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{{short description|Place mentioned in the Bible, the abode of Cain}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Thomas Stackhouse, The place of Paradise, the habitation of Adam and Seth, and the Land of Nod (FL50795203 2369068).jpg|thumb|Map by [[Thomas Stackhouse]] showing postulated locations for Adamic locations, including the Land of Nod (south central part of map, identified with [[Susiana]]).]]
[[File:Cormon, Fernand - Cain flying before Jehovah's Curse.jpg|right|thumb|300px| ''Cain fleeing before Jehovah's Curse'', by [[Fernand Cormon|Fernand-Anne Piestre Cormon]], c. 1880]]
The '''Land of Nod''' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|אֶרֶץ־נוֹד}}&nbsp;– ''ʾereṣ-Nōḏ'') is a place mentioned in the [[Book of Genesis]] of the [[Hebrew Bible]], located "on the east of [[Garden of Eden|Eden]]" (''qiḏmaṯ-ʿḖḏen''), where [[Cain]] was exiled by God after Cain had murdered his brother [[Abel]]. According to Genesis 4:16:
{{quote|And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.<ref>Genesis 4:16, [[King James Version of the Bible|King James Version]]</ref><br />
{{Script/Hebrew|וַיֵּ֥צֵא קַ֖יִן מִלִּפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וַיֵּ֥שֶׁב בְּאֶֽרֶץ־נֹ֖וד קִדְמַת־עֵֽדֶן׃}}}}
Genesis 4:17 relates that after arriving in the Land of Nod, Cain's wife had a son with him, [[Enoch (son of Cain)|Enoch]], in whose name he built the first city.
== Name ==
"Nod" ({{Script/Hebrew|נוד}}) is the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] root of the verb "to wander" ({{Script/Hebrew|לנדוד}}). Therefore, to dwell in the land of Nod can mean to live a wandering life.<ref>{{cite book|last=Asimov|first=Isaac|title=Asimov's guide to the Bible : the Old and New Testaments|year=1981|publisher=Wings Books|location=New York|isbn=0-517-34582-X|edition=Reprint [der Ausg.] in 2 vol. 1968–1969.|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/asimovsguidetobi00asim}}</ref> [[Wilhelm Gesenius|Gesenius]] defines ({{Script/Hebrew|נוּד}}) as follows:
<blockquote>TO BE MOVED, TO BE AGITATED (Arab. {{lang|ar|ناد}} Med. Waw id.), used of a reed shaken by the wind, 1Ki.14:15; hence ''to wander, to be a fugitive'', Jer. 4:1; Gen. 4:12, 14; Ps.56:9; ''to flee'', Ps. 11:1; Jer. 49:30. Figuratively, Isa. 17:11, {{Script/Hebrew|נֵד קָצִיר}} "the harvest has fled" ["but see {{Script/Hebrew|נֵד}} ," which some take in this place as the subst (substitute).].<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/GeseniusHebrewChaldeeLexiconOldTestamentScriptures.tregelles.1857.24 Gesenius's Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures]'', translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles; London: Samuel Bagster & Sons, 1846; p. DXXXVIII.</ref></blockquote>
Much as Cain's name is connected to the verb meaning "to get" in Genesis 4:1, the name "Nod" closely resembles the word "nad" ({{Script/Hebrew|נָד}}), usually translated as "vagabond", in Genesis 4:12. (In the [[Septuagint]]'s rendering of the [http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/physis/septuagint-genesis/4.asp same verse] God curses Cain to τρέμων (''tremōn''), "trembling".)<ref>Byron 2011, p. 101. "Some authors carried the groaning and shaking interpretation over to Gen 4:16 when they commented on Cain's dwelling place. In the Hebrew version we read that Cain lived in the land of Nod. The name Nod is related to the participle {{Script/Hebrew|נָ֖ד}} in 4:12 which the LXX translated as τρέμων (trembling). This led some interpreters to understand the Land of Nod as the 'land of shaking.' <blockquote>Now Cain dwelt in the land of trembling, in keeping with what God had appointed for him after he killed Abel his brother. (Pseudo-Philo, L.A.B. 2:1) <br> The land of Nod is so called because it was the land in which Cain wandered about in fear and trembling. (Ephrem, ''Commentary on Genesis'' 3:11) <br> Cain left God's presence and went to live in the land of Nod, opposite Eden, Nod means disturbance. (Clement of Alexandria, ''Strom''. 2.51.4–5)</blockquote></ref>
A Greek version of Nod written as {{lang|grc|Ναίν}} (''Nain'') appearing in the ''[[Onomastica Vaticana]]'' possibly derives from the plural {{Script/Hebrew|נחים}} (''naḥim''), which relates to resting and sleeping. This derivation, coincidentally or not, connects with the English pun on "nod".<ref name=Jacobson>Howard Jacobson, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/23964882 The Land of Nod]", ''Journal of Theological Studies'', New Series, 41(1), April 1990. "Since the early part of the eighteenth century (according to the ''OED'') the phrase 'Land of Nod' has been used to mean 'sleep'. Scholars seem in agreement that this is a play on the Biblical place-name grounded in the use of the verb 'nod' in the sense 'sleep' (first in the early seventeenth century, according to the ''OED''). But we have now seen that 'Land of Nod' as 'Land of the sleepers' goes back centuries and more, and to Graeco-Hebrew etymologies. What are we to think? is this nothing more than utterly remarkable coincidence? Or has our Onomastic etymology influenced the English usage? I leave the question to students of the history of the English language."</ref>
== Interpretation ==
[[Josephus]] wrote in ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' (c. AD 93) that Cain continued his wickedness in Nod: resorting to violence and robbery; establishing [[Units of measurement|weights and measures]]; transforming human culture from innocence into craftiness and deceit; establishing [[land tenure|property lines]]; and building a fortified [[city]].<ref>Titus Flavius Josephus, ''The Antiquities of the Jews'', [[s:The Antiquities of the Jews/Book I|Book I]] (on Wikisource), Chapter II; quoted in Delaney (1996), p. 56.</ref><ref>Byron (2011), pp. 125–126. "Consequently, Cain's activity as a builder serves two purposes in Josephus. First, it demonstrates that Cain has not learned the lessons of his previous crime and his greed has developed to the point that he now marks off property that he has obtained so that it might not be stolen back from him. Second, the founding of a fortified city not only adds to the protection of his property it also concentrates his power by causing his family to live in one place. In the end, Josephus's Cain is still a greedy grasper who, rather than repenting from his original crimes, has actually managed to perfect them. Thus, the building of a city becomes a lasting monument to Cain's ongoing evil activity."</ref>
Nod is said to be outside of the presence or face of God. [[Origen]] defined Nod as the land of trembling and wrote that it symbolized the condition of all who forsake God.<ref>Origen, Jeremiah Homily; quoted in Delaney (1996), pp. 116–117. "Let us interject something of a mystery, which is said concerning the sinner Cain, who 'having gone out from the face of God, lived in the land of Nod opposite Eden.' 'Nod' in the Greek language means trembling. Whoever indeed forsakes God, who abandons understanding, whose thinking is continually 'in the land of Nod' dwells there today also, that is, that person remains in wicked unsettlement of heart and in commotion of mind."</ref> Early commentators treated it as the opposite of Eden (worse still than the land of exile for the rest of humanity). In the English tradition Nod was sometimes described as a desert inhabited only by ferocious beasts or monsters. Others interpreted Nod as dark or even underground—away from the face of God.<ref name=Emerson>Oliver F. Emerson, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/456764 Legends of Cain, Especially in Old and Middle English]", ''Publications of the Modern Language Association of America'' 21(4), 1906; po. 865, 871.</ref>
[[Augustine]] described unconverted Jews as dwellers in the land of Nod, which he defined as commotion and "carnal disquietude".<ref>Augustine, ''Contra Faustum'' [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/140612.htm XII]:13; quoted in Delaney (1996), p. 169.</ref>
==Places named "Land of Nod"==
===U.K.===
[[File:Gateway to "Land of Nod" on Grayshott Road - geograph.org.uk - 1705069.jpg|thumb|right|Gate to Land of Nod Road in Headley Down, Hampshire, UK]]
Land of Nod is the name of a [[hamlet (place)|hamlet]] in the [[East Riding of Yorkshire]], England. It is located at the far end of a two-mile-long (3.2 km) road, which joins the [[A614 road]] at [[Holme-on-Spalding-Moor]] ({{Coord|53.8185|-0.7215|dim:20_region:GB-ERY_type:landmark|display=inline|name=Land of Nod, Holme-on-Spalding-Moor}}).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Crowther|first1=Bruce|title=Yesterday's Yorkshire|date=1991|publisher=David & Charles |isbn= 9780715394717| page= 118| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c7nyAAAAMAAJ&q=%22land+of+nod%22|access-date=8 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>
It is the name of a private road in [[Headley Down]], [[Hampshire]], UK ({{Coord|51.1211|-0.7998|dim:20_region:GB-HAM_type:landmark |display= inline|name=Land of Nod, Headley Down}}).<ref>{{cite news|title=What's on around Petersfield and East Hampshire today, May 7, 2017|url=http://www.petersfieldpost.co.uk/article.cfm?id=111990&headline=What%27s%20on%20around%20Petersfield%20and%20East%20Hampshire%20today%2C%20May%207%2C%202017&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2017|access-date=8 July 2017|work=[[Petersfield Post]]|date=7 May 2017|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301164008/https://www.petersfieldpost.co.uk/article.cfm?id=111990&headline=What%27s%20on%20around%20Petersfield%20and%20East%20Hampshire%20today%2C%20May%207%2C%202017&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===U.S.===
The name "Land of Nod" was accorded locally to the northerly 3,000 acres (1,214.1 hectares) of the Great Plot lying north of [[Woburn, Massachusetts|Woburn]], [[Massachusetts]], at its foundation in 1640–42, "the name being probably suggested by a comparison of its forlorn condition — so far remote from church ordinances — with the Nod to which Cain wandered when he went 'from the presence of the Lord'." Its Native American name was ''Nena Saawaattawattocks''.<ref>{{cite book |last= Frothingham |first= Richard |author-link= Richard Frothingham Jr.| title= The History of Charlestown, Massachusetts |url= https://archive.org/details/historyofcharles45frot|access-date=30 October 2018| year= 1845 |publisher= C.C. Little and J. Brown |location= Boston| pages= [https://archive.org/details/historyofcharles45frot/page/111 111]–112}}</ref>
Land of Nod Road is the name of a residential road in [[Windham, Maine|Windham]], [[Maine]], US ({{Coord|43.7506|-70.3787|dim:2km_region:US-ME_type:landmark| display= inline| name=Land of Nod, Windham, Maine}}).
==In popular culture==
The Land of Nod can refer to the mythical land of sleep, a pun on ''Land of Nod'' (Gen. 4:16). To "go off to the land of Nod" plays with the phrase to "nod off", meaning to go to sleep.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/land+of+Nod |title=Land of Nod {{pipe}} Define Land of Nod at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=2012-05-07}}</ref><ref name=Jacobson />
The first recorded use of the phrase to mean "sleep" comes from [[Jonathan Swift]] in his ''Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation'' (1737)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://everything2.com/title/The+Land+of+Nod |title=The Land of Nod |publisher=Everything2.com |date=2001-03-04 |access-date=2012-05-07}}</ref> and ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]''.
A later instance of this usage appears in the poem "The Land of Nod" by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] from the ''[[A Child's Garden of Verses]]'' (1885) collection.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stevenson|first1=Robert Louis|title=A Child's Garden of Verses|date=1885|publisher=Longmans, Green|page=[https://archive.org/details/achildsgardenve04stevgoog/page/n37 21]|url=https://archive.org/details/achildsgardenve04stevgoog|access-date=8 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>
In the ''[[Arc of a Scythe]]'' series by [[Neal Shusterman]], the Land of Nod is mythologized as containing a mythical fail-safe against the Scythedom and becomes critically important to the plot of the third book.<ref>Shusterman, Neal. Scythe. Simon &amp; Schuster, 2017. </ref>
In [[Fevre Dream]] by [[George R. R. Martin]], the Land of Nod is suggested as a place where [[vampires]] originated.
In the [[Command & Conquer]] series, one of the two warring factions is named the Brotherhood of Nod, who are led by and devoted to a mysterious and charismatic figure named [[Kane (Command & Conquer)|Kane]].<ref name="NodInfluence">{{cite video game | developer=[[Westwood Studios]] | title=[[Command & Conquer: Red Alert]] | publisher=[[Electronic Arts]] | year=1996 | quote='''Nadia:''' This temporary chaos in Europe will only help to fuel the Brotherhood's cause. For centuries we have waited to emerge from the shadows and now we will make ourselves known. And Cain went out from the presence of The LORD. And took up residence... in the Land of Nod.}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Duidain]], a wilderness to the east of the Garden of Eden in the [[Book of Enoch]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
=== Sources ===
* Byron, John. Cain and Abel in text and tradition : Jewish and Christian interpretations of the first sibling rivalry. Leiden: Brill, 2011. {{ISBN|978-90-04-19252-2}}
* Delaney, David Kevin. ''The Sevenfold Vengeance of Cain: Genesis 4 in Early Jewish and Christian Interpretation''. PhD dissertation accepted at University of Virginia, May 1996.
==External links==
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%204:16;&version=9; Genesis 4:16 at BibleGateway.com]
* Matthew Kempf, ''[https://archive.org/details/b2244743x The wandering Cainidae, or, The ancient nomads : a lecture delivered to the Medical Society of Dubois County, and to the citizens of Huntingburgh, Indiana, April 22, 1879 ]''
{{Cain and Abel}}
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[[Category:Book of Genesis]]
[[Category:Torah places]]
[[Category:Cain and Abel]]