Who Was Cain Afraid of in Genesis 4:14?

Question: “In Genesis 4:14, Who was Cain afraid of?”

Answer: In Genesis chapter 4, Cain had the dubious distinction of becoming the first murderer. God cursed him to be a vagabond and to live on the run all the days of his life. Proverbs 28:17 “A man tormented by the guilt of murder will be a fugitive till death; let no one support him.” Cain would always be tormented by guilt. A Scripturist reader writes and asked us the interesting question of, “Who was Cain afraid of?” This question is similar to the one often asked, “Who did Cain and Abel marry?” In other words, “If God made Adam & Eve, and they had Cain and Abel, where did they get their wives from?”

The answer is that they married their sisters and that Adam and Eve had children not specifically mentioned by name. How many they had is not revealed in Scripture. Yes, Cain and Abel married their sisters. Marrying a sister, half-sister or cousin was common all the way up to the time of the Old Testament Law, which expressly forbids the marrying of anyone closer then a first cousin. (See Leviticus 18:6-23)

The point is that the answer to that question answers this question of who Cain feared as well. Who was Cain afraid of? Adam & Eve’s other children may have wanted to take vengeance on Cain. Or perhaps Abel had children with his wife and Cain was concerned about nephews or other descendants. Remember, people were living to be several hundred years old at that time. This gave Cain a very long life expectancy where any number of generations could have wanted to kill him for what he did to grandpa Abel. Maybe he feared unmentioned descendants of Adam and Eve. Maybe he feared Seth’s descendants.

Also Cain would later need to fear his own children. The obviously depraved Cain would not raise Godly children. One of his descendants was the first known polygamist, Lamech. Genesis 4:23-24 says “Lamech said to his wives, ‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times." He prided himself on being more of a murderer than his ancestor Cain.

Therefore, God had put a mark on Cain (What that was, we do not know so don’t try to guess.) and it told people that this is Cain and if you kill him you will be avenged seven times over by God for it. (Genesis 4:15) But this didn’t take away the fact that Cain would be a vagabond, who lived under a curse and in fear all his days. The mark didn’t remove the paranoia of a murderer. If you get rich by stealing from others, you will never enjoy your wealth because you will live in constant fear of someone stealing it from you. We instinctively judge others by our own hearts. Because Cain hated and killed his own flesh and blood, he always lived with the assumption that his own flesh and blood would kill him.

Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” The wicked will always live in paranoia. The wicked live in a state of heightened fear, unable to be close to anyone. They will be overly defensive. They will defend themselves against perceived accusations that were not even thought of in the others mind. They will attack a person for no reason, because they believe they are under attack when they are not. They will live a lonely existence unable to trust, and thus unable to love, because love always trusts. (1 Corinthians 13:7)

Who was Cain afraid of? He was afraid of every bump in the night, every shadow, every stranger who approached his tent, every relative, every child, every grandchild, every spouse, every brother, his own parents, and anyone whom he dealt with. He was close to no one. He could trust no one. Because of his lack of faith, I am sure, he didn’t trust the words of God about his protection from vengeance or the effectiveness of the mark he bore to protect him. He lived in fear with the guilt of murder haunting him until he finally died and met the summation of all the fears of his unrepentant heart in Hades’ fire.

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