[First posted in 2012; best read with its sequel Revisit: Genesis/Bereshith 4: ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’
Translations: AST/ArtScroll Tanach; EF/Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses—Admin1]
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What did Cain, the firstborn of Adam and Eve, learn from his parents?
If nothing else, it should have been OBEY! But obey what?
Genesis 4:1-5
[AST] Now the man had known his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have acquired a man with HASHEM.” And additionally she bore his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, and Cain became a tiller of the ground. After a period of time, Cain brought an offering to HASHEM of the fruit of the ground; and as for Abel, she also brought of the firstlings of his flock and from their choicest. HASHEM turned to Abel and to his offering, but to Cain and to his offering He did not turn. This annoyed Cain exceedingly, and his countenance fell.
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From the text we read nothing about God giving any commandment to the second generation, the brothers Kayin and Hevel/Cain and Abel. We just read that “after a period of time” they brought “offerings” to God. What was the purpose of such offerings? The text does not indicate the ‘why’, only the ‘what’. We presume the brothers knew about the God of their parents, enough to know that they should offer the fruits of their labors; otherwise why would they be bringing “offerings”?
Each brother brought an offering to God from what appears to be their chosen occupation. Kayin/Cain was a tiller of the soil, naturally a farmer offered from his crops; Hevel/Abel was a shepherd, naturally he offered from his flock. There is no hint, much less divine stipulation regarding a “blood sacrifice” at this point. Note that the word used is “offering” and not “sacrifice.” It suggests gift-giving, out of gratitude; nothing to do with repentance or guilt. The brothers had not done anything wrong; had not violated a command, for there wasn’t any given according to the text; had not committed a sin to make atonement for.
What made God favor Hevel/Abel’s offering over Kayin/Cain’s is suggested in “the best” of Abel’s flock, “the firstlings,” “the choicest” while Kayin/Cain’s was simply “the fruit of the ground,” not the first harvest nor the best harvest. So the difference appears to be the extra effort and care of Hevel/Abel to give the best he could offer, as opposed to Kayib/Cain’s plain and simple crops. We suppose Kayin/Cain could have given the freshest, biggest, best looking yield but the text does not say so. We have pointed out in a previous article the difference between a farmer’s back-breaking toil and a shepherd’s comparatively lighter tasks.
Much later in the Torah, in Leviticus, we would learn about YHWH’s specific instructions relating to the offerings at the Tabernacle in the wilderness but we shouldn’t apply that to this episode. For now, we have to work only with what the text in Genesis 4 says, no more, no less because the point in understanding and interpreting the text is this: what would Cain and Abel have known at this time? We can only base it on what they DO or fail to do. We cannot read minds but we can observe acts and reactions.
Our verse ends with Cain’s countenance appearing downcast, enough for YHWH to teach him this “inconvenient” truth:
[AST] 7 Surely, if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door. Its desire is toward you, yet you can conquer it.”
[EF] 7 Is it not thus: If you intend good, bear-it-aloft, but if you do not intend good, at the entrance is sin, a crouching-demon, toward you his lust— but you can rule over him.[AST] improve yourself = forgiven / do not improve yourself = sin rests at the door / desires you; YET YOU CAN CONQUER IT.
[EF] intend good= bear it aloft / do not intend good = at the entrance is sin/ a crouching demon, toward you his lust = BUT YOU CAN RULE OVER HIM.
Consider the words used:
- improve yourself –– do well
- forgiven – lifted up
- Sin – not do well
- Conquer – – master it
As the words vary, so do the meaning, as will be our understanding of what God was communicating to Cain. At this point, Cain had not “sinned” or disobeyed a command; he had simply ‘missed the bullseye’ or the target, or the standard—so that’s ‘fixable’. He was simply either ignorant, unaware, perhaps mindless, even lazy, or under pressure, considering that even the best crops are more perishable than a prize animal; perhaps Cain just didn’t realize the importance of bringing a good offering. This is all speculation for now because the rendering of the same verses differ, even if each translator used words with similar meaning, just like choosing a specific word from a Thesaurus.
God looked favorably at which brother gave the better offering [not the “right” offering]; not at all preferring animal life over plant life; God simply found pleasure in the quality of offering which reflected the attitude of the offerer.
- Were both brothers sincere? Probably.
- Did it show in the choice of their offering? Perhaps not.
- How do we know? Well, God reacted differently at each one.
- Was it a teaching moment for God? Definitely.
- Was it a learning moment for Cain? Absolutely! For Abel as well, who must have felt pretty good!
- We keep forgetting about Abel when we read this narrative, so reflective of the way we tend to overlook the good and concentrate on the bad, miss the positive and focus on the negative.
Choosing from the words of the three translations, we might arrive at this: “If you DO WELL, your countenance will be LIFTED UP; but if you do NOT DO WELL, there is this thing called “sin” and it’s just waiting for you to let it in but guess what, you’re not ‘hostaged’ to it, in fact you can CHOOSE to master it with every right choice you make!” Is it possible to deduce the doctrine of original sin from this, at all? Make your own conclusion.
So what do we do about our language limitation which greatly affects our understanding? This is why it is best to check out different translations and arrive at a clear idea of the meaning of the verse, particularly when it is God speaking because we want to make sure we understand what He says so we can properly react.
What, in God’s Words, was inconvenient for Cain? Something is inconvenient only when it causes us trouble, conflict, difficulty. Improve yourself, do right, do well — result in being forgiven, becoming exalted, having one’s countenance lifted. What’s wrong with that? Positive action equals positive results. Why should something good be an inconvenience?
The opposite is also spelled out: negative thoughts lead to negative action with negative consequences—do not improve, not do right, not do well result in sin, habitual sin, and this “sin” crouches at the door . . . what door or whose door? Obviously this is just a figure of speech to indicate that something is about to enter but has not yet entered, and depending on whether we open the door or shut it, it will enter or not, can enter or not.
We know how this story ends: Cain did not listen to God’s warning, Cain chose to give in to his ‘baser instinct’ just like Eve, just like Adam —that instinct that starts with “I, me, myself,” “what I want to do even if I know it’s wrong, even if it hurts me or worse, someone innocent” . . . even if it goes against God’s clear warning about consequences.
After Cain took his brother’s life, he followed the pattern of his parents’ behavior, perhaps that is human nature. But let us not forget the insight we get from this story about God! Just marvel at the loving Fatherly concern of our great Creator God; He knew what Cain had done, just as He knew what Adam and Eve had done; and yet He sought out Cain to give him a chance to confess, repent, ask forgiveness, and face judgment. And despite Cain’s pretense in saying a key statement: “am I my brother’s keeper?” God spares his life but he will never find peace even if his life is protected with a mark. This God continues to be gracious and merciful, but at the same time requires right action; is forgiving but is also just; gives ample warning about consequences.
Always consider the alternative to wrong choice: Cain could have adjusted his attitude, said “OK Lord, next time I will do better.” But . . . as the biblical narration concluded, unfortunately that did not happen.
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