Cain

In stories common to the Abrahamic religions,
Cain or Káyin (קַיִן / קָיִן "Possession", Standard Hebrew Qáyin, Tiberian Hebrew Qáyin / Qāyin; 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 (korban in Hebrew) 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. See Cain and Abel for a fuller story and some exploration of the mythological significance.

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.

Qabil (Cain in Islam)

The story of Cain and Abel is also told in the Qur'an (5:27-32), where Cain is not named; however, in Islamic tradition he is called Qabil, while Abel is called Habil. In the Qur'an, as in the Bible, Qabil's sacrifice was rejected whereas Habil's was accepted, and Qabil, enraged, killed his brother and became evil. God then sent a crow that scratched in the earth, to prompt Qabil to bury his brother; seeing it, he said "Woe is me! Was I not even able to be as this raven, and hide the naked body of my brother?" and he regretted his deed. It was on this account, according to the Qur'an, that God ordained for the Children of Israel that "if anyone slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people."

No mention is made of the mark of Cain, or of Cain's later wanderings.

See Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an.

See also