CAIN (Heb. Qajin = Ar. qajn “smith,” a name linked in Gen 4:1, by popular etymology, to qánah “to possess”). — The first son of Adam and Eve, brother of Abel (v.); the rabbinic opinion that they were twins is unfounded.
Because of his hatred and fratricide, Cain is the first example of the moral disorder arising from Adam’s sin. Offering with a grudging and faithless heart (Heb 11:4) the fruits of the tillage to which he had devoted himself, he saw his gifts rejected by God, unlike the pleasing sacrifices of lambs offered by his brother, the shepherd. From this came the threatening wrath of the wicked Cain, who meditated the murder of the just Abel. God, speaking to his conscience, invited him (a rather enigmatic passage in Gen 4:6–7) to resist the evil demon who sought to master him by doing good: “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” Yet, as the Apostle comments (1 Jn 3:12), Cain, moved “by the Evil One,” killed his brother after luring him into the open field and arrogantly replied to God, who asked him about the slain, that he was not Abel’s keeper. But because of “the voice of [Abel’s] blood” crying out for justice, God cursed Cain, foretelling that the earth, soaked with fraternal blood, would henceforth be sterile for him as a fugitive and wanderer. Awakened then to the consciousness of his crime and fearing the harsh lex talionis, Cain obtained from God—merciful even in wrath—that whoever killed him would suffer a penalty of sevenfold retaliation, and that he himself would bear a sign warning of his end without bloodshed.
It is erroneous, as the rabbis claim, to see in the “sign” a horn, leprosy, trembling, a face horribly contorted by remorse, or a tattoo, meant to make him recognizable and spared by strangers who might meet him in the land of Nod, west of Eden, where he had fled.
For archaeology, V. ABELE.
Faustino Salvoni
Folklore. — A widespread and ancient popular tradition, recalled twice by Dante (Inf., XX, 126, and Par., II, 50), sees in the spots on the moon the image of Cain. The details of the interpretation vary somewhat. Some see Cain lifting a fork of thorns, or forced to carry a bundle of thorns on his shoulders; others, as the commentator Buti says of Dante, see him “standing on a bundle of brambles.” Other legends attempt to explain this popular interpretation of the lunar spots. An Abruzzese legend tells that after committing fratricide, Cain hid, but God condemned him to remain on the moon so that all might see him; nor did it help him to carry a great branch of thorn, for it could not hide him at all. A far more widespread but also more elaborate legend recounts that after killing Abel, Cain, now fearful, piled up brambles around the cave where he lived to protect himself from beasts. “You do well,” God replied, “for the thorns will serve to
CAIN — Episodes from the story of Cain and Abel. Panel from the Gates of Paradise by L. Ghiberti — Florence, Baptistery.
(by courtesy of the publisher of the Turci, Florence)
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CAIUS (Lat. Caius or Gaius). — A name (or rather praenomen) very common in the Greco-Roman world, often written in two forms: Caius and Gaius. The persons distinguished by this name seem to be four, since Rom 16:23 and 1 Cor 1:14 almost certainly refer to the same individual. Disregarding the purely graphic difference between Caius and Gaius, we present them all under Caius.
1. — Caius of Corinth is the one about whom we have the most information. From 1 Cor 1:14 we know that he was baptized by Paul himself, though almost exceptionally; Rom 16:23 attests that Caius must have had connections in Rome, to which he sends greetings, and that he hosted Paul at least during one of his stays (the second or third, V. CORINTHIANS, EPISTLES I and II to) in Corinth, at the end of the third missionary journey. The same text adds that Caius also hosted “the whole church” (the Vulgate manuscripts have: “et universa ecclesia” or “et universae ecclesiae”), probably meaning that his house was open to every Christian passing through Corinth. It is not excluded, however, that this hospitality was exercised by Caius by making his house available for the gatherings of the faithful at least during Paul’s stay in Corinth. On the other hand, the phrase “and of the whole church” might also have a somewhat hyperbolic tone.
2. — A Caius of Macedonia was arrested in Ephesus during the riot of the silversmiths (Acts 19:29), along with Aristarchus, also of Macedonia.
3. — Caius of Derbe appears in the company of Paul (Acts 20:4) during his return journey from the third mission. He might also be the same person as one of the two previously mentioned, in relation to Derbe either by origin or by residence.
4. — Caius, the recipient of 3 John (v. 1), about whom we know only what that text tells us, does not seem to be identical with any of those already mentioned. He must have been prominent Diotrephes (v.) was the leader, reproved by John; but which community it was is impossible to say. Caius generously assisted missionaries passing through (3 John 5–8), unlike Diotrephes, by whom Caius was not swayed. Const. Apost., VII, 46 (PG 1, 1053) speaks of a Caius appointed bishop of Pergamum by St. John, and probably refers to the recipient of 3 John.
Teodorico da Castel S. Pietro