Genesis 4:9

And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
LORD	יְהוָה֙ Yah.weh	H3068	Jehovah · proper noun, a title
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Cain	קַ֔יִן Ka.yin	H7014	Kajin · proper noun, a man's name
Where	אֵ֖י 'ei	H335	where? hence how? · interrogative particle
Abel	הֶ֣בֶל He.vel	H1893	Hebel · proper noun, a man's name
brother	אָחִ֑יךָ 'a.Chi.kha	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
said	וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
know	יָדַ֔עְתִּי ya.Da'.ti	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
brother’s	אָחִ֖י 'a.Chi	H251	a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
keeper	הֲשֹׁמֵ֥ר ha.sho.Mer	H8104	properly · interrogative particle + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute

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

Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,…
Psalms 9:12 When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.
Psalms 10:13-14 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.
Genesis 37:32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s…
Acts 5:4-9 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine…
Genesis 3:9-11 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Job 22:13-14 And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:9-12

We have here a full account of the trial and condemnation of the first murderer. Civil courts of judicature not being yet erected for this purpose, as they were afterwards (Gen 9:6), God himself sits Judge; for he is the God to whom vengeance belongs, and who will be sure to make inquisition for blood, especially the blood of saints. Observe, I. The arraignment of Cain: The Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? Some think Cain was thus examined the next sabbath after the murder was committed, when the sons of God came, as usual, to present themselves before the Lord, in a religious assembly, and Abel was missing, whose place did not use to be empty; for the God of heaven takes noti…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 4:9

I know not--a falsehood. One sin leads to another.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:8

Cain talked with Abel his brother - ויאמר קין vaiyomer Kayin, and Cain said, etc.; not talked, for this construction the word cannot bear without great violence to analogy and grammatical accuracy. But why should it be thus translated? Because our translators could not find that any thing was spoken on the occasion; and therefore they ventured to intimate that there was a conversation, indefinitely. In the most correct editions of the Hebrew Bible there is a small space left here in the text, and a circular mark which refers to a note in the margin, intimating that there is a hiatus or deficiency in the verse. Now this deficiency is supplied in the principal ancient versions, and in the Sama…

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John Gill on Genesis 4:9

And the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother?.... Perhaps this was said to him the next time he came to offer, he not being with him: this question is put, not as being ignorant where he was, but in order to bring Cain to a conviction and confession of his sin, to touch his conscience with it, and fill it with remorse for it; and, for the aggravation of it, observes the relation of Abel to him, his brother: and he said, I know not; which was a downright lie; for he must know where he had left him or laid him: this shows him to be under the influence of Satan, who was a liar, and the father of lies, as well as a murderer from the beginning; and that he was so blinded by him, as to…

The Church Fathers

And the Lord said to Cain: Where is Abel your brother? Not as if ignorant, to learn from him, but as a judge questioning a defendant whom he will punish.
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

God appeared to Cain with kindness, so that if he repented, the sin of murder that his fingers had committed might be effaced by the compunction on his lips. If he did not repent, however, there would be decreed on him a bitter punishment in proportion to his evil folly.
— Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 3.6.1

He answered: I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? A foolish and equally arrogant answer; foolish, since he thought he could deceive Him who knew his sinful conscience and accused him of the crime of fratricide even before it was committed, as the knower of secrets; arrogant, since he denied being his brother's keeper in the manner of an obstinate servant, who by manifestation, if any danger threatened, should have taken care of his younger brother, and as the elder should have protected him from impending adversities.
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

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;…
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.
Burial · Probable origin of — Probable origin of
Cain · .Jealousy and crime of — .Jealousy and crime of
Escape · NONE, FROM THE — NONE, FROM THE
Homicide · FELONIOUS, OR MUR — FELONIOUS, OR MUR
Lying · Exemplified: Cain — Exemplified: Cain
Sarcasm · was — was
Selfishness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Will · .Freedom of, recognized by God

Genesis 4:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:9-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 4:9

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:8

John Gill on Genesis 4:9

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 4:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 4:9-12

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 4:9

Adam Clarke on Genesis 4:8

John Gill on Genesis 4:9

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 4:9

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 4:9-10

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 4:9

Rashi on Genesis 4:9