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

by Martin Luther

But because Cain by his sin fell from this glory of being the root of the blessed Seed; therefore his person is cursed. And the Holy Spirit says to him, "Cursed art thou," that we might understand that he was cut off from the glory of the promised Seed and was condemned never to have in his posterity such a seed as that Seed, through which the blessing should come. This was Cain's rejection from all that stupendous glory of the promised Seed. For Abel was now slain; therefore there could now be no posterity from him. But Adam was appointed still to serve God by his generating children. In Adam alone therefore, Abel being slain, and Cain being accursed and rejected, the hope of the blessed Seed rested until Seth was born unto him.

The words of the Holy Spirit here are indeed few, when he says to Cain, "Cursed art thou." But they are words worthy the deepest and most diligent consideration. The words are in their import, as if the Holy Spirit had said to Cain, "Thou art no longer he from whom the blessed Seed can be hoped for." By these few words therefore Cain is rejected forever and is cut off as a branch from its stem; so that he can no longer hope for that glory which he so much strove to hold fast. For Cain's great desire was that the glory of this future blessing should be propagated from his loins and proceed from his posterity. But the more he strove to secure this glory, the further he was from obtaining it. And just so it is with all the wicked; for the more they labor to accomplish their purposes, the more surely they fail and fall.

And here begin, as we observed on the offerings of Cain and Abel, the two churches, which are ever at perfect enmity with each other; the Church of Adam and the godly which possesses the hope and promise of the blessed Seed; and the church of Cain, which lost this hope and promise by sin and never could recover it. For in the Deluge the whole posterity of Cain was utterly destroyed, so that no prophet nor saint, nor any head of a church of the posterity of Cain was left in existence; so utterly were all things denied to Cain and taken from him by this one word, when the Holy Spirit said to him, "Cursed art thou."

But the expression "From the earth" is added. This is as it were a tempering of the awful wrath of God upon Cain. For if the Holy Spirit had said "From heaven," it would have taken away the hope of salvation from the whole posterity of Cain forever. But since the expression is, "From the earth," the fall of Cain's posterity from the promise and glory of the blessed Seed is threatened and determined; and yet a door was left open by which it might come to pass that some private persons of the generation of Cain might, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, join themselves to the posterity and Church of Adam, and be saved; as indeed in after ages it came to pass. For although the Jews alone retained the glory of giving birth to this blessed Seed and possessed the promise which was in him, according to the Psalm, "He hath not dealt so with any nation, and as for his ordinances, they have not known them," Ps. 147:20; yet the Gentiles had the right of beggars, if I may so express it; and by begging they obtained the same blessing through the divine mercy, which the Jews possessed through the true posterity of Adam or the promise of God.

In like manner also all rule in the Church was absolutely denied to the Moabites and Amorites, and yet many private individuals among them embraced the religion of the Jews. It was thus also that all right in the Church was taken away from Cain and his posterity absolutely. Yet so that permission was left them to beg as it were for this grace. This right of being beggars was not taken from them. For Cain, because of his sin, was cast out from the right of sitting at the family table of Adam. But the right was left him in his posterity to beg and gather up as dogs the crumbs that fell from his father's table, Math. 15:26, 27. This is signified by the Hebrew expression, MIN HAADAMA, "From the earth."

I make these observations because there is a great probability that many of the posterity of Cain, in the earliest ages of the world, joined themselves to the holy patriarchs. But they abode in the Church as private persons only and without any office in it, as those who had utterly lost the promise of the blessed Seed being born from their body and posterity. And the loss of this promise was a serious matter to them. And yet this great curse was so mitigated toward them, that there was granted to them, as we have said, the right of being beggars for it as it were. Heaven was not absolutely denied them, provided they would join the true Church; as it is written, and particularly described in Is. 56:3-8.

But this joining the true Church among his posterity Cain strove to hinder in various ways. For he set up new forms of worship and invented numerous ceremonies; that thereby he also might appear to be the Church. Those however who departed from him and joined the true Church were saved; although they were compelled to despair of the glory of Christ being born from their body or posterity. But let us now return to the sacred text.

Moses here uses a very striking personification. He represents the earth as being a dreaded beast, when he speaks of her as having opened her mouth and swallowed the innocent blood of Abel. But why does he speak of the earth in terms so terrible, when all these horrid things were transacted without her will or knowledge? Nay, since the earth is a good creature of God and these things were done against her will, and her struggle to prevent them? For Paul, as we have just observed, says, "The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly," etc., Rom. 8:20. My reply is, this was done, and the Spirit thus spoke, according to Moses, as a terror to Adam and to all his posterity, that they might live in the fear of God and dread the sin of murder. For the words of Adam mean and are as if he had said, "Behold the earth hath opened her mouth and swallowed the blood of thy brother; but she ought to have swallowed thee, the murderer. The earth indeed is a good creature, and is good to the good and the godly; but to the wicked she is full of yawnings and loud cries." It is to this end that Moses records the Holy Spirit as having used these terrible expressions in reference to the earth through the mouth of Adam. It was to strike terror and confusion into murderers. Nor is there any doubt that Cain, after he heard these things from the mouth of his angry father, was terror-struck in his soul like Judas and overwhelmed with confusion, so that he knew not which way to turn. The expressions, "Which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand," are indeed full of terror; and they point out the awfulness of this murder, in deeper colors than any pictures could represent it.

V. 12a. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength.

The Lord above said unto Adam, "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." But here the Holy Spirit speaks to Cain otherwise. His words before us are as if he had said, "Thou hast watered and manured the earth, not with enriching dung and reviving rain, but with thy brother's blood. Therefore the earth shall be to thee less productive than to others. For the blood which thou hast shed shall hinder the strength and the fruitfulness of the earth to thee." And this is the second part of the punishment; namely, the bodily curse on Cain: that, although the earth should be just alike cultivated by Adam and by Cain, yet it should be more fruitful to Adam than to Cain, and should yield its return to the former for his labors; but that to the labors of Cain it should not yield any such returns of fruitfulness on account of the blood shed; which should hinder it, though by nature desirous to return her fruitfulness and strength for all labors of men.