Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

In my opinion, the curse placed on Cain applied only to him (since it was specifically aimed at what the Bible indicates was Cain's individual profession, as well as the nature of his crime -- that is, a curse on the ground corresponding to Cain's tilling of the soil, and the ground having absorbed Abel's shed blood), and did not extend to his descendants (who, in any event, would later have perished in the Flood, but whose skills as noted in Genesis 4:20-22 would have survived as a result of being learned by, or passed on to, others in the godly line of Seth (from whom Noah and his sons were descended), so that that knowledge would not be lost along with those who perished in the Flood). (The reference in that passage to Cain's descendants being the "fathers" of various types of human endeavors referred to this transmission of skills, rather than to the passing on of them only to or through biological descendants.)

February 14 2020 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Scott Broberg Fig Tree Ministries

To add to Tim’s answer above, it doesn’t appear so:

The Hebrew “And now, you [are] cursed from the earth (min-haadamah)” would indicate a loss of blessings from the earth. This also serves the fact that Cain became a “wanderer” – a loss of attachment to the land that he once worked. Even the land he is going – Nod – means “wandering.” So, in effect, Cain in a “wanderer” in the land of “wandering.” That Nod is “east of Eden” indicates that Cain is further driven from God’s presence – a type of curse in an of itself. 

At the same time though – Cain is also receiving divine protection – so that Cain doesn’t become a victim of the same violence he committed. 

The fact that the scripture shows seven generations – from Cain to Lamech’s sons – shows that the sign worked, and Cain was able to reproduce. With seven being a number of completion, we might have to ask ourselves, “was the completion of the seventh generation from Cain good or evil?” 

As Victor Hamilton writes in his Genesis commentary – “Along with the growth in cultural advances is a growth in sin. The flowering of culture and invention does not restrain the escalation of sin.” (Hamilton, Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17). By the time you get to Lamech – if he is provoked in even the slightest way – he would not hesitate to kill. His emotions are intensified and taking revenge for any upset is high on his “to-do” list. 

Clearly the descendants of Cain don’t age well. 

We see a clear reference to this in Matthew 18:22 when Jesus makes forgiveness our number one priority: 

“How many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” (or seventy times seven)

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