Cain: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Notable Family Members	brother Abel

Photos

“Murder of Abel,” bas-relief panel

Adriaen de Vries: Cain Killing Abel

Eyck, Jan van: Cain killing Abel, detail from the Ghent Altarpiece

See All Images →

Moses and the Ten Commandments

Moses

Hebrew prophet

József Molnár: The March of Abraham

Abraham

Hebrew patriarch

The Construction of the Tower of Babel

Nimrod

biblical figure

Jacob

Jacob

Hebrew patriarch

Samson, muscular and draped in a patterned cloth, pushes apart two large pillars as a young man clings to him, with onlookers reacting in the background.

Samson

biblical figure

David slays Goliath

Goliath

biblical figure

default image

Elijah

Hebrew prophet

Painting by James Jacques Joseph Tissot showing Joshua in ancient armor, raising his arm and shield, with an army and battlefield in the background.

Joshua

Hebrew leader

Gilded bronze relief panel by Lorenzo Ghiberti shows Isaac, Jacob, and Esau in an architectural setting, with multiple figures and intricate detail, from the Gates of Paradise in Florence.

Isaac

Hebrew patriarch

The prophet Isaiah

Isaiah

Hebrew prophet