Genesis 4:13 BSB — MannaFest

Genesis 4:13

But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

KJV

And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

⋯

Commentary

2 voices

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible (1832)

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 Lev 26:41, Lev 26:43 1Sa 28:10; 2Ki 7:9; and נשא nasa signifies to remit or forgive.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

There is forgiveness with the God of pardons for the greatest sins and sinners; but those forfeit it who despair of it. Just now Cain made nothing of his sin, but now he is in the other extreme: Satan drives his vassals from presumption to despair. We cannot think too ill of sin, provided we do not think it unpardonable.

Voices on this verse

loading…

Original language & word study

7 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
קַ֖יִן	Ka.yin	Cain	H7014 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
יְהוָ֑ה	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
גָּד֥וֹל	ga.Dol	[is too] great	H1419 →
עֲוֹנִ֖י	'a.vo.Ni	punishment my	H5771 →
מִנְּשֹֽׂא׃	mi.ne.So'	for bearing	H5375 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Revelation 16:11
and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds.
leads to
- Revelation 16:9
  And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Revelation 16:9
And the people were scorched by intense heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had authority over these plagues; yet they did not repent and give Him glory.
leads to
- Revelation 2:21
  Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Revelation 16:21
  And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Revelation 11:13
  And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God…
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Through
Revelation 16:21
And great hailstones weighing almost a hundred pounds each rained down on them from above. And men cursed God for the plague of hail, because it was so horrendous.
leads to
- Revelation 11:19
  Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, and rumblings, and peals of thunder, and an earthquake,…
- Joshua 10:11
  As they fled before Israel along the descent from Beth-horon to Azekah, the LORD cast down on them large hailstones from the sky, and more of them were killed by the hailstones than by…
- Revelation 8:7
  Then the first angel sounded his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, along with a third of the…
- Revelation 16:11
  and curse the God of heaven for their pains and sores; yet they did not repent of their deeds.

Featured studies on this passage

Walks through Genesis 4

Adam to Noah

Ten generations, sixteen centuries, and one man who did not die — the register of Genesis 5, read honestly.

Open the study →

Walks through Genesis 4

Cain and Abel: Genesis 4

Open the study →

Walks through Genesis 4

Enoch Walked With God: Genesis 5

Open the study →

Walks through Genesis 4

Eve: The Mother of All Living · MannaFest

Open the study →

Walks through Genesis 4

The Hall of Faith

Hebrews 11 walks the whole Old Testament as one procession — witness by witness, each name a deed, all of them running toward Jesus.

Open the study →

Walks through Genesis 4

Parallelism: the Bible's Rhyme of Thoughts

Open the study →

About Genesis

Cain Slays Abel — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Genesis: the study guide →Read chapter 4 →The featured study →

PersonPrimevalCainAdam's firstborn; the first murderer, who killed his brother Abel out of jealousy and became the archetype of the way of self-will…

Continue: Genesis 4 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

05Featured studies on this passage

06About Genesis

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

Featured studies on this passage

About Genesis