Cain

After their expulsion from Eden, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. The story is well known: Cain was a farmer who offered crops to God, Abel a herdsman who offered a lamb. God accepted the lamb but not the crops, so Cain in anger killed Abel. The story is certainly a defence of animal sacrifice, emphasising the battle between herders and farmers. The story ends with Cain sent east of Eden, that is towards India, to "the Land of Nod" [meaning wandering]. This implies Cain represents desert nomads. Cain and his descendants received the 'mark of Cain' so people would see it and not harm them. What that mark or sign has been much discussed. There has been claims from ancient times that it was dark skin and this played a part in racist and slavery discourses. There is a presumption in the story that there were other humans on earth - "anyone who meets me can kill me" (Genesis 4.14). Cain needed protection from others, and found a wife with whom he began a dynasty. Any death of a descendant of Cain would be punished sevenfold - perhaps a reference to traditions of blood revenge (vendetta) among nomads.

His genealogy has some interesting reading. The similarity of the name Cain and the Kenite tribe (more similar in Hebrew than in English) is curious. The Kenites were favourably remembered and instrumental in the development of Yahwism. If we follow the Genesis narrative tenaciously, then all descendants of Cain were killed in the flood, but we are not necessarily justified in connecting the stories and expecting inner logic.

Cain was cursed as the ground had received Abel's blood: it would no longer be productive. Cain would be a "vagrant" and a "wanderer" and not a farmer. Cain's first job (beside fathering a son called Enoch) was build a city called Enoch. A few generations went by before the birth of Lamech:

Lamech married two wives, one named and the other Zillah. Adar bore Jabal who was the ancestor of herdsmen who live in tents, and his brother's name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of those who play the harp and pipe. Zillah, the other wife, bore Tubal-cain the master of all coppersmiths and blacksmiths, and Tubal-cain's sister was Naamah. Lamech said to his wives: 'Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, mark what I say: I kill a man for wounding me, a young man for a blow. Cain may be avenged seven times, but Lamech seventy-seven,"

This extrudes into a generally prosaic set of genealogies. At a very early supposed date, humans were developing cities, metalwork and music. This describes the Kenite clan of which Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, was the most famous member. It is possible that the deity Yahweh, worshiped by the Hebrews, originated among the Kenites in Midian. Our story here says: "At that time men began to invoke the LORD's [Yahweh's] name" (Genesis 4.26). Clearly, Cain's descendants survived the flood and nurtured the primitive religion of Yahweh. They were smiths, metal-workers, a nomadic group who could turn their hands to anything. And they worshipped Yahweh. Moses, as fugitive, married Jethro's daughter. The theophany at the burning bush we all know.

There are questions. Naamah, detailed above, is unusually named but without detail. she is an example of censored women. What did she do? Why is she remembered? Polygyny was often reported in non-Hebrew circles, such as Esau and the Edomites. There is a pretense of monogamy in Hebrew lineages before the monarchy, though Abraham and Jacob each had multiple marriages and concubines.