ater in power and might cannot endure that judgment which the Lord
will exercise upon blasphemers," 2 Pet 2, 11. So also Manasseh in his
prayer, verses 4 and 5, confesses that all men tremble before the face
of the Lord's anger.

200. All this is sufficient evidence that Cain, when arraigned by God,
did not have courage to withstand and to argue with him. For God is an
almighty adversary; the first assault he makes is upon the heart
itself when he takes the conscience into his grasp. Of this the
rabbins know nothing, nor can they understand it; in consequence they
speak of this arraignment as if it took place before men, where the
truth is either denied or facts are smoothed over. This is impossible
when God arraigns men; as Christ says in Matthew 12, 37, "By thy words
thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

201. Cain thus acknowledges his sin, although it is not so much the
sin he grieves over as the penalty inflicted. The statement, then, is
to be understood in the affirmative, and it reveals the horrors of
despair.

A further proof of Cain's despair is, that he does not utter one word
of reverence. He never mentions the name of God or of his father. His
conscience is so confused and so overwhelmed with terror and despair
that he is not able to think of any hope of pardon. The Epistle to the
Hebrews gives the same description of Esau when it states that he "for
one mess of meat, sold his own birthright. For ye know that even when
he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he
found no place for change of mind, though he sought it diligently with
tears," Heb 12, 16-17. Thus in the present instance, Cain feels his
punishment, but he grieves more for his punishment than for his sin.
And all persons, when in despair, do the same.

202. The two original words of this passage, _minneso_ and _avon_, are
a pair of crosses for grammarians. Jerome translates this clause, "My
iniquity is greater than can be pardoned." Sanctes, the grammarian of
Pagnum, a man of no mean erudition and evidently a diligent scholar,
renders the passage, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." But
by such a rendering we shall make a martyr of Cain and a sinner of
Abel. Concerning the word _nasa_, I have before observed that when it
is applied to sin it signifies, to lift sin up, or off, or on high;
that is, to take it out of the way. Similarly the figure has found
currency among us: the remis