Cain
“Acquired, possession, or spear”
Summary
The firstborn son of Adam and Eve, who murdered his brother Abel and became a wanderer east of Eden.
☩Birth and Occupation
Cain was the eldest son of Adam and Eve, his name apparently derived from the Hebrew word meaning 'to acquire' or 'to create,' for Eve said, 'I have gotten a man from Jehovah.' She recognized this gift as a first step toward fulfilling the promise of the Redeemer, 'the seed of the woman.' Parents' expectations proved vastly different from after realities—Cain, the supposed acquisition, became a deadly loss. He followed the occupation of agriculture, tilling the ground.
☩The Rejected Offering
Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to Jehovah, while his brother Abel, a shepherd, brought the firstborn of his flock. The Lord had respect to Abel and his offering but not to Cain's. Cain's offering appeared to be mere acknowledgment of God's sovereignty without confession of his fallen nature, whereas Abel's blood sacrifice typified atonement for sin. By faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, as Hebrews testifies.
☩The Murder of Abel
When God rejected his offering, Cain's countenance fell and anger was kindled within him. God expostulated with him: 'If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door'—a sin offering was within his reach. Instead of humbling himself, Cain invited his brother into the field and, in a fit of jealousy, committed the crime of murder. This was the first instance of human mortality.
☩Divine Judgment
When questioned about Abel, Cain insolently replied, 'Am I my brother's keeper?'—displaying the spirit of him who is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. God convicted him: 'The voice of your brother's blood cries to me from the ground.' Cain was cursed from the earth, condemned to be a fugitive and wanderer. His despairing but impenitent cry, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear,' regretted only the penalty, not the sin.
☩The Mark and Exile
Though fearing that anyone who found him would slay him, God set a sign for Cain's protection, declaring sevenfold vengeance on anyone who killed him. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod ('wandering'), east of Eden. There he built a city named after his son Enoch—the first step in founding a worldly center of unity, compensating for his loss of fellowship with God's people.
☩The Cainite Line
Cain's descendants became notable for arts and inventions: Jabal was the ancestor of tent-dwelling cattle-keepers; Jubal, the forefather of musicians; Tubal-cain, the inventor of metal-working in brass and iron. Lamech began polygamy and boasted of violence in poetry. Civilization developed among the Cainites but allied to godlessness and self-indulgence, while the Sethites continued in godly simplicity. Cain is cited in the New Testament as a type of the ungodly, his way a warning against self-willed worship.
Related Verses19 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Cain," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Cain," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Cain," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.James Orr (ed.), "Cain," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 5.George Morrish, "Cain," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 6.Philip Schaff and Johann Herzog (ed.), "Cain, Kenites," in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. II (Funk and Wagnalls, 1908–1914).