In the free eBook Exploring Genesis: The Bible’s Ancient Traditions in Context, discover the cultural contexts for many of Israel’s latest traditions. Ancient interpreters believed that this passage sheds light on who killed Cain in the Bible, and they identified the man Lamech killed in verse 23 with Cain. Lamech admits to having killed a man in Genesis 4:23–24.

One of the most popular interpretations credits Lamech-Cain’s great, great grandson-with killing Cain. How did Cain die? If he did not die naturally, who killed Cain? In the Bible, do we have any clues? John Byron, professor of New Testament at Ashland Theological Seminary, tackles these questions in his Biblical Views column “Did Cain Get Away with Murder?” which appears in the May/June 2014 issue of BAR.īyron explains that ancient interpreters were not afraid to change the story of Cain in the Bible to fit with their sense of justice, ensuring that he was adequately punished for killing his brother Abel.

We learn that he married and had descendants, but the Bible is strangely mute about his death. What happened to Cain in the Bible? In the Book of Genesis, we are told about Cain’s birth, his violent act of fratricide and his subsequent exile. Lazare, Autun, Burgundy, France/The Bridgeman Art Library. They accidentally shoot and kill Cain, mistaking him for a wild animal. DID LAMECH KILL CAIN? How did Cain die? This 12th-century column capital from the Cathedral of Saint-Lazre in France depicts Lamech hunting with his son Tubal-Cain.

Kane and abel book