The Word of the Lord

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Genesis 4

1 And man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived, and gave·​·birth·​·to Cain, and she said, I have gotten1 a man, Jehovah2.
2 And she added to bring·​·forth3 his brother, Abel; and Abel was a shepherd of the flock, and Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 And it was, at the end of days, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground a gift·​·offering to Jehovah.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstborn from his flock, and from its fat. And Jehovah had·​·regard to Abel, and to his gift·​·offering;
5 and to Cain and to his gift·​·offering He had not regard, and Cain was very incensed, and his faces fell.
6 And Jehovah said to Cain, Why art thou incensed? And why are thy faces fallen?
7 If thou doest·​·well, is there not an uplifting? And if thou doest· not ·well, sin crouches at the entrance; and to thee is his4 desire, and thou rulest over him.
8 And Cain talked to Abel his brother; and it was, when they were in the field, that Cain rose·​·up against Abel his brother, and killed him.
9 And Jehovah said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not; am I the keeper of my brother?
10 And He said, What hast thou done? The voice of the bloods5 of thy brother cries to Me from the ground.
11 And now art thou cursed from the ground, which has gaped·​·open with her mouth to take the bloods of thy brother from thy hand.
12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not add to give to thee its power; a vagabond and a fugitive shalt thou be in the earth.
13 And Cain said to Jehovah, My iniquity is greater than can be borne away6.
14 Behold, Thou hast driven· me ·out today from upon the faces of the ground; and from Thy faces shall I be hidden, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive in the earth; and it shall be that everyone who finds me shall kill me.
15 And Jehovah said to him, Therefore if anyone kills Cain, sevenfold he shall be avenged. And Jehovah set on Cain a sign to all who find him not to smite him.
16 And Cain went·​·out from the faces of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, toward·​·the·​·east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave·​·birth·​·to Enoch; and it came·​·to·​·pass that he was building a city, and called the name of the city according·​·to the name of his son, Enoch.
18 And to Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael; and Mehijael7 begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lamech.
19 And Lamech took to him two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second, Zillah.
20 And Adah gave·​·birth to Jabal; he was the father of the dweller in tents, and of livestock.
21 And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of all who handle the harp and organ8.
22 And Zillah, she also gave·​·birth·​·to Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23 And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, and give·​·ear·​·to what· I ·say, for I have killed a man for my wounding, and a child for my bruising.
24 For Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
25 And man knew his wife yet again9, and she gave·​·birth·​·to a son, and she called his name Seth; for God has put another seed for me instead of Abel; for Cain killed him.
26 And to Seth, to him also there was·​·born a son; and he called his name Enosh; then began they to call upon the name of Jehovah.

1In Hebrew, “gotten” is closely related to the name “Cain,” and literally means “bought” or “acquired.”

2From the translation in the Arcana Coelestia it seems that Eve is equating her son with Jehovah (see AC 340).

3“she added to bring forth,” that is, she again brought forth

4Abel’s (see AC 365)

5“‘Bloods’ [here and in the following verse] are mentioned in the plural, because all unjust and abominable things gush forth from hatred” (AC 374:3).

6as in AC 383

7The change of spelling from Mehujael to Mehijael follows the Hebrew.

8An organ is “midway between a stringed instrument and a wind instrument” (AC 419).

9“The ‘man’ and his ‘wife’ here mean the new church signified above by Adah and Zillah” (AC 435).