276-277.

f. Whether Lamech slew Cain, and thereby made himself famous
278.

g. How he attempted to be ruler upon Adam's death 279.

* How the Church is oppressed from both sides 279.

* Why Moses mentions the blood descendants of Cain with such
care 280.

h. Cain is not sorry for his deed, but even boasts of it 281.

* The nature of the Cain church 281.

i. How he seeks to avoid being slain by others 282.

* The pope has the conscience of Cain and Lamech 282.

j. He is a type of all the children of this world 283.

* How the devil drives the Cainites to rage against the Church
under the guise of being holy 284.

* The true Church from the very beginning had to shed her blood
285.

* The tyranny of Popes Julius II and Clement VII 285.

* God at all times severely punished the persecutors of his
Church 286.

k. How Lamech still wished to defend his deed 287.

l. He had no Word of God, but was filled with pride 288.

B. THE POSTERITY OF CAIN IN DETAIL.

255. As regards the names of Cain's offspring, I believe that, in
common with those of the holy patriarchs, they indicate not an absence
of purpose or a random selection, but a definite purpose and a
prophecy. Thus "Adam" signifies a man of, or taken out of, the red
earth. "Eve" signifies the mother of life, or of the living. "Cain"
signifies possession. "Abel" signifies vanity. And we find that also
among the Gentiles many names have such a significance; not seldom
names are found which are truly prophetic. "Enoch" is a prophetic
name, expressive of hope in the future as a relief to Cain's mind, or
rather to his wife's, for it was the latter who called the son she
bore Enoch, from the Hebrew _Hanach_, which signifies, "she
dedicated," or "she devoted."

256. This is a word frequently used by Moses. As when he says, "What
man is there that hath built a new house, and hath not dedicated it?
let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and
another man dedicate it," Deut 20, 5. The verb in this passage, which
signifies originally to dedicate, here signifies to possess, or to
enjoy; and when this possession or enjoyment begins, it is attended
with happy signs and auspicious invocations. So when the wife of Cain
brought forth her first son, she said to her husband, Enoch; that is,
"Dedicate him