Cain
Born 4002 BC traditional (Jones)
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.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897).
- The 2nd generation from Adam, counting Adam as the first.
- Born in the era of Creation to the Flood, 4004–2349 BC.
- Named in the same verses as Abel, Adam, Balaam, Enoch, Eve, Korah, Lamech, and Seth.
Computed from the data. Years are traditional (Jones).
Family
Two generations up and the children; a button shows the grandchildren. Gold lines join partners; grey lines run from parent to child; a dotted line marks a parent named in the text but not by descent.
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Stories
2 events in which Cain takes part, in order of the traditional chronology. Years are traditional (Jones).
- 3874 BCCain kills AbelGen 4:1-10
- 3874 BCGod curses CainGen 4:11-16
Places
Places named in the same verses as Cain, with the number of verses they share; a larger marker means more. Locations follow OpenBible.info, which grades each identification.
Timeline
The strip runs from Creation to AD 100; the shaded part, 4004 BC to AD 100, is drawn below at a larger scale around these mentions, with 6 contemporaries. Years are traditional (Jones), shown as recorded, not as settled fact.
Mentions
16 tagged verses in 4 books. Select a book to read its verses.
The name in each translation
| Text | Occurrences of each name |
|---|---|
| BSB | Cain 23 |
| KJV | Cain 20 |
| ASV | Cain 19 |
Whole-word, case-sensitive count of the name string (regex \bName\b, so possessives like "Abraham's" count) across the whole Bible text of each translation; this counts the string, not the person, so other people who share the name are included and pronoun references are not. How Begat counts
Every verse
All 16 tagged verses, by book, in canonical order. The Berean Standard Bible is shown; switch to the King James or American Standard Version.
Genesis13 verses
- 4:1
And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.
- 4:2
Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.
- 4:3
So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD,
- 4:5
but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
- 4:6
“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen?
- 4:8
Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- 4:9
And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
- 4:13
But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.
- 4:15
“Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him.
- 4:16
So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
- 4:17
And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.
- 4:24
If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
- 4:25
And Adam again had relations with his wife, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, saying, “God has granted me another seed in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.”
Hebrews1 verse
- 11:4
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
1 John1 verse
- 3:12
Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.
Jude1 verse
- 1:11
Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary
The full entry, public domain, as printed in 1897.
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.