New International Version
Genesis 4:11
11Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
Genesis 4:11 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
- English Standard Version (ESV)And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s blood.
Context of Genesis 4:11
9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” 13Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear.
Read all of Genesis 4Genesis 4:11 word by word
וְעַתָּ֖ה אָר֣וּר אָ֑תָּה מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר פָּצְתָ֣ה אֶת־פִּ֔יהָ לָקַ֛חַת אֶת־דְּמֵ֥י אָחִ֖יךָ מִיָּדֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- thou cursedאָרַר'ârar · to curseH779
- from the earthאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
- which hath openedפָּצָהpâtsâh · to openH6475
- her mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
- to receiveלָקַחlâqach · to take: recieveH3947
- thy brother’sאָח'âch · brother: male-siblingH251
- bloodדָּםdâm · bloodH1818
- from thy handיָדyâd · handH3027
Cross-references for Genesis 4:11
- Genesis 4:14Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
- Genesis 3:14So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.
- Deuteronomy 27:16“Cursed is anyone who dishonors their father or mother.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
- Deuteronomy 28:15However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:
- Deuteronomy 29:19When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.
- Galatians 3:10For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Job 16:18“Earth, do not cover my blood; may my cry never be laid to rest!
- Job 31:38“if my land cries out against me and all its furrows are wet with tears,
- Isaiah 26:21See, the Lord is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed on it; the earth will conceal its slain no longer.
- Revelation 12:16But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
Commentaries on Genesis 4:11
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-16Verses 1-16 - Section IV - The Family of Adam - Cain and Abel 1. קין qayı̂n Qain (Cain), “spear-shaft,” and קנה qānah “set up, establish, gain, buy,” contain the biliteral root קן qan “set up, erect, gain.” The relations of root words are not confined to the narrow rules of our common etymology, but really extend to such instinctive usages as the unlettered speaker will invent or employ. A full examination of the Hebrew tongue leads to the conclusion…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-15Verses 8-15 Malice in the heart ends in murder by the hands. Cain slew Abel, his own brother, his own mother's son, whom he ought to have loved; his younger brother, whom he ought to have protected; a good brother, who had never done him any wrong. What fatal effects were these of our first parents' sin, and how must their hearts have been filled with anguish! Observe the pride, unbelief, and impenitence of Cain. He denies the crime, as if he could…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 11-12Like his father (see 3:9–12, 17–19), God asked Cain questions before he judged him (4:9–10). Adam's sin had already caused the ground to be cursed. Now Cain was cursed and driven away from the land he had farmed because he had polluted it with innocent blood. a fugitive and a wanderer: God sentenced Cain to endless wandering in a land that offered neither food nor safety. The consequences of sin were becoming worse.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 11-1211-12. now art thou cursed from the earth--a curse superadded to the general one denounced on the ground for Adam's sin.Read the comment
Topics related to Genesis 4:11
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Genesis 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Luther’s Commentary on Selected Bible Passages
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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