The Curse of Cain and Its Connection to the Nephilim: The Offspring of the Tribes of Seth and Cain

The Curse of Cain and Its Connection to the Nephilim: The Offspring of the Tribes of Seth and Cain

*In a prior post, I discussed how the Nephilim are not the Sons of God as angelic beings.* 

In this current post, I will discuss how the Nephilim are the offspring of the Sethites and Cainites. In addition, I will provide an explanation on the “Mark of Cain” as well as how the Nephilim survived the flood.

Genesis 6:1-4 English Standard Version 6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. 5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

The name Sons of God and Daughters of Man (Adam) is the creative order. Adam is a direct descendant and Son of God. The Messiah was prophesied to be a male. Eve is a direct descendant of Adam. In the Hebrew, Adam is translated as man. Therefore, this is a picture of humanity. This has nothing to do with angelic beings. In Matthew 24:38, Jesus mentions nothing about supernatural marriages, so the natural way to read this text would be to view this as regular human marriages. Notice in Genesis 4:1, Eve was amazed that she had a son Cain and then Abel. This suggests that they conceived a line of daughters before the birth of Cain. Since Cain appeared to be the first male, the family believed he was the prophetic fulfillment of the Messiah in Genesis 3:15. Because of this pressure, it is easy to understand why he would feel jealous of Abel. Due to God’s approval of Abel’s sacrifice, it is likely that the children of Adam started to question Cain’s Messianic status. Perhaps Abel was viewed as the true Messiah after this event.

 

What Potentially Happened After Abel’s Death?

Eve was most likely in despair and may have feared losing another child. Therefore, stress could have prolonged the conception of Seth, Adam and Eve took a break from child bearing because they were both negatively impacted by the death of Abel, they had more daughters after Abel/ before Seth, or other sons and daughters were born and it was already established by the family that Cain was the Messiah. It makes sense to see that other sons and daughters were born after Abel’s birth, Cain being viewed as the Messiah, Abel then dies, more daughters are exclusively born after Abel’s death, or Adam and Eve take a break from child bearing/ experience difficulty in conceiving, and then finally Seth is born as the new Messianic figure.

The Mark and Curse of Cain

After killing Abel, Cain was afraid that Adam, Eve, and their children (either all women or a mixture of men and women) would kill him as an earlier version of the “Eye for an Eye”/ “Avenger of Blood” law. Cain is then cursed by God, no longer able to produce anything from the ground and be a restless wanderer. It is best to view the “Curse of Cain” as that whatever he produced would ultimately result in long-term unfavorable results/outcomes, and he would never feel at peace. The problem is if one interprets this as a curse on Cain’s farming skills, then Cain could have easily bypass it by switching professions. Out of God’s mercy, he placed a mark on Cain, so that Adam, Eve, and their children would not execute him.

In Genesis 4:17, Cain gets married to one of his sisters and builds a new civilization together. After receiving the Mark, it is possible that Cain persuaded his fellow brothers and sisters (giving  them an inaccurate story to sway them onto his side), especially since he has been viewed as the Messianic figure for so long. This may have resulted in Adam’s household in shambles (possibly most of the men and women left Adam’s household) , which makes Seth’s birth story a miracle or even a resurrection in bringing Adam’s household in order again.

Cain’s Empire

Cain becomes a New Adam/Pre-Noah of sorts. He has swayed his brothers (possibly all of his brothers) and some of his sisters to build his new kingdom, the City of Enoch. This might have even surprised Seth and his tribe that despite being cursed by God, Cain was successful. He was a pioneer and trailblazer in the latest technology. This appeared to be some type of Renaissance for Mankind under the Leadership of Cain. Enoch meant dedication/teacher. He was perhaps responsible for building humanistic/educational programs for the people. Irad meant “Wild Ass” like Ishamel in Genesis 16:12. Therefore, it is possible he was a skillful hunter and had a very untamable personality. With the other children their names vary with many translations such as Mehujael means “Destroyed by God,” Methushael means “Demanding to Die”, and Lamech means “Prideful one or Low one.” Perhaps, they functioned more as criminals and thugs in society. It is easy to take the names with a grain of salt since they are difficult to translate.

 

Lamech’s Destruction of Marriage and the Martyrdom of Enoch

Lamech destroyed the institution of marriage by marrying two women simultaneously. Instead of dedicating a lovely poem of love to his wives, similar to Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:23, Lamech dedicated a threatening, poem of warning (known as the “Song of the Sword” to his wives and others who cross him. Lamech then justified himself as a victim. Lamech believed that this insult deserved a greater punishment. In contrast, Abel didn’t do anything to Cain to deserve a death sentence. If Cain got mercy, in Lamech’s distorted mind, he deserved greater mercy from God because he was provoked into acting out his violent tendencies. The victim appears to be Enoch from the Line of Seth (the youngest Sethite to only live up to 395 years). In my Enoch blog, I provided evidence that Enoch was not in fact raptured into Heaven, but martyred by Lamech. Under this premise, Enoch functioned as a teacher (the meaning of his name) similar to John the Baptist. In Jude 1:14, we see Enoch preaching a message of judgment to a wicked generation. Similarly, perhaps like John the Baptist, Enoch preached against Lamech’s illicit marital union with two different women in Genesis 4. This led to Enoch’s death. In parallel to the Gospels, we can see how John the Baptist’s preaching was perceived as an attack on Herod Antipas’ illicit marriage. Herod unlawfully took his brother’s wife. Ultimately, this resulted in John’s death. When Enoch died, we can speculate that Enoch’s son, Methuselah (name meaning-“His Death Shall Bring Forth)” continued on his father’s ministry similar to how Jesus continued John the Baptist’s ministry. When Methuselah died, the Flood Judgment came shortly after. When Jesus died, the 70AD Judgment came shortly after. About 40 years after the crucifixion. The death of a/the Son brought judgment in both situations.

 

Lamech’s Children and Cultural Revival in the Tribe of Cain

Lamech’s children were skilled in various fields that contributed significantly to the Empire of Cain. Jabal was skilled in the fields of agriculture and animal husbandry similar to Abel. Jubal was a well-renowned musician. Tubal-cain was skilled in metallurgy. It is possible that Tubal-cain provided the musical instruments to his brother, Jubal and the weapon/sword that killed Enoch to Lamech. Lamech’s daughter, Naamah does not have a skill listed in scripture. According to tradition, she was a singer and the wife of Noah. There is a possible parallel that may support Naamah as Noah’s wife. Noah’s name means comfort and Naamah means pleasant. In 1 Kings 14:21-31 and 2 Chronicles 12:13, King Solomon whose name means Peace, married an unknown foreign woman, named Naamah (pleasant). Solomon and Noah are perceived as Christ figures in their respective stories of redemption, so it isn’t farfetched to think their foreign wives serve as Church-Bride figures. Further support under consideration is that both men had rebellious sons who made destructive choices that affected future generations. Noah’s son, Ham, received a curse placed on his son’s people, Caanan, because he revealed the nakedness of his father. Likewise, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam was cruel and abusive to the people of Israel, which resulted in the Northern kingdoms splitting from the Southern kingdoms.

Rise of the Nephilim

Revisiting Cain’s Curse, we can see how Cain’s line was cursed because it was born out of murder and rebellion. The Sons of God represented those devoted to God and the Messianic Hope. See Genesis 4:26; Deuteronomy 14:1, 32:8; Hosea 1:10. In contrast, the Daughters of Man were devoted to Self and Cultural Hope (Man/Adam being known for rebellion himself in Eden). See Genesis 4:16. One consideration is that Cain was a farmer: A man of the land. Figuratively, the land assisted in hiding Abel’s blood. Another consideration is that Cain went further than Adam and Eve’s homeland of Eden. This is characteristic of “out of covenant children”: Ishmael being casted out of the land because of Isaac and Esau/Edom (outdoor man) selling his covenant birthright to Jacob/Israel (indoor man). When comparing Amos 9:12 with Acts15:16, we can see how Adam and Esau/Edom are used interchangeably. Therefore, it makes sense to read the reference of man in Genesis 6:1 as the Cainites and Daughters of Man as the Daughters of Cain. It is the continuation of Genesis 4:17-24 because Cain was residing in the Land of Nod. The Cainites were started to grow and expand throughout the land (getting closer and closer to Sethite territory- Similar to Exodus 2:7-10). This growth may mean that the population of women suddenly increased within Cain’s people or that single women were more available because all the men were dying at early age due to the violent culture (Similar to Isaiah 4:1).

Simultaneously, we can see how the Line of Seth started to covet the Line of Cain’s success (Genesis 4:17-25). Notice there is two Enochs (Genesis 4:17, 5:18) and two Lamechs (Genesis 4:19; 5:28). We see the line of Seth (the religious covenant side) imitating the line of Cain (the worldly cultural side). Notice how the Sethite and Cainite names sound very similar: Irad and Jared and Methushael and Methuselah sound similar. While Cain’s empire started to grow more successfully, the Sethites wanted to grow and expand just as much. The Sethites wanted access to valuable resources, prestige, power, and even peace. This temptation led SOME Sethites to forsake their fellow women for more attractive mates in the Line of Cain (similar to David lusting after Bathesheba-Proverbs 2:16-17). The inter-marriage between both people was inevitable since Lamech redefined the institution of marriage. Because of this, polygamy was introduced to the Sethites.

This resulted in the creation of the Nephilim. It is proposed that the negative effects of the “Curse of Cain” were compounded since they were passed on to non-cursed recipients (Sethites).  This increased the likelihood of offspring being powerful, giant hybrid warriors: uniting religiosity and culture as one entity. Nephilim is translated as “Fallen Ones.” It is from the Hebrew word “naphal.” When we think of the Fall, we should think of the Curse as well. It is not farfetched to think of the Nephilim as the “Cursed Ones.” After the inter-marriage occurred, the Nephilim started to grow as a strong, individual kingdom. They started to dominate and oppress both Sethites and Cainites that refused to comply with their unity agenda. This resulted in countless acts of bloodshed and war.

The Nephilim After the Flood

After the Flood, we see the Nephilim in Numbers 13:33 as the Sons of Anak. It cannot be proven if these were the actual Nephilim or just an exaggeration to scare people away from the Promise Land. Regardless, the Sons of Anak were from the line of Canaan. This makes sense when we see their presence in the post-diluvian age, the only person to be cursed was Canaan. This was due to Ham uncovering Noah’s nakedness. The reason Canaan was cursed (similar to Cain) is because in scripture, a blessing cannot be reversed into a curse. So since Ham was already blessed by Noah in the early parts of Genesis 9, it makes sense why Canaan was cursed. Perhaps he assisted in the situation in some shape or form while Noah was sleeping. A cursed Canaan would then marry within his own tribe. This would include siblings (cursed recipients) and relatives (non-cursed recipients) within Ham’s tribe. Ham’s other children (non-cursed recipients) consisted of Cush, Egypt, and Put.