KING JAMES VERSION (KJV)
TRANSLATION, MEANING, CONTEXT
WORDS OF GOD IN RED
To get what Genesis 4:15 means based on its source text, scroll down or follow these links for the original scriptural meaning , biblical context and relative popularity.
“And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.”
What does this verse really mean? Use this table to get a word-for-word translation of the original Hebrew Scripture. This shows the English words related to the source biblical texts along with brief definitions. Follow the buttons in the right-hand column for detailed definitions and verses that use the same root words. Use this reference information to gain deeper insight into the Bible and enrich your understanding. Information based on Strong's Exhaustive Concordance[1].
| KJV Verse | Original Hebrew | Meaning/ Definition This is a simplified translation of the original Hebrew word. Follow the buttons on the right to get more detail. | More Use the buttons below to get details on the Hebrew word and view related Bible verses that use the same root word. |
|---|---|---|---|
| “And the Lord” | יְהוָ֗ה | (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God | Lord |
| “said” | וַיֹּ֧אמֶר | To say (used with great latitude) | said |
| “unto him, Therefore” | לָכֵן֙ | Properly, set upright; hence (figuratively as adjective) just; but usually (as adverb or conjunction) rightly or so (in various applications to manner, time and relation; often with other particles) | Therefore |
| “whosoever” | כָּל | Properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense) | whosoever |
| “slayeth” | הֹרֵ֣ג | To smite with deadly intent | slayeth |
| “Cain,” | קַ֔יִן | Cain, the first son of Adam; Kajin, the name of a place in Palestine, and of a Middle Eastern tribe | Cain |
| “vengeance shall be taken” | יֻקָּ֑ם | To grudge, i.e., avenge or punish | vengeance taken |
| “on him sevenfold.” | שִׁבְעָתַ֖יִם | Seven-times | sevenfold |
| “And the Lord” | יְהוָ֤ה | (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God | Lord |
| “set” | וַיָּ֨שֶׂם | To put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically) | set |
| “a mark” | א֔וֹת | A signal (literally or figuratively), as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence, etc | mark |
| “upon Cain,” | לְקַ֙יִן֙ | Cain, the first son of Adam; Kajin, the name of a place in Palestine, and of a Middle Eastern tribe | upon Cain |
| “lest” | לְבִלְתִּ֥י | Properly, a failure of, i.e., (used only as a negative particle, usually with a prepositional prefix) not, except, without, unless, besides, because not, until, etc | lest |
| “any” | כָּל | Properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense) | any |
| “finding” | מֹצְאֽוֹ׃ | Properly, to come forth to, i.e., appear or exist; transitively, to attain, i.e., find or acquire; figuratively, to occur, meet or be present | finding |
| “him should kill” | הַכּוֹת | To strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively) | should kill |
| “him.” | הַכּוֹת | To strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively) | him |
See Genesis 4:15 with its adjacent verses in bold below. Follow either of the two large buttons below to see these verses in their broader context of the King James Bible or a Bible concordance.
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13 And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
15 And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
16 And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
The King James Bible (1611) and Strong's Concordance (1890) with Hebrew and Greek dictionaries are sourced from the BibleForgeDB database (https://github.com/bibleforge) within the BibleForge project (http://bibleforge.com). Popularity rankings are based on search volume data from the Google AdWords Keyword Planner tool.