Atlas Biblica

    Genesis · 26 verses

    Genesis 4

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    Cain’s wife appears without an introduction, and then Cain builds a city, names it after their son, and leaves the chapter’s first murder sitting rather awkwardly beside the beginnings of civilisation.

    The field and the unanswered questionvv. 1–8

    Eve names Cain with gratitude, then gives birth to Abel, whose work is with sheep while Cain tills the soil. Their offerings divide them: Abel brings the best of his firstborn flock, Cain brings fruit, and the LORD looks with favour on one but not the other. Cain’s fallen countenance receives a warning about sin crouching at the door; instead, he invites Abel into the field, where the warning becomes murder.

    The wanderer who builds a cityvv. 9–18

    When the LORD asks where Abel is, Cain replies with ignorance and a question about brother-keeping, though Abel’s blood has already found its voice in the ground. Cain is driven from the soil and made a fugitive, but receives a mark and a sevenfold protection against anyone who might kill him. He settles in Nod, east of Eden; there his wife bears Enoch, and Cain builds a city bearing the child’s name. The family line then proceeds briskly through Irad, Mehujael, Methusael, and Lamech.

    Lamech’s household and Adam’s new sonvv. 19–26

    Lamech takes Adah and Zillah as wives, and their children furnish the chapter with tents, livestock, harp, flute, and implements of bronze and iron. Then Lamech tells his wives that he has slain a young man for wounding him, and turns Cain’s sevenfold protection into a boast of seventy-sevenfold revenge. At the close, Adam and Eve have Seth in Abel’s place; Seth has Enosh, and men begin to call upon the name of the LORD.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Gen 4:1And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.

    2. Gen 4:2Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.

    3. Gen 4:3So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD,

    4. Gen 4:4while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering,

    5. Gen 4:5but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.

    6. Gen 4:6“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen?

    7. Gen 4:7If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”

    8. Gen 4:8Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.

    9. Gen 4:9And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

    10. Gen 4:10“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.

    11. Gen 4:11Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

    12. Gen 4:12When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

    13. Gen 4:13But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.

    14. Gen 4:14Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

    15. Gen 4:15“Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him.

    16. Gen 4:16So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

    17. Gen 4:17And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.

    18. Gen 4:18Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methusael, and Methusael was the father of Lamech.

    19. Gen 4:19And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

    20. Gen 4:20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock.

    21. Gen 4:21And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute.

    22. Gen 4:22And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, a forger of every implement of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

    23. Gen 4:23Then Lamech said to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. For I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.

    24. Gen 4:24If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

    25. Gen 4:25And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”

    26. Gen 4:26And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call upon the name of the LORD.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 264 passages were voted onto 26 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 7James 1:15Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
    • 7Romans 2:6–10God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
    • 7Isaiah 3:10–11Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
    • 4Hebrews 11:4By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
    • 7Romans 6:16Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?
    • 7Numbers 32:23But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.
    • 10Hebrews 12:24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
    • 7Proverbs 21:27The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
    • 4Proverbs 3:9Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops;
    • 7Malachi 1:13You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the LORD.
    • 7Ecclesiastes 8:12–13Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
    • 7Acts 10:35but welcomes those from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.
    • 26Psalms 116:17I will offer to You a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
    • 4Exodus 13:12you are to present to the LORD the firstborn male of every womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock belong to the LORD.
    • 10Psalms 72:14He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their blood is precious in his sight.
    • 8Matthew 23:35And so upon you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

    Onward

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