Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1: Luther on the Creation

by Martin Luther

But it is certain that the Jews have lost Christ; how then can they possibly understand aright either the things of the Gospel or the things of the Law? They know not what sin is, nor what grace is, nor what righteousness is. How then should they be able to explain successfully such passages of the Scriptures? Just so the Jews are in general the "wise" or sophists of our day. For what sound knowledge have they of such divine and mighty things as these! Being ignorant therefore of the thing itself, how is it possible that they should rightly understand the words of the Scriptures in which it is expressed? And although a knowledge of the words is prior in order; yet the knowledge of the things is better and more important. For if you alter the things, the words also will be changed into another sense to correspond with the altered things, and a new grammatical construction altogether is the sure result.

Thus the great grammarian of Gerunda possesses an excellent knowledge of the words, and indeed there are many in our day who far surpass me in a critical knowledge of the Hebrew language, but because he understands not the divine theme, he miserably corrupts this passage; for he explains it thus: "If thou doest well thy offering shall be more acceptable than that of thy brother, because thou art the first-born." You here see that Gerundensis understands what the names of the things are, but not the things themselves; what the term is, but not what the matter is. For the very design of God in this text is to show that he will have no regard to first birthship at all. How then could the offering of Cain ever have been more acceptable to God than that of Abel on account of his primogeniture? The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews knew what the thing was, and therefore he gives a very different statement of the sacred matter, namely, that it was "by faith that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." The rendering of Jerome is much better than that of Gerundensis. The version of the former is, "If thou doest well, thou shalt receive; if thou doest ill, sin (he adds the pronoun 'thine own sin') will lie at the door." Yet, even thus Jerome does not reach the true sense. For when he explains the verb SEETH as meaning "to receive," which really signifies "to relieve," or "to alleviate," no one I think will approve his rendering. But all this Jerome has from the Jews, who have always been of the opinion that God would have rewarded Cain if he had offered liberally. Now therefore I will simply state what my view of this important passage is.

First of all then it is necessary, as I have said, that we hold fast the divine matter in question. The divine matter then involved is that which cannot deceive, as being the foundation of the whole divine cause, that nothing pleases God unless it be done in faith, according to that universally applicable and well known sentence of the Apostle Paul, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," Rom. 14:23. And Solomon also says, "The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord," Prov. 15:8. The other great foundation of the cause of God is, that sin is so mighty that it can be put away by no sacrifices, nor by any works whatever, but by the mercy of God alone, which mercy must be apprehended and received by faith. And all this is manifested and shown to have been the good pleasure of God by the first promise concerning the Seed of the woman, without which Seed there is no redemption. Now these foundations the Rabbins possess not, for this knowledge comes by the Spirit of Christ alone, who like the mid-sun illumines all the darkness of nature and sin. Whatsoever therefore militates against, or is contrary to, these foundations, we at once reject as false and impious.

And although for myself I have no objection whether you understand "sin" here as referring to the past sin, or to the future sin of Cain, yet it seems to me better to understand it as referring to sin in general. The force of the whole passage therefore lies in the Hebrew verb SEETH from NASA, "be alleviated," or "lifted up," or "relieved." And in this very case we have a remarkable example of the difference between the name or term of the thing and the thing itself. For if you apply the term to "lift up," or to "lift off," to a corporeal or solid substance, it signifies "to elevate" or "to lift up on high;" as in Isaiah, "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up," Is. 6:1. But this is a very different signification of the Hebrew verb from that which it expresses in the Psalm, "Blessed is the man whose sins are 'lifted up' or 'lifted out,'" Ps. 32:1, and yet the Hebrew verb is the same in each instance. Now, a common grammarian of the Hebrew language understands the former meaning of the original verb, but he is ignorant of its latter signification. For, "to lift up a throne on high," is quite another thing from lifting up or lifting off, sin from the conscience; that is, remitting or taking away sin.

Wherefore, the meaning is, "If thou hadst done well or if thou hadst been good; that is, if thou hadst believed, thou wouldst have had God favorable and merciful toward thee, and there would have been a true alleviation to thee; that is, a remission of sin. But since I see that God had not respect unto thee, it evidently follows that thou wert not good in his sight; and that therefore thou wast not relieved from thy sin; wherefore, thy sin remaineth."

However it is a most beautiful and striking similitude to make use of the verb "to lift up" or "to lift off" in order to compare sin to a heavy burden, under which Cain was so oppressed and prostrated, so that unless it were taken off he could not draw his breath. And the epistle to the Hebrews shows the manner in which we are released from this burden, when it says, "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain," Heb. 11:4.

By this mode of interpreting this important passage the words or the grammatical construction perfectly agree with the matter contained in them, which is, that God has respect unto faith only, and judges those alone to be good who believe. And these words of Adam contain also a most severe rebuke. Their meaning is, as if Adam had said to Cain, "Thy pride has destroyed thee. Thou camest before God inflated with the glory of thy primogeniture, and thoughtest that God would accept thee on that account. But I clearly perceive by this judgment and reprobation of God that thou art destitute of faith, for God rejects none but the unbelieving."

Not one of the Rabbins explains the passage before us in this manner. For they see not that Adam is here inculcating in his son, after the manner of the Apostle Paul, that word of Christ in the Gospel, "He that believeth shall be saved," Mark 16:16; and also that word of the apostle himself, "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law," Rom. 3:28. For what else does Adam here say to Cain, than that God is merciful to those who believe in the blessed Seed, and who cast away all trust in their own works, and all ideas of their own merit? For his meaning is, "If thou shalt do this, thy sin shall not lie thus as a heavy burden upon thee. Thou shalt be relieved of that load, nor shalt thou thus roar with rage; for God has promised that he will not impute sin to any one that believeth."

If therefore you refer these words to the past sin of Cain, they contain also a most grave fatherly admonition. Their import is, as if Adam had said, "Hitherto thou hast not believed and therefore thou art thus rejected; and if thou shalt still go on thus, thou wilt be cast off utterly. But if thou shalt do well or become good, that is, if thou shalt believe in the promised Seed, I take upon myself to assure thee that the result will be that thou shalt be relieved of thy burden of sin;" that is, as the Psalm interprets this expression of Adam, "sin shall not be imputed unto thee," Ps. 32:2.

The clause which follows, thy "sin lieth at the door," is a figurative description of sin, which for my part I should prefer understanding as being used as a proverb. For this figure exactly describes the real nature of sin, showing that, while in the act, it lies like a beast dead asleep; it does not bite, nor terrify, nor torment, but rather fawns and pleases. Thus when Eve first and afterwards Adam ate the forbidden apple in paradise they did not think that God had seen it, much less did they think that both should be so bitterly punished for what they had done. So also ferocious beasts, when they are just satisfied with food, are more tractable and more inclined to sleep than to harm. In the same manner also sin, while it is in the act, is delightful, nor is its poison or pain felt; it rather lies down and goes to sleep. For whoever saw a miser to be racked with pain while an opportunity of great gain stood before him? Whoever knew an adulterer to grieve at the opportunity given him of gratifying his wishes? If thou hadst at that moment torn his skin with a scourge, or beaten his head with a mallet, the temptation would have vanished. But while sin is asleep and its punishment unfelt and unseen, it is the height of pleasure to the miser to rush upon his gain, and to the adulterer to possess the object of his sinful desires; nor does there seem to be, nor does he wish for, any end or any bound to his pleasure.