Genesis 4:8-11
4:8 a The effects of the Fall on human relationships are tragically expressed in the first murder.• The word brother is used seven times in 4:2-11 b, highlighting Cain’s fratricide in the face of familial responsibility.
4:9 c Where is your brother? The questions God asked Cain (4:6 d, 9 e, 10 f) recall those that God asked Cain’s parents (3:9-13 g). In both cases, humans put up evasive answers (cp. 3:12-13 h). Cain’s answer is shockingly defiant—another clue that the problem with his token offering was the attitude that lay behind it.
4:10 i What have you done? is more an expression of horror and rebuke than a fact-finding question (cp. 3:13 j).
• Abel’s blood is personified as a legal witness that cries out against Cain.
• from the ground: See study note on 4:11-12.
Summary for Gen 4:11-12: 4:11-12 k As with his father (cp. 3:9-12 l, 17-19 m), Cain’s interrogation (4:9-10 n) was followed by God’s verdict. Adam’s sin had already caused the ground to be cursed. Now Cain was cursed and banished from the land he farmed because he had contaminated it with innocent blood.
• homeless wanderer: Cain was condemned to ceaseless roving in a land that would provide neither sustenance nor security. The effects of sin were escalating.
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