Cain, the Fugitive and Vagabond

2025-01-24

Adam’s son Cain, as written elsewhere, was likely thought to be the promised seed of Genesis 3:15. His name means “Spear” and “Strength,” and he was the firstborn. His parents changed their minds after all that had transpired with Abel’s murder: “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Genesis 4:25).

This probably did not stop Cain from thinking better about himself than he should. He was a murderer, thrust out from the presence of God, and condemned to be a wanderer. However, after he had his son, he likely remembered how he was lifted up by his parents above his siblings, and did the same for his son. He created a city, and named it what? “And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch” (Genesis 4:17). Enoch, probably his firstborn, was probably lifted up as he was, and the firstborns in the genealogy were likely treated the same after him: “And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech” (Genesis 4:18).

Here, Lamech shows his pride in at least two ways. First, he is the first person on record to engage in polygamy. Second, he assumed that the grace shown Cain (“Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold”) would more than apply to him, being the seventh from Adam. He assumed that it was always normal to avenge himself every time somebody hurt him.

The result was devastating: “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11).