Ge 4:17-26

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Cain’s followers and Seth’s

(Gen 4:17-26)

Difficult though this new way of life was, the ungodly Cain was no doubt relieved to be free from the influence of God. The human population had been growing constantly, so in a plan to make himself secure Cain established his own independent settlement (Gen 4:17-18).

The beginnings of settled life were marked by both good and evil. People made some progress in the raising of sheep and cattle, and developed skills in various arts and crafts, but morally they became worse. Lamech not only murdered a boy who had done no more than slightly injure him, but wrote a song to celebrate his crime. Cain had at least looked for, and received, God’s protection against revenge killing, but Lamech was so arrogant and defiant that he challenged anyone to take action against him (Gen 4:19-24).

Cain’s descendants now disappear from the story. From this point on the story will be concerned with the descendants of another of Adam’s sons, Seth, for these were the ones who continued to worship God (Gen 4:25-26). Adam and Eve produced many sons and daughters (see Gen 5:4), since part of their responsibility was to help populate the earth (see Gen 1:28). Over a long period different racial groups emerged, as people settled in various regions and multiplied.

The Bible story, however, deals with the history of only a small portion of the human race, namely, that which produced the Semitic people, of whom the Hebrews were a part. This was the one line of descent through which people maintained a belief in the one true God (cf. Rom 1:20-23).