Genesis 4:11
in Genesis 4Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
KJV
And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
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This verse in Genesis 4
Commentary
7 notes on this verseIn the original the word is plural, thy brother's bloods, not only his blood, but the blood of all those that might have descended from him; or the blood of all the seed of the woman, who should, in like manner, seal the truth with their blood. Christ puts all on one score ( Matt. xxiii. 35 ); or because account was kept of every drop of blood shed.
This site's exposition
cursed and banished from the ground
on Genesis 4:11-12
The ground cursed for Adam in chapter 3 now refuses Cain its produce altogether. The earth that opened its mouth to receive his brother's blood will no longer feed him. He goes out a fugitive and a wanderer. Adam was put outside the garden and still worked the soil, and Cain is driven off it.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
You see, since Cain perpetrated practically the same evil as the serpent, which like an instrument served the devil's purposes, and as the serpent introduced mortality by means of deceit, in like manner Cain deceived his brother, led him out into open country, raised his hand in armed assault against him and committed murder. Hence, as God said to the serpent, "Cursed are you beyond all the wild animals of the earth," so to Cain too when he committed the same evil as the serpent.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Now therefore you are cursed from the earth which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand: when you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the …
Now therefore you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And now art thou cursed from the earth,....
In the original the word is plural, thy brother's bloods, not only his blood, but the blood of all those that might have descended from him; or the blood of all the seed of the woman, who should, in like manner, seal the truth with their blood. Christ puts all on one score ( Matt. xxiii. 35 ); or because account was kept of every drop of blood shed.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
CURSED ART THOU FROM THE GROUND — more than it has already been cursed on account of its sin. In this, too, it has further sinned in that it hath opened its mouth to take thy brother’s blood.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Crieth unto Me is not connected to voice of ( kol ). 19 It is connected to thy brother’s blood.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּ֖ה | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| אָר֣וּר | ʾarur | [are] cursed | H779 → | 63 times |
| אָ֑תָּה | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ | haadamah | the ground | H127 → | 225 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| פָּצְתָ֣ה | patzetah | <it> has opened | H6475 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| פִּ֔יהָ | piha | mouth its | H6310 → | 498 times |
| לָקַ֛חַת | lakachat | to receive | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דְּמֵ֥י | demei | [the] blood<s> of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| אָחִ֖יךָ | ʾachikha | brother your | H251 → | 630 times |
| מִיָּדֶֽךָ׃ | miyadekha | from hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
וְעַתָּ֖הand now
veatahH6258 →433 times
אָר֣וּר[are] cursed
ʾarurH779 →63 times
אָ֑תָּהyou
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָֽאֲדָמָה֙the ground
haadamahH127 →225 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
פָּצְתָ֣ה<it> has opened
patzetahH6475 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
פִּ֔יהָmouth its
pihaH6310 →498 times
לָקַ֛חַתto receive
lakachatH3947 →966 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דְּמֵ֥י[the] blood<s> of
demeiH1818 →360 times
אָחִ֖יךָbrother your
ʾachikhaH251 →630 times
מִיָּדֶֽךָ׃from hand your
miyadekhaH3027 →1618 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Galatians 3:10All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 27:26
‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Romans 8:7
because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
- Romans 3:19–20
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Deuteronomy 11:26–28
See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse—
- James 2:9–11
But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
- Deuteronomy 27:26
Through
Genesis 3:14So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you…
it leads to
- Micah 7:17
They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of…
- Isaiah 65:25
The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but the food of the serpent will be dust. They will neither harm nor destroy on all…
- Psalms 72:9
May the nomads bow before him, and his enemies lick the dust.
- Micah 7:17
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 19.11; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.