Genesis 4:10

“And he said, etc.] Not Cain, the last speaker, but the Lord God, what hast thou done? what an heinous crime hast thou committed! how aggravated is it! I know what thou hast done; thou hast slain thy brother, thine own, thine only brother, a holy, righteous, and good man, who never gave thee any offence, or any just occasion of shedding his innocent blood: this he said as knowing what he had done, and to impress his mind with a sense of the evil, and to bring him to a confession of it, before the sentence was passed, that it might appear to all to be just, and of which there was full proof and evidence, as follows: the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground; where it was…”

“the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me--Cain, to lull suspicion, had probably been engaging in the solemnities of religion when he was challenged directly from the Shekinah itself.”

“- 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 that a biliteral root lies at the base of many of those triliterals that consist of two firm consonants and a third weaker one varying in itself and its position. Thus, יטב yāṭab and טיב ṭôb. So קין qayı̂n and קנה qānah grow from one root. 2. הבל…”

“And he said, What hast thou done? - Thou thinkest to conceal it, but the evidence against thee is clear and uncontestable, the voice of thy brother's blood crieth - He speaks as if the blood itself were both witness and prosecutor, because God's own knowledge testified against him, and God's own justice demanded satisfaction. The blood is said to cry from the ground, the earth, which is said, Gen 4:11, to open her mouth to receive his brother's blood from his hand. The earth did as it were blush to see her own face stained with such blood; and therefore opened her mouth to hide that which she could not hinder. Genesis 4:11”

“4:10 What have you done? is more an expression of horror and rebuke than a fact-finding question (cp. 3:13). • Abel’s blood is personified as a legal witness that cries out against Cain. • from the ground: See study note on 4:11-12.”

“What: Gen 3:13; Jos 7:19; Psa 50:21 blood: Heb. bloods crieth: Gen 18:20; Exo 3:7; Kg2 9:26; Job 16:18, Job 24:12, Job 31:38, Job 31:39; Psa 9:12, Psa 72:14; Isa 5:7; Act 5:3, Act 5:9; Heb 11:4, Heb 12:24; Jam 5:4; Rev 6:10 Genesis 4:11”