WHAT was the mark that God put on Cain (Gen. 4:15)? Genesis 4:15-16 introduced us to an enimatic judgment and a "mark" that directly came from the LORD God:
"And the Lord said to him, 'Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.' And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden."
The "mark of Cain" also called the curse of Cain are terms that came directly in the tragic story of Cain and Abel. According to the narrative, if someone harmed Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold (v.15).
On the other hand, because Cain killed his own brother, the consequence of this mark to Cain was also lifetime:
"So now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” (Gen. 4:11-12)
The nature of the mark on Cain has been the subject of much speculation. The Hebrew word for mark ('owth, אות) could simply means "a signal, as a flag, beacon, monument, omen, prodigy, evidence -- mark, miracle, ensign, token." Some interpretations view this as a physical mark, whereas other interpretations see the "mark" as a symbol, and not as a physical mark on Cain himself.
The mark of Cain was God's promise to offer Cain divine protection from any attempt to kill him. However it is not known what the mark was, but it is assumed that the mark was somewhat visible. Elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures, 'owth is used 79 times and is most frequently translated as "sign." So, the Hebrew word does not specifically identify the exact nature of the mark of Cain, but historically there were at least three major explanations that were advanced:
1. A Cross or 'X' Mark--The symbol of cross has been with mankind even before the Christian era, it was later made popular by Catholicism with the belief that Christ died on it. But some scholars find a link between the mark of Cain with that of a "cross" or "X" which was the same symbol commonly used in pagan societies and among the heathens religions. The "cross" or "Tau" symbol stood for the pagan Messiah named Tammuz, who was the illegitimate son of Semiramis, wife of Nimrod. A noted scholar, Alexander Hislop had this to say:
"The magic virtue attributed to the so-called sign of the cross, the worship bestowed on it, never came from such a source. The same sign of the cross that Rome now worships was used in the Babylonian mysteries, was applied by Paganism to the same magic purposes, was honoured with the same honours."
Hislop, continues:
"That which is now called the Christian cross was originally no Christian emblem at all, but was the mystic Tau of Chaldeans and Egyptians -- the true original form of the letter 'T'-- the initial of the name of Tammuz -- which, in Hebrew, radically the same as ancient Chaldee....That mystic Tau was marked in baptism on the forehead of those initiated in the mysteries, and was used in every variety of way as a most sacred symbol. To identify Tammuz with the son it was joined sometimes to the circle of the sun..." (The Two Babylons, Loizeaux Brothers, Neptune, NJ 1959, pp. 197-198)
Thus, a clear connection of the pagan use of the "cross" can only inspire one to wonder as to its original source and inspiration. And nothing would suit the purpose better than the "mark," the "sign of protection" which God Himself used to mark the forehead of Cain.
2. Black (or 'Dark-Skinned') People --Historically, many believed the 'mark on Cain' was suspected to be dark skin—that God changed the color of Cain’s skin to black in order to identify him. Although nothing in the Bible suggests it is related to skin color, the motif that Cain was cursed with blackness—and that black people are cursed as well—was used as justification for the African slave trade--still common from the 18th and into the 20th century. Together with the more common motif that Noah’s son Ham was cursed with black skin and his descendants condemned to slavery (based on Gen 9:20-25), this interpretation of Cain’s mark was used to justify the slave trade, and other 'segregation' or discriminatory laws.
The 'mark of Cain' was also interpreted among early Catholic Fathers in order to justify persecutions and hatred towards the Jewish people despite the clear genealogy (Gen 5), that Jews are not Cain’s descendants—nor, for that matter, is anyone else, as it was Noah’s family, descended from Seth, who survived the flood.
3. A form of Sickness--The Jewish interpreters on the other hand, linked it with the physical curse that God placed upon Cain, imagining it as something incurable. One suggestion in a Jewish midrash, for example, is that Cain was punished with certain "leprosy" (Genesis Rabbah XXII.12).
Whatever the mark was for Cain, contextually speaking, it was an indicator that Cain was to be kept alive, yet suffered the consequences of his action toward Abel his brother. It was unbearable enough that he pleaded to God this way:
"And Cain said to the Lord, 'My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” (Gen. 4:13-14)
So what was the mark of Cain? The Bible is enigmatic at best. But to be 'driven out' in the presence of God (cut off from God), become a 'nomadic' person (no life direction), always 'fearful' (not living up to his real potential), are some of its ill effects/consequences. To avoid this mark is to continually uproot these visages in our own life too!
"Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain..." (Jude 1:11)
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