Genesis 4:14 kjv

Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

Genesis 4:14 nkjv

Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me."

Genesis 4:14 niv

Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

Genesis 4:14 esv

Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

Genesis 4:14 nlt

You have banished me from the land and from your presence; you have made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!"

Genesis 4 verses

Genesis 4 14 Meaning

Genesis 4:14 captures Cain's lament and desperate fear spoken to the Lord following the pronouncement of his curse for murdering his brother, Abel. It expresses a twofold exile: forced removal from his productive land and separation from God's immediate presence. This leads him to a precarious existence as a ceaseless wanderer without belonging or rest. Cain anticipates a dire consequence, fearing that anyone who encounters him will retaliate and kill him, mirroring his own act of violence against Abel. It highlights his acute awareness of vulnerability and the lack of divine protection.

Genesis 4 14 Context

Genesis 4:14 is a direct response from Cain to the Lord's pronouncement of judgment in Gen 4:11-12. Following Cain's murder of his brother Abel, and the ground's symbolic cry for justice, God curses Cain: the ground will no longer yield to him, and he will be a "fugitive and a wanderer on the earth."

Cain's plea in verse 13 ("My punishment is greater than I can bear!") precedes this verse, indicating his desperate perception of the severity of his impending state. Verse 14 articulates the precise components of that dreaded judgment as he understands and expresses his fear. The fear of being killed by "whoever finds me" foreshadows the untamed nature of a pre-Flood society marked by escalating violence (Gen 6:11-12) and highlights the fragility of life without a formal justice system. His lament echoes humanity's first expulsion from the Garden in Gen 3, establishing a pattern of sin leading to separation from God's provision and presence.

Genesis 4 14 Word analysis

• "Behold" (Hebrew: הֵן, hen): An interjection that draws attention, indicating a strong emotional outcry, surprise, or an emphatic declaration. Here, it underscores Cain's immediate and dramatic realization of his plight.
• "you have driven me today" (Hebrew: גֵּרַשְׁתָּנִי הַיּוֹם, gerash’tani hayyom):
  • "driven me" (גֵּרַשׁ, garash): To expel, cast out, banish. This word is also used for the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden (Gen 3:24). It implies a forceful, irrevocable separation and loss of rights and abode.
  • "today" (hayyom): Emphasizes the present, immediate, and overwhelming nature of the consequence. Cain experiences the full weight of his judgment now.
• "from the face of the ground" (מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה, me’al p’ney ha’adamah): This phrase connects directly to the curse on the ground (Gen 3:17) and Cain's own judgment in Gen 4:12 where the ground will no longer yield to him. "Face" (paneh) can mean surface or presence. Here, it denotes separation from the earth as his means of sustenance and source of identity as a tiller. The ground, defiled by Abel's blood (Gen 4:10), effectively rejects Cain, preventing him from gaining sustenance or settling.
• "and from your face" (וּמִפָּנֶיךָ, u’mippaneykha): "From your presence" or "from your sight." This is the deepest, spiritual dimension of his exile. It means removal from divine favor, protection, access, and blessing. Cain perceives this as abandonment by God, a spiritual banishment that far exceeds the physical one. This evokes the intimacy of walking with God in Eden that Adam and Eve lost.
• "I shall be hidden" (אֶסָּתֵר, essater): From the root סָתַר (satar), to be concealed, hidden. This passive verb implies a state of being removed from God's direct oversight and care, or the necessity for Cain to hide himself from potential harm or from God's continued gaze. It signifies isolation, vulnerability, and lack of divine presence, potentially even implying spiritual blindness or hardness of heart.
• "and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer" (וְהָיִיתִי נָע וָנָד, v'hayiti na' va'nad): This key Hebrew hendiadys intensifies the state.
  • "fugitive" (נָע, na’): Restless, trembling, unstable. Suggests a perpetual state of movement due to disquiet, not purposeful travel.
  • "wanderer" (נָד, nad): Without fixed abode, aimless, drifting, exile. Implies loss of rootedness, identity, and belonging. This describes a person perpetually alienated and insecure. This reinforces the previous verse (Gen 4:12) and highlights the utter instability of his existence.
• "on the earth" (בָאָרֶץ, ba’aretz): Signifies the global scope of his curse; there is no place on earth where he can escape his judgment or find permanent rest.
• "and whoever finds me" (וְהָיָה כָּל־מֹצְאִי, v'hayah kol-motz'i): This reflects the primal fear of retribution in a pre-Law society where any person might become an "avenger of blood." It highlights the dangerous vulnerability of an unprotected individual outside a communal structure.
• "will kill me" (יַהַרְגֵנִי, yahargeni): Directly mirrors Cain's own act. He projects the very violence he perpetrated onto his potential encounters. This fear acknowledges the principle of lex talionis (retaliation in kind) inherent in human justice even before it was formally legislated by God.

Words-Group Analysis:

• "driven me today from the face of the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden": This phrase describes a double exile – physical and spiritual. Cain is removed from his source of livelihood and his spiritual connection to God. The use of "face" (paneh) for both the ground and God creates a parallel, emphasizing a complete rupture from both his physical environment and his divine relationship.
• "a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth": This hendiadys captures the essence of his cursed existence: ceaseless, restless movement without a home, security, or a destination. It speaks to an internal state of disquiet as well as an external state of homelessness. This curse is the antithesis of the divinely ordained settled life for Adam's lineage through farming.
• "whoever finds me will kill me": This highlights Cain's intense fear for his life, driven by the consequence of his sin. In a world without the established legal framework of Mosaic Law or cities of refuge, anyone could take up the informal role of "blood avenger," leading to perpetual dread for Cain. This exposes the un-regulated violence prevalent in the nascent human society before the Flood.

Genesis 4 14 Bonus section

• Cain's lament demonstrates that the first murderer understood the inherent principle of retribution (life for life), even before God formally codified it later (Gen 9:6).
• The profound separation from "God's face" is one of the most terrifying consequences of sin in the Bible, signifying a loss of fellowship, blessing, and divine favor.
• The "fugitive and wanderer" motif can symbolize the internal spiritual unrest and alienation that result from persistent rebellion against God's will. While physical, it strongly implies a psychological and spiritual condition of instability and dread.
• This verse underscores the concept of personal accountability and the inescapability of sin's consequences, both divinely ordained and through the natural implications within a sinful society.
• It hints at the fragile state of early human society without established legal or judicial systems to regulate vengeance, setting the stage for the escalating violence mentioned prior to the Great Flood (Gen 6:11).

Genesis 4 14 Commentary

Genesis 4:14 unveils Cain's profound despair and understanding of the catastrophic impact of his sin. He perceives a radical twofold separation: from the productive earth which once sustained him and, more significantly, from the Lord's presence and protection. This severance dooms him to a restless, insecure existence, echoing the primal alienation from God initiated in Eden. Cain's subsequent fear of death at the hands of others underscores the gravity of fratricide and reflects a societal landscape where retribution for bloodshed was an immediate, unmitigated threat. Despite his deep fear and complaint, this lament sets the stage for God's merciful, albeit mysterious, protection of Cain (Gen 4:15), demonstrating God's sovereign preservation even amidst judgment and the nascent spread of human violence.