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Meaning, origin and etymology of the name Cain


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Cain Cain

Cain is the first son of Adam and Eve, the first human conceived the way we were all conceived, and also the first murderer. His victim is his brother Abel, who is the first human to die. Abel has no posterity. Cain's posterity never makes it past the flood of Noah. All humans alive today are descendants of Adam and Eve's son number three, named Seth. For his deed Cain is exiled and he flees to the land of Nod.

The name Cain is identical to the word Cain (qyn 2015a) which means spear and occurs only once, in 2 Sam 21:16. Related languages contain a root qyn which means to forge, but this name comes most likely from the verb qana qana (2039), get, acquire, create, as used in Genesis 4:1 where the name Cain is explained by Eve. The identical root qana (qana 2040) yields the derivation qana (qaneh 2040a), meaning reed or stalk, which may explain the word for spear.

TWOTOT and NOBSE translate Spear. Jones relates it to qana qana (2039) meaning acquire, create: Acquisition.



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