Genesis 4

What happens: Cain (farmer) and Abel (shepherd) bring offerings; YHWH regards Abel's but not Cain's. Despite divine warning, Cain kills Abel. YHWH confronts Cain, pronounces him a wanderer, marks him for protection, and Cain settles in the land of Nod. Cain's genealogy follows: city-building, pastoral economy, music, metalworking — culminating in Lamech's song of escalated violence. The chapter closes with Seth's birth and the beginning of calling on YHWH's name.

Key themes: The first offering and the first murder; divine warning unheeded (4:6–7, "sin crouching at the door"); "Am I my brother's keeper?"; blood crying from the ground; the mark of Cain as protection; civilization's origins in the murderer's line; violence escalation (7-fold → 77-fold); Seth as replacement line.

Watch for: The text never explains why YHWH regarded Abel's offering and not Cain's — the gap is the narrative's trigger; Cain's punishment echoes Adam's (both driven from the ground); Lamech's song (4:23–24) inverts YHWH's 7-fold protection into 77-fold vengeance; two Enochs and two Lamechs appear in the parallel genealogies (Ch 4 vs. Ch 5).

Connection: The Cainite genealogy (Chapter 4) parallels the Sethite genealogy (Chapter 5). The violence that begins here fills the earth by Chapter 6, triggering the flood.

¹And the human knew Chava (Eve) his woman, and she conceived and bore Qayin (Cain), and she said, "I have acquired a man with YHWH." ²And she bore again, his brother Hevel (Abel). And Abel was a keeper of flock, and Cain was a worker of the ground.

³And it was at the end of days, and Cain brought from the fruit of the ground an offering to YHWH. ⁴And Abel, he also brought from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat. And YHWH regarded Abel and his offering, ⁵but Cain and his offering he did not regard. And it burned to Cain greatly, and his face fell. ⁶And YHWH said to Cain, "Why does it burn to you, and why has your face fallen? ⁷If you do well, is there not lifting? And if you do not do well, at the door sin crouches, and toward you is its desire/turning, but you must rule over it."

⁸And Cain said to Abel his brother… And it was when they were in the field, and Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him. ⁹And YHWH said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" ¹⁰And he said, "What have you done? The voice of the bloods of your brother is crying to me from the ground. ¹¹And now, cursed are you from the ground which opened its mouth to receive the bloods of your brother from your hand. ¹²When you work the ground, it shall not again give its strength to you. A wanderer and a fugitive you shall be on the land." ¹³And Cain said to YHWH, "My sin/punishment is too great to bear. ¹⁴See, you have driven me today from upon the face of the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden, and I shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the land, and it shall be that anyone finding me shall kill me." ¹⁵And YHWH said to him, "Therefore anyone killing Cain, sevenfold it shall be avenged." And YHWH set for Cain a sign, so that anyone finding him would not strike him. ¹⁶And Cain went out from the face of YHWH, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷And Cain knew his woman, and she conceived and bore Chanokh (Enoch). And he was building a city, and he called the name of the city according to the name of his son, Enoch. ¹⁸And to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begot Mechuya'el, and Mechuya'el begot Metusha'el, and Metusha'el begot Lemekh (Lamech). ¹⁹And Lamech took for himself two women; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second was Tsillah. ²⁰And Adah bore Yaval; he was the father of those dwelling in tent and livestock. ²¹And the name of his brother was Yuval; he was the father of all grasping lyre and pipe. ²²And Tsillah, she also bore Tuval-Cain, a hammerer of every cutting-tool of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tuval-Cain was Na'amah.

²³And Lamech said to his women, "Adah and Tsillah, hear my voice; women of Lamech, give ear to my speech: For a man I have killed for my wound, and a child for my bruise. ²⁴For sevenfold Cain shall be avenged, and Lamech seventy-seven."

²⁵And Adam knew his woman again, and she bore a son and called his name Shet (Seth), "For God has set for me another seed instead of Abel, for Cain killed him." ²⁶And to Seth, also to him a son was born, and he called his name Enosh. Then it was begun to call on the name of YHWH.