Cain
- Dates
- 3900–3200 BC
Meaning of name: "worker in iron" or "spear." He was the oldest son of Adam and Eve and the brother and murderer of Abel. He was a worker of the soil and offered his produce as an offering to God. The Lord rejected his offering but accepted Abel's.
In detail
The eldest son of Adam and Eve, brother and murderer of Abel. A farmer by occupation, he offered as a sacrifice the produce of his fields. When God rejected his offering and accepted that of his brother, Cain became jealous and murdered his brother (Gen 4:1—16). The New Testament indicates an ethical cause for the rejection of Cain. Abel was righteous (Mt 23:35), while the way of Cain (Jude 11) was evil.
John says that Cain was of that wicked one and that he slew his brother because his "works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 Jn 3:12). The author of Heb 11:4 implies that lack of faith was the reason for the rejection of Cain's offering. As punishment for his crime Cain was forced to live the life of an exile. He was given a mark, the exact nature of which is not known, as a protection or sign of protection against blood revenge (Gen 4:15, 16).
Bible passages
- Genesis 4:1
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
Text of the King James Version.
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