Deep Dive: Genesis 4:1–16 (Cain & Abel)

The story of Cain and Abel is one we have all become familiar with since a young age, but what is this infamous story really trying to say to its audience? Is it really about the offering, the murder, or is it something much deeper and closer to home?

I believe the answer lies in the middle of the passage, but before we get there, let’s first dissect this story verse by verse.

4 The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” 2 She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.

So the story starts off with Adam and Eve becoming intimate with each other. The ESV Bible says that Adam ‘knew’ (yada) Eve, which is a word for intercourse. Whenever you read that someone ‘knew’ someone else, it’s always knowing someone on an intimate level due to intercourse. For example, in Genesis 19, we have the story of Lot who was visited by two angels. After the angels visited the house of Lot, some men, young and old, as the story explains, came over to Lot’s house and demanded him to give over the two men so that they may ‘know’ them. In other words, the men wanted to have homosexual relations with the two angels who they thought were just men. Soon after this event, God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah because of this sort of defilement from the people of the city.

Regarding Adam and Eve, we then learn in verses 1 and 2 that Eve first gave birth to Cain (Kayin, which comes from the Hebrew word kana, meaning ‘acquire’) and then later to Abel (Havel, which translates as ‘nothingness’ or ‘vanity’.) This is the same word we see again in Ecclesiastes when the author writes “vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (havel havelim, hakol havel). Indeed, Abel was in fact only ‘dust in the wind,’ as we will soon discover later in the chapter.

As the two grew, Abel was a shepherd who was in charge of the sheep and Cain worked the ground. These are important details, which we’ll get to soon.

3 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also presented an offering — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent.

Now we get to the offering segment of the story.

We see that Cain and Abel both made an offering to God, but God only accepted Abel’s. Why wouldn’t God accept Cain’s offering? Was it because Cain offered grains and produce rather than meat? Was it because God just seemed to favor Abel a lot better than Cain? No. Certainly not.

If we take a look at Hebrews 11, we learn that it was “by faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith, he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.”

God didn’t accept Cain’s offering because He knew Cain didn’t have faith. How do we know this? Because Cain grew ‘furious’ and ‘despondent’ (in low spirits) after God accepted Abel’s offering. In 1 John 3:12, it says that Cain was ‘of the evil one’ (Satan) and slayed Abel because the deeds of his brother were righteous. Abel went out of his way to please God, but Cain only gave to God out of obligation.

2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

So when Abel gave his offering to God, it wasn’t for a prize or affirmation, but because he loved God and gave with a humble heart.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

We then come to what I think this entire story is about. Many people who read through this story might think it’s about Cain murdering Abel because of the offering, but I really don’t think so. Though murder is sinful and evil, I don’t think that’s the lesson God is trying to teach here.

Instead, God is trying to teach us about our vulnerability toward sin and how we can easily succumb to it when we are in the wrong state of mind. If someone cuts you off on the highway, you may want to cuss them out or give them the finger, but God is telling us to rule over that anger and let it go.

God asks Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent?” Of course, God already knows the answer to His own questions, but He wants Cain to open up about his feelings. When we internalize angry thoughts, it settles within us and we eventually embrace those angry feelings, but talking or venting about them might ease the feeling of anger and direct us toward something else a bit healthier.

God then asks Cain a very simple question. “If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted?” In other words, if Cain goes to God with a pure heart, then his offering will be accepted. I also feel as if God knows what is about to happen and He is giving Cain a choice to make the right decision, but if not, then “sin is crouching at the door.”

What’s interesting is that this is the first time we come across the word ‘sin’ (hatta’at) within the Bible.

The more Cain becomes furious, the higher the chance he is willing to fall into sinful behavior. Sin is waiting for Cain to act, but Cain has to make a choice. Is he going to resist the invitation or give in to it? Well, I think we already know the answer, don’t we?

This concept of sin crouching is something we later come across in 1 Peter 5:8 when Peter says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” And, in James 4:7, James writes about ruling over sin by saying, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

In both verses, we see that the devil is present when we choose to not submit ourselves to God. However, submitting ourselves to God is the key to ruling over sin. When we choose to act on our feelings or desires, we invite the devil to ‘devour’ us, but James says to resist the devil by submitting ourselves to God and being sober-minded. In the case of Cain, do you think he submitted himself to God or the devil? It’s clear from his attitude that he chose darkness instead of light.

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Whenever we are confronted with temptation, God always gives us a way out. He’s giving us a chance to rule over sin before committing it. If you’re online and feel the urge to look at sexual images and clips, God is there in the background giving you a chance to move on to something else. Even with God rooting for us to make the right choices, we oftentimes fail ourselves and Him. We watch those dirty videos, say crude things, drink too much at that party, steal that item at the store, have that affair, or lie in order to save our own skin. Most of the time, we choose to ignore God because we think the feelings inside of us are far too great to control, so we give in to them.

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

The story suddenly jumps from God talking to Cain to then Cain inviting Abel out to a field. We don’t know what happened between verses 7 and 8, though I imagine Cain was wrestling with his thoughts. Perhaps he was hatching up a plan to murder Abel. Scripture says Cain ‘attacked’ or ‘rose up against’ Abel. When we think of someone attacking another, it’s kind of a violent image. You might picture someone on top of someone else beating the person to death with an object or even their bare hands. It was a very extreme moment and, worst of all, God saw everything.

God didn’t just take a break and go somewhere else after speaking to Cain. God saw the whole thing happen, but even though God saw what happened, He still wanted Cain to explain himself.

9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”

The ESV Bible says, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” This little nugget of information here is sort of important because Abel was a shepherd and Cain is sort of mocking that position. Abel took care of the sheep and, if one went missing, he would be responsible for that lost sheep, but Cain is here saying, “I don’t know where Abel is. He’s not my responsibility. He’s not my sheep.”

This quote also shows the lack of remorse Cain had for his actions. He just murdered his brother and he lacked any form of shame and guilt… until later.

10 Then he said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 So now you are cursed, alienated from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed. 12 If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

The Hebrew word for ‘blood’ is dam, but it has been pluralized in this case. Instead of ‘blood,’ it is now ‘bloods’. There are two interpretations of this. First, David Carr of Bible Odyssey writes in his article, The Cry of Abel’s Blood, that the pluralization indicates a river of blood pouring from Abel’s body. Dennis Prager, author of Genesis: God, Creation, and Destruction, provides another theory for this translation. Prager claims ‘bloods’ indicates the literal bloodline of Abel that was cut off. In theory, the unborn ancestors of Abel are crying out to God, as they will never exist. Both are interesting theories, though.

Later, God confronts Cain by asking him, “What have you done?” Of course, God knows what Cain did, but this was the same response God gave to Eve: “And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” In both cases, God confronts Eve and Cain about their sins, but they both give God terrible responses by not taking responsibility for their actions. Eve blames the serpent and Cain gives a sarcastic answer. However, in Eve’s case, she had to be talked into sinning, while Cain had to be talked out of sinning.

In the Bible Knowledge Commentary, the author writes, “The narrative lines [Cain] up with the curse; he worked the soil (lit. ground, adamah). Abel, however, seems to be lined up with man’s original purpose, to have dominion over life; he kept flocks.”

Think about this for a moment. First, God curses Adam by having him work the ground for his food and resources, and then Adam and Eve give birth to Cain, who is born into the curse. However, then Abel is born, but not into the curse of Adam, but into the righteousness of God. Abel represents the goodness of God’s original plan, but Cain represents the evil and wickedness of man.

But then something odd happens. God changes the curse. Not only does man have to work the ground, but now the ground will no longer provide food or resources for Cain. God takes this away from Cain. Now, that might seem like a good thing at first. Not having to work for your food and not having to perform hard labor is always a good thing, but working in the fields was probably all Cain knew how to do and now it was taken away from him. How’s he going to survive or make an income? If Cain can’t do his job, he’s basically homeless now and has to wander the earth looking for ways to keep living.

13 But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! 14 Since you are banishing me today from the face of the earth, and I must hide from your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.”

The Hebrew word that is used for “my punishment” is the word avoni, which can also translate as “my sin.” In this case, Cain might be saying that his punishment is too much to handle or that the guilt of his sin is too much to bear. It can also be a mix of both.

But it’s interesting that Cain suddenly felt shame and guilt only after he got caught. God gave him plenty of time to change his ways, but he chose to rest in his anger and give in to his evil desires.

This is exactly what happens when you act on your feelings rather than rational thoughts. It may seem like a good idea to have an extramarital affair, but it doesn't feel great once you get caught. It probably feels great to shoplift, but then you suddenly have regret after getting caught by security.

This is why the Apostle Paul talks a lot about overcoming earthly, fleshly desires or passions. Oftentimes, we get so caught up in the moment of our feelings that we don’t ever consider the possible consequences of our actions. When people are engaging in a hookup, they aren’t thinking that it can lead to an unwanted pregnancy. All they’re thinking about is getting to please their sexual desires, but when something does happen, they’re caught off guard, like “How can a pregnancy happen? We took all the necessary precautions” — except the only one that would certainly not cause a pregnancy in the first place.

Sometimes we believe our desires are so much stronger than us, so it’s easier to just give in than to resist those desires and ‘burn with passion,’ as Paul puts it.

15 Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” And he placed a mark on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. 16 Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Cain, a murderer, who is now cursed, is shown grace from God, but still chooses to disobey God by living in the land of Nod and later building the city of Enoch. He definitely doesn’t deserve any of it, especially since he had wickedness in his heart, but talk about the love of God, right? God could have absolutely told Cain to get over himself and toughen up. God protected Cain from those who wished to do harm to him. Most likely, these people would be relatives of Cain. If they ever found out he killed his brother, they may go after him.

If God can have grace on Cain, then He can certainly show grace to us. That doesn’t mean we won’t deal with the consequences, but God can still show grace to us in other ways.

However, what’s important to remember is that God wants us to rule over our sins. God can certainly show mercy and grace to us, but we have to be able to submit ourselves to God first. As Christians, we often take God’s grace for granted. We think, “Oh, Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I’m forgiven, so it’s okay if I watch dirty videos or sleep around. God will just forgive me anyway.” This story of Cain and Abel shows us how powerful sin can be once it enters our lives. Once we start to embrace all sorts of sins, they become embedded in us and that’s when it becomes much harder to overcome them. The more you watch dirty videos online, the harder it’s going to be to walk away from it. The more alcohol you consume, the harder it’ll be to stop. Eventually, sin will snowball and it’ll get bigger and bigger. If you’re able to rule over your sin as a tiny seed, then do it before that seed sprouts into a massive weed. As any gardener might know, weeds are hard to get rid of. You take it out and it grows right back. If you wish to fully remove the weed, then you need to pluck it at its root.

God is always giving us a chance to make the better and wiser choice, but we have to be able to put away our feelings and put our trust and loyalty in God. The more we put our trust in God, the lesser chance we allow sin to crouch at our door and enter.