What About Cain?

What Do We Know About Cain From Both OT & NT Scriptures?

LET THE PARTICIPANTS ANSWER FIRST THEN ADD BELOW WHAT’S NOT MENTIONED.

-Cain is the firstborn of Adam and Eve after his parents rebelled in the Garden.

-Cain was a "farmer" which means he worked the ground which ironically was cursed d/t his father's sin of rebellion in the Garden of Eden.

-His occupation was a hard one in light of the ground being cursed but it still produced fruit! He like his brother Abel made an offering from his "occupation" BUT (and the text never definitively states this but is inferred d/t how Abel's offering was described as being the "best" ie firstfruit) it apparently was not reflective of what God ALLOWED to be produced in spite of the ground being cursed!

-Cain becomes angry b/c his offering was rejected by Yahweh.

-Yahweh informs Cain he is going down the wrong path w/his attitude and warns him to do what is right.

-Cain commits the first murder.

-Cain is exiled further away by being exiled away from his family along w/its familiar surroundings.

-1st human mentioned having a "protection" of Yahweh from other humans.

Scriptures:

Let’s Go To Scripture:

Genesis 4:15–22 (CSB)

Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And he placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. Adah bore Jabal; he was the first of the nomadic herdsmen. His brother was named Jubal; he was the first of all who play the lyre and the flute. Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

-Yahweh puts a "protection" on Cain to keep anyone from killing him or if they did kill him Yahweh would avenge him "-7 times over".

-Cain was exiled east of Eden to live in the land of Nod (ironically means wandering)-far away from his parents.

-Cain married and gave birth to a son who he named Enoch.

-Cain builds the first city mentioned in Scripture and names it after his son.

-Line of descendents all the way down to the 5th generation in the way of Lamech who is first human to take 2 wives.

-From these unions we get our first nomadic herdsman; first musician; and the first maker of bronze & iron tools.

Gen 4.1-9:

-Cain's birth as firstborn of the first humans is described.

-Name means to buy, to acquire, to create.

-Cain becomes the elder brother to Abel.

-Cain was a worker of the ground.

-Cain is mentioned as being the first to make an offering to Yahweh.

-His offering is not favored by Yahweh but his brother Abel's is.

-We have the first mention of "anger" in Scripture.

-Yahweh has a "parental conversation" w/Cain.

-First time a human is described as appearing emotionally cast down.

-Yahweh provides guidance.

-Cain ignores Yahweh's guidance

-Cain commits first murder recorded in Scripture.

-Yahweh confronts Cain about his actions and Cain responds w/first sarcastic statement recorded in Scripture.

Heb 11.4

-Restatement of Cain's offering being inferior to Abel's offering.

1 John 3.12-13

-Cain described as being of the evil one and having murdered his brother. His murdering act is correlated to his deeds (assuming it's the "less favored offering) being evil as compared to his brother's whose was righteous. Cain's attitude is compared as being like the world who hates Believers.

Biblical Word Study of Cain’s Name for Further Insight

Hebrew קַ֫יִן

(qa'yin)

-Cain can mean metal worker; brought forth; acquired.

-Cain is a Husband who becomes a father.

-He father's one child and names the city he builds after this child.

-By the 5th generation of descendents of sons, that son (Lamech) obtain two wives. Also the first daughter mentioned as being descended from Cain by being the "sister of Tubal-Cain"

Greek:

-Cain's less-favored sacrifice stated in Hebrews Ch 11

-Cain being of the evil one and a murderer stated in 1 Jn 3.12

-A Woe given because some "have gone the way of Cain".

I see Cain having so much potential but lets himself get in his way and therefore becomes a tragic "lesson" for us all to learn from. He REFUSED to see himself as better than of the way he was going.

What Some Biblical Scholars Are Saying About Cain’s Portrayal In Scripture

After Yahweh banished Cain from Eden, Cain traveled east of Eden to Nod. Nod, which is not mentioned elsewhere, means “wandering.” Rather than indicating a geographical location, the “land of Nod” most likely symbolically indicates Cain’s status as a fugitive and wanderer.

J. Chase Franklin, “Cain, Son of Adam,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

Views on why Cain's offer was "less-favored"

-The majority view with both Christian and Jewish interpreters is that God rejected Cain’s offering because of Cain’s flawed character and impiety.

-others have argued that the Lord would only accept offerings through the shedding of blood.

-Another interpretation is Cain's offering was rejected b/c he was a farmer alluding to the religious sacrificial system that would be coming eventually.

-There are two different translations styles of the HB text: Masoretic (MT) & the Septuagint (LXX). The NT appears to favor the LXX translation. These translations give opposite conclusions regarding Cain.

Summary

Record your observations about how these passages portray the person you are studying.

What are they like?

-Cain is as I have already mentioned a very tragic figure. Although the HB text version I chose (CSB) appeals to the MT version, it still looks like Cain was taking what he was presenting to Yahweh lightly.

-He definitely had a rebellious spirit b/c he rejected Yahweh's warning.

-He had gall too, b/c he asks Yahweh for protection even though he ignored Yahweh's warning and committed murder!

-He made the best out of a difficult situation by finding and marrying a wife; making a family and building the first city mentioned in Scripture. He also produces a mostly entrepreneurial lineage by having musicians, traveling farmers and metal workers.

How do they respond to other people?

-Cain does not respond to others well who appear to stand in his way of receiving praise/rewards-he MURDERED his brother!!!

How do they respond to God?

-Ignores His warning by not controlling his anger and MURDERS his brother instead.

-Takes God's compassionate disposition for granted by asking for His protection.

Is their behavior something to emulate or avoid?

-Cain's behavior is DEFINITELY something to AVOID!!!

What Can We Learn?

Statement First: I am always amazed at how I keep being amazed at the compassion of Yahweh mentioned even in the first pages of our Scriptures for the humans of that time who rebelled so badly in such a short span of time (first 4 “pages” of our Scriptures)!

-What has stuck out to you if anything about Cain from today’s discussion?

-What has stuck out to you about Yahweh from today’s discussion?

-In what ways regarding Yahweh’s response should we emulate in similar interactions w/our fellow man (or woman 😊); What other situations or categories of people could we apply these same principles?

Closing Remarks

I don’t know about you, but I was very surprised at the things I learned about Cain and even myself from this character study and I hope it did the same for you! I have a teacher who when Cain is brought up, can be uncharacteristically a tad sharp when I have questions about Cain and I now understand why. It’s very easy to feel sorry for Cain if we’re not careful BUT Scripture is clear: for whatever reason Cain had an evil way about him that probably started LONG before he is introduced in the Scriptures! May we be more introspective and ask God to help us “see” ourselves and then asked for him to create that new heart within us that we so desperately need!