Cain

The Hebrew and Greek that is transliterated as “Cain” in English is transliterated as Kaḭ in Ngambay. In a translatory coincidence Kaḭ is very similar to the Ngambay word kain or “to flee” which is what Cain does according to Genesis 4:14. (Source: Andy Warren-Rothlin)

In the Protestant tradition of Mandarin Chinese it is transliterated as Gāiyǐn (该隐) which can be understood as “should hide” or “should be hidden.” (Source: Zetzsche)

In Spanish Sign Language it is translated with a sign that signifies “bad.” (Source: Steve Parkhurst)


“Cain” in Spanish Sign Language, source: Sociedad Bíblica de España

See also Abel.

complete verse (1 John 3:12)

Following are a number of back-translations of 1 John 3:12:

  • Uma: “Don’t imitate the behavior of Kain long ago. That Kain, he was-a-child of the evil-one(s), with the result that he killed his younger-sibling. Why was it that he killed his younger-sibling? Because his behavior was evil [emphatic], yet the behavior of his younger-sibling was upright.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “Let us (incl.) not be like Kabil. Kabil deceased (ley) belonged to Satan/demon and his brother was killed by him. Why was he killed by him? He was killed by him because the doings of his brother were good but his doings were bad/evil.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “We must not be like Cain, for he was the subject of Satan, and he murdered his younger brother. The reason he murdered him is because his activities were evil, and the activities of his younger brother were righteous, by contrast.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “It should not be Cain’s behavior that you imitate, because as for Cain, he was a person of Satanas and he killed his younger-sibling Abel. What was the reason that he killed him? Because what he was doing was evil but by-contrast what his younger-sibling was doing was good.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “Let’s not be like that as-it-were child of Satanas who is Cain , he who killed his brother. Well, why did he kill him? Because his own doing was evil, but his brother’s doing was righteous in the sight of God. That’s why Cain hated/was-angry-with that brother of his.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “We must not do like Cain who walked with the devil, therefore he killed his brother. Why was it that he killed him? He was killed because Cain did evil and therefore he was jealous of his brother who did good.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “We should not do like Cain did. He was a child of the deceiver (the devil) who is very evil, and he killed his brother. Why was it he killed him? He killed him because his brother walked straight whereas he walked with evil.”
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “And we will not do as Cain did who took the nature of the devil, and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his deeds were bad, and his brother did what was good.”
  • Tzotzil: “Therefore do not do like Cain did. Because Cain was in the hand of the devil therefore he killed his younger brother. Because it was straight what his younger brother did.” (Implied that Cain’s were not straight.) (Source for this and two above: John Beekman in Notes on Translation 12, November 1964, p. 1ff.)

righteous, righteousness

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The Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms that are translated in English mostly as “righteous” as an adjective or personified noun or “righteousness” (also as “justice”) are most commonly expressed with concept of “straightness,” though this may be expressed in a number of ways. (Click or tap here to see the details)

Following is a list of (back-) translations of various languages:

  • Bambara, Southern Bobo Madaré, Chokwe (ululi), Amganad Ifugao, Chol, Eastern Maninkakan, Toraja-Sa’dan, Pamona, Batak Toba, Bilua, Tiv: “be straight”
  • Laka: “follow the straight way” or “to straight-straight” (a reduplicated form for emphasis)
  • Highland Puebla Nahuatl, Kekchí, Muna: “have a straight heart”
  • Kipsigis: “do the truth”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “do according to the truth”
  • Huautla Mazatec: “have truth”
  • Yine: “fulfill what one should do”
  • Indonesian: “be true”
  • Navajo: “do just so”
  • Anuak: “do as it should be”
  • Mossi: “have a white stomach” (see also happiness / joy)
  • Paasaal: “white heart” (source: Fabian N. Dapila in The Bible Translator 2024, p. 415ff.)
  • Nuer: “way of right” (“there is a complex concept of “right” vs. ‘left’ in Nuer where ‘right’ indicates that which is masculine, strong, good, and moral, and ‘left’ denotes what is feminine, weak, and sinful (a strictly masculine viewpoint!) The ‘way of right’ is therefore righteousness, but of course women may also attain this way, for the opposition is more classificatory than descriptive.”) (This and all above from Bratcher / Nida except for Bilua: Carl Gross; Tiv: Rob Koops; Muna: René van den Berg)
  • Central Subanen: “wise-good” (source: Robert Brichoux in OPTAT 1988/2, p. 80ff. )
  • Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac: “live well”
  • Mezquital Otomi: “goodness before the face of God” (source for this and one above: Viola Waterhouse in Notes on Translation August 1966, p. 86ff.)
  • Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: “the result of heart-straightening” (source: Nida 1947, p. 224)
  • Eastern Highland Otomi: “entirely good” (when referred to God), “do good” or “not be a debtor as God sees one” (when referred to people)
  • Carib: “level”
  • Tzotzil: “straight-hearted”
  • Ojitlán Chinantec: “right and straight”
  • Yatzachi Zapotec: “walk straight” (source for this and four previous: John Beekman in Notes on Translation November 1964, p. 1-22)
  • Aari: The Pauline word for “righteous” is generally rendered by “makes one without sin” in the Aari, sometimes “before God” is added for clarity. (Source: Loren Bliese)
  • North Alaskan Inupiatun: “having sin taken away” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 144)
  • Nyamwezi: wa lole: “just” or “someone who follows the law of God” (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Venda: “nothing wrong, OK” (Source: J.A. van Roy in The Bible Translator 1972, p. 418ff. )
  • Ekari: maakodo bokouto or “enormous truth” (the same word that is also used for “truth“; bokouto — “enormous” — is being used as an attribute for abstract nouns to denote that they are of God [see also here]; source: Marion Doble in The Bible Translator 1963, p. 37ff. ).
  • Guhu-Samane: pobi or “right” (also: “right (side),” “(legal) right,” “straightness,” “correction,” “south,” “possession,” “pertinence,” “kingdom,” “fame,” “information,” or “speech” — “According to [Guhu-Samane] thinking there is a common core of meaning among all these glosses. Even from an English point of view the first five can be seen to be closely related, simply because of their similarity in English. However, from that point the nuances of meaning are not so apparent. They relate in some such a fashion as this: As one faces the morning sun, south lies to the right hand (as north lies to the left); then at one’s right hand are his possessions and whatever pertains to him; thus, a rich man’s many possessions and scope of power and influence is his kingdom; so, the rich and other important people encounter fame; and all of this spreads as information and forms most of the framework of the people’s speech.”) (Source: Ernest Richert in Notes on Translation 1964, p. 11ff.)

See also respectable, righteous, righteous (person), and She is more in the right(eous) than I.

Translation commentary on 1 John 3:12

And not be like Cain does not have a verb in the Greek. The phrase expresses a negative obligation, contrasting to the preceding positive one. In English and several other languages, this is best brought out by rendering the phrase as a new sentence, adding a verb form; for example, “we must not be like Cain” (Good News Translation), ‘we should not do the same as Cain did,’ ‘do not do like Cain did.’ Such a verb should parallel the one used in verse 11b. This reference to Cain is the only explicit reference to an Old Testament person in John’s Letters.

Who was (literally “he was”) of the evil one and murdered his brother: the Greek does not have the relative pronoun. This use of a separate sentence is to express better the unexpected horror of the case. This is brought out, for example, by ‘that devil’s-child which murdered his own brother’ (Bijbel in Gewone Taal).

For “to be of the evil one,” see comments on “to be of the devil” in 1 John 3.8. For the evil one see comments on 2.13.

The Greek verb rendered murdered here is a rather strong one. It was used of butchering or slaughtering a sacrificial animal, then of killing a human being by knife or sword, or more generically, of any form of murdering a man. Its use here is to express violent passion. In languages where terms for killing must specify the instrument, one should not use a term associated with knife or sword, but one referring to killing by hand, stone, or club.

His brother: the reference of the pronoun his is ambiguous, on the surface at least. The translation should make clear that the reference is to Cain, the subject of the sentence, not to the evil one. One version excluded this ambiguity, for example, by adding the proper name, ‘Abel, his-younger-brother.’

In contrast to its other occurrences the noun is used here in the sense of “bodily brother,” but verse 15 shows that the application is wider, namely, to man’s relationship with his brother in the metaphorical sense of the word. In some languages it has to be made explicit that the brother was younger than Cain, or that they had the same parents.

Why did he murder him, or ‘what was the reason that he murdered him,’ ‘what caused/led him to do so.’

His own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous, or ‘all he did was evil and all his brother did was righteous,’ which is agrees with the fact that the persons concerned were “of the evil one” and “of God,” respectively. Thus Cain is the typical example of the children of the devil, who act according to the will of the devil, just as Abel is the typical example of the children of God, who act according to the will of God (compare Matt 23.35; Heb 11.4). And is preferably “but,” since it marks the contrast between the two parts of the clause.

For righteous see comments on “just” in 1.9. The word is used here with reference to deeds, not to persons, as is the case in the other occurrences in this Letter. This may make necessary some adjustments in the renderings commonly used.

Quoted with permission from Haas, C., de Jonge, M. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on The First Letter of John. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .