And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground - Hebrew, bloods. The word in the plural is commonly used to signify blood as shed-murder. The blood of Abel is said to have had a 'voice that cried' aloud to God-a strong image, founded manifestly on the fact that sin, being a violation of the moral order which God had originally established, all heinous sins cry to Him, as the Governor of the world, for retribution. The violent effusion of human blood being one of the greatest violations of the economy of Providence, outraged nature is represented as crying to God for vengeance upon the murderer; and there was a special reason why God should make enquiry after Abel's blood, because "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Psalms 116:15; Hebrews 11:4). Since murder is often discovered by a train of the most extraordinary and unexpected events, which indicate the hand of God, the metaphor has come into common and familiar use; and hence, the poet says:
`O murder, thou hast no tongue; Yet dost thou speak with most miraculous organ.
This figurative language, however, though first employed in reference to the case before us, is by no means exclusively appropriated to the horrid crime of murder. It is applied in Scripture to every sin, as expressing the necessary connection between sin and its punishment. For every sin has a voice of crimination against the sinner. That voice may not be heard by the transgressor himself, amid the wild storm of passion and the din of the world's pursuits, or because his conscience is seared; but still it is heard by the Supreme Judge (cf. Genesis 18:20-21; Genesis 19:13; Exodus 3:7).