Genesis 4:10

KJV1611 – Modern English

And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר מֶ֣ה עָשִׂ֑יתָ ק֚וֹל דְּמֵ֣י אָחִ֔יךָ צֹעֲקִ֥ים אֵלַ֖י מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃

Transliteration

And-yomer what ʿasita qol demey your-brother tsoʿaqim to-me from-the-ʾadamah

Grammar Details

• *yomer*: qal imperfect with waw-consecutive, 3rd masculine singular - said
• *meh*: interrogative pronoun - what
• *ʿasita*: qal perfect, 2nd masculine singular - you have done
• *qol*: noun, masculine singular construct - voice of
• *demey*: noun, masculine plural construct - bloods of
• *ʾaḥiyka*: noun, masculine singular + 2nd masculine singular suffix - your brother
• *tsoʿaqim*: qal participle, masculine plural - crying out
• *ʾelay*: preposition + 1st singular suffix - to me
• *min*: preposition - from
• *ha-ʾadamah*: definite noun, feminine singular - the ground

Word Meanings

• *qol demey*: voice of bloods/sound of blood/cry of blood
• *demey*: blood (plural form often indicates violent bloodshed)
• *tsoʿaqim*: crying out/calling/screaming

Other Translations

• Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

  The LORD said, 'What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.'

• King James Version 1769 (Standard Version)

  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

• American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

• King James Version with Strong's Numbers

  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

• Tyndale Bible (1526/1534)

  And he sayd: What hast thou done? the voyce of thy brothers bloud cryeth vnto me out of the erth.

• Coverdale Bible (1535)

  And he sayde: What hast thou done? The voyce of thy brothers bloude crieth vnto me out of the earth.

• Geneva Bible (1560)

  Againe he said, What hast thou done? the voyce of thy brothers blood cryeth vnto me from the earth.

• Bishops' Bible (1568)

  And he sayde: What hast thou done? the voyce of thy brothers blood cryeth vnto me out of the grounde.

• Authorized King James Version (1611)

  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

• Webster's Bible (1833)

  Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.

• Young's Literal Translation (1862/1898)

  And He saith, `What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood is crying unto Me from the ground;

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

• American Standard Version (1901)

  And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

• Bible in Basic English (1941)

  And he said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the earth.

• World English Bible (2000)

  Yahweh said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.

• NET Bible® (New English Translation)

  But the LORD said,“What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!

Referenced Verses

• Heb 12:24 : 24 To Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.
• Jas 5:4 : 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of those who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of hosts.
• Ps 72:14 : 14 He shall redeem their lives from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
• Job 31:38-39 : 38 If my land cries against me, or its furrows likewise complain; 39 If I have eaten its fruits without payment, or caused the owners to lose their life;
• Num 35:33 : 33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are: for blood defiles the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
• Rev 6:9-9 : 9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?
• Isa 5:7 : 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant: and he looked for justice, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry.
• Heb 11:4 : 4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead still speaks.
• Ps 9:12 : 12 When he avenges blood, he remembers them; he does not forget the cry of the humble.
• Job 16:18 : 18 O earth, do not cover my blood, and let my cry find no resting place.
• Job 24:12 : 12 Men groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded cries out, yet God does not charge them with folly.
• Josh 7:19 : 19 And Joshua said to Achan, My son, give, I pray you, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession to him; and tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.
• 2 Kgs 9:26 : 26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, says the LORD; and I will pay you back in this plot, says the LORD. Now, therefore, take and throw him into the plot of ground, according to the word of the LORD.
• Gen 3:13 : 13 And the LORD God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
• Gen 9:5 : 5 And surely for your blood, the blood of your lives, I will demand an account; at the hand of every beast I will demand it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother I will demand the life of man.
• Gen 18:20 : 20 And the LORD said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grievous,
• Exod 3:7 : 7 And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows;
• Ps 50:21 : 21 These things you have done, and I kept silence; you thought that I was altogether like you: but I will reprove you, and set them in order before your eyes.
• Acts 5:3 : 3 But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the price of the land?
• Acts 5:9 : 9 Then Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.