Texts in Conversation
Genesis 4 gives Cain a warning before Abel’s death. The Aramaic translation in Targum Neofiti expands the dialogue where Cain rejects judgment, justice, and reward, turning it into a debate about morality and linking him to people with similar doubts.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 4:7
Hebrew Bible
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 7 Is it not true that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. It desires to dominate you, but you must subdue it.” 8 Cain spoke to his brother Abel.21 While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Neofiti Genesis 4:7
Targum
6 And the Lord said to Cain, “Why now are you angry, and why now has the look of your face changed? 7 Is it not so that if you do your deeds well in this world, you will be loosed and forgiven in the world to come? But if you do not do your deeds well in this world, your sin is kept for the day of the great judgment, and at the door of your heart your sin lies crouching. And into your hand I have given power over the evil inclination, and you shall rule over it, whether for innocence or for sin.” 8 And Cain said to Abel his brother, “Come, let the two of us go out to the face of the field.” And when the two of them had gone out to the face of the field, Cain spoke up and said to Abel, “I see that the world was not created with mercy, and it is not governed by the fruit of good deeds, and there is favoritism in judgment. Otherwise why was your offering accepted with favor, and my offering was not accepted from me with favor?” Abel spoke up and said to Cain, “I see that the world was created with mercy, and it is governed by the fruit of good deeds. And because my good deeds were better than yours, my offering was accepted from me with favor, and your offering was not accepted from you with favor.” Cain spoke up and said to Abel, “There is no judgment, and there is no judge, and there is no other world. There is no good reward given to the righteous, and no punishment taken from the wicked.” Abel spoke up and said to Cain, “There is judgment, and there is a judge, and there is another world. There is good reward given to the righteous, and punishment taken from the wicked in the world to come.” And over this matter the two of them were quarreling on the face of the field. And Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
Date: 300–600 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... From the death of Abraham, who, being a righteous man, deserves to be rewarded in this world and to be granted a long life, Esau concludes that there is no retribution and no resurrection. To belie this view, Jeremiah 22:10 is explained in such a way that one should not so much weep the death of a righteous man (who will be restored to life) as the 'evildoer's' death (who will die for ever). A parallel in Pesiqta Rabbati 12, 48a, provides a further explanation of Jacob's motive: with this elaborate display of mourning he wants to impress the deceased, hoping that this will be to his advantage at the resurrection. Esau's reaction shows great skepticism: 'Fool! Do you really think that a man rotting away in his grave after death can live again?!' One is reminded of the cynical words spoken by Celsus (in Origen, Contra Celsum 5:14) ... H. A. Fischel rightly presumes that the Esau of the targumic text under discussion can be compared with another 'arch-sinner', namely Cain. In the Palestinian Targums of Genesis 4:8, the latter argues that in the future there will be no justice (judgment) or judge, no reward for the righteous, no punishment for the wicked, and no other world. (... compare the dispute of Cain and Abel in the Targumim of Genesis 4:7-8) It goes without saying that both disputes (Abel / Cain and Jacob / Esau) offer examples of contemporary debate on the doctrine of resurrection and retribution. According to H. A. Fischel, there are traces of anti-Epicuraean ideas in both disputes ..."
Harry Sysling, Teḥiyyat Ha-Metim: The Resurrection of the Dead in the Palestinian Targums of the Pentateuch and Parallel Traditions in Classical Rabbinic Literature (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1996), 121.
* 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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