The curse of Cain and the mark of Cain are phrases that originated in the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis. In the stories, if someone harmed Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold. Some interpretations view this as a physical mark, whereas other interpretations see the "mark" as a sign, and not as a physical mark on Cain himself. The King James Version of the Bible reads "set a mark upon Cain".
Origins
There is no clear consensus as to what Cain's mark was. The word translated as "mark" in Genesis 4:15 is ('ōṯ), which could mean a sign, omen, warning, remembrance, motion, gesture, agreement, miracle, wonder, or, most commonly, a letter. In the Torah, the same word is used to describe the stars as signs or omens (Genesis 1:14), the rainbow as the sign of God's promise never again to destroy his creation with a flood (Genesis 9:12), circumcision as a token of God's covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:11), and the miracles performed by Moses before the Pharaoh (Exodus 4:8, 9, 17, 28; 7:3; 8:23; 10:1, 2).
Curse of Cain
The narrative of the curse of Cain is found in the text of . The curse was the result of Cain murdering his brother, Abel, and lying about the murder to God. When Cain spilled his brother's blood, the earth became cursed as soon as the blood hit the ground. In a sense, the earth was left "drinking Abel's blood".: gives a two-part sentencing for Cain's curse. The first concerns the earth that was cursed by Abel's blood.: Kugel, 163 Should Cain attempt to farm the land, the earth would not yield produce for him. This may imply why he went on to build cities,: Wenham, 108 namely the City of Enoch. The second part of the curse marks Cain as a fugitive () and a wanderer (). The combination making up this Hebrew phrase , "fugitive and wanderer," is unique in the Hebrew Bible. Modern interpretations of the Hebrew verse 12 suggest that Cain went on to live a nomadic lifestyle and that he was also excluded from the family unit. In the Septuagint, the emphasis on Cain's curse is dramatically increased by the combination of the Greek participles στένων καὶ τρέμων (stenōn kai tremōn, "groaning and shaking upon the earth").: Brayford, 254 Syriac Christianity interprets the Greek version to mean that Cain experienced a real physical affliction: See footnote 14 that would enable others to know who he was when they saw him. Philo interprets the Greek verse 12 as an allegory for Cain's fear of being soul-less. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the Targums translate the same verse to mean that Cain feared being "an exile and an unstable man".
Mark of Cain The mark of Cain is God's promise to offer Cain divine protection from premature death with the stated purpose of preventing anyone from killing him. It is not known what the mark was, but it is assumed that the mark was visible.: Mellinkoff, 1942, p. 210; Moberley, 2007, pp. 11–28 Some have speculated that the mark was a Hebrew or Sumerian character placed on either the face or the arm.: (Tg. Ps.-J. Gen 4:15, Pirqe R. El. 21) The Septuagint translates the mark as a "sign". Thus, it is speculated that the mark served as a sign to others not to commit the same offense.: Gen. Rab. 22:12
Judaism Abba Arika ("Rav") said that God gave Cain a dog, making him an example for murderers. Abba Jose ben Hanan said that God made a horn grow out of Cain. R. Hanin said that God made Cain an example to penitents (Gen. Rab. 22:12).
Rashi (1:4) comments on by saying that the mark was one of the Hebrew letters of the Tetragrammaton: "He engraved a letter of His [God's] Name onto his [Cain's] forehead." The same statement about the Tetragrammaton was expressed by Targum Jonathan, Pirqé Rabbi Eliezer 21, and Zohar I.36b.Annarita Magri, , January 2007
In Kabbalah, the Zohar states that the mark of Cain was one of the twenty-two Hebrew letters of the Torah, although the Zohar's native Aramaic does not actually tell us which of the letters it was. Some commentators, such as Rabbi Michael Berg in his English commentary on the Zohar, suggest that the mark of Cain was the letter vav ().]
Christianity
According to author Ruth Mellinkoff, commentators' interpretations of the nature of the "mark" depended on their views regarding the status of Cain, as either being given additional time to repent or as being further shamed.
American racial beliefs on the mark of Cain At some point after the start of the slave trade in the United States, a number of racist preachers began teaching the belief that the mark of Cain was a dark skin tone in an attempt to justify their actions, although early descriptions of Romani as "descendants of Cain" written by Franciscan friar Symon Semeonis suggest that this belief had existed for some time. Racist preachers wrote exegetical analyses of the curse, with the assumption that it was dark skin.Priest, Josiah Slavery as it Relates to the Negro or African Race (1843)
This racist interpretation does not take into account that during the flood, only Noah and his family survived; "those destroyed by the Flood are Irad, Mehujael and Methushael, the descendants of Cain in ." Senior professor Daniel Heimbach of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary discussed the logical fallacy of the racist interpretation, writing "since Cain's descendants all died in the flood, the mark of Cain could not refer to anyone today even if it was passed on to his descendants." Heimbach additionally notes that "The Hebrew word translated "mark" (אוֹת, ʾōt) never refers to skin color" and "God did not say Cain's mark would pass on to future generations".
Baptist segregationists The split between the Northern and Southern Baptist organizations arose over doctrinal issues pertaining to slavery and the education of slaves. Northern Baptist Convention (now known as the American Baptist Churches USA) supported abolitionism and racial equality. At the time of the split, the Southern Baptist group used the curse of Cain as a justification for slavery. Some 19th- and 20th-century Southern Baptist ministers in the Southern United States taught the belief that there were two separate heavens; one heaven was for Black people, and another heaven was for White people. Southern Baptists either taught or practiced various forms of racial segregation well into the mid-20th century, though members of all races were accepted at worship services. In 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention officially denounced racism and it also apologized for its past defense of slavery. At present, the Southern Baptist Convention is racially diverse, with one in four congregations having a nonwhite majority.
The majority of Christian churches in the world, including the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches, Evangelical-Lutheran churches, Anglican churches, and Oriental Orthodox churches, did not recognize the racist interpretations and did not participate in the religious movement to exclude Black people from ministry.
Curse of Ham
The Curse of Cain was often conflated with the Curse of Ham by racists. According to the Bible, Ham discovered his father Noah drunk and naked in his tent, but instead of honoring his father by covering his nakedness, he ran and told his brothers about it. Because of this, Noah cursed Ham's son, Canaan, by saying that he was to be "a servant of servants" (). One interpretation of this passage states that Ham married a descendant of Cain. While there is no indication in the Bible of Ham's wife descending from Cain, this racist interpretation was used to justify slavery and it was particularly popular in North America during the Atlantic slave trade due to interpretations identifying Ham as the progenitor of the people of Africa.Benjamin Braude, "The Sons of Noah and the Construction of Ethnic and Geographical Identities in the Medieval and Early Modern Periods", William and Mary Quarterly LIV (January 1997): 103–42. See also William McKee Evans, "From the Land of Canaan to the Land of Guinea: The Strange Odyssey of the Sons of Ham", American Historical Review 85 (February 1980): 15–43. .John N. Swift and Gigen Mammoser, "Out of the Realm of Superstition: Chesnutt's 'Dave's Neckliss' and the Curse of Ham", American Literary Realism, vol. 42 no. 1, Fall 2009, 3
Senior professor Daniel Heimbach of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary presents a scholarly analysis that refutes the racist interpretation:
Latter Day Saint movement
Mormonism began during the height of the acceptance of the curse of Cain doctrine in North America, as well as the even more popular curse of Ham doctrine. Like many North Americans, Mormons of the 19th century commonly assumed that Black Africans had Cain's "mark" of black skin, and Ham's curse to be servants of servants. Brigham Young taught that Black people were cursed descendants of Cain, and used this to justify slavery. In the Pearl of Great Price, considered scripture by most adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement, Enoch talks about shunning the descendants of Cain and that they had black skin: "And Enoch also beheld the residue of the people which were the sons of Adam; and they were a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them." () Church president Brigham Young stated, "What is the mark? You will see it on the countenance of every African you ever did see...."
As related by Abraham O. Smoot after his death, apostle David W. Patten said he encountered a man with "very dark" skin in Paris, Tennessee, who said that he was Cain. The account states that Cain had earnestly sought death but was denied it, and that his mission was to destroy the souls of men. The recollection of Patten's story is quoted in apostle Spencer W. Kimball's The Miracle of Forgiveness.
Although not explicitly stated in Latter-day Saint scripture, at least one publication of the largest denomination in Mormonism, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), still teaches that Ham's wife was a descendant of Cain. Its "Guide to the Scriptures," published as an explanatory companion to the scriptures, states "Ham's wife, Egyptus, was a descendant of Cain; the sons of their daughter Egyptus settled in Egypt".
Temple and priesthood ban
There is evidence which proves that Joseph Smith did not consider the ban on Black men to the priesthood to be relevant in modern times, since he himself (and other church leaders close to him) ordained Black men into it, notably Elijah Abel and Walker Lewis.
After the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young (the second President of the Church) accepted the idea that people of African ancestry were generally under the curse of Cain, and in 1852, he stated that people of Black African descent were not eligible to hold the church's priesthood.Wilford Woodruff, Diary of Wilford Woodruff, January 16, 1852. "[A]ny man having one drop of the seed of [Cain] … in him cannot hold the priesthood and if no other Prophet ever spake it before I will say it now in the name of Jesus Christ". Young taught that in the War in Heaven, both Cain and Abel were leaders. The spirits of Black people fought under Cain and were assigned to be Cain's descendants. Those that fought under Abel were assigned to be Abel's descendants. Cain hoped that by killing his brother, the spirits that were under him would have an advantage over the spirits under Abel. However, God cursed Cain and his descendants not to have the priesthood until all of Abel's descendants had the priesthood. The spirits of Black people understood this and stood with Cain and accepted the punishment.
The ban on the priesthood affected Black members differently than it did in other churches because the LDS Church has a lay priesthood in which virtually all worthy male members become priesthood holders.