Genesis 4

[Mister Emu]

1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. 2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: 5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. 8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? 10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. 11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; 12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. 13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me. 15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. 16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. 19 And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. 21 And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. 22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. 23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. 24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. 25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. 26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

taken from www.bible.com King James Version

Here are a few questions to put out...

Why was Cain's offering not accepted?

If Adam and Eve were the only two humans when they had Cain and Abel, how was Cain able to build a city after he killed his brother? Who would populate this city?

 

[ThisShouldMakeSense]

One possible reason could be that as it mentions that Abel brought the firstlings of the flock or the best he had, so it could be that Cain didn't bring his best. and God is able to read the heart so he may have seen something bad in cain's heart, perhaps jealousy.

 

[michel]

I think you are right;

Matthew 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

The above defines Abel as a 'righteous man'; Cain's sacrifice seems to have been half-hearted, while Abel's was a sacrifice of atonement(For which he gave his best stock in sacrifice, unlike Abel) , in repentence of the way he saw himself - as a sinner.

As for the second part of your question, ."And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."............... 17th verse; fom then on, although Genesis follows Enoch's line, it hardly is enough to explain how Cain managed to populate his city... I'll have to Pass on that one, I am afraid.

 

[Aqualung]

One possible reason could be that as it mentions that Abel brought the firstlings of the flock or the best he had, so it could be that Cain didn't bring his best. and God is able to read the heart so he may have seen something bad in cain's heart, perhaps jealousy.

Yeah. That's a pretty good reason. I think that's what I shall say, too.

 

[Aqualung]

I think it is because the Bible is not a complete history that we don't here about the others. It is very comman in the Bible taht it never mentions people's daughters, anyway, and I think that it would have taken up too much time and space that could be used for a more important message if the writer had written every child the Adam had, no matter how little an impact they had on the people that were important to the story. So, I think that the Bible that we now have just doesn't mention those people
I also think it is important to consider that by "city" it probably wasn't a 2 million person city like what cities are nowadays. I think maybe even 35 would be a good city, perhaps even less. I think it was just a gathering where more than just 3 or so people lived.

 

[ThisShouldMakeSense]

well, your reasoning is an option, as in the uk, a place is only considered a city if it has a cathedral,(population numbers don't really come in to it) i think...which i doubt cain's city had...also, perhaps it was a city at the time of the book being written by moses as no city is built as a ready made city, but grows to become one....