Cain

In stories common to the Abrahamic religions, Cain (קין "Possession", Tiberian Hebrew Qáyin / Qāyin, Standard Hebrew Qáyin; Arabic قابيل Qābīl) is the eldest son of Adam and Eve, and the first man born in creation according to the Genesis. In the Hebrew language, Cain means "acquisition."

He was a tiller of the land while his younger brother Abel was a shepherd. God's rejection of Cain's sacrifice of fruit and grain in preference to Abel's blood sacrifice of a lamb drove Cain to murder his brother in a jealous rage. When God later questioned Cain as to his brother's whereabouts, Cain answered, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

God decreed that Cain could no longer till the ground, and that instead he must be a fugitive wanderer. Cain protested that he would be killed by those he encountered, in reply to which God gave Cain a special mark and decreed that any who killed him would suffer vengeance "sevenfold." Cain then settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

In popular mythology, although it is unspecified in the Bible, Cain's mark is red hair. He is also thought to have fathered the Biblical races of giants and monsters -- the so-called children of Cain. Cain (alternatively Kain) is also a popular name for some fantasy characters associated with evil, such as vampires.

See also

• Cainites - a small gnostic Christian sect of the 2nd century.
• Henoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methusael, Lamech, Jabel, Jubal, Tubalcain and Noemi - the descendants of Cain, also known as the Cainites.

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For the American crime writer, see James M. Cain.