Why did God put the “mark” on Cain?
Well, you have assumed many things…. First, you are correct that the mark was a warning (to strangers) not to kill Cain. Clearly, either Abel had already produced children (and maybe more than just children), or Cain was well aware that many children would grow to adulthood before he died naturally. Second, the bible does *not* tell us who else was alive at that moment – only that Cain and Abel were the only two *sons* of Adam and Eve. We can *imagine* that Abel already had great-grandchildren by that time. The presumption, though, is that Abel was murdered before marrying or producing offspring, and so Cain was concerned with his “reception” by future generations. Third, it seems that Cain did not get married until just before or **after** his sentence of wandering was completed – until he settled in the land of Nod, a land which seems (by that later date) to have been settled. This is deduced from that fact that he had a wife when *he* settled in this region – though of course he c
