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57-533: The story of Cain 's murder of Abel and its consequences is told in Genesis 4:1–18: Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the Lord." Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of

114-500: A blindfolded man. The following family tree of the line of Cain is compiled from a variety of biblical and extra-biblical texts. Various early commentators have said that Cain and Abel have sisters, usually twin sisters. According to Rabbi Joshua ben Karha as quoted in Genesis Rabbah , "Only two entered the bed, and seven left it: Cain and his twin sister, Abel and his two twin sisters." The Book of Genesis does not give

171-417: A city-builder, and the forefather of tent-dwelling pastoralists, all lyre and pipe players, and bronze and iron smiths. In an alternate translation of Genesis 4:17, endorsed by a minority of modern commentators, Cain's son Enoch builds a city and names it after his son, Irad . Such a city could correspond with Eridu , one of the most ancient cities known. Philo observes that it makes no sense for Cain,

228-400: A concept that has been accepted for at least 1,800 years. This can be seen with Jubilees 4 which narrates that Cain settled down and married his sister Awan , who bore their first son, the first Enoch , approximately 196 years after the creation of Adam . Cain then establishes the first city, naming it after his son, builds a house, and lives there until it collapses on him, killing him on

285-479: A dream in which Cain drank his brother's blood. In an attempt to prevent the prophecy from happening the two young men are separated and given different jobs. The author Daniel Quinn , first in his book Ishmael and later in The Story of B , proposes that the story of Cain and Abel is an account of early Semitic herdsmen observing the beginnings of what he calls totalitarian agriculture, with Cain representing

342-577: A man from the Lord." In this viewpoint, articulated by Nachmanides in the thirteenth century, Cain's name presages his role of mastery, power, and sin. In one of the Legends of the Jews , Cain is the fruit of a union between Eve and Satan , who is also the angel Samael and the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and Eve exclaims at Cain's birth, "I have gotten a man through an angel of the Lord." According to

399-403: A man kills his neighbour with the same shall he be killed; after the manner that he wounded him, in like manner shall they deal with him. A Talmudic tradition says that after Cain had murdered his brother, God made a horn grow on his head. Later, Cain was killed at the hands of his great-grandson, Lamech , who mistook him for a wild beast. A Christian version of this tradition from the time of

456-482: A non-pious light, Abraham instead recognizes how good and devout he has been throughout his entire life, and uses that to his advantage. He is so good at avoiding God's decree that the only way he finally has his soul taken away is when Death tricks him. Another humorous character is the Archangel Michael. God's "Commander-in-Chief" is an angel who would seem to be able to make decisions on his own and handle

513-416: A person whose sins outweigh their good deeds will be sentenced to eternal punishment, while one whose good deeds outweigh their sins will move on to paradise. While this text does have its theological significance, it can also be simply viewed as a story meant to entertain. Throughout the entire text, the ever pious Abraham attempts to dodge and avoid God's will; rather than this portrayal painting Abraham in

570-574: A religious text, the Testament of Abraham gives a unique message. Beyond the presence of angels and God and Death, the lesson demonstrated is simply being a good person, performing good acts, and avoiding bad ones. In the scenes of judgment, there is no distinction made between whether people are Jewish or Gentile, only whether they have performed good deeds or bad. The reader is then left with an idea of universally fair treatment, not influenced by lineage or any other traits, when it comes to judgment, where

627-435: A sacrifice. Whoever God blessed would marry Aclima. When God openly rejected Cain's sacrifice, Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy and anger. Rabbinical exegetes have discussed whether Cain's incestuous relationship with his sister was in violation of halakha . A millennia-old explanation for Cain being capable of murder is that he may have been the offspring of a fallen angel or Satan himself, rather than being

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684-433: A specific reason for the murder of Abel. Modern commentators typically assume that the motives were jealousy and anger due to God rejecting Cain's offering, while accepting Abel's. The First Epistle of John says the following: Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous." Ancient exegetes , such as

741-497: Is based on the old Mormon belief that Cain is a black man who wanders the earth begging people to kill him and take his curse upon themselves (M, 24, SLC, 1963)." Freud's theory of fratricide is explained by the Oedipus or Electra complex through Carl Jung 's supplementation. There were other, minor traditions concerning Cain and Abel, of both older and newer date. The apocryphal Life of Adam and Eve tells of Eve having

798-511: Is considered to be the quintessential Son of Perdition , the father of secret combinations (i.e. secret societies and organized crime ), as well as the first to hold the title Master Mahan meaning master of [the] great secret, that [he] may murder and get gain . In Mormon folklore a second-hand account relates that an early Mormon leader, David W. Patten , encountered a very tall, hairy, dark-skinned man in Tennessee who said that he

855-437: Is for you, but you must master it." Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?" And the Lord said, "What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from

912-663: Is interpreted as bringing mercy; but that of Abel as demanding vengeance (hence the curse and mark). Abel is invoked in the litany for the dying in the Roman Catholic Church , and his sacrifice is mentioned in the Canon of the Mass along with those of Abraham and Melchizedek . The Alexandrian Rite commemorates him with a feast day on December 28. According to the Coptic Book of Adam and Eve (at 2:1–15), and

969-708: Is often treated as one of a trio of very similar works, the other two of which are the Testament of Isaac and Testament of Jacob , though there is no reason to assume that they were originally a single work. All three works are based on the Blessing of Jacob , found in the Bible, in their style. The Testament of Abraham was likely written originally in Koine Greek , by someone living in Roman Egypt . Its vocabulary

1026-698: Is one of multiple figures known as Yawar ( Classical Mandaic : ࡉࡀࡅࡀࡓ , lit.   'Helper'), being so named by and after his father. According to Shi'a Muslim belief, Abel ( "Habeel" ) is buried in the Nabi Habeel Mosque , located on the west mountains of Damascus , near the Zabadani Valley, overlooking the villages of the Barada river (Wadi Barada), in Syria . Shi'a are frequent visitors of this mosque for ziyarat . The mosque

1083-538: Is similar to that used in the later books of the Septuagint and in 3 Maccabees , which were written in Egypt. The Greek text of the Testament of Abraham is preserved in two quite different recensions: There is no consensus among scholars as to which recension is nearer the original, or whether we shall suppose one or more original texts. The early scholars, as James, but also recently Ludlow, working mainly on

1140-494: Is spoken of as a son of Hayyi or of Manda d-Hayyi , and as a brother to Anush (Enosh) and to Sheetil (Seth) , who is the son of Adam . Elsewhere, Anush is spoken of as the son of Sheetil, and Sheetil as the son of Hibil, where Hibil came to Adam and Eve as a young boy when they were still virgins, but was called their son. Hibil is an important lightworld being ( uthra ) who conquered the World of Darkness . As Yawar Hibil , he

1197-526: Is the offspring of Yaldaboath and Eve , who is placed over the elements of water and earth as Elohim , but was only given his name as a form of deception. According to Mandaean beliefs and scriptures including the Qulasta , the Book of John and Genzā Rabbā , Abel is cognate with the angelic soteriological figure Hibil Ziwa , ( Classical Mandaic : ࡄࡉࡁࡉࡋ ࡆࡉࡅࡀ , sometimes translated "Splendid Hibel"), who

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1254-647: The Apocryphon of John has Eve seduced by Yaldabaoth . However, in the Hypostasis of the Archons , Eve is raped by a pair of Archons . Pseudo-Philo , a Jewish work of the first century CE, relates that Cain murdered his brother at the age of 15. After escaping to the Land of Nod , Cain had four sons: Enoch , Olad, Lizpha, and Fosal, as well as two daughters, Citha and Maac. The latter five are not mentioned in

1311-516: The Life of Adam and Eve ( c.  1st century CE ), Cain fetched his mother a reed ( qaneh ) which is how he received his name Qayin (Cain). The symbolism of him fetching a reed may be a nod to his occupation as a farmer, as well as a commentary to his destructive nature. He is also described as "lustrous", which may reflect the Gnostic association of Cain with the sun . Cain is described as

1368-699: The Crusades holds that the slaying of Cain by Lamech took place on a mound called "Cain Mons" (i.e., Mount Cain), which is a corruption of "Caymont", a Crusader fort in Tel Yokneam in modern-day Israel . The story of Cain and Abel is also referred to in chapter 19 of 1 Meqabyan , a book considered canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . In this text, Cain killed Abel because he desired Abel's wife. According to

1425-593: The Great Deluge as retribution for the loss of Abel's potential offspring. The Pearl of Great Price , a Mormon book of scripture, has been interpreted to depict the descendants of Cain as dark-skinned, and church president Brigham Young stated, "What is the mark? You will see it on the countenance of every African you ever did see...." In another biblical account, Ham discovered his father Noah drunk and naked in his tent. Because of this, Noah cursed Ham's son, Canaan to be "servants of servants". Although

1482-700: The Mandaean scriptures, including the Qulasta , the Mandaean Book of John , the and Ginza Rabba , Abel is cognate with the angelic soteriological figure Hibil Ziwa who taught John the Baptist. In the book Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles Godfrey Leland , Cain is a lunar figure . According to Rashi , who cites a midrash by Rabanus Maurus , Cain died from an arrow shot by

1539-559: The Midrash and the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan , tell that the motive involved a desire for the most beautiful woman. According to Midrashic tradition, Cain and Abel each had twin sisters; each was to marry the other's. The Midrash states that Abel's promised wife, Aclima , was more beautiful than Awan , Cain's promised wife. And so, after Cain would not consent to this arrangement, Adam suggested seeking God's blessing by means of

1596-635: The Syriac Cave of Treasures , Abel's body, after many days of mourning, was placed in the Cave of Treasures , before which Adam and Eve, and descendants, offered their prayers. In addition, the Sethite line of the Generations of Adam swear by Abel's blood to segregate themselves from the unrighteous . In the Book of Enoch (22:7), regarded by most Christian and Jewish traditions as extra-biblical,

1653-515: The serpent ( nahash , Hebrew : נחש ) in the Garden of Eden , the devil himself. Christian exegesis of the "evil one" in 1 John 3:10–12 has also led some commentators, such as Tertullian , to agree that Cain was the son of the devil or a fallen angel . Thus, according to some interpreters, Cain was half-human and half-angel, one of the Nephilim (see Genesis 6 ). Gnostic exposition in

1710-411: The Bible. Cain died at the age of 730, leaving his corrupt descendants to spread evil on Earth. According to the Book of Jubilees , Cain murdered his brother with a stone. Afterward, Cain was killed by the same instrument he used against his brother: his house fell in upon him, and its stones killed him. A heavenly law was cited after the narrative of Cain's death saying: With the instrument with which

1767-565: The God-fearing and that he wouldn't try to harm Cain. In the end, Cain kills Abel. God sends a crow searching in the ground to show Cain how to hide the disgrace of his brother. In his shame, Cain began to curse himself and became full of guilt. One popular theory regarding the name of Cain connects it to the verb "kana" ( קנה ‎ qnh ), meaning "to get" and used by Eve in Genesis 4:1 when she says after bearing Cain, "I have gotten

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1824-567: The apocalyptic, he drew largely on his imagination". James holds that the book is referred to by Origen , Horn.in Luc. xxxv. With the exception of x.xi. the work is really a legend and not an apocalypse. To the above conclusions Schürer , takes objection, and denies the reference in Origen, asserting that there are no grounds for the assumption of a partial Jewish origin. Kohler on the other hand has given adequate grounds for regarding this apocryph as in

1881-514: The content of the Greek short recension. The Greek Text was first edited, with an English translation and introduction, by M. R. James in 1892. The Greek text was also early edited by Vassiliev in 1893. As regards its origin James writes: "The Testament was originally put together in the second century by a Jewish Christian , who for the narrative portions employed existing Jewish legends, and for

1938-451: The earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me." Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch. According to

1995-498: The first 'modern' agriculturists and Abel the pastoralists . Testament of Abraham The Testament of Abraham is a pseudepigraphic text of the Old Testament . Probably composed in the 1st or 2nd century AD , it is of Jewish origin and is usually considered to be part of the apocalyptic literature . It is regarded as scripture by Beta Israel Ethiopian Jews, but not by any other Jewish or Christian groups. It

2052-409: The firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire

2109-437: The forbidden fruit—they do not physically die immediately, but over time, their bodies age and die—the Lord warns Cain that his inappropriate anger is waiting to consume him: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must rule over it. According to Genesis 4:1–16 , Cain treacherously murdered his brother, Abel, lied about

2166-399: The ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on

2223-583: The main an independent work of Jewish origin subsequently enlarged by a few Christian additions, and it is Kohler's stance that most scholars follow today. The Testament of Abraham was likely written originally in Greek, by someone living in Egypt at the time. This is due to the fact that the vocabulary found in the text is quite similar to the vocabulary used in the later books of the Septuagint , which were being written at that time, in addition to other books, such as 3 Maccabees , that we know were written around that time in Egypt. In addition, there are aspects of

2280-527: The murder of Abel (Jordstad 708). The reaction from the ground raises the question, "Does the intimate connection between humans and the ground mean that the ground mirrors or aids human action, regardless of the nature of that action?" In Jewish tradition , Philo , Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer , and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan asserted that Adam was not the father of Cain. Instead, Eve was subject to adultery, having been seduced by Sammael ,

2337-515: The murder to God, and as a result, was cursed and marked for life. With the earth left cursed to drink Abel's blood, Cain could no longer farm the land. He becomes a "fugitive and wanderer" and receives a mark from God - commonly referred to as the mark of Cain - so that no one can enact vengeance on him. Exegesis of the Septuagint 's narrative, "groaning and shaking upon the earth" has Cain suffering from body tremors. Interpretations extend Cain's curse to his descendants, where they all died in

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2394-681: The name is independent of the root. Eberhard Schrader had previously put forward the Akkadian (Old Assyrian dialect) ablu ("son") as a more likely etymology. In Christianity , comparisons are sometimes made between the death of Abel and that of Jesus , the former thus seen as being the first martyr. In Matthew 23:35 Jesus speaks of Abel as "righteous", and the Epistle to the Hebrews states that "The blood of sprinkling ... [speaks] better things than that of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of Jesus

2451-524: The narrative in Genesis , Abel ( Hebrew : הֶבֶל Hébel , in pausa הָבֶל ‎ Hā́ḇel ; Biblical Greek : Ἅβελ Hábel ; Arabic : هابيل , Hābēl ) is Eve's second son. His name in Hebrew is composed of the same three consonants as a root meaning "the air that remains after you exhale" also synonymous in Hebrew to "nothing", as stated in Ecclesiastes . Julius Wellhausen has proposed that

2508-524: The narrative viewpoint, support the priority of the long recension. This view has been challenged for example by Turner, who studied the text from a linguistic point of view, and mainly by Schmidt, who worked deeply on manuscript E of the short recension, which was not available to the early editors. The text is preserved also in Slavonic , Romanian , Ethiopic ( Falasha ), Coptic Bohairic and Arabic . These versions, apart one Romanian recension, follow

2565-402: The same place and time as the long recension, as there is no concrete evidence, any Jewish cultural center could therefore be a possibility for its origin. This testament deals with Abraham 's reluctance to die and the means by which his death was brought about. Overall, the long recension is about twice as long as the short recension, though both relate the same overall plot. When viewed as

2622-451: The same year of Adam's death. In this alternative reading of the text, the ground could be personified as a character. This reading is evidenced by given human qualities, like a mouth, in the scripture. The ground is also the only subject of an active verb in the verse that states, "It opens its mouth to take the blood." This suggests that the ground reacted to the situation. By that logic, the ground could then potentially be an accomplice to

2679-601: The scriptures do not mention Ham's skin color, some doctrines associated the curse with black people and used it to justify slavery . Cain's name in Islamic tradition is Qabil ( Arabic : قابيل ). His story is mentioned in the Quran , though without a name, where he and his brother Abel offer sacrifices; Abel's sacrifice was accepted while Cain's was not. Cain gets angry and threatens to murder his brother, but Abel tries to console him, saying that God only accepts sacrifices from

2736-413: The soil are renewable and bloodless, while fat portions are set apart for the Lord and taken from the firstborn, pointing to an act of faith, since it is not guaranteed there will be more. The Midrash suggests that although Abel brought the best meat from his flock, Cain did not set aside the best of his harvest for God. Similar to the internalized spiritual death, God warns Adam and Eve off from eating

2793-585: The son of Adam. A medieval legend has Cain arriving at the Moon , where he eternally settled with a bundle of twigs. This was originated by the popular fantasy of interpreting the shadows on the Moon as a face . An example of this belief can be found in Dante Alighieri 's Inferno (XX, 126 ) where the expression "Cain and the twigs" is used as a kenning for "moon". In Latter-day Saint theology , Cain

2850-400: The soul of Abel is described as having been appointed as the chief of martyrs, crying for vengeance, for the destruction of the seed of Cain. A similar view is later shown in the Testament of Abraham (A:13 / B:11), where Abel has been raised to the position as the judge of the souls. In Bereshit Rabbah (22:2), a discussion of Gen. 4:1 ff. has Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korcha mentioning that Cain

2907-424: The story is why God rejected Cain's sacrifice. The text states, "In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor." Noteworthy is the difference in the type of sacrifice: fruits of

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2964-409: The story that seem to reflect aspects of Egyptian life, such as the three judgments which mirror the three levels of Egyptian government. Unfortunately these reasons for the place of origin being Egypt are only supported by the long recension of the Testament of Abraham. The short recension therefore has no definite place or date of origin. While it would be logical to assume that it had its origins in

3021-494: The third human on Earth, to have founded an actual city. Instead, he argues, the city symbolizes an unrighteous philosophy. In the New Testament , Cain is cited as an example of unrighteousness in 1 John 3:12 and Jude 1:11 . The Targumim , rabbinic sources, and later speculations supplemented background details for the daughters of Adam and Eve . Such exegesis of Genesis 4 introduced Cain's wife as being his sister,

3078-554: Was Cain. The account states that Cain had earnestly sought death but was denied it, and that his mission was to destroy the souls of men. The recollection of Patten's story is quoted in Spencer W. Kimball 's The Miracle of Forgiveness , a popular book within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . This widespread Mormon belief is further emphasized by an account from Salt Lake City in 1963 which stated that "One superstition

3135-600: Was born with a twin sister, and Abel with two twin sisters. This is based on the principle that the otherwise superfluous accusative article "et" always conveys some additional teaching ( Pesachim 22b). The "et"'s are parsed slightly differently in Yebamot 62a where the two "et"'s in Gen. 4:2 indicate Cain and his sister, and Abel and his (one) sister. In the Apocryphon of John , a work belonging to Sethian Gnosticism , Abel

3192-556: Was built by Ottoman Wali Ahmad Pasha in 1599. Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions . He is the elder brother of Abel , and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve , the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God . However, God was not pleased and favored Abel's offering over Cain's. Out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother, for which he

3249-411: Was punished by God with the curse and mark of Cain . He had several children, starting with Enoch and including Lamech . The narrative is notably unclear on God's reason for rejecting Cain's sacrifice. Some traditional interpretations consider Cain to be the originator of evil, violence, or greed. According to Genesis, Cain was the first human born and the first murderer. A question arising early in

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