The greatest sin in human history on earth is the one committed by Eve’s firstborn. First, Cain’s intention was positive. Like his brother, he brought God an offering of the fruit of his labor. He, therefore, recognized God as the giver of life and positioned himself in the natural creaturely state of recognizing his dependence on the Creator. Cain in the Bible no longer repeated Adam’s sin of autonomy from God, but this time the evil manifested itself in a horizontal direction toward his neighbor.

Cain in the Bible is the symbol of human responsibility. Also, Cain in the Bible is the firstborn of Eve and Adam and the biblical character who committed the first sin and crime between brothers and even the first crime on earth.

Cain’s hatred has metamorphosed into many faces throughout modernity.

What is the story of Cain in the Bible?

And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and gave life to Cain and said, “I have gotten a man by the Lord.” And again, he begat his brother Abel. Abel was a shepherd of sheep, and Cain was a tiller of the ground. After a while, Cain offered the Lord the fruit of the earth, and Abel also offered the firstborn of the sheep and their fat. The Lord turned his eyes to Abel and his bounty, but he turned his face away from Cain and his bounty. And Cain was furious, and his face was sullen.

The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your face sad? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, your sin is at your door, lurking at your door, and you are holding it in check.” Cain said to Abel, his brother: “Let’s go out into the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

What did Cain offer God?

Today’s Christians spend such a poor life in Christian works and strength precisely because they do not surrender their hearts to the Lord; they do not let the Lord enter their hearts. Some people are very pious and sincere but are obstinate, stingy, and malicious. In addition to pity and brother hatred, Cain’s sacrifice was also poisoned by the sin of stinginess. Cain chose the weakest morsels for the Lord. Christians still suffer from this sin today. Cain was a plowman, and the wickedness of parsimony remained, especially among plowmen. Among plowmen, you find examples of terrible cheapness.

Cain brought his fruits and harvest as an offering to God from the poorest part of it. Cain also wanted to offer a sacrifice to God, but his gift was poisoned with the envy he bore toward his brother Abel. A poisoned gift is still the prayer of the one who insults his brother. All the fasting, all the blessings, and all the gifts are in vain if you hate your neighbor.

Why did Cain kill Abel?

Cain had a heart poisoned by sin, so his sacrifice could not rise to heaven. Cain had long held a grudge against Abel. Cain’s heart was already poisoned with envy and malice when they began to offer the sacrifice. That’s why the Lord says to him: “Cain, behold, sin is preparing to kill you. Please make up your mind against it. Restrain your sin before it is too late.”

Cain kills his brother out of envy, even though God warns him. That sin is lurking, but he can keep it at bay. The murderer is not to be rewarded with the same coin. The mark God gives him is to protect him from possible revenge. Cain could not make up his mind against sin; instead of overcoming evil. Sin overcame him and made itself master over him and his will. So it is with sin today.

At first, it creeps slowly and stealthily into the human heart. “It knocks at the door,” as the Lord says, and if you let it in, you poison your spirit one by one until it becomes a fountain of poison to yourself and others. The sinner also has a burning heart; only his heart is not burning for the Lord, but for the devil.

What did God say to Cain?

The quiet Abel arouses Cain’s envy since God appreciates his sacrifices. Cain decides to kill his brother so that, left alone without a competitor, God will also accept his gift grown on the cursed ground, where nothing grew but thorns and thistles. So Cain killed Abel.

God told Cain, “Now you are cursed, you who have been driven from this field, who opened his mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. Let it no longer give you its wealth when you till the ground. Thou shalt be a wanderer and a fugitive in the earth.”

Cain asked for mercy: “My punishment is too great for me to bear. Behold, you are driving me from the face of the earth this day; I must hide from your face and be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”

But God punished Cain to wander the world burdened with the conscience of fratricide, commanding that one kill him: “Not at all; but if any man slays Cain, let Cain be avenged sevenfold.” (Genesis: 4, 15) Moreover, “he appointed a mark for Cain, that whoever found him should not kill him.” 

Who is the wife of Cain?

“After that, Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.”

Cain’s wife is said to have been one of Adam and Eve’s daughters, and Bible does not mention her name.

Adam is the origin of all. In chapters 4 and 5 of Genesis, we learn that he had sons and daughters and that Adam lived 700 years after the birth of Seth. During this time, he bore other sons and daughters. Adam was commanded to increase and multiply and lived 930 years.