Genesis 4:13

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 4:13 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Genesis 4:13 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 4

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
13And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“And Cain said unto the Lord, etc.] In the anguish of his spirit and the distress of his mind: my punishment is greater than I can bear; thus complaining of the mercy of God, as if he acted a cruel part, inflicting on him more than he could endure; and arraigning his justice, as if it was more than he deserved, or ought in equity to be laid on him; whereas it was abundantly less than the demerit of his sin, for his punishment was but a temporal one; for, excepting the horrors and terrors of his guilty conscience, it was no other than a heavier curse on the land he tilled, and banishment from his native place, and being a fugitive and wanderer in other countries; and if such a punishment is…”
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Jamieson, Fausset & Brown
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“And Cain said . . . My punishment is greater than I can bear--What an overwhelming sense of misery; but no sign of penitence, nor cry for pardon.”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- 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…”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“4:13-14 For Cain, eviction from the land—the domain of his vocation as a farmer (see 4:2; cp. 3:23)—amounted to exile from God’s presence. The Israelites were warned that unfaithfulness to the Sinai covenant would similarly result in eviction from the Promised Land and from God’s presence in the Temple (see, e.g., Lev 26:27-32).”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“My punishment is greater than I can bear. or, Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven. Job 15:22; Rev 16:9, Rev 16:11, Rev 16:21 Genesis 4:14”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification