Genesis 4 Cain's Consequences

[seekeroftruth]

Genesis 4:10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”​

Cain was a farmer. Remember, he offered up fruit as a sacrifice. To Cain, it was pleasurable to work the land and bring in the crops.

The blueletterbible.org commentary explains it this way.

The curse upon Cain was that Adam's curse would be amplified in regard to him. If bringing forth food from the earth would be hard for Adam (Genesis 3:17-18), it would be impossible for Cain (who was a farmer). If Adam were driven from Eden (Genesis 3:24), Cain would find no resting-place on all the earth.​

 

[b23hqb]

Genesis 4:10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”​

Cain was a farmer. Remember, he offered up fruit as a sacrifice. To Cain, it was pleasurable to work the land and bring in the crops.

The blueletterbible.org commentary explains it this way.

The curse upon Cain was that Adam's curse would be amplified in regard to him. If bringing forth food from the earth would be hard for Adam (Genesis 3:17-18), it would be impossible for Cain (who was a farmer). If Adam were driven from Eden (Genesis 3:24), Cain would find no resting-place on all the earth.​

Not to be unexpected. "The life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" (Thomas Hobbes in the mid 17th century). Not much has changed since old Adam caved to Eve by ignoring God.

 

[stgislander]

Cain was a farmer. Remember, he offered up fruit as a sacrifice. To Cain, it was pleasurable to work the land and bring in the crops.​

Unfortunately, Genesis doesn't tell us why God did not favor Cain's offering. Not enough fruit??? I remember it being much harder to work the land and bring crops from the ground, than to tend herds. And yet God did not find favor with Cain's offering. No wonder Cain was downcast. It still doesn't justify killing his brother unless that was God's plan all along.​