wise" or sophists of our day. For what sound knowledge
have they of such divine and mighty things as these! Being ignorant
therefore of the thing itself, how is it possible that they should
rightly understand the words of the Scriptures in which it is
expressed? And although a knowledge of the words is prior in order;
yet the knowledge of the things is better and more important. For if
you alter the things, the words also will be changed into another
sense to correspond with the altered things, and a new grammatical
construction altogether is the sure result.
Thus the great grammarian of Gerunda possesses an excellent knowledge
of the words, and indeed there are many in our day who far surpass me
in a critical knowledge of the Hebrew language, but because he
understands not the divine theme, he miserably corrupts this passage;
for he explains it thus: "If thou doest well thy offering shall be
more acceptable than that of thy brother, because thou art the
first-born." You here see that Gerundensis understands what the names
of the things are, but not the things themselves; what the term is,
but not what the matter is. For the very design of God in this text is
to show that he will have no regard to first birthship at all. How
then could the offering of Cain ever have been more acceptable to God
than that of Abel on account of his primogeniture? The author of the
Epistle to the Hebrews knew what the thing was, and therefore he gives
a very different statement of the sacred matter, namely, that it was
"by faith that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." The
rendering of Jerome is much better than that of Gerundensis. The
version of the former is, "If thou doest well, thou shalt receive; if
thou doest ill, sin (he adds the pronoun 'thine own sin') will lie at
the door." Yet, even thus Jerome does not reach the true sense. For
when he explains the verb SEETH as meaning "to receive," which really
signifies "to relieve," or "to alleviate," no one I think will approve
his rendering. But all this Jerome has from the Jews, who have always
been of the opinion that God would have rewarded Cain if he had
offered liberally. Now therefore I will simply state what my view of
this important passage is.
First of all then it is necessary, as I have said, that we hold fast
the divine matter in question. The divine matter then involved is that
which cannot deceive, as being the foundation of the whole divine
cause, that nothing pleases God unless it be done in faith, according
to that universally applicable and well known sentence of the Apostle
Paul, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," Rom. 14:23. And Solomon
also says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the
Lord," Prov. 15:8. The other great foundation of the cause of God is,
that sin is so mighty that it can be put away by no sacrifices, nor by
any works whatever, but by the mercy of God alone, which mercy must be
apprehended and received by faith. And all this is manifested and
shown to have been the good pleasure of God by the first promise
concerning the Seed of the woman, without which Seed there is no
redemption. Now these foundations the Rabbins possess not, for this
knowledge comes by the Spirit of Christ alone, who like the mid-sun
illumines all the darkness of nature and sin. Whatsoever therefore
militates against, or is contrary to, these foundations, we at once
reject as false and impious.
And although for myself I have no objection whether you understand
"sin" here as referring to the past sin, or to the future sin of Cain,
yet it seems to me better to understand it as referring to sin in
general. The force of the whole passage therefore lies in the Hebrew
verb SEETH from NASA, "be alleviated," or "lifted up," or "relieved."
And in this very case we have a remarkable example of the difference
between the name or term of the thing and the thing itself. For if you
apply the term to "lift up," or to "lift off," to a corporeal or solid
substance, it signifies "to elevate" or "to lift up on high;" as in
Isaiah, "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up," Is. 6:1. But this is a very different signification of the Hebrew
verb from that which it expresses in the Psalm, "Blessed is the man
whose sins are 'lifted up' or 'lifted out,'" Ps. 32:1, and yet the
Hebrew verb is the same in each instance. Now, a common grammarian of
the Hebrew language understands the former meaning of the original
verb, but he is ignorant of its latter signification. For, "to lift up
a throne on high," is quite another thing from lifting up or lifting
off, sin from the conscience; that is, remitting or taking away sin.
Wherefore, the meaning is, "If thou hadst done well or if thou hadst
been good; that is, if thou hadst believed, thou wouldst have had God
favorable and merciful toward thee, and there would have been a true
alleviation to thee; that is, a remission of sin. But since I see that
God had not respect unto thee, it evidently follows that thou wert not
good in his sight; and that therefore thou wast not relieved from thy
sin; wherefore, thy sin remaineth."
However it is a most beautiful and striking similitude to make use of
the verb "to lift up" or "to lift off" in order to compare sin to a
heavy burden, under which Cain was so oppressed and prostrated, so
that unless it were taken off he could not draw his breath. And the
epistle to the Hebrews shows the manner in which we are released from
this burden, when it says, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more
excellent sacrifice than Cain," Heb. 11:4.
By this mode of interpreting this important passage the words or the
grammatical construction perfectly agree with the matter contained in
them, which is, that God has respect unto faith only, and judges those
alone to be good who believe. And these words of Adam contain also a
most severe rebuke. Their meaning is, as if Adam had said to Cain,
"Thy pride has destroyed thee. Thou camest before God inflated with
the glory of thy primogeniture, and thoughtest that God would accept
thee on that account. But I clearly perceive by this judgment and
reprobation of God that thou art destitute of faith, for God rejects
none but the unbelieving."
Not one of the Rabbins explains the passage before us in this manner.
For they see not that Adam is here inculcating in his son, after the
manner of the Apostle Paul, that word of Christ in the Gospel, "He
that believeth shall be saved," Mark 16:16; and also that word of the
apostle himself, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by
faith without the deeds of the law," Rom. 3:28. For what else does
Adam here say to Cain, than that God is merciful to those who believe
in the blessed Seed, and who cast away all trust in their own works,
and all ideas of their own merit? For his meaning is, "If thou shalt
do this, thy sin shall not lie thus as a heavy burden upon thee. Thou
shalt be relieved of that load, nor shalt thou thus roar with rage;
for God has promised that he will not impute sin to any one that
believeth."
If therefore you refer these words to the past sin of Cain, they
contain also a most grave fatherly admonition. Their import is, as if
Adam had said, "Hitherto thou hast not believed and therefore thou art
thus rejected; and if thou shalt still go on thus, thou wilt be cast
off utterly. But if thou shalt do well or become good, that is, if
thou shalt believe in the promised Seed, I take upon myself to assure
thee that the result will be that thou shalt be relieved of thy burden
of sin;" that is, as the Psalm interprets this expression of Adam,
"sin shall not be imputed unto thee," Ps. 32:2.
The clause which follows, thy "sin lieth at the door," is a figurative
description of sin, which for my part I should prefer understanding as
being used as a proverb. For this figure exactly describes the real
nature of sin, showing that, while in the act, it lies like a beast
dead asleep; it does not bite, nor terrify, nor torment, but rather
fawns and pleases. Thus when Eve first and afterwards Adam ate the
forbidden apple in paradise they did not think that God had seen it,
much less did they think that both should be so bitterly punished for
what they had done. So also ferocious beasts, when they are just
satisfied with food, are more tractable and more inclined to sleep
than to harm. In the same manner also sin, while it is in the act, is
delightful, nor is its poison or pain felt; it rather lies down and
goes to sleep. For whoever saw a miser to be racked with pain while an
opportunity of great gain stood before him? Whoever knew an adulterer
to grieve at the opportunity given him of gratifying his wishes? If
thou hadst at that moment torn his skin with a scourge, or beaten his
head with a mallet, the temptation would have vanished. But while sin
is asleep and its punishment unfelt and unseen, it is the height of
pleasure to the miser to rush upon his gain, and to the adulterer to
possess the object of his sinful desires; nor does there seem to be,
nor does he wish for, any end or any bound to his pleasure.
Adam is speaking therefore in this passage not only of the sin of
Cain, but of sin in general; showing what the real nature of sin is.
For that which was the state of Cain is the state of all men. Before
he offered his sacrifice Cain proudly boasted of the privileges of his
primogeniture; he despised his brother and assumed to himself the
first place in all things. Sin was then lying still and asleep; but it
was "lying at the door;" that is, in a place or state in which it was
likely to be disturbed. For it is by "the door" that we go in and out,
and therefore a place by no means adapted for a long sleep. And this
is also the very nature of sin. Although it does lie asleep, yet it
lies in a place where it is not likely to sleep long, for Christ says,
"There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed," Math. 10:26.
The wicked man thinks indeed that his sin is asleep and hidden; but it
lieth asleep at "the door," and at length it is awakened by
conviction, brought to light, and made known: for "at the door," and
rest and sleep are things directly opposed to each other. For as
darkness is opposite to light, so is sleep to an unquiet place; they
are things contradictory to each other in their very nature. In this
manner therefore may the present passage be interpreted in its
reference to Cain's past sin.
And if you explain these same words in their reference to the future
sin of Cain, their meaning is this, "If thou shalt harm thy brother,
and indulge the wrath conceived in thy mind, I tell thee that thy sin
will indeed lie asleep; but it will lie asleep at the door; that is,
in a place where it will surely be disturbed; and therefore, it is
impossible but that it must be awoke and roused up, when as a furious
beast it will lay hold upon thee." And so the event proved. For after
Cain had committed the murder, while he was burying his brother alone,
his sin was asleep. But how long? No longer than until the sound of
that voice of God reached his ears, "Where is Abel, thy brother?" The
present words of Adam therefore are a true description of all sin. It
always "lieth at the door." For such is the nature of the minds of
men, that as long as they escape the eyes of men, they think their sin
will lie hidden and unknown. But unless they do well; that is, unless
they believe that God will pardon their sin through Christ, it will
surely be awakened and revealed to their torment and destruction.
The figurative proverb therefore which lies in these words of Adam
contains the most solemn truth, that nothing remains hidden, but that
all things are revealed and made known, as the Apostle Paul also says,
"Some men's sins are evident, going before unto judgment," 1 Tim.
5:24. Hence we see the judgment of God in an especial manner in the
cases of criminals. How many persons are murdered in secret and yet
the authors of those unnatural and horrible crimes are brought to
light by means the most wonderful. The grave admonition therefore of
Adam to his son Cain is that he would guard against indulging in sin,
resting fully assured that it would not remain hidden, but that God
would certainly bring it to light and punish it. The poets of old did
not wander far from this great truth when they represented Cupid, the
god of lustful desire, naked but blind also. For as our sin seems to
us to be hidden, we think that it is hidden from all others also. But
God at length brings to light and reveals things the most deeply
concealed.
I believe therefore the meaning of these words of Adam, which I have
thus given, is their true and simple sense. By them the father is
admonishing the son to believe in God and in the promised Seed;
assuring him that if he does so, God will show himself merciful unto
him. But, says the father, if thou follow the lusts of thy heart, thy
sin will indeed lie at rest in thy soul; that is, it will appear to
thee to be concealed and hidden, but it will be lying all the time "at
the door;" that is, in a place where it cannot lie long asleep or out
of sight. For that which "lieth at the door" is beheld by all who
enter in and by all who go out.
Let us not forget however, as I before observed, the grand and
principal truth taught by this portion of the Holy Scriptures, that
God from the very beginning of the world is One who judgeth between
the flesh and the spirit, and who respecteth not the dignity of the
person or his works. For God hath here respect unto Abel, not moved by
any work which he performed, but simply by his faith in which he
offered his sacrifice. But unto Cain God had not respect; not because
the offering of Cain was less splendid or sumptuous than that of Abel,
but because he had not faith, and therefore his primogeniture profited
him nothing.
And this is a very powerful argument against the Jews, who, as John
tells us, gloried in their race and descent, boasting that they were
the children of Abraham, John 8:33. If therefore the honor and
prerogative were anything in God's sight, Cain certainly had wherein
to glory. And what avails also the glorying of the Jews that God spoke
unto them by Moses? Are we to conclude, think you, that Adam, the
first teacher, was a teacher less than Moses? No! Adam was greater
than Moses and superior to him in many respects. He did not teach like
Moses circumcision, nor the other legal ceremonies, which were
necessary to a stiff-necked people to prevent them from superstition,
but Adam taught faith in the promised Seed, which should bruise the
serpent's head. All the primogeniture of Cain therefore and all his
other privileges and his works profited him nothing; for God had
respect only to faith in the promised Seed. Hence it is that Paul
plainly says to the Jews in the New Testament, "Know therefore that
they that are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham," Gal.
3:7. And Evangelist John says the same things concerning the Jewish
people, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the children of God, even to them that believe on his name: who were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God," John 1:12, 13.
I believe therefore that the above interpretation of the words of Adam
is their original and true meaning. For, first of all, it is in
perfect accord with the fundamental truth of the holy Scripture and
with the sacred matter itself spoken of. And secondly, it does not
violate any law of grammar, and it moreover tends to illustrate
beautifully and variously by its figures the divine things contained
in the words used by Adam. But the Rabbins, being ignorant of the
things spoken of by Adam, are not at all helped out of the difficulty
by all their knowledge of the terms employed in the patriarch's
speech. How absurd for instance is the opinion of some, who apply the
expression, There shall be a "lifting up" to the "fallen countenance"
of Cain. As if Adam had said, "Then thou shalt be able again to lift
up thy countenance, which is now wholly changed and fallen." These
absurdities are indeed properly noticed by all our more recent
commentators, to whom also our thanks are due, for their faithful
labor in translating the original text grammatically. But true
theology is indispensable, which alone can rightly judge of and
rightly teach the things spoken of in the Holy Scripture.
V. 7b. _And unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it._
Some men have most absurdly wrested this passage to prove by it free
will. But it is perfectly evident that Adam does not here really
affirm that Cain could do what he advised him to do. He is only
admonishing or entreating him to do it. For it by no means follows
that we can do what we are commanded to do. "The desire of sin," Adam
here says to Cain, "shall be toward thee;" that is, as Paul expresses
it, "Sin is in thy members," Rom. 7:5. Again, "The flesh lusteth
against the spirit," Gal. 5:17. "But thou shalt not be eternally
condemned, because thou feelest this motion of sin in thy members. If
sin entice thee, do thou rule over it by faith. Suffer it not to rule
over thee, or thou shalt perish for ever." Likewise Paul commands in
Rom. 8:13, "By the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body."
This part of Adam's speech therefore is intended to bring us to
acknowledge what the life of the godly in the flesh is: namely, that
it is a perpetual struggle of the spirit against sin. Those therefore
who sleep and snore, and prepare themselves not for this fight, are
easily vanquished. Adam however appears to wish, by this his speech
not only to admonish his son to guard against sin in the future, but
also to comfort and lift him up from his distress on account of the
past; for he beholds his son both filled with anguish on account of
the divine rejection and now also tempted to revenge. But says Adam to
his son, "Rule over thy sin, and thou shalt find God merciful. Believe
in him, and he will pardon thy sin."
The Hebrew verb in this passage is MASCHAL; the same as that which the
Lord used above when he said unto the woman, 3:16, "And thy desire
shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." In these words
the meaning of the Lord is, that the wife should obey the husband and
listen to her husband, and that she should not take upon herself the
judgment in all things; and that if she did so, the husband in his
authority as the man, should rebuke and prevent her. It is in the same
manner that Adam here speaks to Cain, saying to him, "Sin will entice
thee and prompt thee to revenge." This is the father's meaning, when
he says, "And its desire shall be toward thee; but do thou say unto
sin, I will not obey thee. Refrain thyself and rule over it." These
words of Adam therefore contain an admonition full of consolation,
showing that on account of the blessed Seed we are no longer under
sin, and that therefore we ought to rule over it. For Adam's speech
embraces both doctrines; the doctrine of the fear of the Lord and the
doctrine of faith. We ought to fear God, because "sin lieth at the
door," and we ought to have faith in God because he is merciful.
PART IV. HOW CAIN MURDERED HIS BROTHER AND WAS REQUIRED TO GIVE AN
ACCOUNT, AND HOW HE CONDUCTED HIMSELF.
I. V. 8a. _And Cain told (talked with) Abel his brother._
Our translation has it, "And Cain said to Abel, his brother," adding
the words, "Let us go out doors." But this is one of the inventions of
the Rabbins, to whom how much credit is to be given, I have fully
shown. Lyra, following the invention of Eben Ezra, relates that Cain
told his brother how severely he had been rebuked of the Lord. But who
would believe that for which there is no authority in the Scriptures?
We hold therefore to that meaning of the text which the Scriptures
plainly show to be its true sense, that Cain, being reprobated or
rejected of God, indulged his wrath, and that he now added to his
former sins, contempt of his parents and of the Word, thinking thus
within himself, "The promised Seed of the woman belongs to me as the
first-born. But my brother, Abel, that contemptible one and that one
of naught, is evidently preferred to me by the divine authority
itself, manifested by the fire from heaven consuming his sacrifice.
What shall I do, therefore? I will dissemble my wrath until an
opportunity of taking vengeance shall occur."
The words therefore, "And Cain spoke to Abel his brother," I
understand as meaning that Cain, dissembling his anger, conducted
himself toward Abel as toward a brother, and that he spoke to him and
conversed with him, as if he bore with a quiet mind the divine
rejection he had just experienced, and the sentence of God thus
pronounced against him. It was in this manner also that Saul
dissembled his wrath, who likewise pretended a benevolent mind and
good-will toward David. "I know well," said Saul, "that thou shalt
surely be king," 1 Sam. 24:20; and yet he was all the while thinking
of the way in which, having killed David, he might prevent his being
king. Just in the same way did Cain now converse in dissimulation with
Abel his brother, saying to him, I see that thou art chosen of the
Lord. I envy thee not this divine blessing, etc., etc. This is the
very manner of hypocrites. They pretend friendship until an
opportunity of doing the harm they intend presents itself.
That such is the true sense of the passage all the circumstances
clearly show. For if Adam and Eve could have gathered the least
suspicion of the intended murder, think you not that they would either
have restrained Cain or removed Abel, and placed the latter out of
danger? But as Cain had altered his countenance and his carriage
toward his brother, and had talked with him in a brotherly manner they
thought all was safe, and the son had bowed to and acquiesced in the
admonition of his father. This outward appearance and carriage
deceived Abel also, who, if he had feared anything like murder from
his brother, would doubtless have fled from him, as Jacob fled from
Esau when he feared his brother's wrath. What therefore could possibly
have come into the mind of Jerome, when he believed the Rabbins, who
say that Cain was here expostulating with his brother?
Wherefore Cain is here the image and the picture of all hypocrites and
murderers, who under the show of godliness slaughter the good. For
Cain thus being besieged by Satan covers his wrath, waiting the
opportunity to slay his brother Abel; meanwhile he converses with him,
as a brother beloved, that he might the sooner lay his hands upon him
unawares.
This passage therefore is intended for our instruction; that we may
learn to understand the ways of murderers and hypocrites. For thus it
truly always comes to pass that every Cain talks with his brother, as
Cain of old talked brotherly with Abel; and on the other hand also,
every Abel trusts in every Cain, as a brother would trust a brother;
and thus he is murdered, and the pious parents meanwhile are deceived.
Just so the Pope and the bishops of this day talk and consult much
concerning the peace and the concord of the Church. But he is most
assuredly deceived who does not understand all these councils directly
the contrary. For true is that word of the Psalm, "The workers of
iniquity speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their
hearts," Ps. 28:3. For the very nature of all hypocrites is, that they
carry an appearance of goodness, speak friendly to you, pretend
humility, patience, and charity, and give alms, etc.; and yet, they
are all the while planning slaughter in their heart.
Let us learn therefore by this history to know a Cain, and to guard
best against him when he speaks the most friendly, and as a brother to
a brother. For it is in this way that our adversaries, the bishops and
the Pope, talk with us in our day, while they pretend a desire for
concord and peace, and seek reconciliation of doctrines; whereas if an
opportunity of seizing us and executing their rage upon us should
present itself, you would soon hear them speak in a very different
tone. For all the time there is death in the pot, 2 Kings 4:40; and
under the best and sweetest words there lies concealed a deadly
poison.
V. 8b. _And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain
rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him._
Here then you see the deceptiveness under the above dissembled
conversation of Cain with his brother. Cain had been admonished by his
father with divine authority to guard against sin in the future and to
expect pardon for the past through the promised Seed. But Cain
despises both admonitions and indulges in his sin, as all the wicked
do. For true is the saying of Solomon, "When the wicked cometh, there
cometh also contempt, and with ignominy cometh reproach," Prov. 18:3.
Just in the same manner our ministry of the Word at the present day
deserves no blame. We teach, we exhort, we rebuke, we turn ourselves
every way, that we may recall the multitude from the security of sin
to the fear of God. But the world, like an untamed beast, still goes
on and follows not the Word, but its own lusts, which it strives to
palliate under the appearance of what is honest and right. The
prophets and the apostles also stand before us as examples of the same
labor in vain, and we also are taught the same by our own experience.
Our adversaries being so often admonished and convicted know they are
doing wrong, and yet they lay not aside their murderous hatred against
us.
From the case of Cain therefore learn what a hypocrite is; namely, one
who pretends to the worship of God and charity, and yet at the very
same time destroys the worship of God and slaughters his brother. And
all this semblance of good-will is only intended to create the better
opportunities of doing the harm designed. For if Abel had foreseen the
implacable wrath and the truly diabolical fury of his brother, he
might have saved his life by flight. But as Cain betrayed nothing of
this kind while he talked with his brother in seeming affection and
put on the appearance of his usual good-will, Abel perished before he
felt the fear of danger.
There is no doubt that Abel, when he saw his brother rising up against
him, entreated and implored him not to pollute himself with this awful
sin. But a mind thus beset by sin pays no regard to prayers, nor heeds
uplifted hands. Just as Cain therefore had despised the admonition of
his father; so now also he equally despises his brother, fallen on his
knees before him.
These things instruct us in that cruel tyranny of Satan, under which
our nature when involved in sins is bound. Hence Paul calls such, "The
children of wrath," Eph. 2:3; and declares that such are "taken
captive by Satan at his will," 2 Tim. 2:26. For when we are mere men;
that is, when we apprehend not the blessed Seed by faith, we are all
like Cain, and nothing is wanting but an opportunity to murder our
brother. For nature, destitute of the Holy Spirit, is driven by that
same evil spirit by which Cain was driven to murder. Whereas if there
were in any one those sufficient powers or that free-will of which men
talk, by which a man might defend himself against the assaults of
Satan, these gifts of nature would most assuredly have existed in
Cain, to whom belonged the first birth-right and the promise of the
blessed Seed. But it was not so. And the condition of all men is the
same. Unless nature be helped by the Spirit of God, it cannot uphold
itself nor stand. Then why do we vainly and absurdly boast of
free-will? Now follows another remarkable passage.
II. V. 9. _And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And
he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?_
Good God! into what depth of sin does our miserable nature fall, when
driven onward by the devil. At last murder was committed on a brother.
And perhaps murdered Abel lay for days unburied. When therefore Cain
returned to his parents at the accustomed time, and Abel returned not
with him, the anxious parents said to him, Cain, thou art here, but
where is Abel? Thou art returned home, but Abel is not returned. The
flock is without their shepherd. Tell us therefore where thy brother
is? Upon this, Cain, growing indignant, makes answer to his parents,
by no means with due reverence, "I know not: Am I my brother's
keeper?"
But it happened to Cain as to all the wicked, that by _ex_cusing he
_ac_cused himself. Agreeably also to the words of Christ our Lord,
"From thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant," Math.
18:32. The heathen had also a striking proverb among them, "A liar
ought to have a good memory." Such was the judgment of heathen men,
though they knew nothing of the judgment of God and of conscience, and
were capable of judgment and giving admonition concerning natural and
civil things only. And true it is that liars expose themselves to many
dangers of detection, and betray many facts, by which they may be
convicted and refuted. Hence the Germans have this proverb, "A lie is
a very fruitful thing." For one lie begets seven other lies, which
become necessary to establish the first lie, and to make it wear the
face of truth. And yet it is impossible after all to prevent
conscience from betraying itself at times, if not in words then in
countenance and gesture. This will be proved by numberless examples
hereafter. I will cite one example here.
In Thuringia there is a small town in the district of Orla, called
Neustadt. In this town a harlot had murdered her infant, to which she
had secretly given birth, and had thrown it, after the murder, into a
neighboring fish-pond. By a singular occurrence a portion of the linen
in which she had wrapped the infant brought the horrid deed to light,
and the case was brought before the magistrate; and as the simple men
of the place knew no better means of investigating the crime in order
to discover its author, they called all the young women of the town
into the town-hall and closely examined them all, one by one. The
judgment concerning all the rest was quite manifest, and it was
evident that they were all innocent. But when they came to her who was
the real perpetrator of the deed she did not wait for the questions to
be put to her, but immediately declared aloud that she was not the
guilty person. This declaration at once caused the magistrate to
suspect that she really was the author of the deed, because she was
more anxious than all the rest to clear herself from any suspicion.
Therefore she was seized by the constables and forthwith suffered
death.
Indeed examples of the same kind are infinite and occur daily, showing
that where persons are most anxious to _ex_cuse themselves, they most
effectually _ac_cuse and betray themselves. So true is that word which
we have just before heard that sin does indeed lie asleep and
concealed, but it lies "at the door."
Just so in the present case. Cain thinks that he has made an effectual
excuse for himself, by saying that he was not his brother's keeper;
whereas, by the very mention of his brother's name, he at once
confesses that he ought to have been his younger brother's keeper. And
then again does he not, by the same admitted confession, that he ought
to have been his brother's keeper, accuse himself of being of a
hostile mind towards his brother? And does he not moreover strike into
the mind of his parents a surmise of the murder committed? For Abel
nowhere appears and is not to be found. Just so also Adam excuses
himself in paradise, and lays all the blame on Eve. But this excuse of
Cain is far more idle and absurd; for while he excuses his sin he
doubles it. Whereas on the contrary, the free confession of sin finds
mercy and appeases wrath. It is recorded in the history of St. Martin
that when he was pronouncing to some notorious sinners the pardon of
their sins, he was rebuked by Satan, who asked him why he did so; to
whom St. Martin is said to have replied, "Why I would pronounce the
pardon even of thy sins, if thou wouldst say from thy heart, I repent
that I have sinned against the Son of God, and I pray to God to pardon
me for the same." But the devil never does this. For he persists in
and defends his sin.
All liars and hypocrites imitate Cain their father in his lie, by
either denying their sin, or excusing it. Hence they cannot find
pardon of their sins from God. And we see the same in domestic life.
By the defense of wrong doing, anger is increased. For whenever the
wife, or the children, or the servants have done wrong, and deny or
excuse their wrong doing, the father of the family is the more moved
to wrath; whereas, on the contrary, plain confession always meets
pardon or a lighter punishment. But it is the very nature of
hypocrites to excuse and palliate their sin, or to deny it altogether,
and under the show of religion to slay the innocent.
But here let us take a view of the manner in which sins follow each
other and increase more and more. First of all Cain sins by
presumption and unbelief. When priding himself on the privilege of his
first birth-right, he takes it for granted that he shall be accepted
of God on the ground of his high merit as the eldest son. Upon this
pride and this glory of self-righteousness immediately follow the envy
and hatred of his brother, whom he sees preferred before himself by a
certain sign from heaven. Upon this envy and hatred follow hypocrisy
and lying. He talks with his brother in dissembled affection, whom he
all the while designs to murder, and whom by his affectionate
conversation he throws the more effectually off his guard. Upon this
hypocrisy follows murder. Upon this murder follows a lying excuse to
cover his awful sin. And the last stage of the whole sin is despair
and desperation; and this last step is the fall from heaven to hell!
And although Adam and Eve in paradise did not deny their sin, yet they
confessed it quite coldly, and shifted it from the one to the other.
Adam laid it on Eve, and Eve laid it on the serpent. But Cain went
further than them both, for he not only did not confess the murder he
had committed, but declared that he had nothing to do with the care of
his brother. And did not this speech at once prove that his mind was
in a state of hostility against his brother? Though therefore Adam and
Eve confessed their sin with only half their hearts, yet they had some
claim to pardon, and they were punished with less severity
accordingly. But Cain, because he denied his sin determinately, was
rejected, and fell into despair.
And the same judgment awaits all our Cainite popes, cardinals and
bishops, who although they plan in their minds plots of murder against
us, yet say like Cain their father, "I know not: Am I my brother's
keeper?"
There was a common proverb of old, "What is it to the Romans that the
Greeks die?" So we think that our dangers and calamities only belong
to ourselves. But how does this principle agree with the commandment
of God? For his will is, that we should all live together, and be to
each other as brethren? Cain therefore by this very saying of his
heavily accuses himself when he makes the excuse that the custody of
his brother was no matter of his. Whereas if he had said to his
father, "Alas, my father, I have slain Abel, my brother. I repent of
the deed I have done. Return upon me what punishment thou wilt." Had
he thus spoken, there might have been room for a remedy; but as he
denied his sin and contrary to the will of God cast off the charge of
his brother altogether, there was no place left for mercy or favor.
Moreover Moses has arranged all this narrative thus particularly and
remarkably on purpose that it might be a testimony and memorial of all
hypocrites, that he might, by his peculiar manner of recording the
solemn facts, graphically paint forth what hypocrites really are, and
that he might show how awfully they are seized upon by Satan as his
instruments, and inflamed by him against God and against his Word and
his Church. It was not enough for his murderer that he had killed his
brother contrary to the command of God, but he adds to that sin the
further sin that, when God inquires of him concerning his brother, he
becomes filled with indignation and rage. I say when God inquires of
him, because, although it was Adam who spoke these words to his son
Cain, yet he spoke them by the authority of God and by the Holy
Spirit. In so awful a sin therefore was it not a most kind and gentle
manner of expression to inquire, "Where is Abel thy brother?" And yet
to this voice, which contained in it nothing severe, the hypocrite and
the murderer grows so ferocious and proud that he replies, "I know
not: Am I my brother's keeper?" And he is fired with indignation that
he should be called to an account concerning the matter at all. For
the reply of Cain is the reply of a spirit of resistance and
indignation against God.
But to this sin Cain adds a worse sin still. For when he ought to have
fallen under this accusation of having committed the murder, he
himself at once turns round and accuses God and expostulates with him:
"Am I my brother's keeper?" He prefaces his reply with no expression
of reverence or honor, though due both to God and to his father. He
did not say, "Lord, I know not." He did not say, "My Father, didst
thou make me the keeper of my brother?" Such expressions as these
would have indicated feeling of reverence towards God or towards his
parent. But he answers as being Lord himself and plainly manifests
that he felt indignant at being called to account even by him who had
the high right even to call him to that account.
And this is a true picture of all hypocrites. When standing in the
most manifest sins they grow full of insolence and pride, and aim all
the while at appearing most righteous persons. They will not believe
even God himself when rebuking them by his Word. Nay, they set
themselves against God, contend with him and excuse their sin. Thus
David says, "that God is judged of men, but that at length he clears
and justifies himself, and prevails," Ps. 51:4. This is that insolence
of hypocrites which Moses here paints.
But how does this attempt of Cain succeed. Thus while he uses every
means to _ex_cuse himself, he most powerfully _ac_cuses himself. Thus
Christ says, "Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked
servant," Luke 19:22. Now, this servant wished to appear without
guilt, saying, "For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man:
Thou takest up that which thou layest not down, and reapest that which
thou didst not sow: therefore I hid thy talent in a napkin," verses 20
and 21. Now, what _ex_cuses more plausible than these could the wicked
servant adopt? Yet by what means more effectual could he _ac_cuse
himself? For Christ at once uses his own very words against this
wicked servant, and condemns him out of his own mouth. And this is the
very way and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
Such examples are profitable to us that we may learn not to contend
with God. On the contrary therefore when thou feelest in thine own
conscience that thou art guilty, take heed with all thy soul that thou
contend neither with God nor with men by defending or excusing thy
sin. Rather do this, When thou seest God points his spear at thee,
flee not from him; but on the contrary flee to him with humble
confession of thy sin, and with prayer for his pardon. Then will God
draw back his spear and spare thee. But when by the denial and excuse
of thy sin thou fleest farther and farther from him, the nearer is God
to thee as an enemy and the more closely and hotly does he pursue thee
as such. Nothing therefore is better or safer for thee than to come to
him at once with the confession of thy fault. For thus it comes to
pass that, when God conquers us, we also conquer by him.
But Cain and hypocrites do not this. God points his spear at them, but
they do not humble themselves before him nor pray to him for pardon.
Nay, they even point their spear at God, just as Cain did on this
occasion. Cain does not say, "Lord, I confess that I have killed my
brother; forgive me." On the contrary, though being the accused, he
himself accuses God by replying, "Am I my brother's keeper?" And what
was the effect of his pride? By it he openly confessed that he cared
naught for the divine laws, which say, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself," Lev. 19:18. And again, "Do not unto another that which
you would not have another do unto you," Math. 7:12. These laws were
not first written, nor only written, in the Decalogue, but they were
inscribed in the minds of all men by nature. Yet Cain not only acted
directly against these laws, but showed that he cared naught for them,
nay, that he absolutely despised them.
In this way therefore Cain stands the picture, as we have said, not
only of a wicked man, but of a man the most wicked, who, though a
murderer, is yet a hypocrite wishing to appear a saint; being all the
time one more prepared to accuse God than to appear worthy of
accusation. And this is what all hypocrites do. They blaspheme God and
crucify his Son, and yet wish to appear righteous. For after their
murders, blasphemies and all other sins their whole aim is to seek
means whereby to excuse and palliate the great sins they have
committed. But the result always is that they only betray themselves
and are condemned out of their own mouths.
While Cain here studies to render himself quite pure in appearance, he
most effectually and foully defiles himself. He thinks he has made a
most plausible excuse, when he says, "Am I my brother's keeper?" But
this very excuse becomes his most effectual accusation. And thus
according to the saying of Hilary, "Wickedness is ever closely
accompanied by folly." And so it was in the case of Cain. Had he been
as wise as he was wicked, he would have excused himself in quite a
different manner. But since God has ordained that wickedness should
thus be ever accompanied by folly, Cain's excuse becomes his plain
accusation. And for this very reason: The defense of truth against her
adversaries is always easy. For Cain thus testified, both by his words
and by his gestures, that he cared not for his brother, but hated him;
so all wicked men by various means ever betray their wickedness. By
the example of Cain therefore things the most important and the most
instructive are set before us; all of them tending to show that God
suffers not hypocrites to remain long undiscovered, but that he
compels them to convict themselves by those very means by which they
craftily strive to conceal their hypocrisy and their sin.
Moses does not in this description use a multitude of words, according
to the practice of the world in general; for these in setting forth a
subject embellish it with various striking ornaments of figure and
speech. But we know by experience, that the real feelings of the mind
cannot be fully described by the paintings of any human eloquence. And
indeed an abundance of words only makes the affection of the mind
described to appear less than it is in reality. Moses therefore acts
quite differently. By the use of a very few words he discloses a great
abundance of subject-matter.
The divine historian above used the expression, "And when they were in
the field." Here Moses indicates that the murderer Cain had watched
his opportunity; that when alone he might attack his brother, when
also alone. And all the connected circumstances plainly show that Abel
was not then unemployed, for he was in the field, where he had to do
the things his father had given him to do. Here Moses moreover shows
that Abel's parents were free from all fear of danger. For although
from the beginning they had feared that the wrath of Cain would
eventually break out into some still greater sin; yet, by his
compliance and kindness, and by his pretended affection, he prevented
all suspicion of evil from remaining in the minds of his parents. For
had there been the least apprehension of evil still existing, they
certainly would not have permitted Abel to go from their presence with
Cain alone. They would have caused his sisters to go with him as
companions, for some sisters he no doubt had. Or his parents
themselves would have prevented by their presence and authority the
perpetration of so great a wickedness. And as I said, the mind of Abel
was perfectly free from all suspicion. For had he suspected evil at
the hand of his brother in the least degree, he would doubtless have
sought safety by flight. But after he had heard and seen, as he
thought, that Cain bore the judgment of God patiently and did not envy
his brother the high honor which God had bestowed upon him, he pursued
his work in the field with all security.
What orator could describe with eloquence equal to its importance the
real nature of that act of Cain, which Moses expresses in these few
words? "And Cain rose up against his brother." Many descriptions of
awful cruelty exist in books on every side, but no description of
cruelty could paint it in a more atrocious and execrable light than
the picture drawn by the few words of Moses, when he simply says, Cain
"rose up against" his brother Abel. As if he had said, Cain rose up
against Abel, the only brother he had, with whom he had been brought
up and with whom he had lived in the one only family upon earth up to
that day; all which family communion he utterly forgot, and not only
so, but he forgot their common parents also. The greatness of the
grief which he would cause his parents by such a grave crime never
entered his mind. He never thought that Abel was a brother, from whom
he had never received any offense whatever. For Cain knew that the
honor of the more acceptable sacrifice which Abel had offered,
proceeded not from any intent or ambition in him, but from the will
and doing of God himself. In a word Cain did not consider in what
position he himself would be; that by this wicked deed, he who had
hitherto stood in the highest favor with his parents would lose that
favor altogether and would fall under their deepest indignation.
It is recorded in history that when a painter, who was painting the
story of Iphigenia, on the point of being sacrificed to Diana by her
father, had given to each one of the surrounding spectators his
appropriate countenance, with a latitude of art which might best
express his pain and sorrow, he at length came to the father himself,
who was also a spectator; but feeling convinced that no art of the
painter could adequately represent his feelings and countenance, he
covered his head with a mantle.
Moses I think does the same thing in the present passage, when he uses
the verb YAKAM, "Rose up against." What tragical pictures would the
eloquence of Cicero or Livy have here drawn, while they were
strikingly portraying the wrath of the one brother, and the dread, the
cries, the prayers, the tears, the uplifted hands, and all the horrors
of the other; applying to the description all the power of their mind
and language? But such feelings cannot be fully described by all these
powers of eloquence. Moses therefore writes most appropriately, when
he sets forth things so inexpressible by mere dots, as it were, in
order that by his few words the feelings of the reader may be engaged
to meditate on the facts the more closely and deeply for himself. For
the vain attraction of words is like paint applied to natural beauty;
it only mars and spoils the force of the reality.
Of the same expressive character are the few words which he next adds,
"And slew him." He does not by those few words represent a common
murder, such as we see committed by men in general; for they sometimes
kindle quarrels from the most trifling causes and commit murders in
the end. Such murderers however immediately after the murder is
committed are filled with distress; they grieve for the deed they have
done and acknowledge those delusions of the devil by which he blinded
their minds. But Cain felt no distress; he expressed no grief, but
denied the deed he had done. This satanic and insatiable hatred in
hypocrites is described by Christ by saying, "When they kill you, they
will think that they do God service," John 16:2. So the priests and
the kings filled Jerusalem with the blood of the prophets and gloried
in what they did, as if their deeds were great and successful
exploits; for they considered such murders as proofs of their zeal for
the law and the house of God.
And the furious cruelty of the popes and the bishops in our day is
just the same. They are not satisfied with having excommunicated us
again and again, and with having shed our blood, but they wish to blot
out our memory from the land of the living; according to the
description of such hatred expressed in the words of the Psalm, "Rase
it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof," Ps. 137:7. These
instances of hatred are satanic, not human; for all forms of human
hatred grow into mildness by time; and after we have avenged the
offense and pain given, the hatred at length ceases. But these
instances of pharisaic hatred increase in virulence day by day; and
for this very reason, because they are justified under the cloak of
religion and godly zeal. Cain therefore is the father of all
murderers, who slaughter the saints and whose wrath knows no end, as
long as there remains one saint for them to kill. All this is proved
by the example even of the crucified Christ himself. For as to Cain,
there is no doubt of his having hoped that by putting Abel to death,
he should still hold the high honor of his first birth-right. And in
the same way the ungodly always think that their cruelty will profit
them in some way. But when they find that their hope is vain they at
once fall like Cain into despair.
Now when the fact of this atrocious murder was made known to the
parents, what do we think must have been the dreadful feelings which
it excited? What the lamentation? What sighs and groans it caused? But
I dwell not on these things; they are rather scenes for the eloquent
and able orator to describe. I will only observe that it was a marvel
that both parents were not struck lifeless with pain and grief. For
the calamity was rendered the greater by the fact that their
first-born, who had created in them such large hopes concerning
himself, was the perpetrator of such a horrible murder. If therefore
Adam and Eve had not been helped from above, they could never have
surmounted this family calamity; for it was a catastrophe exceeding
all catastrophes the world has ever known. And hence Adam and Eve were
without that consolation which we may have under sudden and unexpected
calamities, which consolation is that like evils have befallen others
and have not come upon us alone. But our first parents had two sons
only, though I believe that they had daughters also; and therefore
they had not the many examples before them which are always before our
eyes.
Who can doubt however that Satan by this new kind of temptation in
Cain increased greatly the grief and trial of our first parents? For
they no doubt thought, Behold this is all our sin. We, when in
paradise, wished to become like God; but by our sin we are become like
the devil. The very same thing has befallen us, in the case of our
son. We loved this son alone, and made everything of him. Our other
son Abel was righteous before us, above this son; but of his
righteousness we made nothing. This elder son we hoped would be he who
should crush the serpent's head; but behold! he himself is crushed by
the serpent! Nay, he himself is become like the serpent, for he is now
a murderer. And whence is this? Is it not because he was born of us,
and because we through our sin are what we are? Therefore it is from
our flesh, therefore it is from our sin, that this calamity has broken
forth!
It is very probable therefore, and the events of the series of years
which followed confirm this probability, that the sorrowing parents,
struck with the awfulness of this calamity, abstained for a long time
from connubial intercourse. For it appears that when Cain committed
this murder he was about thirty years of age, more or less. During
this period some daughters were born unto Adam. For since it is said
below, V. 17, that "Cain knew his wife," there is no doubt that he
married a sister. Moreover since Cain himself says, V. 14, "And it
shall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me;" and
as it is further said, V. 15, "And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest
any finding him should kill him;" it appears most probable from all
these circumstances that Adam had many more children than Cain and
Abel, but these two only are mentioned on account of the important and
memorable history concerning them and because those two were their
first and principal children. For it is my full belief that the
marriage of our first parents, during the first thirty years of their
union, was most fruitful. In some books the names Calmana and Dibora
are found as being daughters of Adam; but I know not whether such
authors are worthy of any credit. As therefore Seth is recorded as
having been begotten a long time after this awful murder, it seems to
me very probable that the parents, distressed beyond measure at this
monstrous family crime, refrained for a long time from marriage
communion. Moses does not indeed touch upon all these things in his
narrative; he intimates them only in order that he might excite, as we
have said, the reader to a deep consideration of this memorable
history, the circumstances of which he records in the fewest possible
words, as if presenting them to be seen as through a lattice.
But I return to the text now immediately before us. Cain is an evil
and a wicked man, and yet in the eyes of his parents he is a divine
possession and a divine gift. Abel on the contrary is in the eyes of
his parents and in their estimation as nothing, according to the
signification of his name; but in the eyes of God he is truly a
righteous man; hence it is that Christ himself honors him with this
exalted appellation, when he calls him, "Righteous Abel!" Math. 23:35.
This was the divine judgment concerning Abel, which Cain could not
endure, and therefore he thought that the only manner in which his
hatred of his brother could be satisfied was by murder. And he
moreover thought that by this awful means he could still retain the
high honor of his primogeniture. But he was far from thinking that he
committed a great sin by this murder; because as being the first-born
he thought he had a right to do this. He killed him therefore as I
think, not with a sword, for I conclude that there were, as yet, no
iron weapons, but with a club or with some kind of stone.
And after the murder, Cain remained quiet and unconcerned, for he
thought that the deed would be concealed by hiding the body, which he
buried, or perhaps he cast it into a river, considering that by such
means he could rest the more sure that the body could not be found by
his parents.
When Abel therefore had been from home a longer time than he had been
accustomed to be, the Holy Spirit inspires Adam to utter the words of
the text and to inquire of Cain concerning Abel saying, "Where is Abel
thy brother?" Here therefore the sermon and the prophecy of Adam, of
which we have heard before, begins to be fulfilled; where he had said,
"If not, sin lieth at the door." For Cain thought that he had
concealed his sin and had laid it to rest, and that all would thus be
hidden. And true it was that his sin did lie at rest; but it lay at
rest "at the door." And who now openeth the door? None other than the
Lord himself. He rouses up and wakens the sleeping sin. He brings the
hidden sin to light.
And the same thing must be fulfilled in all sinners. For unless by
repentance thou first come to God, and thyself confess thy sin to God,
God will surely come to thee, awake thy sin and discover it to thee.
For God cannot endure that any one should deny the sin that he has
committed; as the psalmist also testifies, "When I kept silence, my
bones wasted away through my roaring all the day long. For day and
night thy hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was changed as with the
drought of summer," Ps. 32:3, 4. For although sin hath its sleep and
its security; yet that sleep is "at the door," which cannot long
remain unawakened or hidden.
When Moses here says, "And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy
brother?" I understand Moses to mean, as above, that it was Adam who
spoke by the Holy Spirit in the person or place of God; and that God
there assumed the person of a father speaking to his son. This sacred
phraseology therefore, "And the Lord said," etc., is intended as thus
used by the Holy Spirit to commend the high authority of parents; whom
when children dutifully hear and dutifully obey, they hear God and
obey God. And I believe that Adam knew by the revelation of the Holy
Spirit, that Abel had been slain by his brother; for he spoke at once
concerning the murder, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy
brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground;" although Cain all the
time endeavored to conceal the deed.
PART V. HOW CAIN WAS PUNISHED FOR HIS MURDER.
I. And if Eve heard these words spoken to Cain by his father; what do
we think must have been the grief and horror of her mind! They must
indeed have been beyond all description. But the calamity fell still
nearer and heavier upon Adam himself. For as he was the father, he was
compelled as his duty thus to rebuke his son and to excommunicate him
from his family and from the Church of God for his sin. And although
he did not slay him, for the law concerning punishing a murderer by
death, which is pronounced hereafter in the ninth chapter, was given
after the patriarchs saw murders becoming frequent; and though
inspired by the Holy Spirit so to do, he even "set a mark upon his
son, lest anyone finding him should kill him;" yet it was an awful
punishment which was inflicted on Cain and upon all his posterity. For
in addition to the personal curse of bearing about this mark of a
murderer he was excommunicated from his family, driven from the sight
of his parents and from the society of his brothers and sisters, who
still continued with their parents, as in the Church of God.
Now Adam could not have performed all this awful duty without the
deepest pain; nor could Eve have heard all that Adam said without the
same indescribable anguish. For a father is a father, and a son is a
son. Adam therefore would willingly have spared his son and would
willingly have retained him at home. And we do now sometimes see
murderers reconciled to the brothers of those whom they have murdered.
But in this terrible case no place was left for reconciliation. Cain
is bidden at once to be a vagabond upon the face of the earth. The
pain therefore of the parents was doubled. They see one of their sons
slain by the other; and now they see the slayer excommunicated by the
judgment of God and cut off forever from the society of the rest of
his brethren.
Moreover when we here speak of excommunication from the Church, you
are not to have in mind our present Churches, magnificent structures
superbly built with carved stones. The temple or Church of Adam was a
certain tree, as in paradise; or a certain little hill under the open
heaven, at which they assembled together to hear the Word of God and
to offer their sacrifices, for which purpose they had altars erected,
and God was present with them when they thus offered their sacrifices
and heard his Word, as is manifest from the divine presence at the
offering of Abel.
And other portions of sacred history testify that altars were erected
in the open air and that sacrifices were there offered. And indeed the
same practice for many reasons would be useful even now; that we might
assemble together in the open air, pray with bended knees, preach the
Word, give thanks to God and bless each other, etc. It was from a
temple of this kind and from such a Church, not a conspicuous and
magnificent Church in a certain place, that Cain was ejected or
excommunicated. He was thus doubly punished; first, by a corporal
punishment, because he was cursed as a vagabond in the earth with the
mark of a murderer set upon him; and secondly, by a spiritual
punishment, because he was cast out by excommunication, as from
another paradise, and ejected from the temple and Church of God.
Lawyers also have made much use of this passage of the holy
Scriptures, and have treated it with becoming dignity, seeing, as they
did, that the Lord inquired into the matter before he passed
condemnation upon the murderer. The Scripture therefore the framers of
laws have so applied, as to determine thereby, that no man should be
condemned until his cause had been fully known; nor until he had first
been called to the bar of judgment, had been convicted, and had
confessed his guilt. We have seen the same also before in the case of
Adam. "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art
thou?" Gen. 3:9. And again further on, "I will go down now, and see
whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is
come unto me; and if not, I will know," Gen. 11:5; 18:21.
Let us however, leaving for the present all civil and political
doctrine, look at the all-blessed theological or divine doctrine and
consolation, contained in this, when it is recorded that the Lord
inquired for Abel after his death. For in this fact we have made
manifest unto us the resurrection of the dead. Because God by this
inquiry testified that he was the God of Abel, though now dead; for he
inquired after him though now slain and no more. From this passage
therefore we may frame this most immovable argument; that if there
were no one who had the care of us after this life, Abel would not
have been inquired for after he was slain. But God does here inquire
after Abel, even after he is taken away out of this life, he has not a
will to forget him, he still retains the remembrance of him; he asks
"Where he is." God therefore we see is the God of the dead. My meaning
is that even the dead, as we here see, still live in the memory of God
and have a God who cares for them, and saves them in another life
beyond and different from this corporal life in which saints are thus
afflicted.
This passage therefore we repeat is most worthy our observation, in
which we see that God had great care of Abel, even when dead; and that
on account of Abel though dead he excommunicated Cain, and visited him
with destruction even while living, though he was the first-born. This
therefore is great and glorious indeed, that Abel though dead was
still alive and canonized, as we call it, in another life; a
canonization far more blessed and more really divine than is the state
of any of those whom the Pope has ever canonized! The death of Abel
was indeed horrible; for he did not suffer death without excruciating
torment nor without many agonies of tears. And yet his death was a
goodly death; for now he lives a better and more blessed life than he
did before. For this corporal life of ours is lived in sins and is
ever in danger of death. But that life which is to come is eternal and
perfectly free from all trials and troubles, both of the body and of
the soul.
No! God does not inquire after the sheep and the oxen that are slain,
but he does inquire after the men who are slain. Men therefore have
the hope of a resurrection. They have a God who inquires after them,
even after their death in the flesh, and who brings them back from
that death unto eternal life, a God who inquires after their blood as
most "precious" to him, as the Psalmist also says, "Precious in the
sight of Jehovah is the death of his saints," Ps. 116:15.
This inquiry for the saints after their death and this their
resurrection, are the glory of the human race, obtained for it by the
Seed of the woman, which bruised the serpent's head. And the case of
Abel is the first example of this promise which was made to Adam and
Eve; and by this example God showed that the serpent harmed not Abel,
although he caused him to be thus murdered by his brother. This was
indeed an instance of the serpent's "bruising the heel" of the woman's
Seed. But when he attempted to bite his head, that is, his life, he
himself was crushed. For God, in answer to Abel's faith in the
promised Seed, required his blood after his death and proved himself
thereby to be Abel's God still. This is all proved by what follows.
V. 10. _And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's
blood crieth unto me from the ground._
Cain's sin hath hitherto lain "at the door." And the preceding
circumstances plainly show how hard he struggled to keep his sin
asleep. For, being interrogated by his father concerning his brother
Abel, and his father having asked him where he was, he adds to his
murder absolute falsehood. And this answer of Cain moreover shows that
the words of the inquiry were spoken by Adam in his own person, and
not in the person of the divine Majesty. For Cain considers that the
deed was hidden from his father, of course as being mere man, but he
could not have so thought concerning the divine Majesty. Therefore had
it been God who had spoken to him in his own proper divine Person, he
would have returned a different answer. But as he thought that he was
speaking to a man only he denied the deed he had done altogether,
saying, "I know not." As if he had added, There are numerous perils by
which a man may perish. He may be destroyed by wild beasts; he may be
drowned in some river; or he may lose his life by some other death.
And Cain no doubt thought that his father would imagine any other
death of Abel than that his own brother had perpetrated such a deed as
to murder him. But Cain could not deceive the Holy Spirit in Adam.
Adam therefore then speaks openly in the person of God and at once
convicts him of the murder, saying, "What hast thou done?" As if he
had said, "Why dost thou persist in denying the deed; be assured that
thou canst not deceive God, who hath revealed to me all. Thou thinkest
that the blood of thy brother is hidden by the earth with which thou
hast concealed it. But it is not so absorbed by the earth and
concealed by it as to prevent its crying aloud unto God." Thus did
Adam by the Spirit of God indeed wake in Cain his sin lying asleep "at
the door," and drag it forth to light.
The text now before us therefore is full of consolation to the saints
to support them against the enemies and murderers of the Church; for
it teaches us that our afflictions and sufferings, and the shedding of
our blood, fill heaven and earth with their cries. I believe therefore
that Cain was so terror-struck in his mind by these words of his
father and that he was so confused and astounded that he knew not what
to say nor what to do. For no doubt his thoughts were, "If my father
Adam thus knows all the circumstances of the murder which I have
committed, how can I any longer doubt that the whole is known unto
God, unto angels, and unto heaven and earth. Whither therefore can I
flee? Which way can I turn, wretched man that I am?"
It is exactly the same with murderers to this day. They are so
harassed with the stings of conscience, after the crime of murder has
been committed, that they are always in a state of alarm. It seems to
them that heaven and earth have put on a changed aspect toward them
and they know not whither to flee, so awful a thing is this crying of
blood that has been shed and so horrible an agony is an accusing
conscience.
But it is just the same also under all other atrocious sins. Those who
commit them experience the same distresses of mind, when sorrow of
spirit lays hold of them for what they have done. The whole creation
seems changed toward them, and even when they speak to persons with
whom they have been familiar, and when they hear the answers which
they make, the very sound of their voice appears to them altogether
changed and their countenances seem to wear an altered aspect.
Whichever way they turn their eyes, all things are clothed as it were
with mourning and horror. So fierce and destroying a monster is a
guilty conscience. Unless therefore such great sinners are succored
and upheld from above, they must put an end to their existence from
anguish and intolerable pain and despair.
In this place also Moses adopts his usual brevity, which however
exceeds in force all words. In the first place, he makes use of a very
striking figure of speech when he attributes to the shed blood of Abel
the cry of a voice which fills heaven and earth. For how can that
voice be small or weak which is uttered from earth and fills the ears
of God in heaven. Abel therefore who when alive was patient under
injuries, gentle and placid of spirit, now, when dead and buried in
the earth, is utterly unable to endure the injury he has received. He
who before dared not utter a syllable of complaint against his
brother, now cries aloud and so engages the attention of God by his
cry that God himself descends from heaven and charges the murderer
with his crime. Moses therefore here uses the strongest term. He does
not say, "The voice of thy brother's blood speaketh unto me from the
ground," but "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me" etc.,
as heralds proclaim their intelligence aloud, when with exerted voice
they call men together to a public assembly.
And all these things are thus written, as I have observed, to cause us
to see that our God is merciful and that he loves his saints, has a
peculiar care of them, and inquires about them, and searches them out;
and that on the contrary he is angry with the murderers of his saints,
hates them and will assuredly punish them. And this consolation is
most necessary for us; for, when we are oppressed by our enemies and
murderers, we are apt to conclude that our God has forgotten us and
has thrown off all care of us. For we think within ourselves that if
God did care for us, he would not permit such things to come upon us.
And Abel might also have thought the same, saying to himself, God
surely cares nothing for me; for if he did, he would not suffer me
thus to be murdered by my brother.
But only look at what follows, and see whether God had not all the
while a greater care of Abel than Abel could possibly have had of
himself. For how could Abel, had it been possible for him to have
survived the murder, have inflicted on his brother such vengeance as
God here inflicts upon him, after his death, by his brother's hands?
How could he, if alive, execute such awful judgment on his brother as
God here executes? For now Abel's blood cries aloud unto God, who
while alive was of a spirit the most gentle and meek. Abel, now dead,
accuses his brother before God of being a murderer; whereas if alive
he would bear all the injuries of his brother in silence, and would
even conceal all his feelings under them. For who was it that betrayed
Cain and accused him of having slain his brother? Does not the text
here tell us that the accuser was the blood of the murdered Abel? Yes!
that blood still fills the ears of God and of men with its cries which
have not yet ceased.
These things, I say, are all full of consolation; especially unto us
who now suffer persecution from the Popes and wicked princes on
account of our doctrine. They have exercised toward us the utmost
cruelty and have vented their rage against godly men, not in Germany
only, but in other parts of Europe also. And all this sin is
disregarded by the papacy, as if it were nothing but a joke. Nay, the
Papists really consider it to be the "service" of God, John 16:2. All
this sin therefore as yet "lieth at the door." But it will be awaked
and made manifest in its time. For the blood of that best and most
faithful of martyrs, Leonard Caizer, which was shed in Bavaria, cries
aloud still. Nor has the cry of the blood of Henry of Zutphan, shed by
his own countrymen, ceased; nor the blood of our brother Anthony of
England, poured out by his English enemies. Not to mention a thousand
others, who although their names are not so prominent and renowned
were yet fellow-sufferers with confessors and martyrs. The blood of
all these, I say, cries aloud still, and that cry will in its time
cause God to descend from heaven and execute judgment in the earth, a
judgment which will be awful and intolerable to the enemies of the
Gospel.
Let us not think therefore that our blood is disregarded of God. Let
us not imagine for a moment that God regardeth not our afflictions.
No! he collects all our tears, and puts them into his bottle, Ps.
56:8. The cry of the blood of all the godly who have thus been slain
penetrates the clouds, enters the heavens, and comes even unto the
throne of God, and moves him to come forth and vindicate the blood of
the righteous that has been shed, Ps. 79:10. And in the same manner as
these things are written for our consolation, so are they also written
for the terror of our adversaries. For what think you can be more
awe-striking to our tyrants to hear than that the blood of all they
have slain continually cries aloud and accuses them before God? God is
indeed long-suffering, especially now toward the end of the world; and
therefore sin lieth the longer "at the door." Vengeance does not
immediately follow. But it is sure and certain that God is most
righteously offended with all this sin, and that he will never suffer
it to pass away unpunished.
Such is the judgment of God on Cain. But I believe that this judgment
was not executed on the first day of the murder, but that some time
intervened between the murder and this terror on Cain. For God is in
his nature long-suffering, because he waits for the returning of
sinners to himself. But he does not on that account omit or forget to
punish them. For he is the righteous judge both of the living and of
the dead, as we confess in the creed of our faith. God therefore
exercised this his judgment in the very beginning of the world,
memorable in the case of these two brothers. He judged and condemned
the living murderer, and justified the slain righteous Abel. And he
excommunicated Cain and drove him into those agonies of soul that the
space of the whole creation seemed too narrow to contain him. For from
the moment he saw that God would be the avenger of his brother's
"crying blood," he found safety nowhere. While to Abel on the contrary
the space both of earth and of heaven gives an unbounded latitude of
security.
Why should we ever doubt therefore that God ponders and numbers in his
heart the afflictions of his people, and that he measures our tears
and inscribes them all on adamantine tablets? These tears the enemies
of the Church of Christ can never erase by any device of theirs, but
by their repentance alone for what they have done to his saints.
Manasses was a terrible tyrant and a most inhuman persecutor of the
godly. And his banishment and captivity would never have sufficed to
have blotted out these sins. But when he acknowledged his sin and
repented in truth, then the Lord showed him mercy.
So Paul had, and so the Pope and the bishops have now only one way
left them, to acknowledge their sin and to supplicate the forgiveness
of God. But as they do not this God will surely require at their hands
in his fury the blood of the godly. Let no one be doubtful of this. So
here Abel is dead, but Cain is still alive. But O! good God! what a
life of misery does he live! For his wishes are that he had never been
born. Because he ever hears the voice of his excommunication and
expects every moment death and the vengeance of God upon his sin. And
the awful case of our adversaries and of the Church's tyrants shall in
its time be exactly the same.
II. V. 11. _And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened
its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;_
Thus far have we heard how the sin of Cain was revealed by the crying
blood of his brother Abel; and that he was hereby convicted of the
murder by his father Adam, and that the judgment of God concerning the
two brothers was, that the one should not only be justified but
canonized, as we say, and declared to be a saint, and the first fruits
as it were of this blessed Seed of the righteous, but that the other
brother the first-born should be condemned and excommunicated or cast
out as the following sacred narrative now shows. For Moses now
proceeds to record the punishments which were inflicted of God on this
fratricide.
And here in the first place the carefulness and discrimination of the
Holy Spirit, even "from the beginning," is most worthy of our
observation. For above, when the punishment was inflicted on Adam for
his sin, the person of Adam was not cursed, but the earth only. And
even the earth was not cursed absolutely in itself, but a certain
excuse, as it were, was made for it. For the curse was pronounced
thus: "Cursed is the ground for thy sake," Gen. 3:17. Hence it is that
Paul says, Rom. 8:20, "For the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly," that is, not of its own will or fault. But because the
earth instrumentally caused man to become a sinner; therefore also the
earth was compelled to bear the curse as the instrument, in the same
manner as gold, the sword, etc., are cursed, not in themselves, but
because men sin by their means. This is a most beautiful reasoning as
it were in the Holy Spirit, when he thus distinguishes between the
earth and Adam. He makes the curse fall on the earth, but preserves
the person of Adam.
But in the instance before us the Holy Spirit speaks of Cain
otherwise. He curses the person of Cain. And why is this? Is it
because the sin of Cain, as a murderer, was greater than the sin of
Adam and Eve? Not so. But because Adam was that root from whose flesh
and loins Christ, that blessed Seed, should be born. This Seed
therefore is that which was spared. For the sake of this blessed Seed,
the fruit of the loins of Adam, the curse is transferred from the
person of Adam to the earth, the very instrument. So that Adam bears
the curse of the earth, but his person is not cursed; because from his
posterity Christ was to be born.
But because Cain by his sin fell from this glory of being the root of
the blessed Seed; therefore his person is cursed. And the Holy Spirit
says to him, "Cursed art thou," that we might understand that he was
cut off from the glory of the promised Seed and was condemned never to
have in his posterity such a seed as _that Seed_, through which the
blessing should come. This was Cain's rejection from all that
stupendous glory of the promised Seed. For Abel was now slain;
therefore there could now be no posterity from him. But Adam was
appointed still to serve God by his generating children. In Adam alone
therefore, Abel being slain, and Cain being accursed and rejected, the
hope of the blessed Seed rested until Seth was born unto him.
The words of the Holy Spirit here are indeed few, when he says to
Cain, "Cursed art thou." But they are words worthy the deepest and
most diligent consideration. The words are in their import, as if the
Holy Spirit had said to Cain, "Thou art no longer he from whom the
blessed Seed can be hoped for." By these few words therefore Cain is
rejected forever and is cut off as a branch from its stem; so that he
can no longer hope for that glory which he so much strove to hold
fast. For Cain's great desire was that the glory of this future
blessing should be propagated from his loins and proceed from his
posterity. But the more he strove to secure this glory, the further he
was from obtaining it. And just so it is with all the wicked; for the
more they labor to accomplish their purposes, the more surely they
fail and fall.
And here begin, as we observed on the offerings of Cain and Abel, the
two churches, which are ever at perfect enmity with each other; the
Church of Adam and the godly which possesses the hope and promise of
the blessed Seed; and the church of Cain, which lost this hope and
promise by sin and never could recover it. For in the Deluge the whole
posterity of Cain was utterly destroyed, so that no prophet nor saint,
nor any head of a church of the posterity of Cain was left in
existence; so utterly were all things denied to Cain and taken from
him by this one word, when the Holy Spirit said to him, "Cursed art
_thou_."
But the expression "From the earth" is added. This is as it were a
tempering of the awful wrath of God upon Cain. For if the Holy Spirit
had said "From heaven," it would have taken away the hope of salvation
from the whole posterity of Cain forever. But since the expression is,
"From the earth," the fall of Cain's posterity from the promise and
glory of the blessed Seed is threatened and determined; and yet a door
was left open by which it might come to pass that some private persons
of the generation of Cain might, by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, join themselves to the posterity and Church of Adam, and be
saved; as indeed in after ages it came to pass. For although the Jews
alone retained the glory of giving birth to this blessed Seed and
possessed the promise which was in him, according to the Psalm, "He
hath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his ordinances, they
have not known them," Ps. 147:20; yet the Gentiles had the right of
beggars, if I may so express it; and by begging they obtained the same
blessing through the divine mercy, which the Jews possessed through
the true posterity of Adam or the promise of God.
In like manner also all rule in the Church was absolutely denied to
the Moabites and Amorites, and yet many private individuals among them
embraced the religion of the Jews. It was thus also that all right in
the Church was taken away from Cain and his posterity absolutely. Yet
so that permission was left them to beg as it were for this grace.
This right of being beggars was not taken from them. For Cain, because
of his sin, was cast out from the right of sitting at the family table
of Adam. But the right was left him in his posterity to beg and gather
up as dogs the crumbs that fell from his father's table, Math. 15:26,
27. This is signified by the Hebrew expression, MIN HAADAMA, "From the
earth."
I make these observations because there is a great probability that
many of the posterity of Cain, in the earliest ages of the world,
joined themselves to the holy patriarchs. But they abode in the Church
as private persons only and without any office in it, as those who had
utterly lost the promise of the blessed Seed being born from their
body and posterity. And the loss of this promise was a serious matter
to them. And yet this great curse was so mitigated toward them, that
there was granted to them, as we have said, the right of being beggars
for it as it were. Heaven was not absolutely denied them, provided
they would join the true Church; as it is written, and particularly
described in Is. 56:3-8.
But this joining the true Church among his posterity Cain strove to
hinder in various ways. For he set up new forms of worship and
invented numerous ceremonies; that thereby he also might appear to be
the Church. Those however who departed from him and joined the true
Church were saved; although they were compelled to despair of the
glory of Christ being born from their body or posterity. But let us
now return to the sacred text.
Moses here uses a very striking personification. He represents the
earth as being a dreaded beast, when he speaks of her as having opened
her mouth and swallowed the innocent blood of Abel. But why does he
speak of the earth in terms so terrible, when all these horrid things
were transacted without her will or knowledge? Nay, since the earth is
a good creature of God and these things were done against her will,
and her struggle to prevent them? For Paul, as we have just observed,
says, "The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly," etc.,
Rom. 8:20. My reply is, this was done, and the Spirit thus spoke,
according to Moses, as a terror to Adam and to all his posterity, that
they might live in the fear of God and dread the sin of murder. For
the words of Adam mean and are as if he had said, "Behold the earth
hath opened her mouth and swallowed the blood of thy brother; but she
ought to have swallowed thee, the murderer. The earth indeed is a good
creature, and is good to the good and the godly; but to the wicked she
is full of yawnings and loud cries." It is to this end that Moses
records the Holy Spirit as having used these terrible expressions in
reference to the earth through the mouth of Adam. It was to strike
terror and confusion into murderers. Nor is there any doubt that Cain,
after he heard these things from the mouth of his angry father, was
terror-struck in his soul like Judas and overwhelmed with confusion,
so that he knew not which way to turn. The expressions, "Which hath
opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand," are
indeed full of terror; and they point out the awfulness of this
murder, in deeper colors than any pictures could represent it.
V. 12a. _When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield
unto thee its strength._
The Lord above said unto Adam, "Thorns also and thistles shall it
bring forth to thee." But here the Holy Spirit speaks to Cain
otherwise. His words before us are as if he had said, "Thou hast
watered and manured the earth, not with enriching dung and reviving
rain, but with thy brother's blood. Therefore the earth shall be to
thee less productive than to others. For the blood which thou hast
shed shall hinder the strength and the fruitfulness of the earth to
thee." And this is the second part of the punishment; namely, the
bodily curse on Cain: that, although the earth should be just alike
cultivated by Adam and by Cain, yet it should be more fruitful to Adam
than to Cain, and should yield its return to the former for his
labors; but that to the labors of Cain it should not yield any such
returns of fruitfulness on account of the blood shed; which should
hinder it, though by nature desirous to return her fruitfulness and
strength for all labors of men.
But here also we must offer a remark concerning the grammatical
peculiarity of the original language. In the present passage, Moses
terms the earth, HAADAMA. But in the passage which follows, "A
fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth," he uses the term
AREZ. Now ADAMA signifies, according to grammatical interpreters,
"that part of the earth which is cultivated," in which trees grow and
other fruits of the earth which are adapted for food. But AREZ
signifies "the whole earth," whether cultivated or uncultivated. This
curse of God therefore properly has reference to that part of the
earth which is cultivated for food. And the curse implies that where
one ear of wheat should bring forth three hundred grains for Adam, it
should bring forth scarcely ten grains for Cain the murderer; and for
the end, that Cain might behold on every side of him proofs that God
hates and punishes the shedding of blood.
V. 12b. _A fugitive and a wanderer (vagabond) shalt thou be in the
earth._
And this was a third punishment contained in the divine curse on Cain,
which continues to rest on murderers to this day. For unless they find
reconciliation they wander about, having no fixed abode or certain
dwelling-place.
We have here two original terms, NO VANOD, "a vagabond," and "a
fugitive," but my manner is to distinguish them thus. I consider NO to
signify, "the uncertainty of the place in which you are or dwell;"
that is, how long you can remain there. In the same manner as the Jews
at this day are "vagabonds" or wanderers; because they have no certain
or fixed dwelling-place and are in hourly fear lest they should be
compelled to go forth from where they may be dwelling. But NOD
signifies, the "uncertainty of the place to which you can go;" that
is, the not knowing where to go; so that, while on the one hand you
have no certain place in which to dwell, to that misery is added the
further misery, that when you must leave your present uncertain place
of abode, you know not whither to go. The original NO VANOD therefore
contains in it a double punishment: the not being able to remain with
any certainty in any place, and the not knowing whither to go, when
you are driven from your present uncertain place of abode; as we find
it also in Psalm 109:10, "Let his children be continually vagabonds."
VENOA IANUU BANAV, that is "let them, by wandering, wander;" or, "let
them be wanderers indeed, or utter wanderers;" that is, let them never
find a place in which they can dwell with certainty or safety. If they
are this year in Greece let them be compelled the next year to wander
into Italy; and so on perpetually.
Just such is evidently the miserable state of the Jews at the present
day. They can fix their dwelling-place nowhere permanently. And to
this calamity of the Jews of the present day God adds another misery
in the case of Cain that, when he is driven from one place of abode,
he should not know where to find another, and thus should live
suspended as it were between heaven and earth, not knowing where to
stop nor where to find any continuing place of rest or refuge. And in
this manner was the sin of Cain visited with a threefold punishment.
In the first place he is deprived of all spiritual or Church glory,
for the promise concerning the blessed Seed being born from his
posterity is taken away from him. In the second place the earth is
cursed to him in her fruitfulness, which is a domestic punishment
reaching to all his provision for this life. And thirdly the
punishment of a political or civil calamity is inflicted on him, in
his being made a vagabond and never able to find any certain place of
abode or rest.
But still a way of joining the true Church is left him, but without
the promise! For as I have said, if any of Cain's posterity did join
themselves to the true Church and to the holy fathers they were saved.
And thus there was left them the domestic privilege, but without the
blessing. And so the political privilege was preserved to them that
they might build a city and dwell there, but for how long was still
left uncertain. Cain therefore in his posterity is still a beggar as
it were in the Church, in the domestic household, and in the civil
state.
And moreover with these punishments of Cain there was joined as an
alleviation that he should not be slain immediately on account of the
murder which he had committed; as also afterwards a like Levitical law
was ordained concerning man-slayers. But Cain was preserved alive as
an example to others that they might fear God and flee from the sins
of murder. Let these observations suffice therefore concerning the sin
of Cain and the judgment and vengeance of God on the same.
But there are some who here reply and indeed the saints themselves
often so argue to themselves that the godly also sometimes endure
these same curses, while the wicked on the contrary are free from
them. They look at the Apostle Paul as an instance, where he says that
he also "wandered about and had no certain dwelling-place." And verily
our own condition is precisely the same at the present day. We preach
to the Churches and have either no certain dwelling-places at all or
are driven into banishment or are in fear of banishment every hour.
And the same was the condition of Christ, of his apostles and
prophets, and of the patriarchs of old.
In the same manner the Scriptures say concerning Jacob, "The elder
shall serve the younger," Gen. 25:23. But does not Jacob become a
servant when we see him a most distressed supplicant? Does he not from
fear of his brother haste away into exile? Does he not on his return
home supplicate his brother and fall on his knees before him? Is not
Isaac also seen to be a most miserable beggar? Gen. 6:1-35. Abraham
his father also goes into exile among the nations and possesses not in
all the world a place to set his foot, as Stephen says, Acts 7:1-5. On
the other hand, the mocking and wicked Ishmael is a king and from him
are born the dukes of the land of Midian, Gen. 25:16, before Israel
entered into the land of promise. In the same manner it will be seen
in the 17th verse of the present chapter that Cain first built the
city Enoch, and from him were born shepherds, workers in metals, and
inventors of music. All these things seem to the world to prove that
the curses of God are wrongly confined to Cain and his posterity,
seeing that these same curses frequently rest on the true Church;
while on the contrary it is well with the wicked, and they flourish.
These things are often a stumbling block, not to the world only, but
to the saints themselves as the Psalms in many places testify. And the
prophets also are frequently found to grow indignant, as does
Jeremiah, when they see the wicked possess freedom as it were from the
evils of life, while they are oppressed and afflicted in various ways.
Men may therefore naturally inquire, Where is the curse of the wicked?
Where is the blessing of the godly? Is not rather the contrary the
truth? Cain is a vagabond and settled nowhere; and yet Cain is the
first man that builds a city and has a certain place to dwell in. But
we will reply to these inquiries more fully hereafter. We will now
proceed with the text of Moses.
PART VI. CAIN'S CONDUCT UPON BEING PUNISHED.
V. 13. _And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment (iniquity) is
greater than I can bear (than can be remitted)._
Here Moses seems to have fixed a cross for the grammarians and the
Rabbins. For they crucify this passage in various ways. Lyra recites
the opinions of some who explain this passage affirmatively,
considering it to mean that Cain said in his despair that his sin was
greater than could be pardoned; and it is thus that we have rendered
this expression of Cain. Augustine also retained this view of the
passage, for he says, "Thou liest, Cain; for the mercy of God is
greater than the misery of all the sinners of the whole world put
together."
The Rabbins however expound the passage as being a negative
interrogation, making Cain to say, "Is my iniquity greater than can be
remitted?" But if this rendering be the true one, Cain not only does
not acknowledge his sin, but excuses it and moreover insults God for
laying upon him a punishment greater than he deserved. But it is just
in this way that the Rabbins almost everywhere corrupt the sense of
the Scriptures. Consequently I begin to hate them and I admonish all
who read them, to read them with great caution and judgment. For
although they did possess the knowledge of some things, by tradition
as it were from the fathers, yet they corrupted them in various ways;
and therefore they often deceived by those corruptions, even Jerome
himself. Nor did the poets of old ever so fill the world with their
fables as the wicked Jews did the Scriptures with their absurd
opinions. A great labor therefore is thereby thrown in our way to get
hold of the pure text and to clear it from their false opinions and
comments.
The cause of all this error is that some are grammarians only, but
know nothing of the divine things concerned; that is, they are not
divines also; therefore they are compelled to dream and to guess, and
thereby to crucify both themselves and the Scriptures. For how is it
possible that such persons should be right judges of things which they
do not understand? Now, the divine subject matter in the present
passage is that Cain is accused in his own conscience. And no one, not
only no wicked man, but not even the devil himself can endure this
judgment of his own conscience; as James also witnesses, "The devils
also believe and tremble before God," James 2:19. And Peter also says,
"Whereas angels which are greater in power and might cannot endure
that judgment which the Lord will exercise upon blasphemers," 2 Pet.
2:11. So also Manasses in his prayer, Vs. 4, 5, confesses that all men
tremble before the face of the Lord's anger.
All these things therefore fully prove that there was not in Cain
under his judgment enough spirit left to enable him to set himself
against God and to expostulate with him. For God is an almighty
adversary to contend with, and he always makes his first attack upon
the heart and fastens his grip on the conscience. Now of this matter
the Rabbins know nothing, nor have any understanding of it whatever;
and therefore they speak on this judgment of God as if it were a
matter transacted before men, in judgment where a fact is either
falsely denied or vainly excused before the judge. The judgment of God
however is quite a different matter. For there, as Christ says, "By
thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be
condemned," Math. 12:37. Cain therefore does acknowledge his sin in
the present passage, but he does not grieve so much concerning his sin
as concerning his punishment for it. Cain's words therefore are here
to be understood affirmatively, and they show the horribleness of his
despair.
A further proof of Cain's entire despair is, that he does not utter
one word of reverence. He never mentions the name of God or of his
father. His conscience is so confused and so overwhelmed with terror
and despondency that he is not able to think of any hope of pardon. So
the Epistle to the Hebrews gives the same description of Esau, saying,
"Who for one mess of meat sold his own birthright. For ye know that
even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was
rejected; for he found no place for change of mind, though he sought
it diligently with tears," Heb. 12:16, 17. Thus in the present
instance Cain feels his punishment, but he grieves more for his
punishment than for his sin. And all persons in like despair do just
the same.
The two original words of this passage, MINNESO and AVON, again form
two crosses for grammarians. Jerome translates the clause, "My
iniquity is greater than can be pardoned." Sanctes, the grammarian of
Pagnum, a man of no mean erudition and evidently a diligent scholar,
renders the passage, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." But
by such a rendering, we shall make of Cain a martyr and of Abel a
sinner. And concerning the original word NOSA, I have before observed,
that when it is applied to sin, it signifies "to lift sin up, or off,
on high;" that is, "to take it out of the way." Just as we by the use
of a common figure say, "to remit sin," or "the remission of sins," as
we have in, Ps. 32, ASCHRE NESU PESCHA, which, when rendered
literally, means, "being made happy by having been relieved from crime
or sin." We render it, "Blessed is he whose transgression is
forgiven;" that is, whose sin is taken away. As we have it also again,
"The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity," NESU
AVON, that is, "shall be relieved from their crime or sin," Is. 33:24.
The other original term AVONI, grammarians derive from the verb ANAH,
which signifies "to be afflicted," as in Zacharia, "Behold thy king
cometh unto thee poor or afflicted," Zach. 9:9. Our translation
renders it "meek," etc., as we find it also Ps. 132:10, "Lord remember
David and all his meekness, or lowliness;" that is, "all his
afflictions." From this same original root is derived the expression,
"low estate," or "lowliness," of his handmaiden, used by the Virgin
Mary in her song, Luke 1:48. It is the meaning of the original word
AVONI which induced Sanctes to render it, in the present passage,
punishment.
But here the original AVONI signifies "iniquity," or "sin," as it does
also in many other passages of the Holy Scriptures, which appears more
plainly from the verb to "lift up" or "to lift off," which stands
connected with it. Hence it is that grammarians, who are nothing more
than grammarians, and who know nothing of divine things, find their
crosses in all such passages; and crucify, not only the Scriptures,
but themselves and their hearers. But in the interpretation of the
Holy Scriptures the subject or divine matter and sense are first to be
determined; and when that appears in all respects consistent with
itself, then the grammatical propriety is to be explained. The Rabbins
however take a directly contrary course. And hence it grieves me much
that divines and the holy fathers so frequently follow them.
V. 14. _Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the
ground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive
and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever
findeth me will slay me._
From these words it still more plainly appears that the sentence and
curse on Cain were pronounced by Jehovah through the mouth of Adam.
Cain here acknowledges first that he is driven out from the domestic
and political communion; and secondly that he was excommunicated from
the Church.
Of the difference of the meaning of the original words ADAMAH and EREZ
we spoke above. We have shown that EREZ signifies the whole earth
generally; but that ADAMAH means the cultivated part of the earth in
particular. The meaning therefore of these words of Cain is, "I am now
compelled to flee from thy presence and from that place of the earth
which I have cultivated. The whole world indeed lies before me, but I
must be a fugitive and a vagabond upon the earth; that is, I shall
have no certain dwelling place." In the same way murderers among us
are punished with exile and become vagabonds in the earth. These words
therefore afford a further evidence of the manner in which the words,
which Adam said above are to be understood, "Cursed art thou upon
earth." They refer to Cain's being driven away into banishment. This
part of Cain's punishment therefore is a civil or political
punishment, by which he is shut out from the whole civil community.
But that which Cain next adds, "And from thy face shall I be hid," is
an ecclesiastical or Church punishment. It is an excommunication from
the true Church of God. For as the priesthood and the kingdom rested
with Adam, and Cain on account of his sin was excommunicated from
Adam, he was thereby also deprived of the glory both of the priesthood
and of the kingdom. But why Adam adopted this punishment of expelling
his son from him and excommunicating him from his presence, is
explained by the words which we just before heard from the father's
mouth, "When thou tillest the ground it shall not henceforth yield
unto thee her strength;" as if he had said, "Thou art cursed and thy
labors are cursed also. Therefore if thou shalt remain with us upon
earth it cannot be but that both thou and we also must perish with
hunger. For thou hast stained the earth with thy brother's blood, and
wherever thou art thou must bear about the blood of thy brother with
thee, and even the earth herself will exact of thee the punishment of
that blood by not yielding to thee her strength."
There is a sentence almost the same as this pronounced on Cain by Adam
in 1 Kings 2:29-33, where Solomon gives commandment to Benaiah, son of
Jehoiada, saying, "Slay Joab, and thou shalt take away the innocent
blood which was shed by Joab from me and my father's house. And the
Lord shall return his blood upon his own head. But unto David, and
unto his seed, and unto his house, and unto his throne, shall there be
peace for ever from Jehovah." As if he had said, "If Joab suffer not
this punishment of his unjust murder, the whole kingdom must suffer
that punishment and be shaken from one end to the other by wars." It
is just thus Adam speaks in the present passage. As if he had said,
"If thou shalt remain on the earth here with us God will bring
punishments upon us for thy sake, so that the earth will not yield to
us her fruit."
But now let us offer our reply to the question above raised concerning
Cain and his posterity not being the only persons subject to the curse
of wandering and affliction, seeing that the saints also, it is
argued, are subject to the same; and that Cain though thus cursed was
yet the first who built a city, etc. It was said to Cain as his curse,
"A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon earth." And yet Cain is
the first man who builds a city, and his posterity from that time so
increased that they seduced, oppressed, and so utterly overthrew the
Church of God, as not to leave more than eight persons from the
posterity of Seth remaining. The whole of the other multitude of
mankind, who perished in the Flood, had followed Cain as the sacred
text plainly declares, "And it came to pass, when men began to
multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born unto them,
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and
they took them wives of all that they chose," Gen. 6:1, 2. And it is
also said that these sons of God, when they came unto the daughters of
men, begat giants and mighty men, which were of old, men of renown,
verse 4. As therefore Cain had so great and mighty a posterity and as
he built the first city, how can it be true, men ask, that he was a
fugitive and vagabond upon earth, according to the curse pronounced
upon him?
We will reply therefore to the literal facts before us. For what we
have said above in reference to the New Testament, concerning Paul and
the apostles, and Christ himself, and the prophets, that is altogether
a different subject. When Adam here says to Cain, "A fugitive and a
wanderer shalt thou be upon earth," he speaks these words to him to
send him away; designedly joining no precept or direction therewith.
He does not say to him, "Go to the east;" he does not say, "Go to the
south;" he does not mention any one place to which he should go. He
gives him no direction what to do. He simply sends him away, but as to
whither he should go or what he should do, he expresses no concern. As
to what the will and the way of his son may be hereafter, the father
takes no care whatever. He adds no promise of protection. He does not
say, "God will take care of thee;" nor, "God will defend thee." But as
the whole wide heaven lies open to the bird, leaving him the liberty
to fly where he will, but giving him a sight of no place in that
heaven, to which he might flee in safety for protection from the
attack of the other birds, so does Adam dismiss Cain. This Cain fully
feels; and therefore it is that he adds the utterance, "And it shall
come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me."
Now the condition of Adam in paradise was different from that of Cain,
and better. Adam had sinned, and by his sin he had sunk under death.
But when he was driven out of paradise God appointed to him by his
command a certain employment, that he should till the earth in a fixed
and certain place. God also clothed him with a covering of skins.
This, as we have said above, was a sign that God would take care of
him and defend him. And that which exceeded all things else, a
glorious promise was made to the woman concerning her Seed, which
should "bruise the serpent's head." But no one thing like these
mercies was left to Cain. He was sent away absolutely without the
mention of any certain place or any certain employment. No command was
given him nor any promise made him. He was like a bird set loose in
the wide heavens, as we have said, to wander in its flight where it
may. Such was the state and meaning of Cain's being truly and properly
"a vagabond," "a wanderer" without any fixed dwelling-place.
And thus unsettled and wandering are all who have not the Word and the
command of God, by which a certain place of worship and a certain
ministry are vouchsafed unto them. And just such were we under the
papacy. There were plenty of ceremonies of worship, and of works and
exercises. But all these were undertaken and done without any command
of God. This was truly a Cain-like trial, to have no Word of God; not
to know what to believe, nor what to hope, nor what to think; but to
do all things and to undertake all things without any knowledge or
hope concerning the event. For what monk ever existed who could affirm
or know that he did any one thing rightly? For all things were mere
human traditions and the inventions of mere human reason, without the
Word. And in the midst of these things we all wandered about,
fluctuating in our minds, like the wandering Cain; not knowing
anything of what the judgment of God would be concerning us; whether
he would look upon us with love or with hatred. And in this
uncertainty were we all at that time taught and trained.
And in this same way were the whole posterity of Cain wanderers and
unsettled. For they had no promise nor command of God and were without
any certain rule either to live by or to die by. And if any of these
did come to the knowledge of Christ and joined the true Church, this
did not come to them through any promise of God, but through his pure
mercy.
But Seth, who was born afterwards, had together with his posterity the
certain promise, certain dwelling-places, a certain worship of God,
and certain rites of worship. But Cain on the contrary was always
essentially "a vagabond." For although Cain did build a city, yet he
was ever in uncertainty how long he should retain it as a dwelling
place; for he had no promise of God on which to depend. And whatever
things we possess without the promise of God, how long we shall
possess them is always an uncertainty. For Satan can either disturb
them or take them away in a moment. On the other hand, when we move,
fortified on every side by the command and promise of God, Satan's
strivings against us are all in vain, for God fortifies and secures by
his command all that we possess. Although therefore Cain was the great
lord as it were of the whole world and possessed all the riches of the
world; yet because he was without the promise of the help of God and
was thereby deprived of the guardianship of angels, he had nothing
else to depend on, but human counsel and human reason. He was
therefore truly "a vagabond" and unsettled wanderer.
End of Project Gutenberg's Commentary on Genesis, Vol. I, by Martin Luther