And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB As time passed, Cain brought an offering to Yahweh from the fruit of the ground.
- BSB So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD,
- ESV In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground,
- NKJV And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
- NASB So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground.
- NLT When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Cain brings an offering to the Lord from the produce of the ground. It records the first act of worship by Adam's children.
Overview
Cain's bringing of an offering shows that worship of God continued among the first family. The text simply notes it came from the fruit of the ground, without yet evaluating it. The following verses contrast his offering with Abel's, drawing attention to the disposition behind the gift rather than merely its content.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Num 18:12All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.
- Lev 2:1–11And when any will offer a meat offering unto the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:
- 1 Kgs 17:7And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
- Neh 13:6But in all this time was not I at Jerusalem: for in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon came I unto the king, and after certain days obtained I leave of the king:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 4:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.