What is this “mark” God puts on Cain?
When God banishes Cain, Cain worries that “whoever finds me will kill me”. God puts a mark on Cain so that he would not be killed by strangers. What is this mark? Several other books note the use of marks of protection. In Ezekiel 9 God commands a man to run through Jerusalem and mark the forheads of people who grieve the sins taking place there; Angels are to eliminate everyone in the city except those with the mark. In Revelation 7 angels are to harm the land and sea, but not until the servants of God have had “seals” put on their forheads. In Cain’s case, it seems the mark (whatever it was) served as a visible warning to strangers that he should not be crossed.
