Gen 4:1
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the LORD.": "Adam knew Eve his wife" means that he had sex with her. Cain's name means a posession, and goes with the statement that Eve had aquired a man from the LORD.
This is a good read on the subject of Cain and Abel: https://rabbidavidzaslow.com/whats-in-a-name-a-secret-about-cain-and-abel/
Gen 4:2
Then she bore again: Most scholars believe that Cain and Abel were twins because there's only one mention of conception, but two births. Also, the word again means "a second time," adding more weight to this belief.
this time his brother Abel: Abel's name means empty, with the connotation being emptiness of character.
Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground: At this time, these were the choices for professions.
Gen 4:3
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD: Notice that brings an offering of fruit. The offering is just an offering of what he had grown, but wasn't of the firstfruits. Cain didn't give God his best, but gave God whatever. This wasn't a meaningful sacrifice, just something to satisfy a ritual, and not from the heart.
Gen 4:4
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering: Notice the difference between the offerings of Cain and Abel. Abel's offering put God first. Abel offered the firstborn of his flock, signifying his submission to God, and his reliance on God. The sacrifices seem to point to God sacrificing His own firstborn Son as the covering of sin for the world. God gave his firstborn for us, so it's only right that we give that which we treasure to God.
Gen 4:5
but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell: Cain's offering was not from his firstfruits, but of his excess, and didn't really cost Cain anything. Therefore, God didn't accept this offering. The difference is that Abel's offing cost him something, and required faith that God would provide. Cain's offering didn't cost anything, demonstrating a lack of faith that God would provide. Heb 11:4
Gen 4:6
So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?: On full display here are some interesting qualities of God that we dare not overlook. First, God notices when we are angry, and it concerns Him. Second, Cain was angry about his sacrifice not being accepted, but the rejection was clearly on Cain's part. Because Cain's anger is unjustified, God tries to reason with him. So we see that God tries to put us on the right path. In essense, what God is saying is, "Why are you angry? You did it." It's clearer in the next verse.
Gen 4:7
If you do well, will you not be accepted?: Continuing from verse 6, God is explaining to Cain that Cain shouldn't be angry at anyone else but himself. Cain is angry because his sacrifice wasn't accepted by God, but instead of realizing that the sacrifice did not meet the requirements of God to cover sin before approaching God and changing his behavior to present an acceptable sacrifice, Cain is blaming others. We'll see that God is trying to get Cain to realize that it's nobody else's blame but Cain's and that all he has to do is, "do well." While it's not clear what specifically about Cain's offering wasn't acceptable, we can see the differences between the two offerings. Abel gave of his firstborn, while Cain gave some fruit "of the ground." This is explained in Heb_11:4 that Abel's gift was accepted because he gave by faith. So it's most likely that Abel's gift cost him something and made him reliant on God, while Cain's gift was of his excess and wasn't given through faith.
And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it: This is a difficult passage. Is this a personification? Is sin a real thing with desires? It's clearly laid out that if you do good, it holds back sin, but how can sin have a desire? I believe that we don't have enough information to answer these questions and will have to be content with knowing that somehow, doing good holds back sin. And if we stop doing good, sin will consume us. Scary thought.
Gen 4:8
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.: We see what God tried to warn Cain against. Cain's anger was building and God tried to set Cain straight. Cain was in the wrong but was directing the anger toward Abel instead of just doing right. Cain was blaming Abel for his own behavior. And the culmination was murder. Instead of changing his ways, Cain doubled down on his bad behavior. Instead of softening his heart, Cain allowed his heart to harden toward Abel and he killed his brother. This is the ultimate conclusion of anger. Where else can anger toward someone lead? And to make it worse, Abel was innocent. You would think that after thousands of years, we humans would have realized the folly of anger, but nothing has changed. And I might add that it seems people are getting angrier. When I talk to most people, I have to be very careful of what I say because people are looking for things to be angry about.
Gen 4:9
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?": God knows everything, so these are not questions seeking an answer, but God is trying to get Cain to confess. Cain's answer is to lie, and to point the question back at God. We can rephrase the answer as, "Aren't YOU Cain's keeper?"
Gen 4:10
And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground: Because of the insolent response from Cain, God pronounces judgement. You have to wonder, if Cain had repented, would God have forgiven Cain? Based on God's character, I'm inclined to believe so. God is ready and willing to forgive. I believe that God would rather forgive than punish, which is why we see God trying to provoke Cain to repentance. But because of Cain's hardened heart and obstinance in response to God's questioning, we see judgement instead of forgiveness. We know God's character doesn't change, and that we can apply the bible's lessons to our own lives, so when God asks you about something wrong you've done, do the smart thing and confess whatever you did. God's mercy will outweigh His punishment.
Gen 4:11
So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand: Cain was a farmer. He also tried to give God a sacrifice of fruit that God didn't respect, and because of this rejection, Cain blamed Abel and killed him. So in the next verse, God's curse directly addresses all of this.
Gen 4:12
When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you: Since the death sentence had already been pronounced, God now placed a curse on Cain that will cause the earth to only produce weak crops.
A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth: Not only will Cain have trouble growing crops, he's to be a fugitive, and a vagabond. Normally, being a vagabond wouldn't seem that bad, but there has to be something more because Cain can't bear the punishment. I believe that God coupled fugitive and vagabond together so that where Cain goes, he will live under the threat of retribution, forcing him to always be on guard and not able to stay in one spot for fear of being tracked down and revenge enacted for his killing of Abel. Word must have gotten out.
Gen 4:13
And Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear: I like how Matthew Henry puts it: "... what he says is a reproach and affront to the justice of God, and a complaint, not of the greatness of his sin, but of the extremity of his punishment, as if this were disproportionable to his merits." In other words, Cain is again deflecting. Instead of admitting that he committed a great sin in murdering Abel, Cain complains against God's judgement.
Gen 4:14
Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face: Cain was forced to leave the area probably because Adam's family had grown to a large number and they would get revenge on Cain if they found him. And since Cain wouldn't be able to stay in the area, he couldn't approach God with the rest of his people.
I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me: He's probably right that he'd be killed if found. But again, Cain seems more concerned with the punishment than he does with what he did. Cain isn't remorseful in the slightest.
Gen 4:15
And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him: We aren't told what the mark is, so I won't guess. Whatever this mark was, it identified him as protected by God. Again, we see the grace of God. God is still trying to reason with Cain and trying to show Cain that his response was wrong, and that God's judgement is righteous. By keeping Cain alive, I believe that God was giving Cain time to repent.
Gen 4:16
Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden: Apparently, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Eden that God had planted (my belief is that Eden was in a different dimension), but they had settled in a place on Earth and called it Eden. The word Nod means wandering in Hebrew, so it seems that Cain named it that when he fled, or it was named that because it was the place that Cain had fled to.
Gen 4:17
And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch: Cain had sex with his wife and she gave birth to Enoch. A lot of people ask where Cain got his wife, but there was no restrictions on inter-family marriages at this time. There was no need, as our DNA hadn't had a chance to replicate the errors that we have today. We all know in our time, when two familiy members have a child, there's a much greater chance that the baby will be deformed. They didn't have that problem then, so God didn't restrict incest. Enoch's name literally means initiated, or beginning. So Cain is beginning his life new, but without God.
And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch: Cain, continuing on with this theme of starting over without God names his city Enoch (aka beginning). Cain didn't name the city after himself, probably in an attempt to hide his past. He has truly distanced himself from God.
Gen 4:18
To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech: This a short history of the family of Cain. Usually, only the first born are recorded in the Hebrew records, so there were undoubtably many more children.
Gen 4:19
Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah: Here we have recorded the first person to pervert the marriage relationship with polygamy. God said that we should have a wife and become one flesh, not multiple wives.
Gen 4:20
And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock: Jabal is the father of nomads.
Gen 4:21
His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute: Another first. This time, Jubal is the father of musical instruments. The Easton Dictionary says, "Jubilee, music, Lamech's second son by Adah, of the line of Cain. He was the inventor of “the harp” (Heb. kinnor, properly “lyre”) and “the organ” (Heb. 'ugab, properly “mouth-organ” or Pan's pipe)."
Gen 4:22
And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah: Interesting that Tubal-Cain is here recorded as an instructor of bronze and iron. He's not the father of it, but an instructor. In the Book of Enoch we find, "Enoch 8:1 Moreover Azazyel taught men to make swords, knives, shields, breastplates, the fabrication of mirrors, and the workmanship of bracelets and ornaments, the use of paint, the beautifying of the eyebrows, the use of stones of every valuable and select kind, and of all sorts of dyes, so that the world became altered." It's my belief that Azazyel taught Cain's descendents this information.
Gen 4:23
Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, Even a young man for hurting me: Lamech is comparing his action of killing someone in self defense to the action of Cain who killed Abel in anger (Gen 4:8)
Gen 4:24
If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold: Lamech reasons here that if God protected Cain after Cain murdered his brother Abel (Gen_4:8), then Lamech will be protected by God even more so because his killing was in self defense, not murder. Basically, he's telling his wives not to worry.
Gen 4:25
And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.": Apparently, Eve believed that this was the seed (Gen 3:15) who would "bruise his (Satan) heel." It seems that she believed Abel was the seed first, and that God replaced Abel with Seth. Seth means substitute in Hebrew: H8352 - From H7896; put, that is, substituted; Sheth, third son of Adam: - Seth, Sheth.
Gen 4:26
And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.: This is a comparison between the two family lines of Cain and Adam. Cain's line is very worldly and shuns God, and Adam's line follows God. It really seems that Cain's line follows the fallen angels, and gains from their knowledge of metalurgy, and other worldly things like how to create make-up and dies. Worldly lusts came along with this, and fornication increased (Enoch 8:2). In stark contrast, Adam's line calls on the name of the LORD, or begins having public services and worshiping God publicly.
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