Genesis 4:12

Genesis 4:12 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
• New International Version (NIV)When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."
• New Living Translation (NLT)No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.”

Context of Genesis 4:12

10And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. 11So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” 13And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”

Genesis 4:12 word by word

כִּ֤י תַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה לֹֽא־תֹסֵ֥ף תֵּת־כֹּחָ֖הּ לָ֑ךְ נָ֥ע וָנָ֖ד תִּֽהְיֶ֥ה בָאָֽרֶץ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Whenכִּיkîy · forH3588
• thou tillestעָבַד‛âbad · to serve: labourH5647
• the groundאֲדָמָה'ădâmâh · land: soilH127
• it shall not henceforthיָסַףyâsaph · to add: againH3254
• yieldנָתַןnâthan · to give: giveH5414
• unto thee her strengthכֹּחַkôach kôach · strengthH3581
• a fugitiveנוּעַnûa‛ · to shakeH5128
• and a vagabondנוּדnûd · to wanderH5110
• shalt thou be in the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776

Cross-references for Genesis 4:12

• Genesis 3:17Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
• Leviticus 26:20And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
• Deuteronomy 28:23And your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you shall be iron.
• Romans 8:20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
• Genesis 4:14Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.”
• Leviticus 26:36‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues.
• Deuteronomy 28:65And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul.
• Psalms 109:10Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places.
• Jeremiah 20:3And it happened on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah said to him, “The Lord has not called your name Pashhur, but Magor-Missabib.
• Hosea 9:17My God will cast them away, Because they did not obey Him; And they shall be wanderers among the nations.

Commentaries on Genesis 4:12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 12A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be - Thou shalt be expelled from the presence of God, and from thy family connections, and shalt have no fixed secure residence in any place. The Septuagint render this , thou shalt be groaning and trembling upon the earth - the horror of thy crime shall ever haunt thee, and thou shalt never have any well-grounded hope that God will remit the punishment thou deservest. No state out of endless perdition can be…Read the comment
• 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 4:12

• Abel
• Cain
• Curse
• Homicide
• Judgments
• Sin

In the dictionaries

• Abel
• Adam
• Agriculture
• Blood
• Cain
• Call
• Cursed
• Fall
• Fat
• Fugitive

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