Genesis 4:9-11 New English Translation

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”^[a] And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”^[b] ¹⁰But the Lord said, “What have you done?^[c] The voice^[d] of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! ¹¹So now you are banished^[e] from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Genesis 4:9 sn Where is Abel your brother? Again the Lord confronts a guilty sinner with a rhetorical question (see Gen 3:9-13), asking for an explanation of what has happened.
Genesis 4:9 tn Heb “The one guarding my brother [am] I?”sn Am I my brother’s guardian? Cain lies and then responds with a defiant rhetorical question of his own in which he repudiates any responsibility for his brother. But his question is ironic, for he is responsible for his brother’s fate, especially if he wanted to kill him. See P. A. Riemann, “Am I My Brother’s Keeper?” Int 24 (1970): 482-91.
Genesis 4:10 sn What have you done? Again the Lord’s question is rhetorical (see Gen 3:13), condemning Cain for his sin.
Genesis 4:10 tn The word “voice” is a personification; the evidence of Abel’s shed blood condemns Cain, just as a human eyewitness would testify in court. For helpful insights, see G. von Rad, Biblical Interpretations in Preaching; and L. Morris, “The Biblical Use of the Term ‘Blood,’” JTS 6 (1955/56): 77-82.
Genesis 4:11 tn Heb “cursed are you from the ground.” As in Gen 3:14, the word “cursed,” a passive participle from אָרָר (ʾarar), either means “punished” or “banished,” depending on how one interprets the following preposition. If the preposition is taken as indicating source, then the idea is “cursed (i.e., punished) are you from [i.e., “through the agency of”] the ground” (see v. 12a). If the preposition is taken as separative, then the idea is “cursed and banished from the ground.” In this case the ground rejects Cain’s efforts in such a way that he is banished from the ground and forced to become a fugitive out in the earth (see vv. 12b, 14).

New English Translation (NET)