Genesis 4:7 (WEB)
If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.”
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Genesis 4:7 (KJV)
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Key words
- חַטָּאת רֹבֵץchattat rovets · Hebrew
- 'sin lieth' — literally sin 'crouches' at the door like a beast waiting to spring.
- תִּמְשָׁל־בּוֹtimshol-bo · Hebrew
- 'thou shalt rule over him' — Cain must master the beast.
Why it matters
In the chapter right after the serpent's curse, sin is pictured as a beast crouching at the door, ready to strike Eve's son. Pitre cites this as the Bible's own commentary on Genesis 3:15 (p 24): the war between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed is moral and spiritual, not a note about snakes. The woman's offspring must 'master' the beast, which Jesus finally does at the cross.