Digital Continent Digital Continent_Template amended | Page 37
law of Israel. Life is in the blood (Lev 17:11), so shed blood is the most polluting of all
substances. Consequently, unatoned-for murders pollute the holy land, making it unfit for
the divine presence. 126
The actions of Cain thus have ongoing and far reaching consequences, going far beyond the
actions themselves. The actions of Cain have affected all of humanity.
Genesis 4:11-12
ָא ־ו ת ה ת י ָו ַ ִ֖ י ׃־ ו ת ִ֥ ֵּ֣ י ה ָֽ ׃ה ָֽ ֶַ ־י ֶ ת וֶ־ י ־ ָֽ ׃ה ֶ ָֽ ־ ־ןה ו הא ה ׃ ֶַ ת־ ׃הו־ ֶ ת ־ א ת י ֶ מ־ ׃ ִ ־ ־ו ו ׃־ ֶ ֶֹ֣מ
־ יה
מא ו ה ׃ ת ־ ־ ִֶ֥ וה ֶה מ ת י ִ֖ו י־ת־ ִ֥י ת־ ִל ת־ ִ֖ת ַ ־ ֹּא ָֽ ֵּ֣מ ו ת ִ֥ ֵּ֣ ָֽא ׃ א ת ת ֶ ת ־ ׃הו־ ֶ ־ ָֽ ׃ה ַו א ֹ֣ ה ָֽ ת ֶ ו ֹּ י
So now be cursed from the ground which has opened her mouth to take the blood of your
brother from your hand. / When you work the ground it will not give you her strength again. You
will be a vagrant wandering on the earth.’
The actions of Cain have been judged by God and the sentence pronounced. Cain is
cursed (ו ו ֶ )׃־ from the ground on which he spilled his brother’s blood. To be cursed was
considered a proof of guilt in the Hebrew conception of justice. 127 The curse God imparts upon
Cain reflects the preceding verse. The curse comes to Cain via the ground just as the cries of
Abel’s blood came from the ground. 128 Cain’s punishment is reminiscent of the punishment given
to his parents. “Because Cain has polluted the ground with innocent blood, he is “driven” from it
as his parents were from the garden.” 129 Cain, the tiller of the earth, is thus driven from his
occupation as a consequence of his actions.
Cain’s punishment is banishment rather than death. It has been speculated that Cain was
not punished with death because, prior to Abel, death had yet to be experienced by any of the
126
Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, Volume 1, Word Biblical Commentary, Verbum edition, 107.
Josef Scharbert, “ֶ ו ־ ”׃,
י in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, vol. 1, edited by G. J.
Botterweck, and H. Ringgren, translated by John T. Willis, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1977), 263.
128
Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Genesis, Kindle edition, 213.
129
K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11, Kindle edition, 275.
127