Cain’s mark

Genesis 4: 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.

The mark that God set upon Cain after he had killed his half-brother Abel was something that could be seen in his body to deter people from killing him. The mark was implanted in Cain’s body to change his look and size, because it is a man’s physical size and appearance that strikes fear into an enemy.

In murdering Abel, Cain had already demonstrated that he was stronger than his half-brother, but now God increased his form to the level of monstrosity. He acquired a colossal stature coupled with a dreadful look. This made him an extremely potent and a quite frightening opponent. He was therefore the first of the great giants mentioned in the Bible, and the father of them.

The word translated “mark” in the English Bible is the Hebrew word “owth,” which also means a “sign” or “warning,” and sometimes “omen.” It was therefore an ominous sign, and not a blessed one. The mark was a seal on Cain to trap him in his godless nature in perpetuity. It was an appendage to the curse of vagrancy. Cain had demonstrated violence, barbarity, and callous disregard for human life without remorse (he did not repent of the murder of Abel), and now he was being made to embody it. Henceforth, brutality would become his way of life, which, coupled with gigantism, would make him a truly awesome and fearsome figure to come up against. No adversary would gamble his life in physical combat with him.