Passage

Genesis 4.9-10

Book: Genesis · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"7. If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee shall be its desire; but do thou rule over it. 8. And Cain told Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."

"9. And Jehovah said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: am I my brother's keeper? 10. And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."

"11. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened its mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12. when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth." (Genesis 4:7-12, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"7. If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” 8. Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him."

"9. Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10. Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground."

"11. Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12. From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth.”" (Genesis 4:7-12, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. ^{be accepted: or, have the excellency} ^{unto: or, subject unto thee} 8. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."

"9. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10. And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. ^{blood: Heb. bloods}"

"11. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." (Genesis 4:7-12, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"7. Is there not, if thou dost well, acceptance? and if thou dost not well, at the opening a sin-offering is crouching, and unto thee its desire, and thou rulest over it.' 8. And Cain saith unto Abel his brother, ['Let us go into the field;'] and it cometh to pass in their being in the field, that Cain riseth up against Abel his brother, and slayeth him."

"9. And Jehovah saith unto Cain, 'Where [is] Abel thy brother?' and he saith, 'I have not known; my brother's keeper, I?' 10. And He saith, 'What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood is crying unto Me from the ground;"

"11. and now, cursed [art] thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive the blood of thy brother from thy hand; 12. when thou tillest the ground, it doth not add to give its strength to thee, a wanderer, even a trembling one, thou art in the earth.'" (Genesis 4:7-12, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Argument from the Question-Asking Asymmetry

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.