והאדם ידע את חוה אשתו, “in the interval Adam had been intimate with his wife Chavah, etc.” When the sages comment that two human beings went to bed and four got up out of that same bed, this refers to what is spelled out in the text. Seeing that the Torah does not specifically mention the female twins born with Kayin and Hevel, the Midrash (Pirkey de Rabbi Eliiezer quoted by Rabbeinu Bachya on Genesis 2,7) also does not mention this. Some commentators understand the words “four descended from that bed,” as referring to Kayin and his twin sister, believing that Hevel had not been born at that time, as the Torah hints when writing ותוסף ללדת את אחיו את הבל, “she again gave birth to Hevel his brother.” (4,2)

קניתי איש את ה', “I have acquired a man, with G’d.” Rashi understands the word את to mean: “with,” Chavah saying that she had become a partner to G’d. Nachmanides comments that Chavah said that this son would be her posthumous possession, (estate) that she would leave behind on this earth when it came time for her to die. He would serve his Creator in lieu of his parents when these would be no longer alive. Alternatively, the meaning of the word את in our verse is similar to ויתהלך חנוך את האלוקים, or in את האלוקים התהלך נח (Genesis 6,9 and Genesis 5,22) “Noach walked with G’d.” She called the one son by a name meaning acquisition, and the second one הבל, as she did not want to spell out her fatalistic outlook of life on earth so that any acquisitions man makes on this earth while alive will prove to have been הבל, in vain, ultimately useless. In the whole of the portion known as בראשית prior to the conclusion of the seven days of creation, G’d is referred to only as אלוקים. The four-lettered name of G’d does not appear until verse 4 in chapter 2. From that point on, we also do not only find the four-lettered name of G’d unless accompanied by the name אלוקים. This reflects the statement of our sages that originally G’d had wanted to employ only the attribute of Justice, i.e. אלוקים, when He created His universe. When He realized that the universe would be very short-lived if He insisted on the attribute of Justice, He co-opted the attribute of Mercy, i.e. the four-lettered name of G’d, the tetragram, and He placed it at the beginning of His combined name. When the time came when Chavah described herself as G’d’s partner, He said that from that point on He would employ the attribute of Mercy as His chief attribute in dealing with mankind. This is why from this point on we find only the four-lettered name of G’d (until idolatry was practiced by man. Based on the רא'ש, the author’s father.)

ויהי הבל רועה צאן וקין היה עובד אדמה, “and Hevel became a tender of sheep, whereas Kayin became a tiller of the soil.” Ordinarily, we would have expected the Torah to mention Kayin’s vocation first, seeing that he was the first-born. However, seeing that Kayin did not really have a vocation but served the Lord by merely existing, as hinted at by Chavah, who had described him as an acquisition, Hevel’s vocation was mentioned first. When Kayin observed that his brother had chosen a vocation for himself, he too chose a vocation, and became a farmer. Seeing he chose his vocation last, the Torah mentions the vocations of the brothers in that order.

והבל הביא גם הוא מבכורות צאנו. “and Hevel had also brought of the choicest of his flocks.” Rabbi Joseph Kimchi, in drawing our attention to the absence of any mention here of first building an altar and presenting the gift to G’d on such an altar, sees this as proof that until Noach after the deluge, the slaughtering of animals even as burnt offerings was not permitted to man.

וישע ה' אל הבל, “the Lord responded to Hevel, (and his gift). Rabbi Joseph Kimchi explains the reason why G’d did not respond to Kayin’s gift as due to the fact that he first ate his fill before giving G’d the share we call bikkurim, the first ripe fruit we produce. Hevel, on the other hand, offered to G’d the very first of the wool his sheep had produced.

לא שעה, “He had not responded.” Rashi understands the word שעה as meaning “He turned toward,” as in אל ישעו, (Exodus 8,9) “let them not turn toward.” However, in Exodus 5,9 he does not explain it in the same manner. We need to understand the word here as similar to another verse in which it means: “do not turn to other altars.” (Isaiah 17,8)

הלא אם תיטיב שאת, “indeed when you will be good there will be a reward (forgiveness).” According to Rashi the meaning of the word שאת is similar to נושא עוון ופשע, “Who forgives sin and deliberate affronts.” (Exodus 34,7) According to Ibn Ezra the meaning of the word is “raising,” such as the lifting or raising the face of someone who feels ashamed because he has been rejected and buries his face in his hands so as not to display his shame. According to Nachmanides G’d tells Kayin that if he will be good he will even outrank his brother Hevel in G’d’s esteem, seeing that he is the first-born, after all. If, on the other hand, (remainder of our verse) Kayin were not to improve his ways, he would not only experience this humiliation but others would follow and dog him all his life. The reason is that he provided an entrance for the evil urge through his misguided conduct.

ויאמר קין, “Kayin said, etc.” according to Rashi Kayin began to quarrel with Hevel. According to Ibn Ezra Kayin told Hevel all the admonitions G’d had subjected him to. This is why the Torah did not have to repeat what he said to Hevel. Nachmanides explains that the words ויאמר קין אל הבל אחיו, are to be understood as part of the words ויהי בהיותם בשדה, “it was when they were both in the field, etc,” i.e. the second half of our verse. We need to understand the whole sequence as Kayin saying to Hevel: “let’s go out into the field, etc.” His intention was to kill him there in a spot that was not within view of his parents or twin sister. He was under the impression that his parents would not beget any more children. He was also afraid that the human species would be built up by the descendants of Hevel seeing that only his gift had been accepted by G’d. Some commentators believe that the subject of their conversation was to divide up the earth between them, Kayin claiming agriculture as his domain, claiming all arable land as belonging to him, whereas Hevel, being a shepherd, claimed all that was above the ground. Eventually, Kayin used this as a pretext to deny his brother setting foot on his soil, whereas Hevel denied Kayin the right to breathe the air. This led to a fight between them.

ויקם קין, “Kayin arose, etc.” According to the Midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 22,7-8) Hevel succeeded in wrestling Kayin to the ground, whereupon Kayin asked him if he planned to kill him, pleading that they were the only two human beings in the world, and would it not be terrible to kill half the human race? Thereupon Hevel had pity on him and released him. At that point Kayin exploited Hevel’s weakness and killed him. Seeing that he did not know where to administer a lethal blow he had to strike him in numerous places until he found the most vulnerable spot in his body. (according to the Midrash, he observed two ravens fighting , one of them standing over the other and killing it and then burying it in the earth. Kayin simply copied the raven)

השמר אחי אנכי? “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Kayin remonstrated with G’d that it had been G’d’s duty to protect Hevel, not his.

ארור אתה מן האדמה אשר פצתה את פיה, “you are cursed from the earth which opened its mouth, etc.” It is difficult to understand how the earth could be faulted. After all, the earth acts as receptacle for everything which is poured out upon it. The answer given is that in this instance the earth deliberately tried to conceal the deed by swallowing all of Hevel’s blood (and body) so that not a trace of what happened there remained visible. Rashi explains the words ארור אתה מן האדמה, as meaning “you are cursed now even more than the first curse which had been decreed against the earth as a result of your father’s sin when he ate from the tree of knowledge.” [that curse had also been described as ארורה, although Rashi substituted the term קללה. Ed.] Nachmanides disagrees with Rashi, saying that this time the earth itself was not cursed as when Kayin’s father had sinned, but in this instance Kayin’s vocation as a farmer was the subject of the curse. Whereas previously he had been a very successful farmer, he would find now that even his best efforts would not be rewarded with the expected success.

גדול עוני מנשא, “my sin is too great to be forgiven.” According to Nachmanides this was Kayin’s true and sincere confession. He acknowledged the righteousness of the Creator, admitting that he had deserved the severe punishment decreed upon him. He felt unable to pray, as he did not think that prayers from a sinner such as himself had a chance to evoke G’d’s sympathy. He felt that if he had not qualified for a favourable response to his sacrificial offering before he murdered his brother, he most certainly could not expect that G’d would accept any gift from him now. He was at his wits’ end, seeing that anyone on earth who would find him would be justified in killing him.

הרג קין שבעתים יוקם. “whoever kills Kayin will be avenged sevenfold.” According to Nachmanides this means that whoever will kill Kayin will be avenged seven times over, i.e. .he will be punished for his deed as if he had killed seven people. This threat was designed to restrain anyone who would feel like killing Kayin.

וישם ה' לקין אות, “G’d placed a mark on Kayin;” the Torah did not write ויתן לו ה' אות, “G’d gave Kayin a mark,” but וישם, a word which describes something permanent. The mark with which G’d provided Kayin would remain visible for an indefinite period of time. Perhaps the meaning is that whenever Kayin, in his many journeys, would face a route unknown to him, the fact that he received no guidance would serve as a warning to him that that route was potentially dangerous for him.

וישב בארץ נוד, “he settled in the land of Nod.” Seeing that Kayin had become a true penitent, G’d remitted half of his sentence, the half dealing with his being a constant wanderer on earth, not calling any place “home.” Whereas he had been condemned to be נע ונד, he had now been allowed to establish a permanent residence. Nachmanides explains the word נוד in terms of it being a variant of נע ונד, meaning that the region in which Kayin was a wanderer was one called נוד, so that his wanderings did not involve roaming the surface of the globe.

קדמת עדן, “to the east of Eden.” Wherever an easterly direction is mentioned in connection with man, it is related to the location of גן עדן in some manner. When the direction is mentioned with Moses, however, the Torah writes אז יבדיל משה שלש ערים מזרחה שמש, in order to describe an easterly direction (Deuteronomy 4,41, i.e. the word מזרחה describes an easterly direction)

ויהי בונה עיר, “he became a builder of a city.” Nachmanides explains that originally Kayin had not entertained the idea of building anything permanent as he was afraid he would both remain childless and a wanderer. After a son had been born for him, he built the city and named it after his son. Seeing that he himself was cursed and his efforts were doomed to failure, he did not name the city after himself but after his son. This would create the impression that his son had built it, and it would have a chance to endure. Seeing that the Torah writes the words ויהי בונה עיר, in the present, ongoing tense, instead of writing the words ויבן עיר, “he built a city,” we learn that henceforth Kayin continuously engaged in building cities, habitations for human beings, the backbone of any civilization. He had to keep doing this as whatever he accomplished was short-lived. The reason why the Torah bothers to list the descendants of Kayin and their accomplishments although all of them perished in the deluge, is to show for how long G’d’s patience lasts and for how long He gives successive generations a chance to repair the spiritual damage inflicted by their forbears. It is likely that only six generations of Kayin existed before the deluge, although it is possible that the Torah saw no point in mentioning any additional generations as none of its members distinguished themselves in any manner. The reason why the Torah details Lemech’s admonitions to his wives may be because Kayin and his sons already had died before Lemech fathered any children. [whereas the Torah mentions the death of each of the founders of the generations born to Sheth, it does not do so with the descendants of Kayin, indicating that none of these people were missed when they died. Ed.]

ויאמר למך לנשיו, “Lemech said to his wives, etc.” Nachmanides concludes from the plain text of our verses that Lemech was a wise and astute individual, well versed in all the vocations requiring not only brawn but also brain. He taught his oldest son how to be a proficient shepherd, allowing for the different nature of different animals, as well as the different kind of feed which they would thrive on. He taught his second son the rudiments of musical composition and how to play certain musical instruments. He taught his third son the art of working with different kinds of metal, including the making of weapons such as swords, spears, daggers, etc. His wives became afraid that he would be punished for introducing warfare into a peaceful society. Seeing that his paternal great-great-grandfather had been a murderer, perpetuating the art of killing would surely be frowned upon by heaven. Thus thought his wives. He told them that he himself had not been guilty of killing as had Kayin, so that G’d would protect him against murder even more so than He had been protecting Kayin for hundreds of years. He made the point that it is not the weapons which kill but the men who abuse the weapons. Man is capable of inflicting death on his fellow man with his bare hands and therefore manufacturing swords was not something that by itself was sinful. Rabbi Joseph Kimchi interprets the speech by Lemech to his wives as provoked by the discord in his household, seeing he had married two wives. Lemech is asking why he should be blamed, מה פשעי, when it was his wives who could not live in harmony with one another. If people like Kayin who had murdered, could live in peace and undisturbed, why should he who had not been guilty of murder have to be the victim of such discord? He warned his wives with sevenfold retribution by G’d Who had promised Kayin that He would personally avenge his life if anyone were to kill him. G’d would bring down great unhappiness on the people making Lemech’s life miserable. Other commentators consider Lemech as boasting that he had killed both adults and children merely in order to put the fear of him into the hearts of his wives. In fact, he had not killed. They would become afraid of him and live together peacefully under his roof.

אז הוחל לקרא בשם ה', “then some people began to desecrate the Holy Name of the Lord*.” Rash’bam* interprets this line as people beginning to pray to G’d as their situation on earth had deteriorated so drastically. Other commentators, take the opposite view, saying that our verse describes the beginning of idolatry.