Commentary on Genesis Part 6

* The fables of the rabbins cause Luther double work and why he occasionally cites them 218.

* Whether G.o.d changed his judgment upon Cain 219.

* Why G.o.d still showed Cain incidental grace 219.

* The fables of the Jews concerning Cain's death and Lamech's punishment 220-221.

* It is foolish to dispute concerning the sevenfold vengeance to be visited upon the one who slew Cain 222.

* The divine promises.

a. They are twofold, of the law and of grace 223.

b. The promise Adam received 224.

c. Whether G.o.d gave Cain one of these promises 224-225.

d. The kind of promises well organized police stations have 226.

e. The promises the Church has 227.

f. Cain's promise is temporal, incidental and incomplete 227.

* Was Cain murdered 228.

6. How Cain had cause to fear, even though there were no people on the earth except Adam and Eve and his sisters 229-230.

* The sign that is put upon Cain.

a. Can anything definite be said of it. What the fathers thought of it 231.

b. Why this sign was placed upon him 232.

c. How he had to carry it his whole life 232.

d. How the sign was a confirmation and a promise of the law 233.

7. Of Cain's departure, and his excommunication from the presence of Jehovah.

a. The first parents in obedience to G.o.d made Cain an outcast 234-235.

b. How the first parents overcame their parental affections in expelling Cain 236.

* What should urge men to flee from their false security 237.

c. His expulsion must have pierced Cain to the heart 238.

* What is the presence of Jehovah 238.

d. How he went from the presence of Jehovah, to be without that presence 239.

e. It was a sad departure, both for Cain and his parents 240.

f. Whither he resorted 241.

* What meaning of "in the land of Nod" 241.

* Of Paradise.

(1) The deluge very likely destroyed paradise 241.

(2) Where was paradise 242.

* Of the Deluge.

(1) The deluge destroyed paradise 243.

* Cain lived where Babylon was built later 244.

(2) The deluge gave the earth an entirely different form 244.

VI. CAIN'S CONDUCT UPON BEING PUNISHED.

V. 13. _And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment (iniquity) is greater than I can bear (than can be remitted)._

197. Here Moses seems to have fixed a cross for the grammarians and the rabbins; for they crucify this pa.s.sage in various ways. Lyra recites the opinions of some who see in this pa.s.sage an affirmation, considering it to mean that in his despair Cain claimed his sin to be greater than could be pardoned. This is our rendering. Augustine likewise retained this view of the pa.s.sage, for he says, "Thou liest, Cain; for the mercy of G.o.d is greater than the misery of all the sinners."

198. The rabbins, however, expound the pa.s.sage as a denial in the form of a question, as if he had said, "Is my iniquity greater than can be remitted?" But if this rendering be the true one, Cain not only does not acknowledge his sin, but excuses it and, in addition, insults G.o.d for laying upon him a punishment greater than he deserves. In this way the rabbins almost everywhere corrupt the sense of the Scriptures.

Consequently I begin to hate them, and I admonish all who read them, to do so with careful discrimination. Although they did possess the knowledge of some things by tradition from the fathers, they corrupted them in various ways; and therefore they often deceived by those corruptions even Jerome himself. Nor did the poets of old so fill the world with their fables as the wicked Jews did the Scriptures with their absurd opinions. A great task, therefore, is inc.u.mbent upon us in endeavoring to keep the text free from their comments.

199. The occasion for all this error is the fact that some men are competent to deal only with grammatical questions, but not with the subject matter itself; that is, they are not theologians at the same time. The inevitable result is mistakes and the crucifixion of themselves as well as of the Scriptures. For how can any one explain what he does not understand? Now the subject matter in the present pa.s.sage is that Cain is accused in his own conscience. And no one, not only no wicked man, but not even the devil himself, can endure this judgment; as James witnesses, "The devils also believe and tremble before G.o.d," Jas 2, 19. Peter also says, "Whereas angels which are greater in power and might cannot endure that judgment which the Lord will exercise upon blasphemers," 2 Pet 2, 11. So also Mana.s.seh in his prayer, verses 4 and 5, confesses that all men tremble before the face of the Lord's anger.

200. All this is sufficient evidence that Cain, when arraigned by G.o.d, did not have courage to withstand and to argue with him. For G.o.d is an almighty adversary; the first a.s.sault he makes is upon the heart itself when he takes the conscience into his grasp. Of this the rabbins know nothing, nor can they understand it; in consequence they speak of this arraignment as if it took place before men, where the truth is either denied or facts are smoothed over. This is impossible when G.o.d arraigns men; as Christ says in Matthew 12, 37, "By thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

201. Cain thus acknowledges his sin, although it is not so much the sin he grieves over as the penalty inflicted. The statement, then, is to be understood in the affirmative, and it reveals the horrors of despair.

A further proof of Cain's despair is, that he does not utter one word of reverence. He never mentions the name of G.o.d or of his father. His conscience is so confused and so overwhelmed with terror and despair that he is not able to think of any hope of pardon. The Epistle to the Hebrews gives the same description of Esau when it states that he "for one mess of meat, sold his own birthright. For ye know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for change of mind, though he sought it diligently with tears," Heb 12, 16-17. Thus in the present instance, Cain feels his punishment, but he grieves more for his punishment than for his sin.

And all persons, when in despair, do the same.

202. The two original words of this pa.s.sage, _minneso_ and _avon_, are a pair of crosses for grammarians. Jerome translates this clause, "My iniquity is greater than can be pardoned." Sanctes, the grammarian of Pagnum, a man of no mean erudition and evidently a diligent scholar, renders the pa.s.sage, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." But by such a rendering we shall make a martyr of Cain and a sinner of Abel. Concerning the word _nasa_, I have before observed that when it is applied to sin it signifies, to lift sin up, or off, or on high; that is, to take it out of the way. Similarly the figure has found currency among us: the remission of sins, or to remit sin. In the Thirty-second Psalm, verse one, we find the expression, _Aschre Nesu Pascha_. This, literally translated, would make: Being blessed through the removal of crime, or sin. We make it: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, or taken away. The same is found in Isaiah 33, 24, The people that dwell therein shall be _Nesu Avon_, that means, relieved from sin--shall be the people whose sin is forgiven.

203. The other original term, _avoni_, grammarians derive from the verb _anah_, which signifies "to be afflicted," as in Zechariah 9, 9: "Behold thy king cometh unto thee lowly (or afflicted)." Our translation renders it "meek." Likewise in Psalms 132, 1: "Jehovah, remember for David all his affliction." From the same root is derived the expression, "low estate," or "lowliness," used by the Virgin Mary in her song, Lk 1, 48. This fact induces Sanctes to render it "punishment."

But here _avoni_ signifies "iniquity" or "sin," as it does also in many other pa.s.sages of the Holy Scriptures, which appears more plainly from the verb "remit," which stands connected with it.

204. Hence it is that grammarians, who are nothing but such and know nothing of the divine things, find their crosses in all such pa.s.sages, and crucify, not only the Scriptures, but themselves and their hearers as well. In the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, the sense is first to be determined; and when that appears in all respects consistent with itself, then the grammatical features are to receive attention. The rabbins, however, take the opposite course, and hence it grieves me that divines and the holy fathers so frequently follow them.