A generous but eccentric Scotch clergyman, when naming the subjects of prayer for one Sunday morning, added: "And now, let us pray for the De'il; naebody prays for the puir De'il."
The character whom we are about to consider is in like predicament, hopelessly aliened from every one's sympathy. Cain, the reputed first-born son (1) of Adam, lies under the reproach of thousands of years as having introduced murder and rapine into the world, and led the way in the general perverting of mankind. So deeply rooted is this notion that many would regard the attempt to remove the imputation as almost a sacrilege. Even to venture to lighten the burden of obloquy which rests upon his name would be accounted by them as preposterous. Nevertheless this would be feeble as an excuse for neglect to take a rational, impartial and intelligent view of the matter. There is, for candid and reasonable persons, a wider field to occupy than the narrow domain of thinking which is hedged about on every side by prejudice, or servile fear. There may be good reason for some other judgment.
In fact it is hardly possible to regard the account of Cain as a simple historic narrative setting forth events literally as they occurred. This would raise questions for which there is no adequate satisfactory explanation. The Supreme Being himself is described as having characteristics not consistent with our more enlightened apprehension. He shows only displeasure, and neither charity nor mercy. We are forcibly reminded of the bitter sarcasm which Byron has put in the mouth of Faliero in response to the pleading of his wife:
"Angiolina. — Heaven bids us forgive our enemies.
"Doge. — Doth Heaven forgive her own? Is Satan saved
From wrath eternal?"
Nevertheless, we are by no means disposed to consider the story as merely an archaic legend, or some fugitive piece of folk-lore, deserving of no further attention. These fables and mythic narratives have a deeper meaning than the mere child or unlettered person may apprehend. We will, therefore, examine the matter and endeavor to learn whether it does not contain profounder knowledge. We have a precedent for so doing in the writings of the Apostle Paul. He cites the account of the two sons of Abraham and their respective mothers, and declares it an allegory. He also affirms that the exodus, adventures, and experiences of the Israelites in the Arabian Desert were types or figures, and written for admonition. It is certainly as rational and reasonable to interpret the story of the sons of Adam according to the same principles. It is evidently a kind of parable, which symbolizes in a concrete form some important period in history.
The mode of telling the story is one that seems to have been common in ancient times. We may, therefore, consider it as a kind of parable setting forth in an enigmatic form a particular period in development. Thus it may represent a condition, such as is described in the Avesta, when the region indicated in the account was occupied by two classes of inhabitants, the one pastoral and the other consisting of cultivators of the soil. There would inevitably be collisions between them, and eventually, as has always been the result, the agriculturist overcomes and destroys the shepherd. When this has been accomplished, the way is opened for the introduction of the arts of civilized life. This is signified; by the record that Cain built a city.
With this explanation, there is no occasion for idle and curious questions, as in regard to the wife of Cain or where the inhabitants of the new city were obtained. The legend is wholly isolated from such problems. It relates to peoples and social conditions rather than to individuals. The concept actually involved is nothing less than that of transition from nomadic and isolated life to civic and neighborly relations. Civilization signifies the condition of living in society, and hence implies provident foresight, mutual dependence, refinement of manners and mental culture. Accordingly we read of the posterity of Cain, that one was the father or eponymic patron of herdsmen, and another of those who handle the harp and the organ, while another is described as "the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron."
Thus in the account of Cain and his children, it is very plain that we have an archaic tradition of a developing civilization. It presents analogies to the legend of Prometheus. The famous Titan, we are told, being impelled by pity and affection, gave fire and enlightenment to mankind, teaching to build houses, to employ the labor of cattle, to mine and smelt the metallic ores, to make use of writing, to master the sciences, to treat diseases, and to exercise each useful art. Like Cain, he likewise fell under the anger of Divinity. Zeus, who had then but recently come to supreme power in the universe, regarded these acts as nothing less than defiance of his authority. He caused the offender to be expelled from the inhabited earth to distant Skythic land, there to be pinioned to a rock for ages, suffering incredible torments, and subject to universal hatred and scorn. May we not guess that the story of Cain and his punishment have been derived from parallel sources?
THE KENITES
We find repeated mentions elsewhere in the Hebrew writings of a tribe or people whose name and characteristics are strikingly suggestive of affiliation to the personages of the book of Genesis. The Kenites, or Cainites, as the term correctly would read, are represented as possessing many characteristics, like Jabal and Jubal, of the progeny of Cain; dwelling in tents, and being endowed with superior learning and skill. Moses, the Hebrew lawgiver is recorded as marrying the daughter of Reuel or Jethro, a Kenite priest, and living with him forty years prior to the exodus from Egypt. It is further declared that Jethro visited the Israelitish encampment in the Sinai-tic peninsula, and celebrated sacrificial rites with him and with the Elders of Israel. This indicates that there were initiations and occult observances of a kindred nature on that occasion. It is only stated, however, that Jethro gave counsel and that Moses "did all that he said." But it is very evident that in this connection, and indeed in other parts of the Bible, there is much to be "read between the lines."
The intimate association between the Kenites and Israelites appears to have continued for several centuries. A son of Jethro is mentioned as being the guide of the tribes while journeying in the desert, and as residing for a season with his clan at Jericho. They afterward removed into the Southern district of the territory of Judah. They appear to have had a great influence upon the Mosaic institutions. The Rechabites, or Scribes, who constituted a learned class, belonged to them, and from their adoption of tent-life and abstinence from wine, the Nazarites would seem to be in some way related to that people.
A memorandum in the first book of Chronicles seems to afford some light upon these matters. The writer enumerates the various clans and families of Kirjath-Jearim, Bethlehem, and "Scribes which dwelt at Jabez," and includes them in the summary: "These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab." (2)
We will here remark by way of digression that during the earlier centuries of the present era the genesis and character of Cain were themes of much curious speculation. A party in the Christian world, now generally designated the Gnostics, held the Jewish Oracles in low esteem, placing higher value on philosophic learning and Oriental wisdom. One group, the "Cainites," boldly declared that Cain was a personage superior to other men, and that he was illuminated by the superior knowledge. They found some pretext for their belief in the declaration of Eve that he was "a man from the Lord," while Seth, who is represented as superseding him, was begotten after the image and likeness of Adam only, and significantly bore the name of the Satan or Typhon of Egypt.
It is certain, as has been already shown, that the compilers of the Hebrew Sacred Writings conceded to Cain and his descendants all the profounder culture and proficiency in the arts. Why they so generally represent the younger persons in a family as being superior in moral and physical excellence, and supplanting the elder, may have been for the sake of assigning honorable rank to their own people, one of the latest that had appeared among the nations. They were compelled, however, to acknowledge, however reluctantly, that their Idumean adversaries excelled in wisdom, and that the Promethean gifts which had enabled the world to attain its eminence of culture and enlightenment were derived from the sources which they decried.
THE KAYANIAN KINGS
It is very probable, however, that the legend of Cain came from a different source, and that it should, in many of its particulars, have a somewhat different interpretation. Doctor Oort declares it quite conceivable that it is from a Persian origin. We may, in such case, seek our clews in the farther East, for an elucidation of the problem which shall be plausible and reasonable. The Persian records and traditions inform us that prior to the Achaemenian dynasty, the Medes and Persians were governed by monarchs of a race which they denominate Kayan, (3) or Sacred. It was during the period of their rule that the great Schism took place between the Eranians and their Aryan congeners.
By reference to the Avesta and other accounts it appears that the Aryans of the "prehistoric period" were pastoral and nomadic like the present inhabitants of Turkestan. After a time, a part of their number, the Eranians, becoming cultivators of the soil and dwellers in villages, formed separate communities. All evolutions in human society are primarily religious in character. A new religious system was accordingly developed in Eran. It appears to have attained a matured form in the reign of Vistaspa, one of the most illustrious monarchs of the Kayanian dynasty. Zoroaster, the first who bore the designation, flourished at this period, and with the approval of the king, succeeded in molding the new Mazdean religion into a concrete body of forms and dogmas, with a well-defined form of initiation.
After a prolonged period of contention, the "Deva-worshipping" Aryans had made their way to the Punjab, and the dominion of the Eranians had become extended over Persia and into Media and beyond. The first chapters of the Hebrew Scriptures appear to relate to events of this time and it appears plausible and probable that such was the fact. The story of the Garden of Eden is almost undeniably a contribution from Eastern literature; and the killing of Abel seems to represent the overthrow of the worship and worshippers of Bel by the Eranians. The name of Cain would then be derived from the Kayan dynasty that had given shape to the Persian nationality, It is not necessary in propounding this hypothesis, to make the other details harmonize literally with historic events. We must note, however, in this connection, that such names as Shem, Nimrod and Cush, which are found in the book of Genesis, have their counterparts in this region, — in Khusistan the country of the Kossaians, the Nimri tribes of Mount Zagros, and Shamas the sun-god. These verbal resemblances can not well be considered as accidental.
It is by no means wonderful or unusual, that history and personal reputation are often marred by vilifying writers. Books of history and even of drama are often written with partisan ends and calumny. Neither Macbeth nor Richard III. deserved the imputations that have been cast upon them. With every event there is a shade which enables misrepresentation to seem the true picture.
The Bahman-Yasht is a book of the later Parsism, and contains a compendium of the trials and conflicts of the "true religion" from the time of Zoroaster to the end. It delineates the sufferings endured from the Mussulmans, who sought to exterminate the Mazdean faith by massacre, and finally drove thousands from their country.
The writer of this Apocalypse, following in the wake of other prophets, foretells deliverance at the last. A prince of the Kayan race will arise, he declares, who having attained the age of thirty years, the age of man's maturity, will take up arms against the oppressor of the people of Ahurmazda. All India and China, he affirms, will rally to his standard as did the Eranians when Gava raised the banner of the blacksmith's apron against the ferocious serpent-king Zahak. Then the Mazda-yasnian religion — "the pure thought, pure word and pure deed" — will be triumphant, and a reign of blessedness will be established.
Whichever theory we may accept, this legend of Cain affords us an interesting concept of human evolution. Harsh as the necessity appears, the process of development has always been characterized by conflict, which was often analogous to the slaying of a brother. We have the picture before us of Conservatism like the easy-going shepherd with his flocks, idle but ready to slaughter its lambs for sacrifice, and casting aspersions upon the laborious worker who offers the fruits of his own industry, and pollutes no altar-hearth with blood. There is no need, however, for fear that the ulterior result will be other than right. The Divine is divine in so far as it is just
FOOTNOTES:
1. The Assyrian term Kenu signifies the first-born. (return to text)
2. This term "Rechab" is probably a title rather than the name of a person. It is translated "chariot," and evidently denotes the merchaba or vehicle of wisdom. It is applied by Elisha to Elijah, and by King Joash to Elisha: "the rechab of Israel and its guide or pharisi. In this connection it may be not amiss to notice also the term pharisi. It would seem no strained assumption that the Pharisees derived from it their appellation as guides or interpreters of the law. They were students of occult rabbinical learning. The pun in the denunciation of Jesus may be readily perceived: "Ye blind guides, who strain out the gnat but swallow the camel." (return to text)
3. The probability here intimated is greatly assured by this similarity of names. It is a common practice which has been carried to an extreme, to add letters to Oriental words when transferring them to a European language. In the case now before us, the term KIN has been vocalized in the Bible as Cain; and KAYAN is the same word in which this practice has been carried a little further. (return to text)