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The Forgotten Books of Eden · 77 of 293

First Adam and Eve: Chapter LXXIV

The birth of Cain and Luluwa. Why they received those names.

1.AND they dwelt on the earth working, in order to continue in the well-being of their bodies; and were so until the nine months of Eve’s childbearing were ended, and the time drew near when she must be delivered.

2.Then she said unto Adam, “This cave is a pure spot by reason of the signs wrought in it since we left the garden; and we shall again pray in it. It is not meet, then, that I should bring forth in it; let us rather repair to that of the sheltering rock, which Satan hurled at us, when he wished to kill us with it; but that was held up and spread as an awning over us by the command of God; and formed a cave.”

3.Then Adam removed Eve to that cave; and when the time came that she should bring forth, she travailed much. So was Adam sorry, and his heart suffered for her sake; for she was nigh unto death; that the word of God to her should be fulfilled: “In suffering shalt thou bear a child, and in sorrow shalt thou bring forth thy child.”

4.But when Adam saw the strait in which Eve was, he arose and prayed to God, and said, “O Lord, look upon me with the eye of Thy mercy, and bring her out of her distress.”

5.And God looked at His maid-servant Eve, and delivered her, and she brought forth her first-born son, and with him a daughter.

6.Then Adam rejoiced at Eve’s deliverance, and also over the children she had borne him. And Adam ministered unto Eve in the cave, until the end of eight days; when they named the son Cain, and the daughter Luluwa.

7.The meaning of Cain is “hater,” because he hated his sister in their mother’s womb; ere they came out of it. Therefore did Adam name him Cain.

8.But Luluwa means “beautiful,” because she was more beautiful than her mother.

9.Then Adam and Eve waited until Cain and his sister were forty days old, when Adam said unto Eve, “We will make an offering and offer it up in behalf of the children.”

10.And Eve said, “We will make one offering for the firstborn son; and afterwards we shall make one for the daughter.”

Asked of Guide

Why is Cain named “hater” when he hated his sister before birth?

The chapter says Adam named his son Cain because he “hated his sister in their mother’s womb; ere they came out of it,” so the name marks an in‑womb antipathy observed by Adam. The narrative treats names as declarations of character and destiny: Cain’s name records an early moral fact about him rather than explaining its origin.

Eve’s daughter is named Luluwa for her beauty, “more beautiful than her mother,” and Adam’s naming links appearance and relation just as Cain’s links disposition. This pattern of naming as moral or descriptive statement echoes Genesis, where names often state circumstance or character, and it resembles themes in Genesis’s birth‑narratives about names carrying fate.

Guide is the guide inside the Gnosis app, where every book on these shelves is free to read. Guide is the part you pay for — your guide has read all of them, and answers about the passage you’re actually on. Ask your guide your own question.