Vampire Origins - Where did Vampires come from?

Cain

The theory of Cain is a possibility and this is why. Cain is claimed to be the first born son of Adam and Eve. Cain killed his brother Able in a jealous rage and was thus banished and given a mark.

Genesis 4:10-15

    10. What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood
        crith unto me from the ground.
    11. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened
        her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;
    12. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield
        unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou
        be in the earth.
    15. And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain,
        vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold. And the LORD set
        a mark on Cain, lest any finding him shall kill him.

According to vampire legend, Cain wondered until he found Lilith (Adams supposed first wife) by the Red Sea. Lilith showed him the power of blood which may be considered to be the tree of life. It is said that this is why the Jewish drain all blood from their meat before cooking and eating it. From this union between Cain and Lilith came forth a host of demons and vampires in myths across the globe. Cain is said to have had legitimate children with an unnamed woman. Some of his children are regarded for inventing the harp and metal working. However, Cain’s children are almost erased from further mention in the Bible past Genesis 4:26. Cain is referred to only twice more after in the New Testament as the prototype of wicked man. Cain is then what seems to be stricken from the good book. Lilith appears only in Jewish apocrypha texts, not mentioned in the Bible or the Torah. Cain and Lilith’s spawn may be read in the epic poem Beowulf.

Beowulf

    Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend,
    Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild
    Marshes, and made his home in a hell
    Not hell but earth. He was spawned in that slime,
    Conceived by a pair of those monsters born
    Of Cain, murderous creatures banished
    By God, punished forever for the crime
    Of Abel's death. The Almighty drove

    Those demons out, and their exile was bitter,
    Shut away from men; they split
    Into a thousand forms of evil-- spirits
    And fiends, goblins, monsters, giants,
    A brood forever opposing the Lord's
    Will, and again and again defeated.
    (Ll. 101-114)...Cain had killed his only
    Brother, slain his father's son
    With an angry sword, God drove him off,

    Outlawed him to the dry and barren desert,
    And branded him with a murder's mark. And he bore
    A race of fiends accursed like their father...
    (Ll. 1261-1266)

Cain is said to be a sinner but in the Bible Cain is said to build the city of Enoch and his descendents become great inventors. For some reason the Author of Beowulf speaks horribly about Cain while the Bible speaks of him as a great sinner and then just doesn’t speak of him anymore. It is also said that Grendel’s ancestors were driven out of Eden and Cain and Lilith were the only two driven out by God. “The Almighty drove those demons out.” The only other mention of sin in Eden is when Lilith is mentioned. Lilith said the holy name of God and was thence forth banished from Eden forever. In Jewish mythology she is said to be the mother of demons. This is one theory to the origin of vampires.

Judas Iscariot

Some theories claim that the original vampire might be Judas Iscariot who is the betrayer of Jesus Christ. Because Judas betrayed Jesus to the Romans, he and his family were cursed for this evil deed. The Bible states that Judas committed suicide because of his guilt. Vampire folklore claims that those who commit suicide are doomed to come back as vampires. Judas is told to have had red hair and this was the identifying trait of his descendents. The Greeks are told to have thought that all who had red hair were vampires. It is also said that vampires may detest silver for this reason also. Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Judas tried to return the silver but couldn’t so he threw it away in disgust.

Matthew 27:3-5

    3. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was
       condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty
       pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,
    4. Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
       blood. And they said, What is that to us? See thou to that.
    5. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and
       departed, and went and hanged himself.

Vampire Origins

(24) Comments for Vampire Origins

Posted by Christa

This was very helpful and descriptive. Thank you, whoever wrote it.
Posted by RAVE

Wow…that’s neat!!!
Posted by Christa

So who did write this?
Posted by Admin

Users helped with some info and the rest was gathered from various web pages. Thank you for your compliments and anything that can be added is welcomed.
Posted by Myesha

I think that this is a very stupid thing to even think it is so not true people shouldn’t take things from the bible and try to use it for this!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Admin

To each his/her own. Because it is listed here does not mean it is true/untrue, just documented. Thank you for your perspective Myesha.
Posted by Josh

I am pretty sure that the author wasn’t referring Lilith and Cain when he said ” Those monster born from Cain” referred to the sins born of Cain, since he was the first to commit murder. If evil is born from our hearts it makes sense that a devil or a fallen angel (which were else expelled from paradise and heaven) would have molded out of Cains hate these monsters, thus the monsters would be born thanks to Cain, which would also explain the part that says “The Almighty drove those demons out and their exile was bitter, SHUT AWAY; they split into a thousand forms of evil…A brood forever opposing God’s will” by which it would mean three things: 1) The exile was bitter, and they were shut away from mankind which is to say divided from men, which could mean that it was originally because of humans that they exist. 2) They had no a fixed form (like emotions and feelings) and became a thousand different shapes and sizes (like shades of vengence and different evil feelings. Thus it makes sense that the variety of these monsters are the same as the variety of combinations of this feelings), and 3) It makes sense that this demonic monsters come from evil emotions because these emotions oppose God’s will. Same as the monsters. Curious isn’t it?
Posted by Savannah

if cain was a person how did he become a vampire . and how did more vampires come about?
Posted by Savannah

thank you very much I’d to learn more about other vampires i hope you write more about these creatures
Posted by Isebella Cullins

WE hide in vain as the secerts of our past describes OUR future.. OUR biggest regret is the remorse that WE can not feel.. WE live in the darkness as u live in the light of day.. WE are not created or invented for the shall pleasusres of mankind. WE are EVERYWHERE….
Posted by Victoria

interesting. but do you think vampires originated mainly from the bible? There were people thought to be vampires a long time ago that actually existed. Like Elizabeth Bathory. She has been nicknamed “bloody countess” and/or “countess Dracula” for her obsession with blood. She was a hungarian noblewoman, and she took pleasure in murdering her serving maids, drinking, bathing and showering in their blood, believing that it made her skin younger and healthier. Other unknown serial killers were thought to be vampires sometimes, when no one knew what was happening. Even wolves were associated with vampires: it was sometimes believed that vampires had to live a life as a wolf (or werewolf) once they were killed. Stories of these people were altered, and turned into vampires as they are written of in modern literature. That had nothing to do with the bible. How can you be sure that vampires originated from there, if all these people were the first vampires noted in history? Or do you really think every one of those stories was based on the bible?
Posted by Admin

Hey Victoria, these are just some theories that we have listed. We are always willing to expand the list but we are a little stretched on work right now. If anyone would like to contribute to some more theories, please send through the contact form along with some sources to back the proposed theory.

Thank you
Posted by Christine

This is very helpful whoever wrote this. Thank You.
Posted by Jackie

It is Christine. But like the Admin said it was gathered by users and found elsewhere. *Sorry not trying to be the Admin.
Posted by Rohis

vampires fuck…you go to hell vampires and suck my black ass
Posted by Jackie

Rohis,

We’re sorry you feel that way. Vampires are what they are. They are nothing more nor nothing less.
Posted by Aislynn

Now I know why they say red heads have no soul… Very helpful. Thanks.
Posted by Geo

thanks verry helpful anything no werewolves
Posted by Cre

Interesting. Touchy contents. Not many “historical” facts or dates.
Posted by An Asshole

Too bad Edward Cullen isn’t a vampire… which is probably the only reason anybody is interested in this article.
Posted by Legin

These comments are really interesting…pity the myopia had to filter in through some folks..but admin, what you can also do is explore other myths from around the world on vampirisim..In fact every culture around the world has its “vampire” lore.. long berfore the existence of bram stoker and vlad the impaler ancient cultures had its wolfmen n night crawlers who drank blood…long before the U.S became the U.S. these legends existed. Remember in the movie Conan there was this woman that turned to a fireball n flew away after arnold threw her in the fire place..? well for the last 400 years in the caribean there existed the legend of a being called a “soccuyant” a female who by the beauty and seductive powers either lured men to dark lonely areas and drank their blood, or came in houses in the night and drank the blood of babes n kids n adults who would notice the welts next morning..she travelled in the form of a ball of fire. I cant remember the rest about how to destroy her but come on..a million cultures from around the world some existing from the dawn of time cant all be wrong..can they?
Posted by Angela Calato

i loveee vampiresss!! i smell like one too!!! all old and shittyyyy!!!
Posted by Kelly

sweet who di write this it was helpful for my research paper…
Posted by Crarizma

Beautiful. And I’m sure that people who love this kind of stuff is loving it. The aurthor of this should be happy to have an article such as this. Truly amazing.

Notes

Hell Horror takes no responsibility for any views expressed about these spirits/gods and casts no judgement about any one's specific religion/beliefs. This page is meant strictly as reference material.