Genesis 4:1

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Adam	וְהָ֣אָדָ֔ם ve.Ha.'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · conjunction + definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
knew	יָדַ֖ע ya.Da'	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Eve	חַוָּ֣ה cha.Vah	H2332	Chavvah (or Eve) · proper noun, a woman's name
wife	אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ 'ish.To	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
conceived	וַתַּ֙הַר֙ va.Ta.har	H2029	to be (or become) pregnant · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
bare	וַתֵּ֣לֶד va.Te.led	H3205	to bear young · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
Cain	קַ֔יִן Ka.yin	H7014	Kajin · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַתֹּ֕אמֶר va.To.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
gotten	קָנִ֥יתִי ka.Ni.ti	H7069	to erect · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
man	אִ֖ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
from	אֶת 'et-	H854	properly · preposition
LORD	יְהוָֽה Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 John 3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s…
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his hee…
Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abe…
Genesis 5:29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the L…
Numbers 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:1-2

Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters, Gen 5:4. But Cain and Abel seem to have been the two eldest. Some think they were twins, and, as Esau and Jacob, the elder hated and the younger loved. Though God had cast our first parents out of paradise, he did not write them childless; but, to show that he had other blessings in store for them, he preserved to them the benefit of that first blessing of increase. Though they were sinners, nay, though they felt the humiliation and sorrow of penitents, they did not write themselves comfortless, having the promise of a Saviour to support themselves with. We have here, I. The names of their two sons. 1. Cain signifies possession; for Eve, when she bor…

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Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:1

I have gotten a man from the Lord - Cain, קין, signifies acquisition; hence Eve says קנתי kanithi, I have gotten or acquired a man, את יהוה eth Yehovah, the Lord. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the sense in which Eve used these words, which have been as variously translated as understood. Most expositors think that Eve imagined Cain to be the promised seed that should bruise the head of the serpent. This exposition really seems too refined for that period. It is very likely that she meant no more than to acknowledge that it was through God's peculiar blessing that she was enabled to conceive and bring forth a son, and that she had now a well-grounded hope that the race of man should…

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John Gill on Genesis 4:1

And Adam knew Eve his wife,.... An euphemism, or modest expression of the act of coition. Jarchi interprets it, "had known", even before he sinned, and was drove out of the garden; and so other Jewish writers, who think he otherwise would not have observed the command, "be fruitful and multiply": but if Adam had begotten children in a state of innocence, they would have been free from sin, and not tainted with the corruption of nature after contracted; but others more probably think it was some considerable time after; according to Mer Thudiusi, or Theodosius (t), it was thirty years after he was driven out of paradise: and she conceived and bare Cain; in the ordinary way and manner, as wom…

The Church Fathers

Note that the name Cain means "ownership," which explains what was said at the time of his birth by his father or mother: "I have come into possession of a man through God."
— Augustine of Hippo, City of God 15.17

After his disobedience, after their loss of the garden, then it was that the practice of intercourse had its beginning. You see, before their disobedience they followed a life like that of angels, and there was not mention of intercourse.
— John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 18.12

Since Adam had been blinded in the eyes of his soul and had fallen from the life imperishable, he began to look with his physical eyes. He turned the vision of his eyes on visible objects with affectionate desire and "knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain." Such knowledge is in reality ignorance of all goodness, for had he not first fallen from the knowledge and contemplation of God he would not have been brought down to this knowledge.
— Symeon the New Theologian, DISCOURSES 15.1

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Abel — (Heb. Hebhel), a breath, or vanity, the second son of Adam and Eve. He was put to death by his brother Cain (Gen. 4:1-16). Guided by the instruction of their father, the two brothers were trained in…
Cain — A possession; a spear. (1.) The first-born son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4). He became a tiller of the ground, as his brother Abel followed the pursuits of pastoral life. He was “a sullen, self-willed,…
Deep — Used to denote (1) the grave or the abyss (Rom. 10:7; Luke 8:31); (2) the deepest part of the sea (Ps. 69:15); (3) the chaos mentioned in Gen. 1:2; (4) the bottomless pit, hell (Rev. 9:1, 2; 11:7;…
Eve — Life; living, the name given by Adam to his wife (Gen. 3:20; 4:1). The account of her creation is given in Gen. 2:21, 22. The Creator, by declaring that it was not good for man to be alone, and by…
Naamah — The beautiful. (1.) The daughter of Lamech and Zillah (Gen. 4: 22). (2.) The daughter of the king of Ammon, one of the wives of Solomon, the only one who appears to have borne him a son, viz.,…
Abel · 1. — 1.
Adam · .Subsequent history of — .Subsequent history of
Cain · 1. — 1.
Eve · Children of — Children of
Marriage · The expectation of the promised seed of the woman an incentive to, in the early age — The expectation of the promised seed of the woman an incentive to, in the early age
Strife · General references — General references

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 4:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:1-2

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:1

John Gill on Genesis 4:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 4:1

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:1-2

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:1

John Gill on Genesis 4:1

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 4:1

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 4:1-8

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 4:1

Rashi on Genesis 4:1