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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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CAIN (Person)

First son of Adam and Eve, who became a tiller of the soil while his brother, Abel, was a keeper of sheep. Cain’s murder of Abel became proverbial of similarly violent and destructive sins (Jude 1:11). Each of the two brothers had brought a sacrifice to the Lord (Gn 4:3-4). According to Hebrews 11:4, Abel had acted in faith by bringing a more acceptable sacrifice than that of Cain. The latter’s anger had flared against the divine rejection. In retaliation, he killed his brother, whose offering had been accepted (Gn 4:5-8). In seeking a reason for Cain’s inappropriate violent reaction, biblical commentary simply says that he belonged to the evil one (1 Jn 3:12). The Lord confronted Cain with his guilt, judged him, and pronounced a curse upon him, driving him out to the land of Nod, east of Eden (Gn 4:9-16). When he complained that his punishment was greater than he could bear and that someone would find him and kill him, the Lord placed a mark on Cain and promised to take sevenfold vengeance on anyone who dared to kill him.

In the land of Nod, Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch (Gn 4:17). Through Enoch, Cain became the progenitor of a large family that during its early generations became tent-dwelling herdsmen, musicians, and fashioners of metal objects and implements (vv 18-22).