Kejadian 1:20

1:20 God said, “Let the water swarm with swarms ¹  of living creatures and let birds fly ²  above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”

Kejadian 4:14-15

4:14 Look! You are driving me off the land ³  today, and I must hide from your presence. ⁴  I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me.” 4:15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, ⁵  if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.” ⁶  Then the Lord put a special mark ⁷  on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. ⁸ 

[1:20]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text again uses a cognate construction (“swarm with swarms”) to emphasize the abundant fertility. The idea of the verb is one of swift movement back and forth, literally swarming. This verb is used in Exod 1:7 to describe the rapid growth of the Israelite population in bondage.

[1:20]  ² tn The Hebrew text uses the Polel form of the verb instead of the simple Qal; it stresses a swarming flight again to underscore the abundant fruitfulness.

[4:14]  ³ tn Heb “from upon the surface of the ground.”

[4:14]  ⁴ sn I must hide from your presence. The motif of hiding from the Lord as a result of sin also appears in Gen 3:8-10.

[4:15]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term לָכֵן (lakhen, “therefore”) in this context carries the sense of “Okay,” or “in that case then I will do this.”

[4:15]  ⁶ sn The symbolic number seven is used here to emphasize that the offender will receive severe punishment. For other rhetorical and hyperbolic uses of the expression “seven times over,” see Pss 12:6; 79:12; Prov 6:31; Isa 30:26.

[4:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “sign”; “reminder.” The term “sign” is not used in the translation because it might imply to an English reader that God hung a sign on Cain. The text does not identify what the “sign” was. It must have been some outward, visual reminder of Cain’s special protected status.

[4:15]  ⁸ sn God becomes Cain’s protector. Here is common grace – Cain and his community will live on under God’s care, but without salvation.