And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
— Genesis 31:2
For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one.
— Job 5:2
Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah.
— Psalm 20:3
Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
— Isaiah 3:10-11
Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
— Matthew 20:15
And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.
— Luke 16:14
And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him. And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
— Luke 15:28-30
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
— Acts 13:45
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
— Hebrews 11:4
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
— Proverbs 15:8
The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more, when he bringeth it with a wicked mind?
— Proverbs 21:27
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
— Titus 1:16
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
— Jude 1:11
A Commentary on Genesis 4:5 b,c, by Martin Luther.
Part III. Cain’s Conduct Upon the Rejection of his Offering and his Punishment. The following contains an excerpt from his work.
But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
— Genesis 4:5
This and the few following clauses will give us a little grammatical trouble. But I hope we shall make our way out of the difficulty successfully. We have heard that Cain was disappointed in his hope. He had despised his brother in comparison with himself, and had judged that on account of the right of his primogeniture he should hold the first place with God as he had done with his parents. The judgment of God however was quite different from that of men. He showed that he approved Abel, but rejected Cain.The result was therefore that Cain was violently enraged against his brother. For he could not endure with any patience that he should be thus rejected and excommunicated, and deprived also at the same time of his rule and priesthood. Just in the same manner also we see kings and princes to be utterly impatient of the judgment of the Church. For they are not satisfied with being kings and princes, they want to be accounted also righteous and saints before God; and they will take to themselves the name of “the Church.” Exactly like these, Cain was filled with indignation when he saw that the honor of righteousness and grace before God was taken from him. For what else was this than being cast out of the Church and excommunicated? And his indignation at this dishonor was the greater in proportion to the measure in which he judged himself degraded beneath his brother. For his thoughts were these: “My brother will assuredly aspire to the headship and rule, since he sees me thus despised and disregarded of God.” And hence it is that Moses uses the adverb “very wroth,” by which form of expression he would signify that Cain was vehemently offended because he was thus ignominiously confounded in public before his whole family; whereas he had always wished to appear the first among them.
This Cain-like wrath is just that rage which we see also in the Cain-like Church of the pope. For what is there which gives the pope, the cardinals, the kings and the princes greater offense than that I, a poor beggar, set the authority of God above the authority of them all, and that I condemn in the name of the Lord all those things which are worthy such condemnation. They themselves also acknowledge that there are many things which need rigid reformation. But that I, a poor, obscure person, coming into public out of some obscure corner, should presume to do this, is a thing which they consider to be beyond all endurance. And therefore they put forth all their authority against me and by the weight of that authority they attempt to crush us.
And most certainly there is not in the whole world a wrath more cruel than that of this Church of hypocrisy and blood. For in all political or civil rage there is some degree of humanity still left. No assassin is led to execution, however savage his nature may be, with pity for whom men are not in some measure touched. But when that false and blood-thirsting Church falls upon a poor son of the true Church, she is not satisfied with shedding his blood; she loads him also with her curses and execrations, and devotes him to every ignominy and insult, and even vents her rage upon his miserable, breathless corpse. Just like the Jews, who were not content with having nailed Christ to the cross, with the full purpose of not taking him down till he was dead, but even while he was breathing out the last breath of his soul they gave him in his thirst vinegar to drink mingled with gall. Such fury as this is never found in political wrath!
The wrath therefore and the pharasaic fury of the false Church is a fury in its very nature diabolical. This wrath began in Cain, and it continues in all Cainites to this very day. And we can most truly glory that we also have to endure with godly Abel, just such wrath as this in our day. For who entertains a doubt, that if our bishops and certain furious princes could do it, they would slaughter us all in one moment? Who doubts that, if according to the prayers of the notorious Roman emperor, we all together had but one neck, they would with the greatest delight rush upon us sword in hand and cut off our head? Only look at the councils of these later years and their designs, and you will say that my testimony is true.
That which Moses adds, “And his countenance (vultus) ‘appearances,’ ‘looks,’ ‘whole aspect,’ fell,” is a Hebrew expression; an expression which not only represents the deed done, or the fact, but also implies that the mind also was in such a state of commotion that it could not rest; and that although Cain could do no further harm, yet his wrathful will to do so was manifested by his countenance. He did not lift up his fallen brow nor speak in a friendly voice to his parents as before. And every answer he made them was rather a sullen murmur than a natural utterance. He was struck pale at the first sight of his brother after his offering, which God had accepted. And he showed by the threatening looks of his eyes that his mind was burning with the desire of revenge.
Moses expresses all this, when he says, “And his countenance fell;” for he does not mean his countenance or visage only, nor merely one part of his countenance; but he intends all his appearances, his whole appearance; his every look, gesture and motion; in the same manner as the apostle uses a Hebrew expression, when he says concerning charity that it “doth not behave itself unseemly;” that is, doth not carry an unseemly countenance, doth not contract its brow, doth not look with anger or disdain, doth not wear a threatening aspect; but is of a free and open visage, expressing with its eyes kindness and affection. For the latter are becoming, but the former are unbecoming and indicative of vice within. This clause therefore, “And his countenance fell,” contains a particular description of the anger and hypocrisy of Cain. He could neither look at his brother Abel, nor hear his voice, nor speak to him, nor eat nor drink with him in rest or quietude of mind.
If any one desires to witness an example of this Cain-like wrath, let him put himself in the presence of some Papist, who is seeking distinguished praise for doctrine or piety in his day and generation; and he will find that such an one is the subject of a rage against the truth, perfectly diabolical; to which fury, if you compare the anger of a judge, the latter will appear in comparison to be the greatest kindness, mercy and open candor. For in the judge anger is merely a duty; he is not angry with the person of the prisoner, but with his crime. But the Cainite wrath fires and distorts the eyes, scowls the brow, swells the cheeks with rage, and arms the hands. In a word, it is evident in every part of the body and in its every gesture, and that unceasingly. For it does not die away by time, as political or domestic wrath does.
Next follows the fatherly and most grave admonition of Adam, who would willingly have healed and saved his son if he could have done so. But this wrath knows no medicine or cure. Neither Cain nor any Cainite will hear either father or mother, or God Himself!
V. 6. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth, and why is thy countenance fallen?
All these circumstances plainly prove that the present was not the first time that Cain had been confounded in this offering of his sacrifice; but that from the hour of this sacrifice he had gone in perturbation of mind, filled with sadness and gnashing his teeth; and looking neither upon his father nor upon his mother without an evil eye; affected just as we have already said that pharasaic rage affects the whole man, and changes the whole visage and gesture. For Cain considered it to be a great indignity that at a public sacrifice, and in the midst of divine worship, and before the eyes of his father and his mother, Abel whom he had always despised and whom even his parents themselves had accounted a child of naught, should be preferred of God to himself; and thus pronounced of God worthy the glory of the kingship and the priesthood.
II. As soon therefore as he had fully shown that he was of a hostile mind towards his brother, he receives from his father Adam the admonition in our text. For my belief is, that these words are spoken by Adam himself, and that Moses says they were spoken “by the Lord,” because Adam had now been justified and had been gifted with the Holy Spirit; and therefore those things which he now spoke by the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God are rightly said by Moses to have been spoken by God himself. Just as at the present day those who preach the Gospel are not in reality themselves the preachers and teachers, but Christ, who speaks and teaches in them and by them. And most certainly these words are spoken by Adam with peculiar gravity and intent; for he saw that his son could not patiently endure the indignity put upon him; he saw him grieve over his lost superiority; and he felt what havoc the Tempter might make in the corrupt nature of his son, who had done such evil to himself and Eve, when in a state of innocency and perfection. Adam therefore was filled with deep anxiety and addressed his son with that solemn gravity of language, which Moses records in the text. And although no one of the fathers has explained that speech of Adam to his son Cain in a manner worthy its gravity and importance; because perhaps none of them had sufficient leisure from their ecclesiastical engagements; yet I will attempt to move this stone of difficulty out of the way; and, as I hope and think, not without some advantage to the truth.
V. 7a. If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up, (shall there not be a remission,) and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth (lieth) at the door.
I cannot sufficiently wonder how Moses was able to condense so mighty a subject in so few words. Our translation does not properly express the sense. And although Augustine was not altogether unacquainted with the Hebrew language, yet his knowledge of it was not thorough; for he renders this important text thus, “If thou offerest aright, and yet dost not rightly divide the offering, thou hast sinned. Rest, and be quiet.” What such sins are those well acquainted with the Hebrew know. Though the doctrine which Augustine deduces from his rendering of the passage is theologically correct and good, the Septuagint translators of the Hebrew seem also not to have been duly qualified for the magnitude of the work they undertook. Wherefore, leaving for the present both the translations and the opinions of all other commentators, we will now strictly follow the proper sense of the Hebrew in the text before us. That sense is the following, “If thou doest well, there shall be remission, or alleviation; if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door,” etc.
Moreover it is ordained by nature, as even the philosopher testifies, that words should be made to serve things, and not things made subservient to words. The sentiment of Hilary is well known, which a certain master of sound opinions also thus cites: “Words ought ever to be understood according to the matter contained in them, and intended to be expressed by them.” In every exposition or explanation of the Scriptures therefore the subject-matter is first to be considered; that is, we are first clearly to see the thing spoken of in each case. When this is strictly done, then the words are to be brought to a due application to the thing, if the grammatical laws of the language will permit; but the things are never to be made to bend to the words. And it is because the Rabbins and those who follow them do not this, for they have lost the things, and so cleave hard to the words only, that they often fall into the most absurd sentiments and opinions. For, as they possess not thoughts worthy of those spiritual things, of which the sacred Scriptures speak, they err from the subject-matter treated in each case by the Word and draw the words after them into vain and carnal cogitations.
But it is certain that the Jews have lost Christ; how then can they possibly understand aright either the things of the Gospel or the things of the Law? They know not what sin is, nor what grace is, nor what righteousness is. How then should they be able to explain successfully such passages of the Scriptures? Just so the Jews are in general the “wise” or sophists of our day. For what sound knowledge have they of such divine and mighty things as these! Being ignorant therefore of the thing itself, how is it possible that they should rightly understand the words of the Scriptures in which it is expressed? And although a knowledge of the words is prior in order; yet the knowledge of the things is better and more important. For if you alter the things, the words also will be changed into another sense to correspond with the altered things, and a new grammatical construction altogether is the sure result.
Thus the great grammarian of Gerunda possesses an excellent knowledge of the words, and indeed there are many in our day who far surpass me in a critical knowledge of the Hebrew language, but because he understands not the divine theme, he miserably corrupts this passage; for he explains it thus: “If thou doest well thy offering shall be more acceptable than that of thy brother, because thou art the first-born.” You here see that Gerundensis understands what the names of the things are, but not the things themselves; what the term is, but not what the matter is. For the very design of God in this text is to show that he will have no regard to first birthship at all. How then could the offering of Cain ever have been more acceptable to God than that of Abel on account of his primogeniture? The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews knew what the thing was, and therefore he gives a very different statement of the sacred matter, namely, that it was “by faith that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.” The rendering of Jerome is much better than that of Gerundensis. The version of the former is, “If thou doest well, thou shalt receive; if thou doest ill, sin (he adds the pronoun ‘thine own sin’) will lie at the door.” Yet, even thus Jerome does not reach the true sense. For when he explains the verb SEETH as meaning “to receive,” which really signifies “to relieve,” or “to alleviate,” no one I think will approve his rendering. But all this Jerome has from the Jews, who have always been of the opinion that God would have rewarded Cain if he had offered liberally. Now therefore I will simply state what my view of this important passage is.
First of all then it is necessary, as I have said, that we hold fast the divine matter in question. The divine matter then involved is that which cannot deceive, as being the foundation of the whole divine cause, that nothing pleases God unless it be done in faith, according to that universally applicable and well known sentence of the Apostle Paul, “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” Rom. 14:23. And Solomon also says, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord,” Prov. 15:8. The other great foundation of the cause of God is, that sin is so mighty that it can be put away by no sacrifices, nor by any works whatever, but by the mercy of God alone, which mercy must be apprehended and received by faith. And all this is manifested and shown to have been the good pleasure of God by the first promise concerning the Seed of the woman, without which Seed there is no redemption. Now these foundations the Rabbins possess not, for this knowledge comes by the Spirit of Christ alone, who like the mid-sun illumines all the darkness of nature and sin. Whatsoever therefore militates against, or is contrary to, these foundations, we at once reject as false and impious.
And although for myself I have no objection whether you understand “sin” here as referring to the past sin, or to the future sin of Cain, yet it seems to me better to understand it as referring to sin in general. The force of the whole passage therefore lies in the Hebrew verb SEETH from NASA, “be alleviated,” or “lifted up,” or “relieved.” And in this very case we have a remarkable example of the difference between the name or term of the thing and the thing itself. For if you apply the term to “lift up,” or to “lift off,” to a corporeal or solid substance, it signifies “to elevate” or “to lift up on high;” as in Isaiah, “I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,” Is. 6:1. But this is a very different signification of the Hebrew verb from that which it expresses in the Psalm, “Blessed is the man whose sins are ‘lifted up’ or ‘lifted out,’” Ps. 32:1, and yet the Hebrew verb is the same in each instance. Now, a common grammarian of the Hebrew language understands the former meaning of the original verb, but he is ignorant of its latter signification. For, “to lift up a throne on high,” is quite another thing from lifting up or lifting off, sin from the conscience; that is, remitting or taking away sin.
Wherefore, the meaning is, “If thou hadst done well or if thou hadst been good; that is, if thou hadst believed, thou wouldst have had God favorable and merciful toward thee, and there would have been a true alleviation to thee; that is, a remission of sin. But since I see that God had not respect unto thee, it evidently follows that thou wert not good in his sight; and that therefore thou wast not relieved from thy sin; wherefore, thy sin remaineth.”
However it is a most beautiful and striking similitude to make use of the verb “to lift up” or “to lift off” in order to compare sin to a heavy burden, under which Cain was so oppressed and prostrated, so that unless it were taken off he could not draw his breath. And the epistle to the Hebrews shows the manner in which we are released from this burden, when it says, “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain,” Heb. 11:4.
By this mode of interpreting this important passage the words or the grammatical construction perfectly agree with the matter contained in them, which is, that God has respect unto faith only, and judges those alone to be good who believe. And these words of Adam contain also a most severe rebuke. Their meaning is, as if Adam had said to Cain, “Thy pride has destroyed thee. Thou camest before God inflated with the glory of thy primogeniture, and thoughtest that God would accept thee on that account. But I clearly perceive by this judgment and reprobation of God that thou art destitute of faith, for God rejects none but the unbelieving.”
Not one of the Rabbins explains the passage before us in this manner. For they see not that Adam is here inculcating in his son, after the manner of the Apostle Paul, that word of Christ in the Gospel, “He that believeth shall be saved,” Mark 16:16; and also that word of the apostle himself, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” Rom. 3:28. For what else does Adam here say to Cain, than that God is merciful to those who believe in the blessed Seed, and who cast away all trust in their own works, and all ideas of their own merit? For his meaning is, “If thou shalt do this, thy sin shall not lie thus as a heavy burden upon thee. Thou shalt be relieved of that load, nor shalt thou thus roar with rage; for God has promised that he will not impute sin to any one that believeth.”
If therefore you refer these words to the past sin of Cain, they contain also a most grave fatherly admonition. Their import is, as if Adam had said, “Hitherto thou hast not believed and therefore thou art thus rejected; and if thou shalt still go on thus, thou wilt be cast off utterly. But if thou shalt do well or become good, that is, if thou shalt believe in the promised Seed, I take upon myself to assure thee that the result will be that thou shalt be relieved of thy burden of sin;” that is, as the Psalm interprets this expression of Adam, “sin shall not be imputed unto thee,” Ps. 32:2.
The clause which follows, thy “sin lieth at the door,” is a figurative description of sin, which for my part I should prefer understanding as being used as a proverb. For this figure exactly describes the real nature of sin, showing that, while in the act, it lies like a beast dead asleep; it does not bite, nor terrify, nor torment, but rather fawns and pleases. Thus when Eve first and afterwards Adam ate the forbidden apple in paradise they did not think that God had seen it, much less did they think that both should be so bitterly punished for what they had done. So also ferocious beasts, when they are just satisfied with food, are more tractable and more inclined to sleep than to harm. In the same manner also sin, while it is in the act, is delightful, nor is its poison or pain felt; it rather lies down and goes to sleep. For whoever saw a miser to be racked with pain while an opportunity of great gain stood before him? Whoever knew an adulterer to grieve at the opportunity given him of gratifying his wishes? If thou hadst at that moment torn his skin with a scourge, or beaten his head with a mallet, the temptation would have vanished. But while sin is asleep and its punishment unfelt and unseen, it is the height of pleasure to the miser to rush upon his gain, and to the adulterer to possess the object of his sinful desires; nor does there seem to be, nor does he wish for, any end or any bound to his pleasure.
Adam is speaking therefore in this passage not only of the sin of Cain, but of sin in general; showing what the real nature of sin is. For that which was the state of Cain is the state of all men. Before he offered his sacrifice Cain proudly boasted of the privileges of his primogeniture; he despised his brother and assumed to himself the first place in all things. Sin was then lying still and asleep; but it was “lying at the door;” that is, in a place or state in which it was likely to be disturbed. For it is by “the door” that we go in and out, and therefore a place by no means adapted for a long sleep. And this is also the very nature of sin. Although it does lie asleep, yet it lies in a place where it is not likely to sleep long, for Christ says, “There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed,” Math. 10:26. The wicked man thinks indeed that his sin is asleep and hidden; but it lieth asleep at “the door,” and at length it is awakened by conviction, brought to light, and made known: for “at the door,” and rest and sleep are things directly opposed to each other. For as darkness is opposite to light, so is sleep to an unquiet place; they are things contradictory to each other in their very nature. In this manner therefore may the present passage be interpreted in its reference to Cain’s past sin.
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