Cain

{{hatnote|Were you looking for [[Herman Cain]]?}}
[[File:Cain leadeth abel to death tissot.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Either Hägar the Horrible or Cain leading his brother to his death.]]
{{biblenav}}
'''Cain''' is the mythical first son of the equally mythical [[Adam and Eve]] in [[Genesis]].  He is best known as the "first" murderer for having killed his brother [[Abel]], which makes him the first [[human]] killer in the Bible.{{efn|The first killing of any life form recorded in the Bible was by God himself, when he provided furs for Adam and Eve to wear on their way out the gate to the east of Eden.}}

==Cain and Abel==
[[God]] had cursed the very soil, which caused it to grow thorny weeds. When Adam's firstborn son, Cain, was old enough, he joined his father in working in the fields. Adam's second-born son, Abel, preferred to just walk around the hills with his [[sheep]], which could not even be eaten because God did not authorize a meat diet for humanity until after [[The Flood]] ({{bible|Genesis|9|3}}). The only thing Abel could do with his sheep is offer them to God as a burnt offering.

One day, Cain brought, in good faith, some of the fruit of the ground he had managed to grow (despite the soil being cursed) to God to offer in thanksgiving, but God didn't respect his offering, despite Cain being the first-born and natural heir to Adam's ministry, because it didn't involve killing at all. Ever the quick learner, Cain took a lesson from that and decided to kill his brother. As punishment, God told soil not to yield anything for him.

To save Cain from being murdered by vengeful persons ''(though who they would have been is not clear as Cain and Abel were the first children of Adam and Eve, the first humans)'', "God" placed a "mark" on Cain. The nature of this mark is nowhere specified but is taken to be a '''dark skin complexion''' by white [[racism|racists]] seeking justification for their attitude, the so-called "[[Mark of Cain]]".  We're more inclined to think he got a rad scar on his forehead like Harry Potter.

==Descendants==
Cain's great×4-grandsons Jabal, Jubal, and Tubalcain are respectively named in Genesis as the founders of pastoralism, [[music]], and metalworking. [[Biblical literalism|Biblical literalists]] have used this section of Genesis 4 as "proof" that cultures practicing pastoralism bear the mark of God's disapproval.<ref>[http://creation.com/sheep-and-goats-since-when Sheep and goats? Since when?] From [[CMI]].</ref><ref group=note>Music and metalworking, however, are apparently just fine.</ref>  Of course, several respected [[Old Testament]] figures like [[Abraham]], [[Jacob]], [[Old Testament Joseph|Joseph]], [[Moses]] after [[Exodus]] were also pastoralists. Most pastoralist groups are traditionally [[polygamy|polygynous]].<ref>Lee, Gary [http://books.google.com/books?id=frfH-mHHXcoC&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=Polygynous+pastoral&source=bl&ots=XFuT-d8Wvb&sig=mdPhiVt-djlJlUA_EZgmerJq9Ks&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sY-HT77JNcea8AGty_mpCA&ved=0CGMQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=Polygynous%20pastoral&f=false Family Structure and Interaction: A Comparative Analysis]</ref>

==Serpent seed==
{{main|Serpent seed doctrine}}
An unusual belief held by some [[Christians]], but rejected by mainstream churches, is that Cain was not Adam's son, but the result of an adulterous liaison between Eve and the Serpent.  This is known as the [[serpent seed doctrine]] and is seen as an explanation for Cain's evil deed, and is about as bizarre and creepy as it sounds.  [[Christian Identity]] movements accept the serpent seed doctrine and claim that [[Jew]]s [[Evil Jew|are the descendants of Cain, and therefore of the Serpent]] (i.e. [[Satan]]). Never mind that the Bible nowhere says that the Serpent was Satan unless you want to count [[Revelation]]. Not to mention the Global Flood wiping out everyone but Noah's family.

==Known hobbies and pop culture==
According to those strange, [[cult]]-like roleplayers<ref>[[Jack Chick]] said that they really are cults. See [http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.asp Dark Dungeons].</ref>, Cain was also the world's first [[vampire]].<ref>{{see-wp|Vampire: The Masquerade}}</ref> Elsewhere, Cain also lends himself to wrestler Kane,<ref>{{see-wp|Kane (wrestler)}}</ref> the once-masked-but-now-largely-naked-but-now-re-masked (welcome to wrestling) half-brother of The Undertaker, or the cyborg RoboCop battles in ''RoboCop 2''. In the increasingly bizarre ''Command & Conquer'' franchise, arch-villain Kane was eventually revealed to be several thousand years old and implied to actually ''be'' the Biblical Cain himself.<ref>{{see-wp|Kane (Command & Conquer)}}</ref> Cain's brother, Abel, probably doesn't receive as many pop culture nods<ref group=note>He at least got that a badass, sword-wielding, version of Jesus was named after him</ref> because, frankly, ''Cain'' is a much more badass 
brutha
 name.

One written record on a website dedicated to fictional horror articles (available [http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-073 here]) says that Cain is some sort of cyborg. Confusing yet funny.

==See also==
*[[Old Testament oddities]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{biblebox}}

[[Category:Biblical figures]]
[[Category:Old Testament]]

Categories: Biblical figures, Old Testament