Texts in Conversation
The Apocalypse of Abraham places the Adversary behind Cain’s murder of Abel. 1 John 3 echoes this account of Cain as belonging to the evil one, making the first murder an example of the hatred that separates the world from those who love their brothers.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Apocalypse of Abraham 24:5
Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
4 And I looked and saw there what was before me in creation; 5 I saw Adam, and Eve existing with him, and with them the cunning Adversary, and Cain who acted lawlessly through the Adversary and the slaughtered Abel, (and) the destruction brought and caused upon him through the lawless one. 6 I saw there also Impurity, and those who lust after it, and its pollution, and their jealousy, and the fire of their corruption in the lowest parts of the earth. 7 I saw there Theft, and those who hasten after it, and the arrangement [of their retribution, the judgement of the Great Assize]. 8 I saw there naked men, the foreheads against each other, and their disgrace, and their passion which (they had) against each other, and their retribution.
1 John 3:12
New Testament
9 Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin because God’s seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin because he has been fathered by God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness—the one who does not love his fellow Christian—is not of God. 11 For this is the gospel message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, 12 not like Cain who was of the evil one and brutally murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous. 13 Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
Search:
Notes and References
“... In 1 John 3:11–15 the author expands the Cain-killed-Abel
motif to illustrate the consequences of hating rather than
loving one’s brother. Cain, we read, “belonged to the evil
one” (1 Jn 3:12; an estimate in tune with the Jewish
Apocalypse of Abraham 24:5, which finds Cain “led by the
adversary to break the law”). He murdered his brother
simply because his own actions were evil and Abel’s were
righteous. Likewise, the world hates believers simply because
they are righteous and love one another. Anyone who hates
his brother is a murderer like Cain. ...”
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,