Editing Cain (section)

== Other stories ==

In [[Jewish tradition]], [[Philo]], ''[[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer]]'', and the ''[[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan]]'' asserted that Adam was not the father of Cain. Instead, Eve was subject to adultery, having been seduced by [[Samael|Sammael]],{{sfn|Byron|2011|p=17: "And Adam knew about his wife Eve that she had conceived from Sammael" – ''[[Targum Pseudo-Jonathan|Tg. Ps.-J.]]'': Gen.4:1, Trans. by Byron}}{{sfn|Byron|2011|p=17: "(Sammael) riding on the serpent came to her and she conceived [Cain]" – ''[[Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer|Pirqe R. L. 21]]'', Trans. by Friedlander}} the [[Serpents in the Bible|serpent]]{{sfn|Byron|2011|p=17: "First adultery came into being, afterward murder. And he [Cain] was begotten into adultery, for he was the child of the serpent." – ''[[Philo|Gos.Phil.]]'' 61:5–10, Trans. by Isenberg}} (''nahash'', {{Langx|he|נחש}}) in the [[Garden of Eden]],<ref name=Ginzberg>Louis Ginzberg, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jv-pv47G5ZsC&pg=PA75 ''The Legends of the Jews'', Vol. 1], [[Johns Hopkins University Press]], 1998, {{ISBN|0-8018-5890-9}}, pp. 105–09</ref> the [[Devil#Judaism|devil]] himself.{{sfn|Luttikhuizen|2003|p=vii}} Christian exegesis of the "evil one" in {{Bibleref2|1 John|3:10–12}} has also led some commentators, such as [[Tertullian]], to agree that Cain was the son of the [[Devil in Christianity|devil]]{{sfn|Byron|2011|p=17: "Having been made pregnant by the devil ... she brought forth a son." – [[Tertullian]], ''Patience'' 5:15}} or a [[fallen angel]]. Thus, according to some interpreters, Cain was half-human and half-angel, one of the [[Nephilim]] (see [[Noach|Genesis 6]]). [[Gnostic]] exposition in the ''[[Apocryphon of John]]'' has Eve seduced by [[Yaldabaoth]]. However, in the ''[[Hypostasis of the Archons]]'', Eve is raped by a pair of [[archon (Gnosticism)|Archons]].{{sfn|Byron|2011|pp=15–19}}

[[Pseudo-Philo]], a Jewish work of the first century CE, relates that Cain murdered his brother at the age of 15. After escaping to the [[Land of Nod]], Cain had four sons: [[Enoch]], Olad, Lizpha, and Fosal, as well as two daughters, Citha and Maac. The latter five are not mentioned in the Bible. Cain died at the age of 730, leaving his corrupt descendants to spread evil on Earth.<ref>''Pseudo-Philo (Biblical Antiquities of Philo)'', chapter 1</ref> According to the [[Book of Jubilees]], Cain murdered his brother with a stone. Afterward, Cain was killed by the same instrument he used against his brother: his house fell in upon him, and its stones killed him.<ref>Jubilees 4:31</ref> A heavenly law was cited after the narrative of Cain's death saying:

<blockquote>With the instrument with which a man kills his neighbour with the same shall he be killed; after the manner that he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him.<ref>Jubilees 4:32</ref></blockquote>

A [[Talmud|Talmudic]] tradition says that after Cain had murdered his brother, God made a horn grow on his head. Later, Cain was killed at the hands of his great-grandson, [[Lamech (descendant of Cain)|Lamech]], who mistook him for a wild beast.<ref>''Legends of the Jews'', [[Louis Ginzberg]] – Volume I</ref> A Christian version of this tradition from the time of the [[Crusades]] holds that the slaying of Cain by Lamech took place on a mound called "Cain Mons" (i.e., Mount Cain), which is a corruption of "Caymont", a Crusader fort in [[Tel Yokneam]] in modern-day [[Israel]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Tent work in Palestine. A record of discovery and adventure Vol. 1 |url=https://archive.org/stream/tentworkinpales00condgoog#page/n164/mode/2up/search/Keim%C3%9Bn|pages=130–31|first1= C. R. (Claude Reignier)|last1=Conder|year=1878|author-link=Claude Reignier Conder|publisher= London R. Bentley & Son}}</ref>

The story of Cain and Abel is also referred to in chapter 19 of [[Meqabyan#First Book of Ethiopian Maccabees (1 Meqabyan)|1 Meqabyan]], a book considered [[Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon|canonical]] in the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://torahofyeshuah.blogspot.com/2015/07/book-of-meqabyan-i-iii.html|title=Torah of Yeshuah: Book of Meqabyan I – III|date=July 11, 2015}}</ref> In this text, Cain killed Abel because he desired Abel's wife.

According to the [[Mandaeism|Mandaean]] scriptures, including the [[Qulasta]], the [[Mandaean Book of John]], and the [[Ginza Rabba]], ''Abel'' is [[cognate]] with the angelic [[Soteriology|soteriological]] figure [[Hibil Ziwa]]<ref>{{Cite book|isbn=978-1931956499|title=The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran|date=1932|author=Drower, E.S.|publisher=Gorgias Press.com|url=https://archive.org/details/mandaeansofiraqi00esdr}}</ref> who taught John the Baptist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rogueleaf.com/book-of-john/2012/07/09/76-anush-uthra-and-christ/|title=76 – Anush-Uthra and Christ|date=9 July 2012|access-date=20 July 2020|archive-date=2 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202191935/http://rogueleaf.com/book-of-john/2012/07/09/76-anush-uthra-and-christ/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the book ''[[Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches]]'' by [[Charles Godfrey Leland]], Cain is a [[Lunar deity|lunar figure]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mathiesen|first=Robert|editor=Mario Pazzaglini|title=Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches, A New Translation|year=1998|publisher=Phoenix Publishing, Inc.| location=Blaine, Washington|isbn=978-0-919345-34-8|chapter=Charles G. Leland and the Witches of Italy: The Origin of Aradia|page=50}}</ref>

According to [[Rashi]], who cites a ''[[midrash]]'' by [[Rabanus Maurus]], Cain died from an arrow shot by a blindfolded man.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.avvenire.it/agora/pagine/storia-culturale-degli-ebrei-recensione|title=Religioni. Gli ebrei e il mondo: una storia in simbiosi|publisher=[[L'Avvenire]]|date=2024-02-20|language=it|access-date=2024-02-21}}</ref>