Cain and Abel

Chapter 4

1 Now the man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created a man just as the Lord did!”⁠ 2 Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks,⁠ while Cain cultivated the ground. 3 At the designated time Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground for an offering to the Lord. 4 But Abel brought some of the firstborn of his flock—even the fattest of them. And the Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,⁠ 5 but with Cain and his offering he was not pleased. So Cain became very angry, and his expression was downcast. 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.⁠ 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” And he replied, “I don’t know! Am I my brother’s guardian?”⁠ 10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground!⁠ 11 So now you are banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you try to cultivate the ground it will no longer yield its best for you. You will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.” 13 Then Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure!⁠ 14 Look, you are driving me off the land today, and I must hide from your presence. I will be a homeless wanderer on the earth; whoever finds me will kill me!” 15 But the Lord said to him, “All right then, if anyone kills Cain, Cain will be avenged seven times as much.”⁠ Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain so that no one who found him would strike him down. 16 So Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain's Descendants

17 Cain was intimate with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was building a city, and he named the city after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the first of those who live in tents and keep livestock. 21 The name of his brother was Jubal; he was the first of all who play the harp and the flute. 22 Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who heated metal and shaped all kinds of tools made of bronze and iron.⁠ The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words! I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for hurting me. 24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

Seth and His Family

25 And Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth, saying, “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him.” 26 And a son was also born to Seth, whom he named Enosh. At that time people began to worship the Lord.⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 4:7 and Neofiti Genesis 4:7

Hebrew Bible · Targum

Summary

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.

Passages

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.

750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

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.

300–600 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Neofiti Genesis

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.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Cain and Abel

Cain's Descendants

Seth and His Family

Genesis50 chapters

Compare Genesis 4:7 and Neofiti Genesis 4:7

Summary

Passages

Genesis 4:7

Neofiti Genesis 4:7

References

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