Did God's curse on Cain extend to only Cain, Cain's descendants or to everyone?

Question

When God cursed Cain for killing Abel, did that curse extend to Cain's offspring, to Cain alone, or to everyone? God tells Cain:

"And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Genesis 4:11-12 ESV

Later in Genesis, when tracing the genealogy of Cain's younger brother Seth, this next verse seems to indicate that the ground was cursed for everyone, not just Cain or his direct descendants?

"When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.” Genesis 5:28-29

Answer 1

I think you're talking about two separate curses in your question.

The first curse, the curse on the ground, God inflicted on the entire earth because of Adam's sin:

• Genesis 3:17-19 And to Adam he said,“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Whereas before Adam and Eve were meant to be alive forever and till the beautiful garden, now they must work the ground with sweat and toil. This is the first curse and applies to the entire earth.

The second curse is the one meant for Cain when God says that the ground will never produce food (strength) for him

• Genesis 4:10-12 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

It's important to note how God describes Cain's new forced way of life as one of a fugitive or wanderer, the Hebrew being nuwa and nuwd which both mean a kind of aimless wanderer. If the ground that he would toil would never bring forth food for him then he will be forced to wander endlessly for sustenance.

Regarding the reference to the cursed ground in Genesis 5:

• Genesis 5:28-29 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son and called his name Noah, saying, “Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands.”

It's natural to assume that Lamech is referring to first curse brought forth by Adam, not the curse that God had applied specifically to Cain.

Answer 2

Cain's curse was different then Adam's curse. In Gen. 3:17-19, God cursed the ground because of Adam. When He cursed the ground, it affected all of the soil on earth. In Gen. 4:10-12, it is NOT the ground that is cursed— but Cain, who is cursed from the ground. Where Cain would attempt to cultivate, the ground would not yield its strength for him. This seems to imply that the curse was limited to Cain. We don't know to what extent the curse affected his sister-wife, their children & descendents. We can only make assumptions based on what is written.

We know that Cain & his sister-wife lived a nomadic lifestyle, as the curse caused them to wander the earth, presumably seeking sustenance. This implies that neither of them could successfully cultivate anything. This could mean a few things:

1. The curse was limited to Cain, in that, only his attempts to farm were unsuccessful.
2. Cain's curse extended to his wife, since after marriage they were one flesh, and neither of them could successfully farm.
3. Wherever Cain stood, the ground became infertile (at least up to a certain unknown radius)— causing anyone near him to also be unsuccessful in farming.

We don't know how long they wandered, but it appears that their nomadic lifestyle paused long enough for them to build a city, which Cain named after his son Enoch.

Although Cain's wife could have been cursed by association via marriage, it may not have been the case for their children. Their children may have been able to farm if the curse was only limited to their father, or parents.

Answer 3

I agreed with most of what LCIII said, so to add to the answer, I would suggest that the curse that Cain received doesn't matter anymore since all of his decendants are dead. They died in the Flood. I've had to explain that to a few people since they don't realize the flood killed everyone but Noah and his family. All of us are decendants of Noah. Canaan was cursed for his offense with Arphaxhad (see Luke). Most Bibles translate this incorrectly as Ham is not the youngest son of Noah. (Drives me crazy when I have to explain this).

Anywayd (long story) I believe this curse wasn't limited to Cain (and his decendants) but it comes upon people who choose the same path in life. The law is clear that breaking the Law brings a curse. Karma was derived from observable coincidence. God explained it to Cain. Then in the Law, and Solomon expounds on it. Jesus lifted that curse when he died and allowed the sins of the father to no longer rule over the children. - so in short: The curse can exist from actions we take, but it will not be an eternal curse. (Although I'm not certain for people who murder - considering the letters of John).

Answer 4

ok well i have done a lot of research on cain and it says he is to wander the earth .. and then you have the gypsies that do not have a country to go to just like the isrealites and if cain is the son of adam and so is noah that should clarify that ! As far as the curse goes it seems like the gypsies are a bit cursed .

Answer 5

Funny how there is so much contention about Cain's marking but if you can open up your mind enough to analyse some Biblically synchronized, extra-Biblical text you can see that the Book of Jasher gives insight into the details of Cain's marking.

Book of Jasher 2:26-30

2:26 And Lamech was old and advanced in years, and his eyes were dim that he could not see, and Tubal Cain, his son, was leading him and it was one day that Lamech went into the field and Tubal Cain his son was with him, and whilst they were walking in the field, Cain the son of Adam advanced towards them; for Lamech was very old and could not see much, and Tubal Cain his son was very young. 27 And Tubal Cain told his father to draw his bow, and with the arrows he smote Cain, who was yet far off, and he slew him, for he appeared to them to be an animal 28 And the arrows entered Cain's body although he was distant from them, and he fell to the ground and died 29 And the Lord requited Cain's evil according to his wickedness, which he had done to his brother Abel, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken 30 And it came to pass when Cain had died, that Lamech and Tubal went to see the animal which they had slain, and they saw, and behold Cain their grandfather was fallen dead upon the earth.

Just my humble opinion but Cain's destiny and appearance sounds a whole lot like what people know today as sasquatch or bigfoot.

In my opinion if a document does not contain doctrine, there is no need to have the amount of scrutiny that the Bible gets, with said document. If you think the creator has not given us more resources than the Bible for learning about history and life, you are being deceived and missing out on a ton of understanding.

Answer 6

Although we do not know for sure exactly what mark God put on Cain, but whatever it was it was readily apparent.

All Scripture is quoted from the King James translation.

Genesis 4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

Cain's descendants apparently had some identifying mark on them also; since they became the ungodly line.

Genesis 4:16 through 24

And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah. And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.

The descendants of Cain, and the descendants of Seth, lived separated up until:

Genesis 6:1 through 4

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Answer 7

This topic is so good. Love your comments. God cursed Cain specially for the murder of his brother Abel. God cursed the ground when Adam and Eve sinned, so that curse already existed. Noah was the first to sacrifice for sin. Then the law was put in place as a covering for sin which noone could keep because if you break one you have broken them all. When Jesus came, the law was abolished and now we are under grace which allows our sins to be forgiven and thus done away with. I have no references. This is just food for thought. But, Jesus is Noah's decendent who takes away the sins of the world that caused the curse to exist in the first place.