but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy.
Parallel translations
- WEB but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell.
- KJV But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
- BSB but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
- NKJV but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.
- NLT but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
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
God does not regard Cain or his offering, and Cain becomes angry and downcast. It shows the danger of resentment when worship is not offered rightly.
Overview
God's lack of regard for Cain's offering, contrasted with Abel's faith, points to a deficiency in Cain's heart rather than merely his produce. Instead of repenting, Cain responds with anger and a fallen countenance. This rising resentment, left unchecked, becomes the seedbed of the first murder, warning that unaddressed anger leads to sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Heb 11:4By faith, Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he had testimony given to him that he was righteous, God testifying with respect to his gifts; and through it he, being dead, still speaks.
- Job 5:2For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
- Acts 13:45But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
- Isa 3:10–11Tell the righteous “Good!” For they shall eat the fruit of their deeds.
- Luke 15:28–30But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
- Matt 20:15Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’
- Ps 20:3remember all your offerings, and accept your burned sacrifice. Selah.
- Num 16:15Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”
- Gen 31:5and said to them, “I see the expression on your father’s face, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father has been with me.
- Gen 31:2Jacob saw the expression on Laban’s face, and, behold, it was not toward him as before.
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 4:5 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
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