בראשית פרק ד׳

(1) Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gained a male child with the help of the LORD.” (2) She then bore his brother Abel. Abel became a keeper of sheep, and Cain became a tiller of the soil. (3) In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil; (4) and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. The LORD paid heed to Abel and his offering, (5) but to Cain and his offering He paid no heed. Cain was much distressed and his face fell. (6) And the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you distressed, And why is your face fallen? (7) Surely, if you do right, There is uplift. But if you do not do right Sin couches at the door; Its urge is toward you, Yet you can be its master.” (8) Cain said to his brother Abel … and when they were in the field, Cain set upon his brother Abel and killed him. (9) The LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (10) Then He said, “What have you done? Hark, your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground! (11) Therefore, you shall be more cursed than the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. (12) If you till the soil, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. You shall become a ceaseless wanderer on earth.” (13) Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is too great to bear! (14) Since You have banished me this day from the soil, and I must avoid Your presence and become a restless wanderer on earth—anyone who meets me may kill me!” (15) The LORD said to him, “I promise, if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold vengeance shall be taken on him.” And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest anyone who met him should kill him. (16) Cain left the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (17) Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he then founded a city, and named the city after his son Enoch. (18) To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methusael, and Methusael begot Lamech. (19) Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah. (20) Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who dwell in tents and amidst herds. (21) And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe. (22) As for Zillah, she bore Tubal-cain, who forged all implements of copper and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. (23) And Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; O wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech. I have slain a man for wounding me, And a lad for bruising me. (24) If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” (25) Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, meaning, “God has provided me with another offspring in place of Abel,” for Cain had killed him. (26) And to Seth, in turn, a son was born, and he named him Enosh. It was then that men began to invoke the LORD by name.

(1) והאדם ידע AND THE MAN KNEW already before the events related above took place — before he sinned and was driven out of the Garden of Eden. So, also, the conception and birth of Cain took place before this. Had it been written, וידע אדם it would imply that after he was driven out children were born to him (Genesis Rabbah 22:2).

קין — She called him so with reference to her use of the word.

ה‘ — ;את קניתי is like ‘עם ה “with the Lord”; she meant to say: when He created me and my husband He created us by Himself, but in the case of this one we are copartners with Him (cf. Niddah 31a).

ותלד את קין, she bore a son whom she called Kayin, to symbolise what she meant when she said קניתי איש את ה'. Even though the word קין is a composite of 2 different roots, such a construction is quite common. 'קניתי איש את ה, the meaning of these words is: “I have now produced a human being in this world who was not the result of a direct activity by His Creator, which makes me a partner to G’d the Creator.” G’d has given this human being His divine soul also, just as He had given it to the creation of His own, Adam, into whom He Himself literally blew this soul. The rest of this human being grew and developed within my body. The word קניתי as used by Chavah here is similar to G’d being described asקונה שמים וארץ by Avraham in Genesis 14,22 where it meant that G’d owns heaven and earth because He made it, produced it. The reason why Chavah attributed production of the child to herself was that she, rather than her husband, provided the home for the fetus during the whole period of its development. She credited the attribute of Hashem without mentioning the attribute elohim of G’d, seeing that she considered that with the birth of Kayin the universe had become complete, human offspring having been missing up until now. This was the last time, in the normal cause of events, that G’d’s creative talent elohim would need to be called for, as from now on all the pieces were in place for the earth to function on the basis of natural law. This was already intimated at the conclusion of the sixth day (2,3) when the Torah wrote אשר ברא אלוקים לעשות, “which G’d had inititated, now to continue to function normally.” We already explained this attribute in connection with the construction of the world; G’d’s attribute אלוקים refers to טבע, natural laws, as we explained on 2,4. From hereon the holy name of G’d appears sometimes as His attribute אלוקים, and sometimes as His attribute י-הוה, and only very rarely do we find a combination of both attributes. Every time such a variation occurs there is a good reason for it. The scholar Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra wrote in this vein in his commentary on our verse here, pointing out that Chavah reminded us that the attribute elohim is constantly present among the human species on earth, no less so than it is in the celestial regions. His words are well worth remembering.

I have obtained a man with Ad-noy. That is, an heir to serve Hashem in our stead after we are gone.

(1) מפרי האדמה OF THE FRUIT OF THE GROUND —of the worst fruits (Genesis Rabbah 22:5); there is an Agada which says that it was linseed (Midrash Tanchuma, Bereshit 9).

(1) רעה צאן A FEEDER OF FLOCKS — Because the earth had been cursed he refrained from cultivating it.

(1) ויהי הבל רועה צאן, Hevel chose this vocation as it required more intelligence and involved one’s mental activities more that farming. (2) וקין היה עובד אדמה, as a result of each having his own vocation, they each brought different offerings to G’d.

(7) Surely, if you do right, There is uplift. But if you do not do right Sin couches at the door; Its urge is toward you, Yet you can be its master.”

(1) הלא אם תטיב IF THOU MENDEST — Its meaning is as the Targum gives it: “if thou wilt improve thy doings, thou shalt be forgiven”. (2) לפתח חטאת רובץ SIN CROUCHETH AT THE ENTRANCE — Right up to the door of your grave (until your death) your sin will be preserved. (3) ואליך תשוקתו AND UNTO THEE IS ITS LONGING — The longing of sin; it refers to the evil inclination. This is continually longing and desiring to make you sin. (4) ואתה תמשול בו NEVERTHELESS THOU MAYEST RULE OVER IT — If you desire to, you can gain the victory over it (Kiddushin 30b).

(1) If you improve, there is forgiveness. Alternatively, “If you improve you will rise [i.e. above your brother].” And after all, it was only jealousy of him that caused you to be angry in the first place. But if you do not improve. Not only will you suffer on account of your brother, but the evil inclination will lead you astray in everything you do. Its desire is unto you. It wishes to cling to you, but you can overcome it. In this passage Hashem teaches Kayin that a person can repent whenever he chooses to.

(1) הלא אם תיטיב, if only you improve yourself you will also be welcome in My eyes. (2) שאת, every lofty level of greatness is lying in wait for you, ready to become yours, (3) ואם לא תיטיב לפתח חטאת רובץ, however, sin is also lying in wait for you if you will add further intentional sin to the already performed unintentional sin. This is the way of the evil urge, that once you give into it, it will forever be ready to tempt you again. (4) כי אליך תשוקתו, “for it longs for you due to its very nature. It too is anxious to satisfy its desires, its aspirations every day.” (5) ואתה תמשול בו, it is within your power to overcome the power of the evil urge thanks to the צלם אלוקים, the divine image with which you have been provided at birth. This conforms to our sages in Sukkah 52 who have taught that were it not for this צלם אלוקים, which represents G’d’s assistance against the evil urge, there would be no way man could cope with temptation. This is what David meant in Psalms 37,33 ה' לא יעזבנו בידו ולא ירשיענו בהשפטו, “the Lord will not abandon him to his power; He will not let him be condemned in judgment.”

(8) Cain said to his brother Abel … and when they were in the field, Cain set upon his brother Abel and killed him.

(1) ויאמר קין אל הבל AND CAIN SPAKE TO ABEL — He began an argument, striving and contending with him, to seek a pretext to kill him. There are Midrashic explanations of these words, but this is the plain sense of the text.

(1) Kayin said. See Rashi. Alternatively, he said to him, “Let us go out to the field.” Kayin’s intention was that mankind would all be descended from him, or at least not from Hevel, whose offering Hashem had accepted.

(1) CAIN SAID "..." - It seems to me that [Cain] said to [Abel] all of the ways that God had rebuked him. One must have been born on a dismal day to ask the question, "How did he kill him without [the advent of] a sword?" What an astonishing question, since he could have killed him by throttling him with his bare hands, moreover, there were thousands of sticks and rocks about.

(1) דמי אחיך THY BROTHERS BLOOD — דמי is plural — bloods” — his blood and the blood of his possible descendants (Genesis Rabbah 22:9). Another explanation of why the plural is used: he inflicted upon him many wounds, because he knew not whence his soul would depart (i. e. which blow would prove fatal) (Sanhedrin 37b).

(1) ארור אתה מן האדמה CURSED BE THOU FROM THE GROUND or, MORE THAN THE GROUND — More than the ground has already been cursed on account of its sin (cf. Rashi on Genesis 1:11): in this, too, it has again sinned (2) אשר פצתה את פיה לקחת את דמי אחיך IN THAT IT HATH OPENED ITS MOUTH TO TAKE THY BROTHER’S BLOOD: therefore do I impose upon it an additional curse regarding you—“it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength”.

(1) גדול עוני מנשוא MY PUNISHMENT IS GREATER THAN I CAN BEAR (literally, my sin is greater than what can be borne) — This is a question: You bear the worlds above and below. and is it impossible for You to bear my sin? (Genesis Rabbah 22:11).

(1) My sin is greater. My sin was indeed unforgivable and Your decree just, nevertheless, whoever finds me will kill me, and You did not sentence me to die. Here Kayin acknowledged that human beings require Divine protection.

לכן כל הרג קין VERILY, WHOSOEVER SLAYETH CAIN — This is one of the verses where the construction is elliptical (literally, which abbreviate their statements), which give only a suggestion and do not fully explain. “Verily, whosoever slayeth Cain” express a threat, suggesting the consequence — “thus shall be done to him”, “thus and thus shall be his punishment”, without explicitly explaining what the punishment would be.

שבעתים יקם VENGEANCE SHALL BE TAKEN SEVENFOLD — God says, I do not wish to take vengeance on Cain now, but at the end of seven generations I will execute my vengeance upon him, that Lamech, one of his descendants, will arise and slay him. The end of this verse which states, “vengeance shall be taken in the seventh generation” — which is the vengeance taken on Cain for Abel — teaches us that the first part of the verse is a threat made in order that no creature might injure him. A similar elliptical expression is the following: (2 Samuel 5:8) “And David said, whosoever smiteth the Jebusites and getteth up to the gutter” — but it does not explicitly state what would be done to that person. Scripture, however, here speaks by a suggestion only, meaning, whosoever smiteth the Jebusites and getteth up to the gutter and approacheth the gate and conquereth it and the blind etc. … slaying also them (the blind and the lame) because they said, “there are the blind and the lame: David cannot come into the house” — he who smiteth these, I shall make him chief and captain. Here (in the Book of Samuel) it abridges the narrative, but in Chronicles (1 Chronicles 11:6) it explicitly states, “he shall become chief and captain.”

וישם יהוה לקין אות AND THE LORD SET A SIGN FOR CAIN — He inscribed on his forehead a letter of His Divine Name (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 21). Other editions of Rashi add the following: another interpretation of “Whoever will find me will slay me”: this refers to cattle and beasts, since there were then no human beings in the world of whom he might be afraid except his father and mother, and, of course, he did not fear that they would slay him. He, therefore, said, “Until now the fear of me was upon all animals — as it is written”, (Genesis 9:2) “And the fear of you shall be upon all beasts of the field” etc. — now, however, because of my sin the animals will no longer fear me and will kill me. God immediately set a sign for Cain, viz., he again made the animals be in fear of him.

Ad-noy placed a mark (or sign). The implication is that the sign was with him at all times. It may have been a Providential device informing him of the safe path. According to the Midrash it was a guide dog.

ויצא קין AND CAIN WENT AWAY — He went away in pretended humility as though he would deceive the Most High (Genesis Rabbah 22:13).

(17) Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he then founded a city, and named the city after his son Enoch. (18) To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methusael, and Methusael begot Lamech. (19) Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah. (20) Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who dwell in tents and amidst herds. (21) And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe. (22) As for Zillah, she bore Tubal-cain, who forged all implements of copper and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. (23) And Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; O wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech. I have slain a man for wounding me, And a lad for bruising me. (24) If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” (25) Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, meaning, “God has provided me with another offspring in place of Abel,” for Cain had killed him. (26) And to Seth, in turn, a son was born, and he named him Enosh. It was then that men began to invoke the LORD by name.

(1) ויקח לו למך AND LAMECH TOOK UNTO HIMSELF — It would not have been necessary to state all this in detail except to inform us by the conclusion of the narrative that the Holy One, blessed be He, kept the promise He made when He said, שבעתים יקם קין “vengeance shall be taken of Cain after seven generations״; for Lamech arose after he had begotten children and had raised the seventh generation and killed Cain. It is to this that the statement refers: כי איש הרגתי לפצעי וגו “for I have slain a man to my wounding etc.” (v. 23). (2) שתי נשים TWO WIVES — This was the custom of the generation that lived before the time of the Flood; they had two wives, one for child-bearing, the other for frivolous companionship and charm; the latter was given a cup of some drug to drink in order that she might become barren, and was dressed up like a bride and fed with the best food, whilst her fellow-wife was left without her husband’s companionship and ever mourned like a widow. Job expressly mentions this (Job 24:21). “He is a companion to (or, he feedeth) the barren that beareth not, and does not good to the widow”, as it is explained in the Agada of Pereq Chelek (see also Genesis Rabbah 23:2). (3) עדה ADAH — She was the wife intended for propagation, and she was so named because she was repulsive to him and was kept aloof from him [other versions read “from his table “] for עדה is the Aramaic word for סורה kept aloof.” (4) צלה ZILLAH — She was the one for companionship alone, and she was so named because she always abided in his shadow (צל means “shadow”). Thus is the statement of the Agada in Genesis Rabbah 23:2).

(1) שמען קולי HEAR MY VOICE — For his wives separated from him because he had killed Cain and Tubal-Cain, his own son. Lamech was blind and Tubal-Cain used to lead him. The latter saw Cain and thought him to be an animal. He therefore told his father to draw the bow, and thus Lamech killed him. As soon as he learned that it was his forefather Cain, he smote his hands together, struck his son between them and so killed him too. His wives thereupon separated from him, and he endeavoured to appease them, (2) saying שמען קולי “Hear my voice”— obey me and return to me: for the man I slew — was he slain by my wounding? i. e. did I wound him with premeditation, that the wound should be called by my name (i. e. attributed to me); and the child that I slew — was it slain by my blow? (i. e. by a blow directed intentionally by me?) [Rashi here inserts the word בתמיה which he uses frequently to direct that the preceding words should be read as a question.] Did I not act inadvertently and not with premeditation? This was not my wound, nor was this my blow! (3) פצע wound, is the stroke inflicted by a sword or arrow (old French macheure).

(1) אז הוחל THEN IT WAS BEGUN [TO CALL etc.] — The word הוחל must be connected in meaning with חולין “profane matters “) viz, calling the names of men and the names of idols after the name of the Holy One, blessed be He — making them the objects of idolatrous worship and calling them Deities (Genesis Rabbah 23:7).

(1) ולשת גם הוא, just as Adam had sired a good son, one in his image, so Sheth sired a good son, one in his image. (2) 'אז הוחל לקרא בשם ה, some commentators understand the word הוחל in the sense of חלול, desecrating, profaning. Others, including Rashi understand it in the sense of התחלה, beginning. In Onkelos we find two versions. According to one version, people became lax in worshipping G’d in the days of Enosh; according to the other version of Onkelos, in Enosh’s days people began to proclaim the name of G’d, [i.e. what had been something natural up until then had to be reintroduced as it had become practically extinct. Ed.] If the second interpretation is correct, the decline of religious observance was arrested for the first time in the days of Enosh when people found it necessary to pray to G’d when they found themselves in trouble. Up until that time they had not even thought that prayer could be helpful in affecting their fate on earth. They considered G’d’s decree as irreversible under any circumstances. According to what we have seen in the writings of our sages, (Shabbat 118) and according to the understanding of most people, that idolatry was widespread in the days of Enosh, the meaning of the verse before must be that that in Enosh’s time many people began to look upon the celestial phenomena as deities and address them and worship them as gods. They did so because they considered these phenomena as intermediaries between them and the invisible G’d. Seeing that these phenomena had been appointed by G’d to run the terrestrial part of the universe on His behalf, they considered these forces as capable of bestowing favours on those worshipping them. Gradually, such initial errors spread until most forms of idolatry nowadays are totally devoid of any rationale. In people’s minds natural forces are perceived as competing with each other and possessing overlapping domains, so that unless one worships at least several of them one would arouse the jealousy of the one ignored. The matter has become so grotesque that man made statues that neither see, hear, etc., are credited with being able to influence the lives of intelligent human beings. According to the Targum Yerushalmi [not found in the regular editions. Ed.] only Sheth had a son born to him whom he called Enosh, and in his time people began to worship other forces as deities, i.e. applying G’d’s name to them. When the Targum wrote לחוד, “only,” the meaning is that Enosh was the only one of Sheth’s sons who survived, and all of mankind is descended from Enosh, neither offspring of Kayin or Hevel surviving. It is difficult to understand how an expression such as גם הוא, which suggests something additional, can be interpreted by the Targum as the opposite, i.e. as a restrictive clause.

(1) 'אז הוחל לקרא בשם ה, at that time the righteous people of the earth began to preach monotheism to the public. The meaning is similar to Genesis 21,33 ויקרא שם בשם ה' א-ל עולם, “Avraham proclaimed there the name of the Lord, the Lord of the universe.” The time had come to publicly confront and refute the arguments of the idolaters in that period.

Upon returning home, Lamech said to his wives: “Let us go to bed.” They replied: “You have slain our ancestor and our son Tubal-cain; we shall no longer go to bed with you.” He retorted: “Cain received his punishment only after seven generations, surely mine should be postponed for seventy and seven generations.” “We shall not listen to you,” they insisted. “Why should we give birth to one who will be dishonored?” Thereupon, he said: “Let us go to the court for a decision.” They went to Adam, and Adah and Zillah cried out: “Oh, lord Lamech, our husband, has slain our grandfather.” Whereupon Lamech declared: “Did our grandfather kill unwittingly?” Adam replied: “Wives of Lamech, hearken to my words! Lamech says: Have I have slain a man intentionally? (Gen. 4:23). Therefore I say to you: Go and obey your husband.” They retorted: “O physician, heal your own lameness. You have not had sexual intercourse with your wife for one hundred and thirty years, yet you command us to do so.” Hence it is written in Scripture following this incident: And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years and begot his son in his own likeness (Gen. 5:3).

The three remained where they were: Cain dead, the child slain, and Lamech blind. At nightfall his wives went out to search for them and found their grandfather dead, their son Tubal-cain slain, and Lamech. It was then that the earth swallowed up the four families: Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, and Methushael. Thereafter, Lamech served as the Angel of Death in fulfillment of the verse: Cain was avenged sevenfold, and Lamech seventy and seven (Gen. 4:24).

How was Cain slain? For one hundred and thirty years, Cain became an angel of death, wandering and roaming about, accursed. Lamech, his descendant in the seventh generation, who was blind, would go hunting led about by his young son. At the sight of game, the lad would apprise his father of its whereabouts. One time the lad said to his father: “I see some kind of beast in the distance.” Lamech sent his arrow in that direction, and Cain was slain. As they approached the corpse, the lad saw a horn protruding from the forehead of the slain creature, and he said to his father: “The corpse resembles a man, but a horn protrudes from its forehead.” Thereupon, Lamech cried out: “Woe is me, it is my grandfather.” In his grief, he clasped his hands together, and accidentally struck the child’s head, killing him. As it is said: I can slay a man by a wound of mine and a child by a strike of mine (Gen. 4:23).

And the Lord said unto him: “Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” and the Lord set a sign for Cain (Gen. 4:15). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Four families were destined to descend from Abel, but since you have eliminated them from the face of the earth, the earth will open up and devour four families that will descend from you: these are Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, and Methushael.