This verse closes and rounds off the story of Cain. The significant theme that it features is the destiny of Cain rather than his punishment.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD: Then serves to bring the curse episode to a close. Went away from has the sense of “left, departed from.” Presence of the LORD is the same as in verse 14. It is not advisable to translate “from the worship place of the LORD.”

And dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden: dwelt means “to reside, live.” Land of Nod, as the Revised Standard Version footnote shows, means “land of Wandering.” Good News Translation avoids using Nod, since land of Nod in English suggests a place for sleeping. The same Hebrew word is used in the description of Cain as a “Wanderer” in verses 12 and 14. No such geographical name is known. For east of Eden see 3.24.

Some translations have preferred to give a rendering of the meaning of Nod, seeing that it relates to an important term used in the story; this is a regular feature of story conclusions in some languages. Two examples are “… a place called ‘Wandering Around’ ” and “… a place called Nod, which means ‘Place where people can’t settle down.’ ”

Languages are different in the ways they use to bring a narrative to conclusion. But in many cases a statement like “So Cain went away from the family of Adam…” or “That is what happened to Cain in the end…” can form the basis for a satisfying conclusion, with the other details of the text fitting around it.

The line of the descendants of Cain is still to be given, in verses 17-24. But Cain’s story really concludes here at verse 16, and the ongoing story of the descendants of Adam is picked up again at verse 25 with the chosen line, whose main qualification is that they are worshippers of YHWH, “the LORD.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .