(8.) The narrative implies the existence of a con- adnaUs popnlatioD in Cain^s time ; for he fears lest he ihoald be murdered in return for the murder he had committed (ver. 14). Josephus (i4n^ i, 2, 1) explains his ^esD sa arising, not ttmn men, but f^m wild beasts ; botsoch an explanation is wholly unneceesaxy* The
family of Adam may have largely increased before the birth of Seth, as is indeed implied in the notice of Cain's wife (ver. 17), and the n»ere drcumstanoe that none of the other children are noticed by name may be ex- plained on the ground that their lives furmshed noth- ing worthy of notice. These neighbors m ust, of course, have been the relatives of Cain, who had now branch- ed out into a considerable community, and as his ban- ishment would necessarily estrange him f^om them, he entertained the natural apprehension lest in the cdurse of his remaining lifetime they might even be- come his enemies, especially as they would regard him as a murderer. See Blood -bxvbnoe. His wife must evidently have been one of hb sisters (comp. **8ons and daughters," Gen. v, 4). Tradition calls her /Save (Epiphan. Hmr, xxix,''6) or Atura (Malalas, p. 2) ; the Arabs call Cain himself Kabel by alliteration with the name of his brother (D*Herbelot, BilL Or, s. V. Cabil). See Adam.
(4.) The character of Cain deserves a filler notice. He is described as a man of a morose, malicious, and revengeful temper ; and that be presented his offering in this state of mind is implied in the rebuke contain- ed in Gen. iv, 7, which may be rendered thus: **If thou doest well (or, as the Sept. has it, lav dpBwQ irpoaa4yK^\ is there not an elevation (TKiS) [of the countenance] (i. e. perhaps cheerfldneu and happineti) ? but if thou doest not well [Ikere i§ a mMng of the coun^ teaoMoe], sin lurketh (as a wild beast) at th# door, and to thee is its deshre ; butthoushalt rule over it*' (So Gesenius and others ; but see abovtf.) The narrative implies therefore that his offering was rejected on ac- count of the temper in which it was brought (Sticht, De coOoqmo Dei cum Camo, Alt 1766). See Abbu
(5.) The descendants of Cain are enumerated to the sixth generation. Some commentators (Knobel, Yon Bohlen) have traced an artificial structure in this gen- ealogy, by which it is rendered parallel to that of the Sethites ; e. g. there is a decade of names in each, com- mencing widi Adam and ending with Jabal and Koah, the deficiency of generations in the Cainites being sup- plied by the addition of the two younger sons of La- mech to the list ; and there is a considerable similarity in the names, each list containing a Lamech and an Enoch, while Cain in the one=Cain-an in the other, Methu8ael= Methuselah, and Mehi:gael=Mahalaleel; the inference firom this comparison being that the one was framed out of the other. It must be observed, however, that the differences far exceed the points of similarity ; that the order of the names, the number of generations, and even the meanings of those which are noticed as simOar in sound, are s^ciently distinct to remove the impression of artificial construction. (See Bochart, Eieroe, i, 587.) See Patbiaboh.
(6.) The social condition of the Cainites is promi- nently brought forward in the history. Cain himself was an agriculturist, Abel a shepherd : the successors of the latter are represented by the Sethites and the progenitora of the Hebrew race hi later times, among whom a pastoral life was always held in high honor from the. simplicity and devotional habits which it en- gendered : the successors of the former are depicted as the reverse in all these respects. Cain founded the first city; Lamech instituted polygamy; Jabal intro- duced the nomadic life; Jubal invented musical in- struments ; Tubal-cain was the first smith ; Lamech's language takes the stately tone of poetry ; and even the names of the women, Naamah (jiUaaanJC), Zillah (tkadow), Adah (wmamental), seem to bespeak an ad- vanced state of civilization. But, along with this, there was violence and godlessness ; Cain and Lamech ft^mish proof of the former, while the concluding words of Gen. iv, 26, imply the latter. See Antediluviaks.
(7.) The contrast established between the Cainites and the Sethites appean to have reference solely to the social and religious condition of the two races. On the one side there is {dotnred a high state of civilisa-
CAIN AN
14
CAINITES
tkm, QOBaiictified by rdigion, and productive of luxn^ ' ry and violence ; on the other side, a state of simplicity I which afforded no material for history beyond the dec- t laration, **Then began men to call upon the name of ' the Lord." The historian thus accounts for the pro- gressive degeneration of the religious condition of man, the evil gaining a predominance over the good by its alliance with worldly power and knowledge, and pro- ducing the state of things which necessitated the flood. See Dklcob.
(8.) Another motive may be assigned for the intro- duction of this portion of sacred history. All ancient nations have loved to trace up the invention of the arts to some certain author, and, generally speaking, these authors have been regarded as objects of divine wor- ship. Among the Greeks Apollo was held to be the inventor of music, Vulcan of the working of metals, Triptolerous (see Hygin. 277) of the plough. A simi- lar feeling of curiosity prevailed among the Hebrews ; and hence the historian has recorded the names of those to whom the invention of the arts was tradition- all}* assigned, obviating at the same time the danger- ous error into which other nations had faUen, and reducing the estimate of their value by the position which their inventors held. See Art; Abtificer.