Cain and Abel

Genesis 4

Cain brought fruit of the soil as an offering to God, Abel brought the fattest of his firstborn flock. Why did God not like the fruit?

In the Jewish tradition (as in the Christian tradition), Cain is a bad character and Abel a virtuous one. One particular Jewish Madrash uses the narrative of Cain and Abel as a paradigm for human conflict. A midrash is a story told by Jewish rabbinic sages to explain passages in the Tanakh. Essentially, a midrash helps to fill the gaps in all the things that were left unsaid.

As far as stories of morality go, this one is a bit ambiguous. Obviously, we get the point that murder is wrong. But why was Cain’s offering denied? There are a whole range of theories: Cain was stingy whereas Abel gave his juiciest meats; a cultural conflict exists in which shepherds are more highly prized than farmers; the idea has even been postulated that God prefers younger siblings.

The perplexity of this story, and how it reads, lends itself to the idea that these tales were not designed to be written down, but were handed down as an oral tradition from one generation to the next. It is loaded with common biblical themes: rivalry, sacrifice, sin, atonement, and the almighty power of god. While the story is an interesting one, I remain to see how it can be both allegorical and the Word of God at the same time.

Genesis 4:17

“Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.”

Well, after Cain’s exile, he certainly was busy. But, where, exactly, did his wife come from? Up to this point, the only humans populating Earth were Adam, Eve, Cain, and the recently departed Abel. Who is Cain’s wife, and where did she come from? It’s a glaring omission, although the most frequent theory is that she is Cain’s younger and previously unmentioned sister. This being before the law of incest was established, you see. And it is Cain, the reprobate we’re talking about here.

Genesis 4:19

“Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.”

Lamech appears to be the great-great-great grandsom of Cain, and is the first identified polygamist mentioned in the Bible. And he just so happens to be a descendent of Cain, rather than the more noble Seth, born of Eve and Abel’s replacement, introduced at the end of this chapter.

We end this chapter with the presence of Enoch, descended of Cain, and Enosh, son of Seth. So far, god is fickle, quick to anger (just like Cain!), and vague in what he expects from humans.