Genesis 4:12 - Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Bible Comments

Or, that ground, which doth or shall fall to thy share, besides the first and general curse inflicted upon the whole earth, shall have this peculiar curse added to it, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength, i.e. its virtue and fruit, in such proportion as it hath hitherto done. A vagabond shalt thou be, banished from thy own land and kindred, and father's house, and from the whole society of the faithful, and wandering hither and thither. Others render the words mourning and trembling; or, trembling and wandering. These two words note both the unquietness and horror of his mind and conscience, and the unsettledness of his habitation and condition, and, as some add, the trembling of his body.

Genesis 4:12

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.