Kain
1:
KAIN (PLACE) [Heb qayin (קַיִן)]. Appears in the enumeration of cities in districts belonging to Judah (Josh 15:57). Its grouping with several other towns of fairly certain identification, namely Maon, Carmel, Ziph, and Juttah, leads to a plausible identification of Kain with en-Nebi Yaqin (M.R. 164100). However, LXX in Josh 15:57 omits the name Kain and counts only nine cities in its list rather than ten as in the MT. Then possibly Kain in the MT should be understood as a genitive which was added to qualify the preceding proper noun Zanoah (i.e., Zanoah of Kain, i.e., Zanoah of the Kenites) in order to distinguish it from the Zanoah of Josh 15:34. If this is correct, Kain must be understood as the singular collective noun for Kenites. Both the interpretations as a collective noun and as a proper place name have been applied to qayin in Num 24:22 and Judg 4:11.
Wesley I. Toews
Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (4:4). New York: Doubleday.
2:
KAIN (Place) Town in the Judean hill country (Jos 15:57). Its place in the same district as the known cities of Maon, Carmel, Ziph, and Juttah (v 55) favors its identification with Khirbet Yuqim, southwest of Hebron.
KAIN* (Tribe) Clan name synonymous with the Kenites (Nm 24:22; Jgs 4:11). The name is Hebrew for “spear,” suggesting a tribe of metalworkers. The nomadic tribe was friendly (1 Sm 15:6) and was eventually absorbed by Judah. See Kenites.
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (767). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
3:
KAIN (kān). A city of the low country of Judah (Josh. 15:57; “Cain,” KJV), Khirbet Yagin, three miles SE of Hebron.
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.
4:
KAIN. A town to the S of Hebron (Jos. 15:57). Khirbet Yaqin has been suggested, but its antiquity is uncertain. lxx takes as one name with Zanoah, altering the count (*Zanoah, 2). j.d.d.
Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (642). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
5:
Kain (kayn). 1 An alternative name for the clan called Kenites (Num. 24:22, kjv: ‘the Kenite’). 2 A city of Judah (Josh. 15:57, kjv: ‘Cain’), whose location may be modern Khirbet Yaqin, about seven miles southeast of Hebron, traditionally viewed as a Kenite city. Arab tradition associates it with Abraham’s seeing Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed (Gen. 19:24-28).
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (522). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
6:
Kain (Heb. qayin) (PLACE)
A settlement included in the list of towns in the tribal allotment of Judah (Josh. 15:57). It has most often been identified with en-Nebi Yaqin (164100), a small site ca. 10 km. (6 mi.) SE of Hebron. Unfortunately, the site has not been systematically examined by archaeologists. However, the similarity in name and the site’s location in close proximity to other well-known settlements with which Kain is grouped in the Josh. 15 list (e.g., Maon, Carmel, Ziph, and Juttah) provide strong circumstantial support for this identification.
The LXX omits Kain in Josh. 15:57, suggesting to some that Kain might be a gloss added to the MT in order to modify Zanoah (“Zanoah of Kain,” or “Zanoah of the Kenites”) in order to distinguish it from a different Zanoah listed in v. 34.
Wade R. Kotter
Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (760). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
