Cain — Bible person

The first-born son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 4). He became a tiller of the ground, as his brother Abel followed the pursuits of pastoral life. He was “a sullen, self-willed, haughty, vindictive man; wanting the religious element in his character, and defiant even in his attitude towards God.” It came to pass “in process of time” (marg. “at the end of days”), i.e., probably on the Sabbath, that the two brothers presented their offerings to the Lord. Abel’s offering was of the “firstlings of his flock and of the fat,” while Cain’s was “of the fruit of the ground.” Abel’s sacrifice was “more excellent” (Heb. 11:4) than Cain’s, and was accepted by God. On this account Cain was “very wroth,” and cherished feelings of murderous hatred against his brother, and was at length guilty of the desperate outrage of putting him to death (1 John 3:12). For this crime he was expelled from Eden, and henceforth led the life of an exile, bearing upon him some mark which God had set upon him in answer to his own cry for mercy, so that thereby he might be protected from the wrath of his fellow-men; or it may be that God only gave him some sign to assure him that he would not be slain (Gen. 4:15). Doomed to be a wanderer and a fugitive in the earth, he went forth into the “land of Nod”, i.e., the land of “exile”, which is said to have been in the “east of Eden,” and there he built a city, the first we read of, and called it after his son’s name, Enoch. His descendants are enumerated to the sixth generation. They gradually degenerated in their moral and spiritual condition till they became wholly corrupt before God. This corruption prevailed, and at length the Deluge was sent by God to prevent the final triumph of evil.

People and places

Selected passages

Show passage in OET: GEN 4:1

OET-RV GEN 4:1

4 Then Adam slept with his wife Havah (Eve), and she conceived and in due course gave birth to Kayin (Cain). “Yahweh has enabled me to produce a man,” she said.

OET-LV GEN 4:1

4 And_the_man he _knew DOM Ḩavvāh/(Eve) his/its_wife/woman and_she/it _conceived/became _pregnant and_she/it _gave _birth DOM Qayin/(Cain) and_she/it _said I _have _acquired a _man with YHWH.

Jump to OET GEN 4:1 section.

Recorded scripture occurrences (16)

References recorded in the source data; this is not an exhaustive list of mentions.

Show passage in OET: GEN 4:1

OET-RV GEN 4:1

4 Then Adam slept with his wife Havah (Eve), and she conceived and in due course gave birth to Kayin (Cain). “Yahweh has enabled me to produce a man,” she said.

OET-LV GEN 4:1

4 And_the_man he _knew DOM Ḩavvāh/(Eve) his/its_wife/woman and_she/it _conceived/became _pregnant and_she/it _gave _birth DOM Qayin/(Cain) and_she/it _said I _have _acquired a _man with YHWH.

Show passage in OET: GEN 4:2

OET-RV GEN 4:2

2 Eventually she also gave birth to Kayin’s brother, Hevel (Abel). Hevel became a shepherd, while Kayin became a crop farmer.

OET-LV GEN 4:2

2 And_she/it _added to_give _birth DOM his/its_brother DOM Heⱱel/(Abel) and_he/it _was Heⱱel a _herdsman _of sheep and_Qayin/(Cain) he _was one _who_tilled _of the_ground.

Show passage in OET: GEN 4:3

OET-RV GEN 4:3

3 Some months later, Kayin brought some of what he’d grown in the ground as an offering to Yahweh,

OET-LV GEN 4:3

3 And_he/it _was from _the_end/extremity days and_ Qayin/(Cain) _he/it _brought from _the_fruit the_soil an _offering to/for_YHWH.

Jump to OET GEN 4:1 section.

Jump to OET GEN 4:2 section.

Jump to OET GEN 4:3 section.

Words tagged with this person or place

These links follow the source-word tags and may include pronouns. Tagging is not exhaustive.