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In Genesis, Cain speaks to Abel, but the Masoretic Hebrew text never says what he said. The Samaritan Pentateuch gives his invitation to go out to the field, and the Greek Septuagint translation has the same invitation before the killing.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Genesis 4:8
Septuagint
6 And the Lord God said to Cain, Why have you become very sorrowful and why is your face fallen? 7 Have you not sinned if you have brought it rightly, but not rightly divided it? be still, to you shall be his submission, and you shall rule over him. 8 And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go out into the plain; and it happened that when they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and killed him. 9 And God said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? and he said, I do not know, am I my brother's keeper? 10 And God said, What have you done? the voice of your brother's blood cries to me out of the ground.
Date: 300–201 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Samaritan Genesis 4:8
Samaritan Penteteuch
Samaritan
6 And Shema said to Cain: “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 Look, if you do well, you will be forgiven, and if you do not do well, crouch at the door of sin! And its return is to you, but you can rule over it.” 8 And Cain said to Abel his brother: “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 9 And Shema said to Cain: “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said: “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And he said: “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground.
Date: 130–120 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Within the interval of silence between God and Cain, the narrative unfolds in a moment of conversation between Cain and his brother, which culminated in the murder of Abel. Several ancient versions (such as the Septuagint [LXX], Vulgate [Vg.], Syriac, Samaritan Pentateuch) provide the textual gap in the Masoretic Text’s rendering of Genesis 4:8, ‘And Cain said to his brother Abel …’ Modern versions such as New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), New International Version (NIV), and New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), insert ‘Let us go out to the field’ to verse 8 ..."
B.O. Boloje, “Rethinking Violence Through the Narrative of Genesis 4:1-16,” IDS 55.1 (2021): 1–8.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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