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 Abel, whom Cain slew.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Adam	אָדָם ʼâdâm	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species
knew	וַיֵּ֨דַע vai.Ye.da'	H3045	to know (properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wife	אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ 'ish.To	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
again	עוֹד֙ 'Od	H5750	properly · cardinal number, masculine singular absolute
bare	וַתֵּ֣לֶד va.Te.led	H3205	to bear young · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
son	בֵּ֔ן Ben	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
called	וַתִּקְרָ֥א va.tik.Ra'	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
name	שְׁמ֖וֹ she.Mo	H8034	an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Seth	שֵׁ֑ת Shet	H8352	Sheth · proper noun, a man's name
God	אֱלֹהִים֙ 'E.lo.Him	H430	gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural absolute
appointed	שָֽׁת shat-	H7896	to place (in a very wide application) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
another	אַחֵ֔ר 'a.Cher	H312	properly · adjective, masculine singular absolute
seed	זֶ֣רַע Ze.ra'	H2233	seed · noun, common masculine singular absolute
instead	תַּ֣חַת Ta.chat	H8478	the bottom (as depressed) · noun, common masculine singular construct
Abel	הֶ֔בֶל He.vel	H1893	Hebel · proper noun, a man's name
whom	כִּ֣י ki	H3588	(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunc… · particle
Cain	קָֽיִן Ka.yin	H7014	Kajin · proper noun, a man's name
slew	הֲרָג֖וֹ ha.ra.Go	H2026	to smite with deadly intent · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular

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

Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and sle…
Luke 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
Genesis 4:1-3 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
Genesis 4:10-11 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
Genesis 5:3-4 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
1 Chronicles 1:1 Adam, Sheth, Enosh,

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:25–end

This is the first mention of Adam in the story of this chapter. No question, the murder of Abel, and the impenitence and apostasy of Cain, were a very great grief to him and Eve, and the more because their own wickedness did now correct them and their backslidings did reprove them. Their folly had given sin and death entrance into the world; and now they smarted by it, being, by means thereof, deprived of both their sons in one day, Gen 27:45. When parents are grieved by their children's wickedness they should take occasion thence to lament that corruption of nature which was derived from them, and which is the root of bitterness. But here we have that which was a relief to our first parents…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 4:23

Lamech said unto his wives--This speech is in a poetical form, probably the fragment of an old poem, transmitted to the time of Moses. It seems to indicate that Lamech had slain a man in self-defense, and its drift is to assure his wives, by the preservation of Cain, that an unintentional homicide, as he was, could be in no danger.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:25

God - hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel - Eve must have received on this occasion some Divine communication, else how could she have known that this son was appointed in the place of Abel, to continue that holy line by which the Messiah was to come? From this we see that the line of the Messiah was determined from the beginning, and that it was not first fixed in the days of Abraham; for the promise was then only renewed, and that branch of his family designated by which the sacred line was to be continued. And it is worthy of remark, that Seth's posterity alone continued after the flood, when all the other families of the earth were destroyed, Noah being the tenth descendant fr…

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John Gill on Genesis 4:25

And Adam knew his wife again,.... The Targum of Jonathan adds, at the end of a hundred and thirty years after Abel was killed, see Genesis 5:3 but, according to Bishop Usher, Seth was born the same year, which is most probable. And she bare a son, and called his name Seth, that is, "put, placed, set"; not with any respect to Cain, who had no settled fixed abode, but wandered about; or to Seth as a foundation of the church and true religion, being a type of Christ the only foundation, though he may be considered in such a light; but the reason of his name follows: for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew; that is, another son in his room; and by call…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 25) And he called his name Seth. For God has provided me another offspring in place of Abel, whom Cain killed. Seth, properly θέσις, that is, position, is called because God had set him in place of Abel. Finally, Aquila says: And he called his name Seth, saying: For God has placed another offspring for me.
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

The Lord has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. He was appointed in place of Abel, not only in the order of birth but also in the merit of virtue, filling the place of his brother, whose devotion of mind is shown to have also passed to his offspring, as it is added:
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

It is quite possible that when Adam was divinely inspired to say, after Seth was born, "God has given me another seed, for Abel whom Cain slew," there is no implication here that Seth was the next born in the order of time but only that he was destined to be a fit heir in the order of holiness.
— Augustine of Hippo, City of God 15.15

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

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;…
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.,…
Seth — Appointed; a substitute, the third son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4:25; 5:3). His mother gave him this name, “for God,” said she, “hath appointed me [i.e., compensated me with] another seed instead of…
Abel · 1. — 1.
Adam · .Subsequent history of — .Subsequent history of
Eve · Children of — Children of
Seth · The third — The third

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 4:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:25–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 4:23

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:25

John Gill on Genesis 4:25

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 4:25

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:25–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 4:23

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:25

John Gill on Genesis 4:25

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 4:25

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 4:25–end

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 4:25–end

Rashi on Genesis 4:25