Genesis Chapter 4

Contrary to both popular belief and the text of Genesis 4:1, Cain was not the natural son of Adam. To establish that he was the natural son of Adam, requires a second witness in Scripture, and there is no such witness. All of the other evidence is contrary to the text of that passage, while nothing supports it. As we have already explained in our Overview discussion for Genesis chapter 3, in that earlier chapter the conception of Eve had already been acknowledged on three occasions, each in different ways: twice by Yahweh God Himself, and once by Adam, so Adam had also understood the consequences of their sin. Therefore, how could Adam make Eve conceive her first child here in Genesis chapter 4, if Eve had already been pregnant? 

It is fully evident in many places that at an early time the ancient texts from which our modern Bibles are produced were corrupted here in Genesis 4:1, as they also were elsewhere (note Jeremiah 8:8). Therefore, we must rely upon other Biblical testimony concerning this verse, and fortunately we have many witnesses elsewhere in Scripture which attest that Cain was not the son of Adam. 

In a brief essay, Clifton Emahiser discusses The Problem With Genesis 4:1 and much of the contrary evidence at length, along with the details as to why it is claimed that the Hebrew text of this verse is corrupted. There is also a May, 2012 podcast presentation of this essay, from which we now cite a few paragraphs:

The Interpreter’s Bible, a twelve volume collaborative work of 36 ‘consulting editors’, plus 124 other ‘contributors’, makes the following observation on this verse, vol. 1, page 517:

“Cain seems originally to have been the ancestor of the Kenites ... The meaning of the name is ‘metalworker’ or ‘smith’; here, however, it is represented as a derivation of a word meaning ‘acquire’, ‘get’ — one of the popular etymologies frequent in Genesis — hence the mother’s words I have gotten a man.  ‘From the Lord’ (KJV) is a rendering, following the LXX and Vulg., of ’eth Yahweh, which is literally, ‘with Yahweh’, and so unintelligible here (the help of [RSV] is not in the Hebrew). It seems probable that ’eth should be ’oth — so, ‘the mark of Yahweh’ — and that the words are a gloss ...”

Secondly, The Interpreter’s One-Volume Commentary On The Bible, edited by Charles M. Laymon, makes the following comment on this passage, on page 6: “... under circumstances which are obscure (vs. 1b can scarcely be translated, still less understood). His younger brother was named Abel, which suggests the Hebrew word for breath.”

An understanding of the true nature of Cain and his descendants is an understanding not only of Scripture, but of Biblical history and of all history since. Cain, having been a son of that serpent which seduced Eve, his descendants are the “Seed of the Serpent” side of the equation in Genesis chapter 3:15, while the descendants of Adan through Seth are the "Seed of the Woman". The Kenites of later Scriptures are generally recognized even by many academic scholars as having been the descendants of Cain, and they can be traced down through the Bible and history to have mingled with the nations of the Canaanites, from whom Esau had in turn taken his wives, into the Judaea of the time of Christ and the Edomite Judaeans who were responsible for His crucifixion. Today it is these people who are known as “Jews”, although the offspring of Cain can also be traced into the various other races in and around Palestine, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean regions. 

It is discussed here in many essays and podcasts, that many of the Judaeans of the time of Christ were indeed Edomites and other Canaanites, and not Israelites. Among them, certain papers have been included in these Overview pages: 

• A Concise Explanation of the Creation of the Jewish People 
• The Anti-Christ for Dummies 
• Exactly Why Jesus Christ is NOT a Jew 

Yahshua Christ Himself had clearly indicted the disbelieving Edomite Judaeans as having been the descendants of Cain, and of all those who had murdered the prophets from Abel down to Zacharias (the father of John the Baptist) where it is recorded at Luke 11:47-51 that He said: “47 Woe to you! Because you build the monuments of the prophets, and your fathers killed them! 48 Therefore you are witnesses and you consent to the works of your fathers, because they killed them, and you build. 49 For this reason also the wisdom of Yahweh says: ‘I shall send to them prophets and ambassadors, and some of them they shall kill and they shall persecute’, 50 in order that the blood of all the prophets spilled from the foundation of the Society should be required from this race, 51 from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias who was killed between the altar and the house. Yeah, I say to you, it shall be required from this race!”

There is a passage in the letters of Paul, at 2 Thessalonians 2:15, where the King James Version and other popular Bibles have Paul describing certain Judaeans "Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets..." but an examination of the ancient manuscripts exhibits the fact that the words "their own" do not appear in any ancient manuscripts. According to the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece and other Greek editions of the New Testament, as well as other scholarly sources, the words only appeared in the text of the heretic Marcion, and in Greek manuscripts of the New Testament no earlier than the 6th century AD. Therefore modern translations, such as the New American Standard Bible, read the passage to state "who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets...", which is correct according to all of the significant Greek manuscripts which date to before the 6th century. The change in this passage and the adoption of the change by the Church indicates a purposeful corruption of the Word of God in order to benefit one particular special interest: Jews who wrongly pretend to be Israelites. 

The only way that those words of Christ in Luke chapter 11 could be true, is if the Judaeans whom He had addressed were indeed of the race of Cain. For that reason, He also said to them, in John 10:26, "But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you."  They did not believe Him, because they were not His sheep in the first place. 

Furthermore, a study of Old Testament scripture, where we find that such wicked people as Doeg the Edomite and Jezebel the Canaanite had murdered the priests and prophets of Yahweh helps us to further understand those words of Christ, because the murder of any of the prophets are not recorded elsewhere in Scripture. Corroborating the fact that His accusers were not Israelites are the words of Yahshua Christ in John 8:44, where he tells these same people that "You are the sons of a father: the False Accuser! And you wish to do the desires of your father! He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him! When he speaks a lie, he speaks from of his own devices, because he is a liar and his father!" 

Only Cain was a murderer from the beginning. So Cain must have been the true father of the adversaries of Christ, and there are many other New Testament Scriptures which support that assertion. It is a Christian duty to study these truths.  

Elsewhere In Genesis chapter 4, it is evident that Cain and Abel had competed for the family priesthood. According to Hebrew tradition it is apparent that the oldest male of each family served as the family priest. This is found in  Exodus 13:1-2, and in Numbers 3:12.

The first-born of man and beast are dedicated to Yahweh:

Exodus 13:1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  2 Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine.

But rather than taking the first-born of Israel for His service, Yahweh had instead taken the entire tribe of Levi in their place:

 12 And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children of Israel: therefore the Levites shall be mine; 

The only way Abel could have justly competed with Cain for this priesthood, is if he had a legitimate claim to be Adam's oldest son. Otherwise, Abel had no business taking on the role of priest and offering a sacrifice to Yahweh in the first place. After Cain's sacrifice is rejected, there is a prophecy in the verse at 4:7 that unto Cain shall be Abel's desire, and that Cain would rule over Abel. 

Therefore it is evident throughout the Bible, and especially in the New Testament, that the "adversary", or "satan" are the "princes" or "rulers" of "this world", and that this position was delivered to them.  So where Christ had been confronted by a "devil" in the wilderness:

5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.  7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

The descendants of Cain, along with the "fallen angels", are collectively the "satan", or "adversary", of Scripture. They have indeed ruled this world for the past several millennia, and even if they are not usually the apparent rulers, they are indeed the de facto rulers. Cain and his descendants inherited this position by right: when Adam accepted Eve as his wife after her encounter with the serpent (Genesis 3:6), He accepted Cain also as well. Therefore while Cain was not Adam's natural son, he was indeed his son according to custom. This is the very reverse of what Yahweh effected to have happened in Joseph, when he accepted Mary and the child which she bore, being the Christ. Therefore Christ was not the natural son of Joseph, but Christ became the rightful heir to the throne of David when Joseph accepted Him and raised Him as his own Son.

Subsequent Scriptural evidence that Cain was not the son of Adam is found not only here in Genesis chapter 4, where Cain’s descendants are listed separately from Adam’s, and where Adam is not even mentioned. It is also found in Genesis chapter 5 and the fact that unlike those of Cain, the descendants of Seth are stated to have been in the likeness of Yahweh God. Further supporting Scriptures are found in Luke 11:47-51, John 8:37-47, I John 3:12, Romans 16:20 and Jude 11. 

Apocryphal evidence supporting the assertions made here are found in the following books: The Aramaic targum called pseudo-Jonathan; the Palestinian Targum; 4 Maccabees 18:7-8 (Brenton’s Septuagint); and The Protevangelion chapter 10 (a translation of which is found in The Lost Books of The Bible and The Forgotten Books of Eden). In varying degrees, we do not trust these sources, however they do serve to show how early Christians and Jews had interpreted the events of Genesis chapter 3. 

4 Maccabees 18:  7 And the righteous mother of the seven children spake also as follows to her offspring: I was a pure virgin, and went not beyond my father's house; but I took care of the built-up rib.  8 No destroyer of the desert, or ravisher of the plain, injured me; nor did the destructive, deceitful snake, make spoil of my chaste virginity; and I remained with my husband during the period of my prime.

Further circumstantial evidence exists in several places. For instance, at Jude 14 the apostle calls the patriarch Enoch "seventh from Adam". This can only be true if Abel is counted, and Cain excluded, since Enoch obviously did not descend from Cain: Adam-Abel (first) - Seth (second)- Enos (third)- Cainan (fourth), Genesis 5:12 - Mahalaleel (fifth) - Jared (sixth) - Enoch (seventh). 

Likewise, the apostle Peter calls Noah the "eighth proclaimer of righteousness" in 2 Peter 2:5. This can only be true if this office is held by the oldest living (and legitimate) son only, and the line of descent goes like this: Adam, Seth (a replacement for Abel- Genesis 4:25), Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Methuselah, Noah. In this list, Abel, Enoch and Lamech are all passed over because each of them had been outlived in this world by their fathers, and therefore none of them inherited the earthly office. So the evidence disqualifying Cain as Adam's son is replete throughout the Scriptures and the Apocryphal literature.

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