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Genesis (American Standard Version, 1901) · 5 of 73 · tr. American Standard Version (1901)

4:8-5:2

[4:8] And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. [4:9] And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother’s keeper? [4:10] And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. [4:11] And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; [4:12] when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth. [4:13] And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear. [4:14] Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever findeth me will slay me. [4:15] And Jehovah said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And Jehovah appointed a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him. [4:16] And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. [4:17] And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. [4:18] And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methushael; and Methushael begat Lamech. [4:19] And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. [4:20] And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents and have cattle. [4:21] And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and pipe. [4:22] And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah. [4:23] And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me: [4:24] If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. [4:25] And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For, said she, God hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel; for Cain slew him. [4:26] And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enosh. Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah. [5:1] This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; [5:2] male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
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Themes
Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

God is described in embodied terms: 'from thy face shall I be hid' (4:14), 'Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah' (4:16), and the ground 'opened its mouth' (4:11) to receive blood.

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Cosmogonycosmology

Narratives or doctrines of cosmic origin — how heaven, earth, and the primordial deities first came into being. The Kojiki's deities born alone on the Plain of High Heaven, Voluspo's Ginnungagap, Genesis's tohu wa-bohu, the Timaeus's Demiurge fashioning the Receptacle, the Hesiodic Theogony, the Kalevala's egg-cosmogony, Egyptian Nun-and-Atum. Distinct from emanation_hierarchy (structural-ontological cascade), letters_of_creation (mechanism of creation), and apocatastasis/frashokereti (end-state restoration); cosmogony is temporally-narrative beginning.

Genesis 5:1-2 restates the creation narrative: 'In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them,' referencing the origin of humanity.

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Gendercosmology

The Hermetic doctrine that a masculine-feminine generative principle operates on every plane of being, not only the biological — present at all times as a structural feature of creation itself. Distinct from divine_marriage (a specific reunification event or symbol) and aeons (paired divine beings arranged in syzygies, not a universal structural claim).

The passage affirms 'male and female created he them' (5:2) as a structural feature of creation, and Lamech's polygamy (4:19) further enacts the generative masculine-feminine principle.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

Jehovah is portrayed as a personal, responsive deity who speaks, judges, curses, protects, and actively engages with individuals in dialogue throughout the passage.

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Prayerpraxis

Direct address to the divine, whether petitionary, contemplative, or liturgical; speech and silence offered upward.

'Then began men to call upon the name of Jehovah' (4:26) marks the inception of direct address to the divine as a communal practice.

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Separation From Sourcesoteriology

The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.

Cain's lament 'from thy face shall I be hid' (4:14) and his exile to the land of Nod express a felt condition of alienation and hiding from the divine presence.

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Related passages · 7 parallels
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