Cain and Abel in the Bible
Bible Review’s Supporting Roles by Elie Wiesel
Read Elie Wiesel’s essay on Cain and Abel in the Bible as it originally appeared in Bible Review, February 1998. First republished in BHD June 1, 2015.
Mankind’s first murderer, a weary Cain contemplates the death of his brother, Abel, who lies face down (at right) in this 1944 painting by the German-born artist Georg Grosz. Chaotic skeletons struggle at Cain’s feet in Grosz’s painting, titled Cain, or Hitler in Hell. As Elie Wiesel points out in the accompanying essay, the first death in biblical history is a difficult one, raising questions not only about Cain’s responsibility for the death of his brother, but about Abel’s own culpability and God’s role in the killing. The final lesson, according to Wiesel: Killing a man is killing a brother.
Born in Berlin, Georg Grosz (1893–1959) emigrated to the United States in 1933, just a few days before Adolf Hitler took office as German chancellor. Grosz’s paintings present a biting satire of German society, criticizing militarism, blind obedience to political leaders, and moral corruption. Photo: © Estate of Georg Grosz/Licensed by Vaga, New York, NY.
Cain and Abel: The first two brothers of the first family in history. The only brothers in the world. The saddest, the most tragic. Why do they hold such an important place in our collective memory, which the Bible represents for so many of us? Mean, ugly, immoral, oppressive—their story disturbs and frightens. It haunted mankind then and still does, working its way into our nightmares.
At first we become attached to Cain. He shares with his younger brother, Abel, the generous idea of offering gifts to the Lord. But for this, Abel might never have felt the need to do the same. For reasons the text does not bother to explain, however, God accepts the gift from Abel after refusing the gift from Cain.
An unjust Creator of the World? Already? How can we understand this favoritism? What did Abel do so great, beautiful or praiseworthy as to merit the divine sympathy denied to his brother? Cain, innocent victim of unprecedented heavenly discrimination—how can we not wonder about his fate?
As always, the midrasha comes to the rescue in our attempt to fill the gaps left by the biblical text. There we learn that God would have preferred Abel’s gifts—they were of choicer quality.
Until then brothers united, surely devoted one to the other, the two would never be close again. A fight erupted. And Cain killed Abel.
FREE ebook: Exploring Genesis: The Bible’s Ancient Traditions in Context Mesopotamian creation myths, Joseph’s relationship with Egyptian temple practices and 3 tales of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham.
For the first time in history, death occurs. And the first death in history, it is worth underlining, was a murder. Of course we are angry at Cain. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to understand his resentment, even his rage. But he should have restrained himself. One does not kill an innocent person, and certainly not one’s brother. If Cain wished to reproach someone, he should have addressed God, and not his younger brother. Abel succeeded in winning God’s favor? Cain, the older brother, should have been pleased for Abel! Was Cain unable to control his anger? Well, that is understandable. But to throw himself on his more fortunate brother and kill him! Too much!
In the midrashic literature, the antagonism between the two brothers is not limited to the story about their offerings to the Lord. In the midrash, they inherited their dispute from their parents: Cain took the land for himself, and Abel received everything else. Another midrashic suggestion: Cherchez la femme—so let us look for the woman. According to this explanation, the two brothers were both in love with their mother; in another version, with their sister. A third theory: Each wanted to have the Temple of Jerusalem built in his domain. In short, the first fight in human history was also the first religious war.
These three hypotheses suggest an interesting viewpoint—that Cain is not the sole guilty party. God’s role in this quarrel is no longer the main issue. We can now consider each of the participants as an accomplice.
As a matter of fact, at a still higher level, the Talmud does not hesitate to insinuate precisely this. It asks, “Since there is no death without sin, why did Abel merit death?” There is a marvelous answer. It relies on the text, which says, “Cain spoke to his brother Abel. And when they were in the field, Cain set upon his brother and killed him.” But the text makes no mention of what Cain told Abel before killing him, nor what Abel answered. Is it possible that Abel did not pay attention to what his brother said? That Abel’s mind was elsewhere? Was that his sin? His brother, rebuffed, rejected, needed to tell someone of his grief—and he, Abel, was not even listening! This insensitivity is what makes him guilty.
Read “What Happened to Cain in the Bible?” and “Who Was the Wife of Cain?” in Bible History Daily.
Some of our sources go very far in pleading Cain’s case. When God accused him of murder, he could have made a convincing argument: “How was I to know that by hitting Abel he would die, since no one had lost his life before him?” Or, “Since You did not want me to kill my brother, why didn’t You stop me from going all the way? If a thief penetrates into a forbidden garden, is it not the guard’s fault?”
Cain nevertheless remains the archetypal murderer. His flash of anger is not enough to make it a crime of passion worthy of extenuating circumstances. If he was justified in holding a grudge, it should have been against God; he was wrong to lay the blame on his brother. Had he cried out to the heavens to express his pain, even to vent his rage, all would have been forgiven. Powerless against God, Cain took vengeance on the only being near him. That was his fault. And his crime.
Is this the lesson, profoundly human and humanistic, we should draw from this somber story? Perhaps. But there is a second lesson: Two men may be brothers and still become the victim or the killer of the other. And a third: He who kills, kills his brother.
Translated by Alissa Martin.
FREE ebook: Exploring Genesis: The Bible’s Ancient Traditions in Context Mesopotamian creation myths, Joseph’s relationship with Egyptian temple practices and 3 tales of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham.
Elie Wiesel
The author of more than 30 novels, plays and profiles of Biblical figures, Elie Wiesel received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. This online publication is adapted from Wiesel’s article “Supporting Roles: Cain & Abel,” which was published in Bible Review in February 1998. The article was first republished in Bible History Daily on June 1, 2015. At the inception of Wiesel’s Supporting Roles series in Bible Review, BAS editors wrote:
We are pleased—and honored—to present our readers with the first of a series of insightful essays by Elie Wiesel, the world-renowned author and human rights advocate. Wiesel is best known for his numerous books on the Holocaust and for his profiles of Biblical figures and Hasidic masters. In 1986, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His occasional series for BR will focus on characters in the Bible that do not occupy center stage—those who play supporting roles.
Read an interview BAR Editor Hershel Shanks conducted with Elie Wiesel and Biblical scholar Frank Moore Cross, republished from BAR, July/August 2004 >>
Notes:
a. Midrash (plural, midrashim) is a genre of rabbinic literature that includes nonliteral elaborations of biblical texts, often for homiletic purposes.
More “Supporting Roles” by Elie Wiesel in Bible History Daily:
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If Cain and Abel actually existed, which of course they did not.
Abel was probably a self-righteous twit and deserved to get his head bashed in.
I think the story is more complex than the way we see it. Sin had entered into the world and God already pronounced death as its consequent. One wonders why the first recorded death is not that of Adam or his accomplice wife, Eve. But, who can understand the ways of God?
I think a lot could have happened between the two brothers preceding the death of Abel. But all that matters is that God judges as per one’s works. No wonder God warned Cain that he be on guard for sin wanted to get hold of him.
Having read the entire Holy Bible, to It’s end (Revelation 22:21) it is easy to understand this incident .First, God is the Sovereign King of the Universe. He makes choices. He chose Abel, instead of Cain, He chose Abram, out of all those living in Ur, He chose Issac over Ishmael, He chose Jacob rather than Esau. Moses, Samuel, Isaiah, Daniel, and Rav Shaul, (the Apostle Paul) on the Damascus Road (Acts 9) were all His Choices.
Why did Abel merit death? Because after Adam sinned, all his offspring, including us to this day, are born sinners. We are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are (born) sinners.(Ps.58:3) The quoted Midrashim are only guesses. The real reason, however lies in the sacrifices. Abel offered a blood sacrifice. (Lev.17:11) This was the first “type” of the future Sacrificial Atoning Death of Y’shua ha Moshiach. (Jesus the Messiah) Cain hated Abel (hate is the root of all murder) because he wanted the works of his hands to mert Salvation. God, however, would only accept a blood sacrifice, not works and later, not Law keeping. Only the Blood of Y’shua can Save one from sin. Soon He will return to earth as Messiah ben D’vid, vanquishing His (God’s) enemies and ushering in the Messianic Age.
Before the commandments were given to Moses an example was set. Cain broke the commandments of Moses. All of them. Start there.
Bobby,
That was beautiful and spot on. Thank you. We need to be reminded often that nothing we can do will save us. That is the heresy of Pelegianism. The only thing that can save us is the blood of Jesus shed for us. Jesus is God the Son, and the only begotten Son of God.
We sometimes begin to think that we are good. But that is our pride speaking; the same pride that caused Lucifer to fall; the same pride that caused Adam and Eve to believe the serpent that they could become LIKE God by their own efforts; the same pride that caused Cain to think that his produce should be a good enough sacrifice, contrary to what God had asked for.
Only God is good, so any goodness that we embrace or incorporate into our being is from Him and from nowhere else, so we have no right to congratulate ourselves on our goodness or righteousness, because they are not ours, but His. Any goodness we have is a gift from God. And a gift can be taken away as readily as it is given. Thinking that we are “good” is the beginning of pride. And pride never ends well.
Witness Cain.
God love you,
Paul
The laws in the last books of Numbers may cover the “murder” of Abel, where one goes to a city of refuge. Cain was sent to the land of Nod. Was this a place of refuge?
STORY OF CAIN AND ABEL Prime rib vs Broccoli ?
Let us be real people. Who wants to choose a veggie when a prime rib is offered? God with a sense of humor naturally wanted a steak ! Abel was favored. Abel like most of us wanted to please God with the best, fat portion of first born, (can we call it prime rib?) unlike measly tasteless veggie, (can we call it Broccoli?) Cain brought from his garden. Both had the same intention, wanting to please God with an offering.
It is hard to understand the literal meaning of this story. I looked at a different perspective to make the story a powerful one with the message on grace, love and forgiveness. We may visualize this whole thing like in a drama.
In Part one we witnessed the scene of paradise in the garden. It was about a man and a woman coming to know good and bad in the world. Basically they become self-conscious or self-aware of as soon as they ate the fruit. Bible in Genesis 3 .7 says …” Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked”. Having known both good and evil Adam and Eve were banished from the garden forever. Bible describes this as man showing disobedience by eating the forbidden fruit. Supposedly they ate because of their free will. Even though Adam and Eve disobeyed God we observe the full expression of freewill or the freedom which is fundamental to unconditional love.
Now the curtain reopens. It is Part Two.
Like their parents Cain and Abel were knowledgeable of good and evil. They became aware of the disobedience of their parents and the consequences that brought. Now they wanted to somehow please God and be in good terms with God unlike their parents. They came to offer God some food. We can observe the concept of sacrifice (Bible does not clearly say that here) in offering and pleasing God, often to mend our wrong doings. I guess this is a very human idea that somehow we can patch up the things with God. We think we can make God happy and we be blessed on the kind of offerings. (Later in Isaiah we read God hates sacrifice)
Acts of sacrifice, offering of an animal or some vegetarian versions are universal ideas. We find this practice in almost all world religions for thousands of years. I am not sure how and where we got this idea. Part of becoming self-aware is to face the fear of uncertainty. The concept of offering to God some food in order to please Him, has somehow pervaded in our lives for thousands of years. This kind of sacrifice is not mentioned in the first three chapters of Genesis.
Now, Cain happened to work with the soil, offered some fruits of the soil. Initially he feels an offering is an offering, not so much about how expensive it is. He must have thought well. Abel on the otherhand, working with a flock of sheep wanted to please God with the best high priced gift, fat portion of the first born of his flock! A prime rib I suppose. He really wanted to impress God. He must have thought God was going to promise him the paradise. I suppose greater the gift greater was the reward.
In the drama we see God looking with favor on Abel! This has to be a joke. God has to have a sense of humor. I guess God was playing here. Does God really show favoritism? If you ever had a choice of eating a piece of veggie vs. prime rib, what would you have preferred? Prime rib of course! I said seriously it was a joke because we soon see Abel getting killed. How can a favored person get killed?
Now good thinking Cain changed his mind and he could not bear God favoring his brother. Soon, like any other human being he got angry. God was not finished with Cain. He knew Cain was angry, he still asked him “why are you angry?” Just to test him. Naturally, Cain became even angrier no different from many of us.
Now God said “if you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” Cain did the right thing, but could not accept when he noticed that he was not favored. God went on to say “if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it will even possess you. (Remember the quote “Devour the Lion otherwise Lion will devour you!) Here God clearly explains what Sin is. This is not about morality. Sin is when we know fully the “right things” but we do not act according to what is right. In other words sin is when we have the knowledge of righteousness that we can do something to make a difference in human injustice but we do not act on it. We prefer to be stay in the sideline or in the darkness no one can notices us. As we read later we find the religious people at the time of Jesus were very knowledgeable about the scriptures but their life was all about following some laws without any consideration of love or humanity. Jesus called the religious people hypocrites or double minded and even vipers.
Cain initially appeared to know that offering to God was not a matter of what he brought; probably he knew God would eat whatever vegetable given with love. But as the drama unfolds we see Cain lost his righteousness when he becomes angry at his brother as he was favored by God. His simple offering of an ordinary vegetable became no match; he did not become content with his little offering. He knew he could not produce a better offering like an animal product what Abel had offered, his anger grew and the only course for him was to kill Abel. This is envy, which is defined as a resentful emotion which “occurs when a person lacks another’s (perceived) superior quality, achievement or possession and wishes that the other lacked it.”
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Andy Stanley puts it how good a sacrifice is good enough? Does the best prime rib in the world cut it? I think God might have enjoyed the meat but Abel’s hard act of pleasing God killed him. Basically Abel was trying to show off and in that very process he was killed. It is very much true in this modern world, we acquire so much material stuff mostly to impress others, to get approved and applauded by others and it is not surprising we get hurt or even killed in such processes.
God did not take revenge and kill Cain. Cain did not get punished. Not only that, he put a mark on Cain’s headed so that no one who found him would kill him. He also said that if someone killed Cain that person would suffer seven times! Wow… no eye for eye retribution! What do we call this irrational action of God?
In this little drama we see God NOT wanting a “conditional” sacrifice to please him because it negates Grace. Sacrifice I see is a human (out of the garden) concept. As we read in Isaiah God does not want sacrifice. Also in this drama we see the extent of God’s irrational love and forgiveness to Cain.
Thank you for reading. Comments are welcome.
Reference: Bible Old Testament
Is the Bible a Book of Human Wisdom?
The Bible’s answer:
The Bible, also known as the Holy Scriptures, does contain many wise sayings. However, note the claim that the Bible makes for itself: “All Scripture is inspired of God.” (2 Timothy 3:16) There is much evidence to back up that claim. Consider the following:
No one has ever successfully challenged the historical accuracy of the Bible.
The Bible writers were honest men who wrote with openness of heart. Their candor gives their writing the clear ring of truth.
The Bible has one central theme: the vindication of God’s right to rule mankind and the fulfillment of his purpose by means of his heavenly Kingdom.
Although written thousands of years ago, the Bible is free of mistaken scientific ideas that had gained wide acceptance in ancient times.
Documented historical evidence proves that Bible prophecies, or predictions, have come true.
He, Although He Died, Yet Speaks”Chapter one.
ABEL looked at his flock of sheep grazing peacefully on the hillside. Then, perhaps he looked far beyond his sheep to a spot in the distance where he could just make out a faint glow. He knew that right there a flaming blade was turning, ever turning, blocking the way into the garden of Eden. His parents once lived there, but neither they nor their children could enter now. Imagine the late afternoon breeze ruffling Abel’s hair as he turned his gaze upward and thought about his Creator. Would the breach between man and God ever be healed? Abel wanted nothing more than that.Imitate their faith.
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/lv/r1/lp-e/0/21046
The concept of what to sacrifice comes from the laws of men, not from the laws of the Almighty. The claim that a sacrifice of a life is what the Almighty requires comes from the laws of men, the commentary, that were created to accompany the commandments. Genesis, remember, was not one of the “Books of Moses” but came later. Rationalizations for the decisions of the Almighty are all well and good but they are only that, we can make up as many stories as we wish but we fall into that other category of the 7 deadly sins, we commit hubris.