Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- KJV And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
- BSB And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- NKJV Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- NLT Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother? Where is Abel?” “I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
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 asks Cain where Abel is, and Cain lies, denying responsibility for his brother. It exposes sin compounded by deceit and callous indifference.
Overview
God's question gives Cain another chance to confess, but he answers with a lie and a dismissive question, denying any duty toward his brother. His words reveal a hardened heart unwilling to own his guilt. Scripture answers his cynical question throughout, teaching that we are indeed called to love and care for one another.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 28:13He who conceals his sins doesn’t prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
- John 8:44You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and its father.
- Ps 9:12For he who avenges blood remembers them. He doesn’t forget the cry of the afflicted.
- Ps 10:13–14Why does the wicked person condemn God, and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account?”
- Acts 5:4–9While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.”
- Gen 37:32They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, “We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son’s coat or not.”
- Gen 3:9–11Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
- Job 22:13–14You say, ‘What does God know? Can he judge through the thick darkness?
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 4:9 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.