4:11 cursed from the earth. The earth had been cursed because of Adam’s sin; now the earth itself had been defiled by Cain’s sin. God’s curse was on the earth; Cain’s curse was from the earth. His boastful pride in the fruits he had been able to grow from the cursed earth had been the occasion of his sin, but now he would no longer be able to till the ground even for his own food. Those who trust in their own good works eventually find it impossible to produce them any more.