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Genesis 4:8-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Genesis 4:8-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.”[a] When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(A) 9 Then the Lord asked Cain, Where is your brother Abel? He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 God then said: What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are banned from the ground[b] that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.(B) 12 If you till the ground, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a constant wanderer on the earth. 13 Cain said to the Lord: “My punishment is too great to bear. 14 Look, you have now banished me from the ground. I must avoid you and be a constant wanderer on the earth. Anyone may kill me at sight.” 15 Not so! the Lord said to him. If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged seven times. So the Lord put a mark[c] on Cain, so that no one would kill him at sight. 16 Cain then left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[d] east of Eden.
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- 4:8 Let us go out in the field: to avoid detection. The verse presumes a sizeable population which Genesis does not otherwise explain.
- 4:11 Banned from the ground: lit., “cursed.” The verse refers back to 3:17 where the ground was cursed so that it yields its produce only with great effort. Cain has polluted the soil with his brother’s blood and it will no longer yield any of its produce to him.
- 4:15 A mark: probably a tattoo to mark Cain as protected by God. The use of tattooing for tribal marks has always been common among the Bedouin of the Near Eastern deserts.
- 4:16 The land of Nod: a symbolic name (derived from the verb nûd, to wander) rather than a definite geographic region.
Genesis 4:8-16
New International Version
Genesis 4:8-16
New International Version
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[a] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(A)
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”(B)
“I don’t know,(C)” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.(D) 11 Now you are under a curse(E) and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.(F) You will be a restless wanderer(G) on the earth.(H)”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence;(I) I will be a restless wanderer on the earth,(J) and whoever finds me will kill me.”(K)
15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so[b]; anyone who kills Cain(L) will suffer vengeance(M) seven times over.(N)” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence(O) and lived in the land of Nod,[c] east of Eden.(P)
Footnotes
- Genesis 4:8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have “Let’s go out to the field.”
- Genesis 4:15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well
- Genesis 4:16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14).
1 John 3:12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
1 John 3:12
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
12 unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.(A)
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1 John 3:12
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1 John 3:12
New International Version
12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one(A) and murdered his brother.(B) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.(C)
Numbers 31:15-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Numbers 31:15-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 “So you have spared all the women!” he exclaimed. 16 “These are the very ones who on Balaam’s advice were behind the Israelites’ unfaithfulness to the Lord in the affair at Peor,(A) so that plague struck the Lord’s community.
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Numbers 31:15-16
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Numbers 31:15-16
New International Version
15 “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. 16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice(A) and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident,(B) so that a plague(C) struck the Lord’s people.
2 Peter 2:15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
2 Peter 2:15
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
15 Abandoning the straight road, they have gone astray, following the road of Balaam, the son of Bosor,[a] who loved payment for wrongdoing,(A)
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- 2:15 Balaam, the son of Bosor: in Nm 22:5, Balaam is said to be the son of Beor, and it is this name that turns up in a few ancient Greek manuscripts by way of “correction” of the text. Balaam is not portrayed in such a bad light in Nm 22. His evil reputation and his madness (2 Pt 2:16), and possibly his surname Bosor, may have come from a Jewish tradition about him in the first/second century, of which we no longer have any knowledge.
2 Peter 2:15
New International Version
2 Peter 2:15
New International Version
15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam(A) son of Bezer,[a] who loved the wages of wickedness.
Footnotes
- 2 Peter 2:15 Greek Bosor
Revelation 2:14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Revelation 2:14
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
14 [a]Yet I have a few things against you. You have some people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block before the Israelites: to eat food sacrificed to idols and to play the harlot.(A)
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Revelation 2:14
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Revelation 2:14
New International Version
Numbers 16:19-35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Numbers 16:19-35
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
19 Then, when Korah had assembled all the community against them at the entrance of the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord appeared to the entire community, 20 and the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 21 Stand apart from this community, that I may consume them at once. 22 But they fell prostrate and exclaimed, “O God, God of the spirits of all living creatures, if one man sins will you be angry with the whole community?” 23 The Lord answered Moses: 24 Speak to the community and tell them: Withdraw from the area around the tent[a] of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Punishment of Dathan and Abiram. 25 Moses, followed by the elders of Israel, arose and went to Dathan and Abiram.[b] 26 Then he spoke to the community, “Move away from the tents of these wicked men and do not touch anything that is theirs: otherwise you too will be swept away because of all their sins.” 27 So they withdrew from the area around the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. When Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing at the entrance of their tents with their wives, their children, and their little ones, 28 Moses said, “This is how you shall know that the Lord sent me to do all I have done, and that it was not of my own devising: 29 if these die an ordinary death, merely suffering the fate common to all humanity, the Lord has not sent me. 30 But if the Lord makes a chasm, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them with all belonging to them, and they go down alive to Sheol,[c] then you will know that these men have spurned the Lord.” 31 (A)No sooner had he finished saying all this than the ground beneath them split open, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their families and all of Korah’s people[d] with all their possessions. 33 They went down alive to Sheol with all belonging to them; the earth closed over them, and they disappeared from the assembly. 34 But all the Israelites near them fled at their shrieks, saying, “The earth might swallow us too!”
Punishment of Korah. 35 And fire from the Lord came forth which consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.
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- 16:24 Withdraw from the area around the tent: the word for “tent,” mishkan, here and in v. 27, is otherwise used in the singular only for the tent of meeting, suggesting possibly the erection of a rival sanctuary by the rebels. Note further, as an indication of the fact that various accounts of rebellion have been fused here, that in v. 19 the entire community had been assembled by Korah at the tent of meeting.
- 16:25 Since Dathan and Abiram had refused to go to Moses (vv. 12–14), he, with the elders as witnesses, was obliged to go to their tents.
- 16:30 Sheol: see note on Ps 6:6.
- 16:32 And all of Korah’s people: the implication of this secondary addition to the text is, on the one hand, that Korah met his death elsewhere, presumably with the two hundred and fifty offering incense (vv. 16–17, 35); or, on the other hand, he died along with Dathan and Abiram in the splitting of the earth.
Numbers 16:19-35
New International Version
Numbers 16:19-35
New International Version
19 When Korah had gathered all his followers in opposition to them(A) at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord(B) appeared to the entire assembly. 20 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 21 “Separate yourselves(C) from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.”(D)
22 But Moses and Aaron fell facedown(E) and cried out, “O God, the God who gives breath to all living things,(F) will you be angry with the entire assembly(G) when only one man sins?”(H)
23 Then the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Say to the assembly, ‘Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.’”
25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel(I) followed him. 26 He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men!(J) Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away(K) because of all their sins.(L)” 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.(M) Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children(N) and little ones at the entrances to their tents.(O)
28 Then Moses said, “This is how you will know(P) that the Lord has sent me(Q) to do all these things and that it was not my idea: 29 If these men die a natural death and suffer the fate of all mankind, then the Lord has not sent me.(R) 30 But if the Lord brings about something totally new, and the earth opens its mouth(S) and swallows them, with everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the realm of the dead,(T) then you will know that these men have treated the Lord with contempt.(U)”
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart(V) 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them(W) and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the realm of the dead,(X) with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”
35 And fire came out from the Lord(Y) and consumed(Z) the 250 men who were offering the incense.
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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