Genesis 4:13

And Cain said unto the Lord,.... In the anguish of his spirit and the distress of his mind: my punishment is greater than I can bear; thus complaining of the mercy of God, as if he acted a cruel

And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. My punishment is greater than I can bear. The original words have been variously interpreted.

Hebrew, My sin; but sin seems here to be put for punishment, as before, ; for Cain was not so sensible of his sin as of the ill effects of it, as himself shows, .

Genesis 4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment [is] greater than I can bear.Ver. 13. My punishment is greater than I can bear.] Or, mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven. In either sense he sins exceedingly, and worse perhaps than in slaying his brother, whether he murmur against God’ s justice, or despair of his mercy. Mine iniquity is greater, &c. Mentiris, Cain , saith a Father. Cain did not say so, because it was so; but it was so, because he said so. Despair is Satan’ s masterpiece; it carries men headlong to hell, as the devils did the herd of swine into the deep; witness Guarlacus, Bomelius, Latomus of Lovain, Johannes de Canis, our English Hubertus, a covetous oppressor, who made this will, - I yield my goods to the king, my body to the grave, my soul to the devil. Pope Paul III., that spent his time in filthy pleasures, after that he had heard of the death of his son Petrus Aloisius, died in a peevish rage, and crying out in despair, Peccatum meum contra me semper, My sin is ever against me; and so gave up the ghost. Act. and Mon., fol. 1908. Gellius in Dialog. Secundo Chimaerico. Willet on Daniel.

(13, 14) My punishment (or my iniquity) is greater than I can bear.—Literally, than can be borne, or “forgiven.” It is in accordance with the manner of the Hebrew language to have only one word for an act and its result. Thus work and wages are expressed by the same word in Isaiah 62:11. The full meaning, therefore, is, “My sin is past forgiveness, and its result is an intolerable punishment.” This latter idea seems foremost in Cain’s mind, and is dwelt upon in Genesis 4:14. He there complains that he is driven, not “from the face of the earth,” which was impossible, but from the adβmβh, his dear native soil, banished from which, he must go into the silence and solitude of an earth unknown and untracked. And next, “from thy face shall I be hid.” Naturally, Cain had no idea of an omnipresent God, and away from the adβmβh he supposed that it would be impossible to enjoy the Divine favour and protection. Without this there would be no safety for him anywhere, so that he must rove about perpetually, and “every one that findeth me shall slay me.” In the adβmβh Jehovah would protect him; away from it, men, unseen by Jehovah, might do as they liked. But who were these men? Some commentators answer, Adam’s other sons, especially those who had attached themselves to Abel. Others say that Adam’s creation was not identical with that of Gen 1:27, but was that of the highest type of the human race, and had been preceded by the production of inferior races, of whose existence there are widespread proofs. But others, with more probability, think that Cain’s was a vain apprehension. How could he know that Adam and his family were the sole inhabitants of the earth? Naturally he expected to find farther on what he had left behind; a man and woman with stalwart sons: and that these, regarding him as an interloper come to rob them, and seeing in his ways proof of guilt, would at once attack and slay him.

Verse 13. My punishment is greater than I can bear.] The margin reads, Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven. The original words, גדול עוני מנשוא gadol avoni minneso, may be translated, Is my crime too great to be forgiven? words which we may presume he uttered on the verge of black despair. It is most probable that עון avon signifies rather the crime than the punishment; in this sense it is used Leviticus 26:41; Leviticus 26:43; 1 Samuel 28:10; 2Kg 7:9; and נשא nasa signifies to remit or forgive. The marginal reading is, therefore, to be preferred to that in the text.

13. And Cain said] The bitter cry of Cain is not that of repentance for his sin, but of entreaty for the mitigation of his doom. My punishment] Better than marg. mine iniquity. The Hebrew word is used to denote both guilt and its penalty, and consequently is sometimes ambiguous, e.g. 1 Samuel 28:10, “And Saul sware to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, there shall be no punishment happen to thee (marg. guilt come upon thee) for this thing.” In our verse the rendering “punishment” is to be preferred. Cain in Genesis 4:14 is thinking of his sentence, not of his sin. than I can bear] The rendering of the margin, than can be forgiven, which is that of the versions, though possible, is not to be preferred. It has sometimes been advocated on the ground that the “iniquity” of Cain was typical of the sin “that is unto death” (1 John 5:16), and that cannot be forgiven (St Mark 3:29). LXX μείζωνἡαἰτίαμουτοῦἀφεθῆναίμε. Lat. major est iniquitas mea quam ut veniam merear. Similarly Targum of Onkelos: cf. Psalms 38:4, “As an heavy burden, they [mine iniquities] are too heavy for me.”

13. My punishment is greater than I can bear — The words thus rendered will bear two interpretations, that given in the text, and that of the margin: My sin is greater than can be forgiven.