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.

GENESIS 4:14KJV
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Genesis 4:14 (KJV)

What does Genesis 4:14 mean?

Genesis 4:14 records Cain’s fearful response after God pronounces judgment on him for killing his brother Abel. Cain laments that he is being driven away from the land and from God’s presence, and he fears that as a wandering fugitive, anyone who finds him will kill him.

In this verse, Cain is speaking directly to God, expressing his anxiety about the consequences of his actions. He realizes he will be separated from his home (“the face of the earth”) and from God’s presence, forced to wander without protection. Cain’s words show his fear of isolation and the danger he expects to face from others because of his crime.

The Hebrew behind Genesis 4:14

  • “Driven out” (גֵּרַשְׁתָּ, gerashta, from H1644) means to be expelled or banished. This word highlights that Cain’s punishment is not just leaving a place, but being forcefully removed.
  • “Face” (פָּנִים, panim, from H6440) appears twice: once for “the face of the earth” and once for “thy face.” In Hebrew, “face” often means presence, so Cain is lamenting being cut off both from the land and from God’s presence.
  • “Fugitive” (נָע, na, from H5128) and “vagabond” (נָד, nad, from H5110) both describe someone who wanders without a home or rest. The pairing of these words emphasizes Cain’s restless, unsettled future.
  • “Earth” is used twice with different words: אֲדָמָה (adamah, from H127) for the cultivated ground and אֶרֶץ (erets, from H776) for the broader land or earth. This shift suggests Cain is losing both his connection to the soil he worked and his place in the wider world.

Why Genesis 4:14 matters

  • This verse clarifies that Cain’s greatest fear is not just punishment, but being cut off from both God and community, highlighting the relational cost of his actions.
  • The language reveals that Cain’s punishment is more than physical exile; it is also spiritual and social isolation.
  • Understanding Cain’s response helps set up the following verses, where God addresses Cain’s fears and shows a measure of protection, deepening the story’s themes of justice and mercy.

Where else these words appear

“vagabond” Hebrew H5110 · used in 24 verses

  • Genesis 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
  • Psalms 69:20 Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.
  • Jeremiah 22:10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: but weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country.

“fugitive” Hebrew H5128 · used in 36 verses

  • Genesis 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
  • Job 28:4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men.
  • Isaiah 29:9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

“out” Hebrew H1644 · used in 45 verses

  • Genesis 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
  • Leviticus 21:14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
  • 1 Chronicles 17:21 And what one nation in the earth is like thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be his own people, to make thee a name of greatness and terribleness, by driving out nations from before thy people, whom thou hast redeemed out of Egypt?

“from” Hebrew H5921 · used in 48 verses

  • Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
  • Genesis 32:11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
  • 1 Chronicles 9:28 And certain of them had the charge of the ministering vessels, that they should bring them in and out by tale.