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NASB | Genesis 4:14 "Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 4:14 "Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Your face (presence) I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and an [aimless] vagabond on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." |
Bible Question:
If everyone was living in the land, under God, why would Cain be fearful of being killed by his relatives outside of the land? What are they doing outside of the land; outside of God? Could Cain possibly be representative of a whole; the Word's case in point so to speak? Thanks for your patience. Blessings, Bliss |
Bible Answer: Hi Bliss, We can only conjecture who those people were whom Cain was fearful of. Apparently, Adam and Eve had other children, who were beginning to spread out across the land, as God had commanded. That they may have been living outside of where Cain and Abel were does not signify that they were following or not following God, since He had commanded them to fill the earth. Gen 1:28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Cain may not have been worried about anyone specific, maybe even of those not yet born, just that he was afraid of vengeance. This portion of Scripture is a simple narrative, with no textual cues to indicate that it is symbolic or allegorical, therefore I would take it as straightforward literal reality, and so that Cain would not be representing anything or one beyond himself, as a man who murdered his brother. I hope this helps! Love in Christ, Mark |