And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
What does Genesis 4:6 mean?
When Cain was born, Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. Perhaps she thought that this was the promised seed.
Key themes
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Keep this verse inside Genesis 4:6-8 and alongside a few nearby related passages.
Commentary on Genesis 4:6
In great mercy he expostulates with him. He puts a question which implies that there is no just cause for his present feelings. Neither anger at his brother, because his offering has been accepted, nor vexation in himself, because his own has not, is a right feeling in the presence of the just and merciful God, who searches the heart. Submission, self-examination, and amendment of what has been wrong in his approach to God, alone benefit the occaslon. To this, accordingly, the Lord directs his attention in the next sentence. If thou do well, shalt thou not be accepted?
Key words
- Cain
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As Cain seems to have been of a particularly hard and unheedful disposition, he completes his expostulation, and deepens its awful solemnity, by stating the other alternative, both in its condition and consequence.
- fallen
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It has been employed before, to describe part of the tribulation the woman brought upon herself by disobedience, namely, the forced subjection of her will to that of her husband in the fallen state of humanity Genesis 3:16 .
Context in Genesis 4
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Genesis 4 belongs to the early movement of the book, especially the section often described as primeval history from creation to Babel. Genesis opens the whole Bible with creation, fall, flood, Babel, and the long patriarchal story that carries the reader from Eden to Egypt. Read this chapter with the wider themes of creation, fall, and covenant in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.
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A collection of passages on hope under pressure, future inheritance, resurrection expectation, and confidence in God’s final faithfulness.