I took my
time going through the Biblical creation and the Garden of Eden, and now it’s
time to tackle life outside of Eden. We come at last to Cain and Able. As a
story, it’s surprisingly short. They both make sacrifices, Able gives the best
he has, and his sacrifice is accepted. The implication is that Cain did not,
and his sacrifice is not accepted. Cain murders Able. God asks Cain about Able,
and throws out the line about brother’s keeper. God curses Cain and casts him
out.
Now, there
are a number of things that can be discussed from even this short a story. The
first of which that always comes to mind is, where did Cain’s wife come from?
Well, we don’t know for sure. There are two possibilities that I’ve been able
to come up with.
First is that this is one of Cain’s
own sisters. We’re not given any genealogical lists of Adam and Eve’s
daughters, but Seth had to have married one as there was no one else around in
the immediate area. Yes, this would be incest, but that’s another discussion.
Second, and far more interesting,
is that Cain found his wife outside of the Garden. This would appear to fly in
the face of standard interpretations that Adam and Eve were the only people on
earth. Many would take this as way to attack the Bible and completely
invalidate. However, the Bible, in its purest sense, is the story and history
of Israel. The genealogy it presents is only about the origin of the Jewish
tribes, from Abraham, all the way back. There is, therefore, some ambiguity as
to whether or not there were any other people on the planet, or that God did
not seed other people on the planet. This is the one we have the most complete
record for.
Another point of interest in this
story is the profound statement about free will. Fresh out of the Garden,
brimming with the knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve have their first
children. And though Adam and Eve have tried to raise their sons according to
God’s ideals (even having conversations with God), nothing can prevent Cain
from exercising his free will to horrible, horrible purposes. And when given
the chance to come clean about the event (much as God gave Adam and Eve a
chance in the Garden) Cain chooses to gloss over the truth. He chooses not only
to murder his brother, but to lie about the deed.
It’s unclear as to which is the
worst crime at this point. If we revisit the creation, the power God uses to
make the universe is that of spoken language. This theme of language recurs
throughout the Bible, and even has taken place often in the short narrative
span covered so far. Language will continue to be a very powerful influence
throughout the Bible. And here is the first proof of that language perverted.
Adam and Eve didn’t do this. When confronted, they spoke the truth to God, and
we get a glimpse here of what would have happened if they had lied. Cain’s
punishment is severe, to be sure, and the implication is that he will truly be
out of God’s presence for these crimes. And in one fell swoop, this story tells
the seriousness of the crime of perverting language.
Now, there is also speculation that
Cain is immortal. That he cannot die. However, most of the translations I’ve
looked at say nothing to this effect, only that the mark is a warning to other
not to kill him. There’s nothing about Cain’s life extending beyond the mortal
limits. After all, the Tree of Life has been denied to mankind and is safely
enshrined in the Garden behind angels. This interpretation, while popular, just
doesn’t have enough to substantiate it.
Is it theoretically possible? Yes.
Is it likely? No. Mostly because it would confirm the tragedy that God hoped to
avoid in the Garden. The fear was that mankind would know good and evil and
live forever. Why would God make Cain, a person who clearly showed that he
would choose to do evil, immortal? Regardless of the punishment of the earth
not yielding up crops to him, this would still be a recipe for disaster.
It’s also unclear if the earth
yielding up crops is a direct punishment from God or a natural consequence to
what Cain did. The sense is that the earth has some kind of force or presence,
with its own qualities to cry out and feel pain (whether or not entirely
sentient is unknown), but the consequences to Cain’s actions could be the
reaction of the Earth, and not God’s overt action. This would be in line with
how God has kept a hands-off approach to many of the punishments, instead
letting natural laws and phenomenon dictate what happens, instead.
Whew, okay, that was Cain and Able.
I wrote more words about the story than were actually in the story, which is
always a sign that I think waaaaay too much about this stuff.