What was the mark that God put on Cain in Genesis 4:15? | GotQuestions.org
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Was skin color the mark God put on Cain? In this video, Pastor Nelson answers your question: What was the mark that God put on Cain in Genesis 4:15?
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- 00:00
- In today's video I'll answer your question, What was the mark that God put on Cain in Genesis 4 verse 15?
- 00:07
- And then afterward, as always, I'll share some helpful resources, so stick around until the end.
- 00:20
- After Cain killed his brother Abel, God declared to Cain, Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
- 00:32
- When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.
- 00:38
- Genesis 4 verses 11 and 12. In response, Cain lamented, My punishment is more than I can bear.
- 00:45
- Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence. I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.
- 00:54
- Genesis 4 verses 13 and 14. The nature of the mark on Cain has been the subject of much debate and speculation.
- 01:02
- The Hebrew word translated mark is auth and refers to a mark, sign, or token.
- 01:10
- Elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures, auth is used 79 times and is most frequently translated as sign.
- 01:17
- So, the Hebrew word does not identify the exact nature of the mark God put on Cain. Whatever it was, it was a sign or indicator that Cain was not to be killed.
- 01:27
- Some propose that the mark was a scar or some kind of tattoo. Whatever the case, the precise nature of the mark is not the focus of the passage.
- 01:36
- The focus is that God would not allow people to enact vengeance against Cain. Whatever the mark on Cain was, it served this purpose.
- 01:45
- In the past, many believed the mark on Cain to be dark skin, that God changed the color of Cain's skin to black in order to identify him.
- 01:55
- Since Cain also received a curse, the belief that the mark was black skin caused many to believe that people of dark skin were cursed.
- 02:03
- Many use the mark of Cain teaching as a justification for the African slave trade and discrimination against people with black or dark skin.
- 02:12
- This interpretation of the mark of Cain is completely unbiblical. Nowhere in the
- 02:18
- Hebrew Scriptures is auth used to refer to skin color. The curse on Cain in Genesis 4 was on Cain himself.
- 02:27
- Nothing is said of Cain's curse being passed on to his descendants. There is absolutely no biblical basis to claim that Cain's descendants had dark skin.
- 02:36
- Further, unless one of Noah's son's wives was a descendant of Cain, possible but unlikely,
- 02:43
- Cain's line was terminated by the Flood. What was the mark that God put on Cain?
- 02:48
- The Bible does not say. The meaning of the mark, that Cain was not to be killed, was more important than the nature of the mark itself.
- 02:57
- Whatever the mark was, it had no connection to skin color or a generational curse on the descendants of Cain.
- 03:04
- To use the mark on Cain as an excuse for racism or discrimination is absolutely unbiblical.
- 03:11
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- 03:19
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