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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Seven — Cain and Abel

And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that no one who found him should kill him. Verse 15

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And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that no one who found him should kill him. Verse 15.1

Posuitque Dominus in Cain signum, ut non interficeret eum omnis qui invenisset eum. VERS. 15.

CUR Deus signum illud posuit in Cain? ut ex eo nempe cognitum omnes aversarentur & abominarentur, atque maledictis, dirisque insectarentur ut fratricidam, Deique contemptorem: quod fore praedixerat ei Deus, Maledictus eris super terram. Deinde, ut quicumque videret eum quasi furiis agitatum nullo loco consistere, sed corpore animoque paventem trementemque, semper vagum & profugum esse ubique & ab hominibus sibi metuere, nihil tutum ducere, nullam quietis partem ullo tempore capere, causam cur tantis malis perpetuo ille afficeretur reputantes, exemplo eius discerent pie Deum colere, studiose virtuti operam dare, nec tantum a caede hominum, sed ab omni etiam damno iniuriaque, manus, linguam, animumque abstinere. Denique, ne quis aut per ignorationem, casu eum occideret, aut per studium iustitiae scienter interficere eum auderet, cui Deus, data ei fide signoque imposito, in longiorem eius vindictam poenamque vitam prorogaverat.
Why did God set that mark on Cain? Namely, that, recognized by it, all might turn from and abominate him, and pursue him with curses and imprecations as a fratricide and despiser of God — which God had foretold would be, 'Cursed shall you be upon the earth.' Then, that whoever saw him rest in no place, as if agitated by furies, but trembling and fearful in body and mind, always a wanderer and fugitive everywhere and fearing men, counting nothing safe, taking no rest at any time — considering the cause why he was perpetually afflicted with such evils — might, by his example, learn to worship God piously, to give attention studiously to virtue, and to restrain hands, tongue, and mind not only from the murder of men, but even from all harm and injury. Finally, lest anyone should either kill him by chance through ignorance, or through zeal for justice dare to kill him knowingly — Cain, whose life God had prolonged (by the pledge given him and the mark imposed) unto his longer vengeance and punishment.2
SED quale fuit illud signum? Fuisse aspectabile & conspicuum omnibus, ut eo dignosci a cunctis posset non est dubitandum. Proprie autem quale fuerit, incompertum putat Caietanus: ex eo tamen apparere magnam Dei clementiam, non tantum minuentis poenam debitam fratricidae, sed etiam benigne eum servantis, ne interficeretur ab aliis. Verum apud Hebraeos, & plerosque nostrorum Doctorum pervulgata opinio est, non aliud fuisse illud signum, quam ingentem quemdam & horribilem totius corporis, maxime vero capitis tremorem animique pavorem, quasi hominis ubique & ab omnibus insidias vitae suae fieri metuentis. Addit praeterea Lyranus fuisse notabile quoddam signum in faciem eius impressum.
But what was that mark? That it was visible and conspicuous to all, so that by it he could be recognized by everyone, is not to be doubted. But precisely what it was, Cajetan thinks unascertained; yet from it appears God's great clemency, not only diminishing the punishment due to the fratricide, but also benignly preserving him, lest he be killed by others. But among the Hebrews, and most of our Doctors, the widespread opinion is that that mark was nothing else than a certain huge and horrible tremor of the whole body — but especially of the head — and a terror of mind, as of a man everywhere and by all fearing that snares were being laid against his life. Lyra moreover adds that a certain notable mark was impressed on his face.3
VIDETUR S. Hieronymus pervulgatam illam opinionem secutus in Epist. 115. quae scripta est ad Damasum, quippe tractans verba illa Cain,
St Jerome seems to have followed that widespread opinion in Epistle 115, which was written to Damasus, since, treating those words of Cain,4

'Behold, you cast me out today from the face of the earth,' etc., he writes thus: '"I am cast out," says Cain, "from your sight, and, trembling with the conscience of my crime, unable to bear the light itself, I shall hide that I may lurk; and it shall be that everyone who finds me shall kill me" — while, from the tremor of his body, and his mind agitated by fury, [everyone] will understand him to be one who deserves to be killed.' Thus Jerome.5

Ecce eiicis me hodie a facie terrae, &c. ita scribit: Eiicior, inquit Cain, a conspectu tuo, & conscientia sceleris tremebundus lucem ipsam ferre non sustinens abscondar ut latitem, eritque omnis, qui invenerit me, occidet me, dum ex tremore corporis, & furiata mente agitatum eum esse intelliget, qui mereatur interfici. Sic Hieronym.

Fortasse LXX. interpretes sic opinandi dederunt occasionem, quippe qui hoc loco, pro eo quod nos legimus, Eris vagus & profugus super terram, ipsi verterunt, Suspirans & tremens eris super terram, & paulo post, pro eo quod Latina versio habet, Ero vagus & profugus, translatio ipsorum habet, Ero gemens & tremens. Iosephus scribit, Deum sacrificio Caini placatum, remisisse ei poenam fratricidii: quod nec verum est, nec verisimile. Qui potuit enim impii & sanguinarii hominis sacrificium placere Deo? Si ante fratricidium non placuit Deo sacrificium eius quanto minus postea? Poenam autem fratricidii eatenus remisit ei Deus, quia non statim eum morte punivit, verum id fecit ad diuturniorem & acerbiorem eius vindictam.
Perhaps the LXX interpreters gave occasion for so thinking, since in this place, for what we read 'You shall be a wanderer and fugitive upon the earth,' they rendered, 'Sighing and trembling you shall be upon the earth'; and a little after, for what the Latin version has, 'I shall be a wanderer and fugitive,' their translation has, 'I shall be groaning and trembling.' Josephus writes that God, appeased by Cain's sacrifice, remitted to him the punishment of the fratricide: which is neither true nor probable. For how could the sacrifice of an impious and bloodthirsty man please God? If before the fratricide his sacrifice did not please God, how much less after? But God remitted the punishment of the fratricide [only] in so far as he did not punish him immediately with death — but he did that for his longer and bitterer vengeance.6

I will set down here the moral treatment of this passage, which is in Ambrose (ch. 10, book 2 on Cain and Abel), where he writes thus: 'But that he set a mark upon Cain, lest anyone should kill him, he wished to turn back the erring one, and by his benefit to invite him to correction. For we are wont to entrust ourselves more easily to those whose favor we have. Nor yet does he grant great things, but in that very thing he punishes the imprudence of the foolish man. Who, when he was liable to perpetual punishments, demanded not that the penalty be remitted to him, but thought that the life of this body should be preserved — in which there is more misery than pleasure. For death is one, in the separation of soul and body; and at the end of this life, which, as soon as it comes, is wont to take away all bodily pains, not to increase them. But the fears which frequently assail those living this life, the sorrows, pains, and groans, and diverse torments, the wounds of grievances and sicknesses, inflict very many deaths too on the human race, so that that [final] death seems to be a remedy, not a punishment. For it is not destructive, since by it life is not taken away, but transferred to better things. For if the guilty die, who would not, even unwilling, recall their step from sins — yet they attain their end not by nature but by fault, lest they sin more, to whom life is the usury of crimes. But if they are possessed of good hope, they are to be believed rather to migrate than to fail.' Thus Ambrose.7

PONAM hoc loco moralem sententiae huius tractationem, quae est apud Ambrosium in cap. 10. lib. 2. de Cain & Abel, ubi sic ille scribit: Quod autem signum posuit super Cain, ne quis eum occideret, reflectere voluit errantem, & beneficio suo invitare ad correctionem. Ipsis enim nos facilius committere solemus quorum habemus gratiam. Nec tamen magna concedit, sed in eo ipso imprudentiam insipientis ulciscitur. Qui cum esset perpetuis suppliciis obnoxius, non remitti sibi poenam poposcit, sed vitam corporis huius servandam putavit, in qua plus aerumna quam voluptatis. Mors enim una est in secessione animae & corporis, & in fine istius vitae, quae simul ut venit, omnes corporis dolores auferre, non augere consuevit. Metus vero, qui hanc vitam viventibus frequenter ingruunt, moestitiae, dolores, & gemitus, diversique cruciatus, gravitatum & aegritudinum vulnera, plurimas etiam mortes generi humano inferunt, ut ista mors remedium esse videatur, non poena. Non enim peremptoria est, per quam non adimitur vita, sed ad meliora transfertur. Nam si nocentes moriuntur, qui gradum a peccatis revocare noluerint vel inviti: tamen finem non natura, sed culpa adipiscuntur, ne plura delinquant, quibus vita foenus est delictorum. Si autem bonae spei compotes sunt migrare magis, quam deficere credendi sunt. Haec Ambrosius.

Translator’s notes

  1. The lemma Genesis 4:15b (marginal 'VERS. 15.'): God's protective mark on Cain. ↩
  2. Why God set the mark: (1) so all would recognize, abominate, and curse Cain as a fratricide and despiser of God (fulfilling 'Cursed shall you be'); (2) so his restless, trembling, fugitive misery would teach onlookers to worship God and restrain hand, tongue, and mind from all harm; (3) so no one would kill him — by chance or by zeal for justice — since God, by the pledge and mark, had prolonged his life for a longer punishment. Marginal gloss: 'Cur Deus signum posuit in Cain.' ↩
  3. What the mark was: certainly visible so all could recognize him; its exact nature Cajetan thinks uncertain, but it shows God's clemency (both diminishing the penalty and preserving Cain from being killed). The common view among the Hebrews and most Doctors: a huge, horrible tremor of the whole body (especially the head) and a terror of mind, like a man dreading ambush everywhere; Lyra adds a notable mark impressed on his face. Marginal glosses: 'Quale fuerit illud signum impositum Cain a Deo'; 'Communis opinio de signo illo Cain.' ↩
  4. Jerome seems to follow the 'tremor' opinion in his Epistle to Damasus (here cited as Ep. 115; cited as Ep. 125 on the preceding printed page 753 — the print is inconsistent), treating Cain's words. Catchword 'Ecce' (continues on the next page). ↩
  5. Jerome's text (Ep. to Damasus) on Cain's lament: cast from God's sight, trembling with a guilty conscience and unable to bear the light, Cain will hide; and whoever finds him will kill him — recognizing, from his bodily tremor and frenzied mind, one who deserves death. Verso running head 'COMMENTARIORVM' number '746'; true printed page 756. ↩
  6. The LXX may have prompted the 'tremor' view: for the Vulgate's 'a wanderer and fugitive' (Gen 4:12, 14) it renders 'sighing/groaning and trembling.' Pererius REFUTES Josephus (that God, appeased by Cain's sacrifice, remitted the fratricide's penalty): impossible, since an impious man's sacrifice could not please God (and less after the murder than before); God 'remitted' it only by not killing Cain at once — and that for a longer, bitterer vengeance. Marginal gloss: 'Refellitur Iosephus.' ↩
  7. Ambrose's moral reading (De Cain et Abel 2.10): God's mark, forbidding Cain's killing, aimed to turn the erring one back and invite him to correction (we trust more easily those whose favor we have); yet it grants no great thing, but even punishes his folly — Cain sought not remission of his penalty but preservation of this bodily life, which holds more misery than pleasure. Death (the soul-body separation) removes bodily pains rather than increasing them; the fears, sorrows, and sicknesses of this life inflict 'many deaths,' so that final death seems a remedy, not a punishment — not destructive but a transfer to better things. The guilty die (by fault, not nature) lest they sin more; the hopeful 'migrate rather than fail.' 'Thus Ambrose.' Marginal glosses: 'Moralis interpretatio ex D. Ambrosio sumpta'; 'Mors remedium malorum non poena.' ↩