Cain

Cain was the firstborn son of Adam and Eve and the first murderer in the biblical narrative. A farmer by occupation, he brought an offering of crops to God, while his brother Abel brought fat portions of his flock's firstborn. God looked with favor on Abel's offering but not on Cain's—the text leaves the reason ambiguous—and Cain's jealousy led him to kill Abel in the fields (Genesis 4:1–8). When God confronted him with 'Where is your brother Abel?', Cain's reply 'Am I my brother's keeper?' has become a defining phrase in ethical discourse. God cursed Cain to wander the earth, yet also placed a protective mark on him. He built the first city and fathered a line culminating in Lamech. The New Testament cites him as a warning against those who 'are of the evil one' (1 John 3:12; Jude 11).