Adam’s Firstborn in the Hebrew Bible, Perpetrator of the First Murder
The Hebrew Bible records that Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Eve, a farmer, who out of envy — because God accepted the offering of his brother Abel but not his own — lured Abel into the field and killed him, the first murder in the Bible. When God asked "where is your brother?" Cain answered, "I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?" and was condemned to wander for life, a mark set on him by God to keep others from harming him. "The mark of Cain" is still a byword in Western languages for a permanent stigma.
Seeing that God accepted Abel’s offering and not his own, Cain’s face fell. God warned him, "if you do well, will you not be accepted? but if you do not, sin crouches at the door," yet Cain still set upon Abel in the field and killed him, and when questioned by God was banished to wander, the ground no longer yielding to him.
Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.
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