Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve. Eve named him with joy, saying she had gotten a man with the help of the LORD. He worked the ground, and his younger brother Abel kept sheep. Both brought offerings to God. God had regard for Abel and his offering, but not for Cain and his, and Cain was very angry.
God came to him before anything happened and warned him that sin was crouching at the door, but that he must rule over it. Cain lured Abel into the field and killed him. When God asked where his brother was, he answered, Am I my brother's keeper? God sent him out as a wanderer, yet put a mark on him so that no one would kill him. He settled in the land of Nod and built a city.
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If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door.
Name means
Linked to “gotten” ()
Home
Outside Eden, later the land of Nod, east of Eden
Role
Farmer, then a wanderer and city builder
Read in
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Cain's story
Wandering east of Eden
Beginning
A son with God's help
Eve's firstborn, a worker of the ground.
Turning point
Two offerings
God does not regard his offering, and his face falls.
Turning point
Sin at the door
God warns him and tells him he must rule over it.
Low point
In the field
He kills Abel and asks, Am I my brother's keeper?
Low point
A wanderer, marked
Sent out, yet protected by God's mark.
Ending
The land of Nod
He settles east of Eden and builds a city.
Starts as Eve's hoped-for son. Ends as a wanderer God still protected.
Where Cain lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
Genesis names no places but Eden and Nod, and neither can be located.
How Cain is wired
Why there's no type here
Cain speaks only a few lines in Scripture, too little to type him honestly.
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Cain
Hard work on the land (). Brought an offering to God (). Later built a city ().
Where Cain struggles
Anger he would not master (). Murder of his brother (). Evasion when questioned ().
Abel's blood cried out for justice; Jesus' blood speaks a better word.
Hebrews says we have come to Jesus and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (). Cain's story shows sin crouching at the door of every heart (). John warns us not to be like Cain, and points instead to Jesus, who laid down his life for us ().
Questions to sit with
1
God spoke to Cain before he acted. Where is God warning you right now?
2
Am I my brother's keeper? Who is God asking you to keep?
Study Cain with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
