The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 157

tranai:;ressor, but patiently expostula.tee with of sin (Onkelos, Grotius, Cornelius a Lapid& and mstructs him as to how he too might Ainsworth), the guilt of sin, the sense of obtain the samo blessing of acceptance which unpardoned transgression ; "interius coa- his younger brother enjoyed. scicntire judicium, qnod hominem convictum Vere. O, 7-And the Lord (Jehovah) said s~i peccati undique obsessum premit" (Cal- unto Ca.in. Speaking either mediately by vm). 3. A si_n offering (Lightfoot, Poole, Adnm (Luther), or more probably directly by M~gee, Candlish, Exell)-lieth (liternlly, his own voice from between the chernbim lyvng; robeta, from rabats, to couch as a whero the flaming sword, the visible symbol beast of prey_; cf. eh. xx1x. 2 ; xlix. 9) at of the Divine presence, hod been established the door. Literally,. at the opening = at the door of the conscience, exprcssi-ve of the (cf. Exod. xx. 24). Why a.rt thou wroth 1 nearness and severity of the Divine retribu- a.nd why is thy countena.nce fullen 1 The tion (Calvin); of the soul, indicatin" the ensuing verse is a. veritable cru:c interpretum, conc,erning w~ich the ~ea.test diversity of c[ose contigu\ty of the ~evouring minster sentiment exists. Passing by the manifest sm to the evil-doer (Kahsch) ; of parmlise (Bonar); of Abel's fold (Exel!), sncmestin" mistranslation of the LXX., " If thou hast the loca:lity where a sacrificial victi~might offered rightly, but hast not divided rightly, ~e obtained ; . o/ the house, conveying the hast thou not sinned 1 Rest q_uiet ; toward 1~ea.<1 of pubhc1ty and certainty of uetec- thee is his (or its) resort, a.nd thou shalt rule tion for the transgressor whose sin thouah over him (or it)," which Augustine, Ambrose, and Chrysostom followed, at the same time lying asleep, was only sleeping at the doir "wearying themselves with ma.ny interpret- i .. e. "in a place where it will surely b; ations, and bein~ divided among themselves disturbed; and, therefore, it is impossible but as to how Cain divided not rightly" (Willet) that it must be awoke and roused up ..hcu the different opinions that ha.ve been enter'. as a. furious beast it will lay hold on 'thee" tained ns to the meaning of its several (Luther) ; h. e.. " stat~ se prodet, peccatum clauses, their connection, and precise import tuum ~on Il:"agIS ,?elan pote_st, quam id rp1od when united, mny be thus exhibited. If pro fonbus Jacet (Rosenmiiller). And ll!lto thou doest well. Either (1) if thou wert thee shall be his-i. e. (1) Abel's (LXX. (1), innoce~t and si?lcss (Candlish, Jamieson), Chrysostom, Ambrose, Grotius, Calvin A.ins- or (2) if thou, hke Abel, presentest a right 'l'l'.o~th, Bush, Speaker's, Bonar, EYell); or (2) offering in a. right spirit (Vulga.te Luther sins (Vulgate (!), Luther, Rosellllliiller Yon Calvin), or (3). if thou. retrace t~y step~ Bohlen, Ka1fsch, K_eil,, Delitzsch, Murphy) ; and amend thine offering and mtention or (3) the sm olfenng s (Faber, Candlish)- (Willet, Murphy). Sha.It thou not be ac- desire (vide eh. iii 16), and thou shalt rule oep~ed 1 Literally, Is t[iere not lifting up f o_ver him. I. e., according to the interpreta- (seath,, from nasa, to r:use up). Either-I. tion adopted _of _the pr~ceding words-(1) Of the c~untenance (Gesenius, Fiirst, Dathe, thou shalt maintmn thy nghts of primoo-eni- Rosenmuller,. Knob 71, La.nge, Delitzsch). 2. ture ov:er Abel, who, a.s younger son, sh:~h be Of t~e sacriji,ce, viz:, by accept~nce of it obsequ10us and deferential towards thee • or (Ca.lvm) ; a.kin to which are the mterpreta- (2) "the entire submission nnd service of s~ tions-Is there not a lifting up of the burden will be yielded to thee, o.nd thou shalt make of guilt 1 Is there not forgiveness! (Luther); thyself_ master. of it," sc. by yielding to it Is there not acceptance with God! (Speuker's and being burned on to greater wickedness- Commentary); Is there not a. bearin" sway a warning against the downward course of of blessing 1 (Ainsworth). Vulgnte~ Shalt sin (Murphy); or, while sin lurks for thee thou not receive 1 (sc. the Divine favour). like a beast of prey, and "the demon of all ui:emen t " .thirsts for thee to gratify thy "Vorum qusmvis Ii-!.' N~~ poccatum con- passion, .t~ou shnlt (or mayst) rule over it, donare signi.ficet, nusquam tamen n~~ sc. by giving up thy wrath aml restraiJ1in"' yeniam Sonat" (Rosen.). 3. Of the perscm thine evil propensities-a. word of hopeful 1. e. by establishing Cain's pre-eminency encouragement to draw the sinner buck to as the elder brother, to which reference is hol)'. pa~hs (~eil) ;_ o'., "peccatum tauquam clearly made in the concluding clause of ~1J:h~1· 1mpudica s1stitur, ,1ure hominem 11d the verso (Bush). And if thou doest not hb1drnem sua.m explendam tentet cui icitnr well, s~n-chaetath, from chata, to miss the resistere de'oeat" (Rosenmiiller); 'or (3) the murk like nn urcher, properly signifies a sin sacrificial victim is not for to se;k, it is (Exod, x.xviii. 9 ; Isa.. vi. 27 ; cf. Greek alreo.dy courting thine acceptance, nnd thou /ir11); nlso a sin offering (Levit. vi. 18, 23); mayst at once ava.il thyself of it (Candlish) ~lso penalty (Zech. xiv. 19), though this Of the various solutions of this " d.iffi.cilli, 1s doubtful. Hence it bus been taken to mus locus," all of which a.re plausible, a.nd mean in this place-I. Sin (Dathe Roson- none of which are entirely destitute of sup- miiller, Keil, Kalisch, Wordsworth, Speaker's port, thnt o.ppcare the most entitled to ac- Commentnry, Murphy). 2. The punishment ceptance whici:.: excluding 1my reference  80 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [ea. 1v. 1-16.