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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Seven — Cain and Abel

Verse 15. And the Lord said to him, It shall not be so, but everyone who kills Cain shall be punished sevenfold

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Verse 15. And the Lord said to him, It shall not be so, but everyone who kills Cain shall be punished sevenfold.1

VERS. 15. Dixitque ei Dominus, Nequaquam ita fiet, sed omnis qui occiderit Cain, septuplum punietur.

ILLUD Septuplum punietur, varie legitur, secundum varias lectiones quas memorat S. Hieronymus in Epist. 125. quam scripsit ad Damasum, ad primam de quaestionibus ab eo sibi propositis respondens. Varietas autem lectionis & ipsa dicendi obscuritas, perdifficilem huius loci fecit explicatum. Noster igitur interpres vertit Septuplum punietur: Septuaginta interpretes, & Theodocion, Septem vindictas exolvet: Aquila, Septempliciter ulciscetur, seu vindicabitur, quomodo etiam Pagninus vertit: denique Symmachus, Septimus vindicabitur. In tanta lectionis varietate, licet germanam horum verborum sententiam assequi non sit facile, illud tamen pro certo dici potest, non significari ea oratione, eum qui occidisset Cain, septies punitum iri. Si enim Deus bis non punit idem crimen, ut est apud Nahum prophetam, cap. 2. secundum translationem Septuaginta interpretum, quanto minus septies?
That 'shall be punished sevenfold' is variously read, according to the various readings which St Jerome mentions in Epistle 125, which he wrote to Damasus, answering the first of the questions proposed to him. But the variety of reading, and the very obscurity of expression, made this place most difficult to explain. Our translator, then, renders 'shall be punished sevenfold'; the Seventy interpreters, and Theodotion, 'shall pay seven vengeances'; Aquila, 'shall be avenged, or vindicated, sevenfold,' as Pagninus also renders; finally Symmachus, 'the seventh shall be avenged.' In such a variety of reading, though it is not easy to attain the genuine sense of these words, this at least can be said for certain, that by that speech it is not signified that he who killed Cain would be punished seven times. For if God does not twice punish the same crime — as is [said] in the prophet Nahum, ch. 2, according to the translation of the Seventy — how much less seven times?2
ILLUD quoque satis credibile est, non significari illis verbis interfectorem Cain graviori supplicio punitum iri, quam ipsum Cain pro caede fratris sui: non enim id videretur aequum: siquidem pro mensura peccati debet esse & plagarum modus. Quis autem dubitet, gravius fuisse peccatum caedem Abel innocentissimi scienter & malitiose factam a Cain, quam necem ipsius Cain hominis sceleratissimi, per ignorationem & errorem, ut fertur, a Lamech factam? Non me fugit hanc ipsam opinionem acerrime defendi a Paulo Burgensi, in quadam Additione sua ad Postillam Lyrani super hoc loco, sed ego assentior potius Lyrano, Tostato, & Carthusiano, qui eam opinionem in suis Commentariis hoc loco refutarunt.
That too is quite credible, that by those words it is not signified that Cain's killer would be punished with a graver punishment than Cain himself for the murder of his brother; for that would not seem equitable, since the measure of the stripes ought to be according to the measure of the sin. But who would doubt that a graver sin was the murder of most innocent Abel, done knowingly and maliciously by Cain, than the killing of Cain himself, a most wicked man, done through ignorance and error, as is reported, by Lamech? It does not escape me that this very opinion is most keenly defended by Paul of Burgos, in a certain Addition of his to Lyra's Postil on this place; but I rather assent to Lyra, Tostatus, and the Carthusian, who refuted that opinion in their Commentaries on this place.3
Nec interpretationem huius loci, quae est apud Rupertum cap. 8. libri tertii Commentariorum in Genesim, valde probo. Putat enim septuplum puniri, idem esse quod aeternis suppliciis puniri, septenario namque numero significatur universitas non solum apud Ecclesiasticos, sed etiam apud Gentiles Philosophos. Itaque Septuplum punietur, inquit Rupertus, idem est, quod plena & consummata vindicta punietur. Verum subaudiri oportet, nisi poenitentiam egerit. Sic enim & illud intelligere oportet quod est apud Ezechielem, cap. 18. Anima quae peccaverit ipsa
Nor do I much approve the interpretation of this place which is in Rupert, ch. 8 of the third book of the Commentaries on Genesis. For he thinks that 'to be punished sevenfold' is the same as to be punished with eternal punishments; for by the number seven is signified universality, not only among the ecclesiastical writers, but also among the Gentile philosophers. And so 'shall be punished sevenfold,' says Rupert, is the same as 'shall be punished with full and consummated vengeance.' But one must understand [the qualification], 'unless he do penance.' For so too must that be understood which is in Ezekiel, ch. 18, 'The soul that sins, it [itself shall die]...'4
ipsa morietur, & quod est apud Matth. cap. 5. Qui dixerit fratri suo, Fatue, reus erit gehennae ignis, utrobique enim subaudiri oportet nisi poenitentiam egerit. Constat autem, quod is qui occidit Cain, scilicet Lamech, poenitudinem gesserit. Dixit enim uxoribus suis, Audite vocem meam uxores Lamech, auscultate sermonem quoniam occidi virum in vulnus meum, & adolescentulum in livorem meum. Sic Rupertus. Sed videtur allegorica magis quam historica, nec parum contorta interpretatio. Nusquam enim in sacris litteris (quod equidem meminerim) reperio, septuplum puniri, pro eo quod est aeternis post hanc vitam suppliciis puniri esse positum. Et in veteri Testamento, praesertim autem ante legem & prophetas, & in exordio humani generis, non aeterna, quae post hanc vitam manent supplicia, sed praesentis vitae mala, & calamitates improbis hominibus Deus interminari solebat.
'...it itself shall die,' and what is in Matthew ch. 5, 'He who says to his brother, Fool, shall be liable to the fire of Gehenna' — for in both places one must understand 'unless he does penance.' But it is agreed that he who killed Cain, namely Lamech, did penance. For he said to his wives, 'Hear my voice, wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.' Thus Rupert. But it seems an interpretation more allegorical than historical, and not a little forced. For nowhere in the sacred writings (as far as I recall) do I find 'to be punished sevenfold' put for 'to be punished with eternal punishments after this life.' And in the Old Testament, especially before the Law and the Prophets, and at the beginning of the human race, God was wont to threaten wicked men not with eternal punishments that remain after this life, but with the evils and calamities of the present life.5
SUNT igitur tres probabiliores huius loci explanationes, secundum triplicem eius translationem. Prima interpretatio nititur translatione LXX. Interpretum, qui hunc locum sic verterunt: Omnis qui occiderit Cain, septem vindictas exolvet: cuius translationis triplex potest esse sensus: Primus, ut post illud Omnis qui occiderit Cain. punctus ponatur, & sit oratio suspensa per reticentiam, sicut illa apud Virgilium, Quos ego: sed motos praestat componere fluctus. Subaudiri autem oportere, Gravissime a me punietur. Id autem quod sequitur, Septem vindictas exolvet, non ad interfectorem Cain, sed ad ipsum Cain pertinere. Quasi diceret, Nolo tam cito Cain perire, prius enim ipse septem vindictas exoluere debet pro septem peccatis, quae commisit. Male enim sacrificavit: fratri suo invidit: Dei admonitionem contempsit: per fraudem & dolum fratri locutus est: crudeliter eum interemit: procaciter Deo caedem eius negavit: denique sceleris admissi veniam desperando, se ipse damnavit. Sin autem illud, Septem vindictas exolvet, ad interfectorem Cain referamus, & id potest intelligi dupliciter: ut vel significetur, interfectorem Cain septem vindictis, id est, multis & magnis suppliciis affectum iri, vel, eum interficiendo Cain, exoluturum & liberaturum septem vindictis & poenis ipsum Cain, quas scilicet ille pro septem peccatis a se factis, & paulo ante commemoratis luere debebat.
There are, therefore, three more probable explanations of this place, according to its threefold translation. The first interpretation rests on the translation of the LXX interpreters, who rendered this place thus: 'Everyone who kills Cain shall pay seven vengeances' — of which translation there can be a threefold sense. The first: that after that 'Everyone who kills Cain' a period be placed, and the speech be left suspended by reticence [aposiopesis], like that in Virgil, 'Whom I —: but it is better to calm the stirred waves'; and one must understand, 'shall be most gravely punished by me.' But that which follows, 'shall pay seven vengeances,' pertains not to Cain's killer, but to Cain himself. As if he said, I do not wish Cain to perish so soon, for he must first pay seven vengeances for the seven sins which he committed. For he sacrificed badly; he envied his brother; he despised God's admonition; he spoke to his brother by fraud and deceit; he cruelly killed him; he insolently denied his murder to God; finally, by despairing of pardon for the crime committed, he condemned himself. But if we refer that 'shall pay seven vengeances' to Cain's killer, it can be understood in two ways: that either it signifies Cain's killer would be afflicted with seven vengeances, that is, with many and great punishments; or that, by killing Cain, he would pay off and free Cain himself from the seven vengeances and punishments which Cain had to pay for the seven sins done by him and just mentioned.6
ALTERA interpretatio est, quam tradit Rabbi Salomon, & secuti sunt Lyranus, Tostatus, & Carthusianus, ut illud Omnis qui interfecerit Cain, sententiam finiat, & subintelligendum, sit gravissime punietur a me, quod per reticentiam omissum est. Deinde quod sequitur Septuplum a me punietur, vel, ut vertit Symmachus, Septimus punietur, referatur ad ipsum Cain, qui non ante peremptus est, quam pervenit ad septimam suam generationem, quae terminata est in filiis Lamech, a quo ille creditur occisus. Tertia interpretatio, secundum nostram versionem Latinam, facilis est & probabilis admodum: ut illud Septuplum punietur, non aliud significet, quam gravissimo & severissimo supplicio afficietur, non solum quia hominem occidet, sed quia contra publicam fidem a Deo ei datam
The second interpretation is that which Rabbi Solomon hands down, and which Lyra, Tostatus, and the Carthusian followed: that 'Everyone who kills Cain' ends the sentence, and 'shall be most gravely punished by me' is to be understood, which was omitted by reticence. Then what follows, 'Sevenfold shall he be punished by me,' or, as Symmachus renders, 'The seventh shall be punished,' is referred to Cain himself, who was not destroyed before he reached his seventh generation, which was terminated in the sons of Lamech, by whom he is believed to have been killed. The third interpretation, according to our Latin version, is easy and quite probable: that 'shall be punished sevenfold' signifies nothing else than that he [the killer] will be afflicted with a most grave and most severe punishment — not only because he kills a man, but because, against the public faith given him by God...7
ei datam eum occidet. Atque hoc exemplo & documento voluit Deus ostendere, quam horrendum scelus sit hominem occidere, eaque ratione ab homicidio omnes vehementer absterrere. Sed cur tandiu mortem Cain Deus voluit differri? Fuit sane hoc severioris iustitiae quod diuturnior esset, acerbiorque eius cruciatus. Fuit nihilominus etiam singularis clementiae, tam longum ei agendae poenitentiae spatium concedentis: Fuit denique salutaris providentiae & consilii divini, ut exemplo Caini, qui miserrimam tot annos in perpetuo metu & cruciatu animi & corporis vitam prorogavit, discerent homines, quam sit formidandum, Dei monita & documenta contemnere; quam sceleratum, aliis divinam gratiam invidere, quam execrandum, per dolum & fraudem nocere aliis; denique quam horrendum, hominum, praesertim autem suorum necessariorum, sanguine animum manusque imbuere atque contaminare.
...given him, he kills him. And by this example and document God wished to show how horrendous a crime it is to kill a man, and by this reason vehemently to deter all from homicide. But why did God wish Cain's death to be deferred so long? This was indeed of severer justice, that his torment might be longer and bitterer. It was nevertheless also of singular clemency, granting him so long a space for doing penance. It was finally of salutary providence and divine counsel, that by the example of Cain — who prolonged for so many years a most wretched life of mind and body in perpetual fear and torment — men might learn how much to be feared it is to despise God's warnings and documents; how wicked, to envy others the divine grace; how execrable, to harm others by deceit and fraud; finally, how horrendous, to imbrue and contaminate one's mind and hands with the blood of men, especially of one's own kinsfolk.8

Translator’s notes

  1. New lemma: Genesis 4:15 (marginal 'VERS. 15.'), God's protective mark and sevenfold penalty. ↩
  2. The 'sevenfold' phrase (Gen 4:15) is read variously (Jerome, Ep. 125 to Damasus): Vulgate 'punished sevenfold'; LXX and Theodotion 'shall pay seven vengeances'; Aquila (and Pagninus) 'avenged sevenfold'; Symmachus 'the seventh shall be avenged.' Amid this variety, one thing is certain: it does not mean Cain's killer would be punished seven times — for if God does not punish the same crime twice (Nahum 1:9, per LXX), much less seven times. Marginal gloss: 'Varietas lectionum huius loci.' ↩
  3. Nor does it mean Cain's killer would be punished more gravely than Cain himself — inequitable, since punishment should match the sin (Deut 25:2), and Abel's knowing, malicious murder by Cain was graver than the killing of wicked Cain by Lamech through ignorance/error. Paul of Burgos defends this (killer punished more) in an Addition to Lyra's Postil, but Pererius sides with Lyra, Tostatus, and the Carthusian (Denis), who refuted it. Marginal glosses: 'Deut. 25.'; 'Refellitur Paulus Burgensis.' ↩
  4. Pererius also disapproves Rupert's reading (Comm. in Gen. bk 3, ch. 8): that 'sevenfold' = eternal punishment (seven signifying universality among both church writers and pagan philosophers), i.e. 'full and consummated vengeance.' But this must be qualified 'unless he does penance' — as also Ezekiel 18:20 ('The soul that sins, it itself shall die') must be understood. Marginal gloss: 'Discutitur explanatio Ruperti.' Page footer signature 'CCCC'; catchword 'ipsa' (continues on the next page). ↩
  5. End of Rupert's reading: Ezek 18:20 and Matt 5:22 must be qualified 'unless he does penance'; Cain's killer Lamech did penance (Gen 4:23, 'I have slain a man to my wounding'). Pererius rejects it as more allegorical than historical and forced: nowhere does Scripture use 'sevenfold' for eternal punishment; and in the Old Testament (especially before the Law) God threatened the wicked with present-life evils, not eternal ones. Verso running head 'COMMENTARIORVM' number '744'; true printed page 754. ↩
  6. Three explanations by threefold translation. FIRST (on the LXX 'shall pay seven vengeances'), with a threefold sense: (a) read with aposiopesis — 'Everyone who kills Cain —' [understood: shall be most gravely punished by me] (like Virgil's 'Quos ego —,' Aeneid 1.135), while 'shall pay seven vengeances' refers to CAIN paying for his SEVEN SINS: sacrificing badly, envying Abel, despising God's warning, speaking deceitfully, the cruel murder, insolently denying it to God, and self-condemning despair; or (b) referred to the killer — either the killer suffers seven punishments, or by killing Cain he frees Cain from those seven penalties. Marginal glosses: 'Triplex interpretatio huius loci'; 'Prima interpretatio'; 'Lib. 1. Aeneid.'; 'Septem peccata Cain.' ↩
  7. SECOND interpretation (Rabbi Solomon/Rashi, followed by Lyra, Tostatus, the Carthusian): 'Everyone who kills Cain' ends the sentence (with 'shall be gravely punished by me' understood by aposiopesis); 'sevenfold,' or Symmachus's 'the seventh shall be punished,' refers to Cain himself, destroyed only in his seventh generation (in Lamech's sons, by whom he is believed killed). THIRD (the Vulgate): 'punished sevenfold' simply means the killer will suffer a most severe punishment, not only for homicide but for [violating] the public pledge God gave [Cain]... Marginal glosses: 'Secunda interpretatio Rabbi Salomonis'; 'Tertia interpretatio.' ↩
  8. The third reading concluded: the killer is punished severely for violating God's public pledge to Cain. By all this God shows how horrendous homicide is, to deter everyone from it. WHY God deferred Cain's death so long, three reasons: (1) severer justice (a longer, bitterer torment); (2) singular clemency (a long space for penance); (3) salutary providence — Cain as a warning example, teaching men to fear despising God's warnings, envying grace, harming by deceit, and staining their hands with kindred blood. Marginal gloss: 'Cur Deus tandiu mortem Cain distulerit.' Odd-side running head 'IN GENESIM, LIB. VII.' number '745'; true printed page 755. ↩