Genesis 4:13

13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear.

Genesis 4:13 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
English Standard Version (ESV)
13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear.
New Living Translation (NLT)
13 Cain replied to the LORD, “My punishment is too great for me to bear!
The Message Bible (MSG)
13 Cain said to God, "My punishment is too much. I can't take it!
American Standard Version (ASV)
13 And Cain said unto Jehovah, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
13 But Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can stand!
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
13 But Cain answered the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear!
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
13 Cain said to the Lord, "You are punishing me more than I can take.

Genesis 4:13 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 4:13

And Cain said unto the Lord
In the anguish of his spirit and the distress of his mind: my punishment is greater than I can bear;
thus complaining of the mercy of God, as if he acted a cruel part, inflicting on him more than he could endure; and arraigning his justice, as if it was more than he deserved, or ought in equity to be laid on him; whereas it was abundantly less than the demerit of his sin, for his punishment was but a temporal one; for, excepting the horrors and terrors of his guilty conscience, it was no other than a heavier curse on the land he tilled, and banishment from his native place, and being a fugitive and wanderer in other countries; and if such a punishment is intolerable, what must the torments of hell be? the worm that never dies? the fire that is never quenched? and the wrath of God, which is a consuming fire, and burns to the lowest hell? some render the words, "my sin is greater than can be forgiven" F21; as despairing of the mercy of God, having no faith in the promised seed, and in the pardon of sin through his atonement, blood, and sacrifice; or, "is my sin greater than can be forgiven" F23? is there no forgiveness of it? is it the unpardonable sin? but Cain seems not to be so much concerned about sin, and the pardon of it, as about his temporal punishment for it; wherefore the first sense seems best, and best agrees with what follows.


FOOTNOTES:

F21 (avnm ynwe lwdg) "major est iniquitas mea, quam ut veniam merear", V. L. "iniqutas mea? major est quam ut remittatur", Tigurine version, Fagius; "quam ut remittat, sub. Deus mihi", Vatablus; so the Targum of Onkelos, Sept. Syr. & Ar.
F23 "Ergone majus est delictum meum, quam ut remittatur"; Schmidt.

Genesis 4:13 In-Context

11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear.
14 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.”
15 But the LORD said to him, “Not so ; anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” Then the LORD put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.
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