I often feel like the clues in the Bible paints a picture that is very different from what we typically see produced by Hollywood and the media in general. Many of us grew up seeing a scene replaying Cain killing Abel and it’s almost always ends with Cain turning away to walk off when he’s unknowing killed by Cain bashing his head in from behind with a rock. But is that what scripture hints at?
The first thing to consider is Cain’s very name itself. Cain comes from the word Qayin (H7014) “ קַ֛יִן “ is essentially the same for the word qayin ( H7013) which means spear. Secondly in Genesis 4:8 when it says Cain killed Abel the phrase is “ wayya hargehi ( H2026 ) and that exact phrase is only found in two other verses which are both a retelling of the same story. In 2 Samuel 23:21 and 1 Chronicles 11:23 they both tell of how Benaiah killed a Egyptian after taking the Egyptians very on SPEAR from him.
But I also believe that it encourages us to look into the similarities of Abel and Jesus. Jesus was also stabbed by a spear by those who was part of his family. Jesus called other men his brothers. John 19:34 tells us of that story. I also can’t help but to think of how God asked Cain, “What did you do?” and linking it to Jesus on cross crying out to God that “ they don’t know what they are doing”. Cain was then marked to be protected from being murdered with the threat his own killers would be punished 7 times over and Jesus was marked with wounds for Thomas to scrutinize as proof that he was also marked so all could see he conquered death.
So all in all I believe the clues points towards Cain most likely having killed Abel with a spear. Speculation? Yes. But that does not mean it was not researched. This is also why plain text reading often fails. Requires diving deeper.
The first thing to consider is Cain’s very name itself. Cain comes from the word Qayin (H7014) “ קַ֛יִן “ is essentially the same for the word qayin ( H7013) which means spear. Secondly in Genesis 4:8 when it says Cain killed Abel the phrase is “ wayya hargehi ( H2026 ) and that exact phrase is only found in two other verses which are both a retelling of the same story. In 2 Samuel 23:21 and 1 Chronicles 11:23 they both tell of how Benaiah killed a Egyptian after taking the Egyptians very on SPEAR from him.
But I also believe that it encourages us to look into the similarities of Abel and Jesus. Jesus was also stabbed by a spear by those who was part of his family. Jesus called other men his brothers. John 19:34 tells us of that story. I also can’t help but to think of how God asked Cain, “What did you do?” and linking it to Jesus on cross crying out to God that “ they don’t know what they are doing”. Cain was then marked to be protected from being murdered with the threat his own killers would be punished 7 times over and Jesus was marked with wounds for Thomas to scrutinize as proof that he was also marked so all could see he conquered death.
So all in all I believe the clues points towards Cain most likely having killed Abel with a spear. Speculation? Yes. But that does not mean it was not researched. This is also why plain text reading often fails. Requires diving deeper.
