Whatever the mark of Cain was, we don't see it any more (so dont go telling me that god made Cain black) because the only descendents on earth today are from Noah who comes from the line of Seth, not Cain )...but still I am wondering what that mark may be.
2006-11-20 07:33:21 · 5 answers · asked by ÜFÖ 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
We don't know.
God didn't tell Moses, obviously. But everyone saw it and everyone knew what it was. In my (very humble) opinion, it might have involved fire (God's energy) as many instances in the Bible God appears this way. For example, he appears as a fiery cloud (leading the Israelites), he etched the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, for Moses, with his own finger (must have been fire to write on stone), and appeared as a disembodied hand, which wrote on the stone wall during the feast of King Belshazzar ( Belshazzar and revelers were drinking out of the stolen temple vessels, and he and his friends were drunk and blaspheming the name of God ("the handwriting on the wall" Daniel 5.))
When God "touched" Cain when he marked him, it was to cause a fear and awe in people who would recognize it and not kill Cain.
To me, God's mark would have burned him, and badly. But, we just don't know.
God may have touched his forehead, his face, the back of his head, his hands, his arm, his chest or back. But wherever he would have touched him, it would have been "etched" or burned, probably right down to the bone. Perhaps just a gouge across the forehead would have done it.
Think about what severe burn victims look like. The skin is never totally "repaired" so that you don't notice it. God wouldn't have had to cause Cain pain with this, because he is God. He could have quickly marked, seared the skin, and it wouldn't continue to hurt.
However, another version: Many interpreters of the Latin think it may have been a physical shuddering (like involuntary spasm), or an expression of horror or consternation (perhaps like a scream)?? Perhaps it was like a "palsy" whereby he lost all muscle control of his facial expression, and it turned into a frozen expression of shame or horror, for example.
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From this website: http://www.newadvent.org/bible/gen004.htm
Gen 4:15. And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not so be: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.
LATIN: Dixitque ei Dominus nequaquam ita fiet sed omnis qui occiderit Cain septuplum punietur posuitque Dominus Cain signum ut non eum interficeret omnis qui invenisset eum
"Set a mark, etc... The more common opinion of the interpreters of holy writ supposes this mark to have been a trembling of the body; or a horror and consternation in his countenance."
2006-11-20 08:05:07 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Gen 4:15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give a sevenfold punishment to anyone who kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[e] east of Eden.
It doesn't say what the "mark" is...or is not.
2006-11-20 15:38:47 · answer #2 · answered by Salvation is a gift, Eph 2:8-9 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You're correct. The mark, per se, is vague. However, it was a mark of protection for Cain.
2006-11-20 15:36:18 · answer #3 · answered by mediocritis 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm guessing it was just a mark. Something to set Him apart as someone who's shamed and protected.
Yes, I said protected. He was under God's protection even if he killed his own brother. Kain was the first murderer, imagine the torture his family would've done to him had they had a chance...
*shivers*
Thank God for His mercies.
2006-11-20 15:38:17 · answer #4 · answered by JG 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know. But the mark was put there by God so people wouldn't kill him.
2006-11-20 15:36:55 · answer #5 · answered by RB 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋