A Help for the Understanding of the Holy Scriptures, Genesis · Chapter 4 – Chapter 5
CHAP IV.
Verſ. 3. ANd in proceſſe of time it came to paſſe, &c.]
Abel and Cain had been doub…leſſe taught of God, thus to worſhip him, and therefore it is ſaid, Heb. 11. 4. that by faith, (to wit▪ grounded on Gods word) Abel offered ſacrifice.
Verſ. 4. And the Lord had reſpect to Abel, and to his offering.]
This Cain perceived; and therefore it was manifeſted by ſome outward ſigne, either ordinary, by giving good ſucceſſe to Abel in all things and not to Cain; or extraordinary, as by ſending fire from heaven to conſume Abels ſacrifice and not Cains, as we ſee the like, Levit. 9. 24. There came a fire out from before the Lord and conſumed upon the Altar the burnt offering, &c. 1. Kings 18. 38. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and conſumed the burnt ſacrifice, &c.
Verſ. 7. And if thou doſt not well ſinne lieth at the doore.]
That is, the puniſhment of ſinne, whether terrour of conſcience, or externall plagues, will lie watching like a ſerjeant or thief ready at hand to …lie upon thee and tear thee.
And unto thee ſhall be his deſire.]
This is added to allay his anger towards his brother: ſtill God had left Abel ſubject to Cain as the firſt-born, ſo that his deſire muſt be ſubject to his brothers; and therefore it was fit that Cain ſhould love and cheriſh him, as all men do thoſe that are in ſubjection to them.
Verſ. 8. And Cain talked with Abel, &c.]
To wit, in a brotherly manner, as he had wont to do, ſo diſſembling his hatred and bloudy purpoſe of killing him, that he might the better effect it.
Verſ. 10. The voice of thy brothers bloud crieth, &c.]
This expreſſion is uſed to intimate to Cain his folly and madneſſe in thinking to hide the murder of his brother, or to eſcape unpuniſhed; ſince this crying and horrid ſinne was as well known to God, and did as ſtrongly ingage the juſtice of God to puniſh it, as if his bloud had had a voice to crie aloud upon God for vengeance.
Verſ. 11. And now thou art curſed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth, &c.]
This is added by the way, 1. to aggravate the ſinne of Cain; 2. to ſhew the fitneſſe of the puniſhment: as if he ſhould have ſaid, the earth did as it were in compaſſion receive into her boſome that bloud which thou diddeſt cruelly …hed; and therefore the earth, which hath thy brothers bloud, ſhall plague thee for ſhedding of it: a puniſhment the more proper alſo, becauſe Cain was a Tiller of the ground.
Verſ. 12. A fugitive, and a vagabond ſhalt thou be, &c.]
That is, thou ſhalt …lie (as a baniſhed man) from thy fathers family, from the Church; and being gone ſhalt be ſtill purſued with thy conſcience, and ſo ſtill wander from place to place, as no where finding ſecuritie and peace.
Verſ. 14. Behold thou haſt driven me out this day from the face of the earth.]
This he ſaith, becauſe he was excluded from the common right of men, God having left him never a corner of the earth, where he might reſt quietly and ſafely, and ſo was inde…d condemned as no lawfull inhabitant of the earth.
And from thy face ſhall I be hid.]
Being baniſhed from the preſence of God in his Church, he takes himſelf to be quite caſt out of his favour and protection.
And it ſhall come to paſſe, that every one that findeth me ſhall ſlay me.]
It is not probable that Adam and Eve, after Cain and Abel were born, continued barren unto this time: theſe onelyonly are mentioned becauſe of this famous ſtory, but other ſonnes and daughters no doubt they had, and childrens children perhaps to many generations. Now theſe Cain feared, and withall, the poſterity the earth ſhould be peopled with in his time afterward, yea and peradventure the very beaſts of the field.
Verſ. 15. Therefore whoſoever ſlayeth Cain, vengeance ſhall be taken on him ſevenfold.]
Therefore, that is, to prevent this: vvhereby vve ſee that God did not this in mercy to Cain but to prevent bloudſhed, and the cutting up of that root from vvhence yet many ſerviceable branches might grow.
And the Lord ſet a mark upon Cain.]
What this mark vvas, it is but curioſity to enquire: ſome viſible mark it vvas, vvhereby the Lord knevv men vvould be reſtrained from hurting him, happily ſome mark that made him a horrible ſpectacle of Gods vvrath and fury againſt ſo foul a ſinne.
Verſ. 16. And Cain went out from the preſence of the Lord.]
God having thus examined him, and condemned him, no doubt (as uſually at other times) in a viſible apparition: ſo ſoon as ever he vvas gotten out of the preſence of the Lord, he fled as a baniſhed man from his fathers dvvelling place, and dvvelt in the land of Nod: and ſo it may be true alſo in another ſenſe, that he went from the preſence of the Lord, becauſe he vvent from the place of his vvord and publick worſhip, the place vvhere he had wont to appear to Adam and his ſonnes, of which it might be ſaid, as Gen. 28. 17. This is no other but the houſe of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
Verſ. 17. And he builded a citie.]
The queſtion concerning them that ſhould build or inhabit this citie is vain; for if Abrahams ſtock in leſſe then 400 years amounted to ſix hundred thouſand perſons, what might Cains poſteritie be ere he built this citie? Neither doth this work thwart that curſe verſ. 14. And I ſhall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. It is probable he built it out of that inward horrour and fear from whence thoſe words proceeded; neither do we reade that he found any inward reſt or ſecuritie in it, when he had done it, if he did ever finiſh it.
Verſ. 20. And Adah bare Jabal, he was the father of ſuch as dwell in tents, &c.]
So are they uſually eſteemed and named, that are either the firſt inventers of any art, or men of fame for excellent inventions in the skilfull uſe of ſuch arts which were not practiſed till they found them out. Thus was Jabal the father of ſhepherds, and Jubal the father of muſicians; at leaſt amongſt Cains poſterity.
Verſ. 23. I have ſlain a man to my wounding, &c.]
An obſcure place, and therefore many ſeverall wayes expounded: but moſt ground their expoſitions upon ſome conceits or other that have no warrant in the text, all which muſt needs therefore be weak and uncertain. It is true indeed the Hebrew text admits two divers readings, and accordingly two ſomewhat different expoſitions: for if we reade it as it is in the margent, I would ſlay a man in my wounding, and a young man in my hurt, then the words ſeem to have been a vaunt of Lamechs to his wives, perhaps fearing that his fierceneſſe and violence would at ſome time or other ſo …arre provoke thoſe he wronged as to bring ſome miſchief upon him, viz. that whoſoever ſhould meddle with him they ſhould pay dearly for it; he would be the death of the ſto…teſt man that ſhould ſtrike or hurt him; adding withall that if he ſhould be avenged ſevenfold that ſhould offer to kill Cain, farre heavier vengeance ſhould be taken of him that ſhould ſet upon Lamech: but following that whereunto our Tranſlatours, it ſeems, did moſt incline, becauſe they have ſet it in the text, the meaning of the place I conceive is this; Lamech a wicked proud fierce man had committed murder (for ſo he ſpeaks in the preterp… ▪ fecttenſe, I have ſlain, &c.) and in doing of it had received ſome hurt: coming home in this plight, his wives are affrighted and in great perplexitie and fear: he labours to appeaſe them, but in a fierce and inſolent manner, as ſcorning and deſpiſing their fear, and thinking it a diſparagement to his greatneſſe that they ſhould be afraid of Lamech, and he gives a reaſon, if ſevenfold vengeance ſhould light upon him that killed Cain, what then upon him that ſhould kill Lamech? which is ſpoken either in a kind of Athe…ſticall ſcorn, as if he ſhould ſay, Why, women fear not, if God ſet a guard upon Cain, that he might not be killed, I will warrant you Lamech ſhall ſcape well enough; or elſe as ſuppoſing that he had juſter cauſe for that which he had done, and therefore might be more ſecure, that if Cains death ſhould be avenged, much more his.
Verſ. 25. For God, ſaid ſhe, hath appointed me another ſeed, &c.]
Seth ſignifies appointed; by this it is clear that Cain ſlew Abel not long before the 130 year of Adams age, at which time Seth was born, as we ſee Gen. 5. 3. and therefore ſhe rejoyceth that her number was in him filled up again, the rather becauſe it is likely, that by the ſpirit of God ſhe foreſaw that he ſhould tread in the ſteps of faithfull Abel, and be the ſtock of that righteous progeny, wherein the Church was afterward eſtabliſhed.
Verſ. 26. Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.]
Was not the name of the Lord called upon before, by Adam and Eve, Abel, Seth, and perhaps ſome others of Adams ſonnes and daughters? yes undoubtedly: But it ſeems the greater part were corrupted with Cains wicked progeny, & now the family of the righteous encreaſing in the dayes of Enos, the worſhip of God began to be more publick and ſolemn; there began to be a more notable ſeparation and difference betwixt the righteous and the wicked, and religion in this pious and now growing family of Seth ſeemed in a manner reſtored again, when it had been in the paucity and privacy of the truly faithfull almoſt buried.
CHAP. V.
Verſ. 2. ANd called their name Adam.]
That is, Man. So Adam or Man was the common name both of man and woman, becauſe both were of the earth (from whence the name Adam was taken) Man being immediately made of the earth, and Eve of Adam, and both by marriage ſo joyned again together, by the ordinance of God, that they were both one fleſh.
Verſ. 22. Enoch walked with God.]
That is, he lived a holy, juſt, and righteous life, and that in ſome degree of eminencie above other the ſervants of God that lived in thoſe times; though the age wherein he lived grew very corrupt, yet he was not carried away with the ſtream of the times, but framed his life carefully according to the will of God, with whom he enjoyed a ſweet communion; the Lord in a more then uſuall manner revealed his ſecrets to him (for he was a Prophet, and one clauſe of his Prophecies is recorded in the Scriptures, to wit, in the Epiſtle of Jude, verſ. 14. 15.) and he on the other ſide did continually ſet the Lord before his eyes, and ſought to approve himſelf to him in all his wayes.
Verſ. 29. And he called his name Noah, ſaying, This ſame ſhall comfort us, &c.]
That Noah vvas a man of eminent pietie, vve reade Chap. 6. 9. and this therefore I conceive to be a Propheticall preſaging of the comfort, which this ſonne in future times ſhould yield unto his parents. By the work and toil of their hands, he means not onelyonly that particular curſe, Gen. 3. 17, 19. Curſed is the ground for thy ſake, in ſorrow ſhalt thou eat of it, &c. In the ſweat of thy face ſhalt thou eat bread, &c. but alſo all the miſeries vvhichwhich the ſinne of their firſt parents had brought upon them: So that I conceive the meaning of this ſpeech …f Lamech to be, as if he had thus ſaid, Many are the miſeries, labours, troubles and ſorrovvs vvhichwhich ſinne hath brought upon us; vve live in a vvicked unjuſt vvorld, and ſuffer much in theſe uncomfortable times, but you ſhall ſee this child vvill be a comfort to us in the midſt of all theſe miſeries, and by his goodneſſe yield us quiet and reſt in our minds, maugre all the ſorrovvs vvhichwhich vve ſhall othervviſe ſuſtain.