Genesis 4:6 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?

NIV: Then the LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?

NASB: Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy?

CSB: Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?

NLT: Why are you so angry?' the Lord asked Cain. 'Why do you look so dejected?

KJV: And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

NKJV: So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?

Already in Genesis we have seen that when God interacts with people, He sometimes asks questions. Obviously, God knows the answers to His questions. Rather, God asks in the same way a human father might question a child. He appears to want to engage them in conversation, to prompt them to think about their choices. God wants to hear them express the state of their own hearts. Fatherly questions are an opportunity for the child to be open, honest, and trusting of their parent.

Here God asks Cain to think about, explain, and express why he feels so angry. God's question not only seeks Cain's response, but hints that there is no good reason for Cain to feel this way. God's rejection of Cain and his offering has caused his face to fall, and God wants Cain to understand and own the reasons for His anger. However, as the next verse shows, this is not a necessary reaction. God is willing to accept Cain if Cain chooses a better path.

God still calls for His people to express themselves to Him in prayer, even in seasons of rebellion and hurt. Some of the Psalms model those kinds of honest, hard prayers for us.

Genesis 4:1–16 tells the beginning of human history in the wake of Adam's and Eve's sin and separation from God. This passage details the murder of Abel by his older brother Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel work the ground and tend sheep. They worship God, but Cain kills Abel in a fit of envy over God's rejection of Cain and his offering. The first human born on earth becomes the first murderer. God forces Cain to leave his family and wander the earth, but God also marks Cain with a promise of great vengeance on anyone who would kill him.

The consequences of sin become apparent in chapter 4: envy, arrogance, rebellion, murder, punishment, separation from family, and separation from God. Adam and Eve's firstborn son, Cain, jealously murders his brother Abel and loses everything. Adam and Eve lose them both. Cain's descendants amplify his sinfulness. Still, God provides help for Eve in childbirth and even provides protection for Cain in his wandering. Eve remains a woman of faith, even in her loss. And the sons of Seth, born after the murder of Abel, become a people who proclaim the name of the Lord.

The first three chapters of Genesis explain the creation and loss of paradise, as Adam and Eve are separated from God both physically and spiritually. Their relationship with Him does not end, however. Eve recognizes His help in bearing her son Cain and later Seth. Cain and Abel both worship God until Cain kills Abel. God provides protection for Cain, whose descendants become innovative, artful, arrogant, and violent. The descendants of Seth, however, begin to call on the Lord's name. This chapter bridges the story of Genesis from our ultimate origins to the story of Noah, introduced in the next chapter.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.