We are given an account of God’s commandment, be fruitful and multiply, being carried out. Adam and Eve had relations and began bringing forth children. The chapter informs us of the conception of two boys Cain and Able; the bible does not go into detail about all of the children that Eve bore. Remember this was a patriarchal society, but it is reasonable to assume she had many children, if she had not the boys would have had no one to marry.
The Sacrifice
Now let us look at verses three through seven, the language suggests that sacrifice was a common ordinary occurrence; one they practiced many times before. Cain delivered fruit from the ground and Abel a first born from his flock. Surely, the practice of sacrifices began before this occurrence, Cain would have been aware of proper procedures yet Cain’s offering was rejected, so the big question is why?
Answering this question is not easy, however; to begin with let us look to the New Testament for understanding. It is written in Hebrews 11:4, by faith Able offered unto God his sacrifice. Able confessed his sin and was grateful for God’s mercy on his life; Cain did not share in this quality. Further, the offering of vegetation is an offering of something that does not possess life. Conversely, Able took the first born, best of his flock, and with faith offered it to God and confessed his sins. Clearly, this shows the two intents of the brothers, one going through the motions, the other with sincerity. There is an alternative view, which puts forth the notion only death can take away sin. Abel could have deduced this from the experience of the fig leaves when vegetation was not an appropriate covering. During this period humanities design was to be vegetarians and the ani...
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...e told his father to shoot an arrow and slew it, when they approached the beast; they found that in fact it was Cain who lay dead. If you will notice, it was in the seventh generation that Abel’s death was avenged, according to the word of the Lord. Nevertheless, wait there is more to the story, what about the young man he spoke. Jasher says that Lamech was so grieved at killing his grandfather that he disassembled violently throwing himself around, wailing and beating his hands together. Unfortunately, he accidentally struck his son Tubal Cain during this episode killing him in the process. Now as Paul Harvey would say, “that is the rest of the story.”
Closing out the chapter Adam and Eve have another son in whom they name Seth. The Hebrew word for his name was Shet, which means granted or compensation. His name will come to mean good, while Cain represents evil.
The story of Cain and Abel ends with Abel’s blood being shed and Cain being banished. Gene’s intention was not to kill Phineas; due to the jealousy taking Gene’s mind he hurt Phineas. Many of the other students started questioning if Gene intentionally pushed off Phineas. That is similar to when God questions Abel of what happened to his brother Cain. After the second fall Phineas had another severe injury caused by Gene he had to go thru an operation that killed him. As Cain was left to wandered the earth knowing that the earth was cursed to drink his brother’s blood. Gene was left with the guilt of his best friend being gone thru his
Adam and Eve ignored the rule of the gods, defying their power, and decided to claim that power as their own. The Takers believe that was the start of the ascent above the gods. Ishmael helps the Narrator understand that the Taker culture interpreted the story of Adam and Eve as an ascent, unlike the Leavers and the gods that see this as a fall from grace. To accomplish this lesson, Ishmael uses the allusion of the biblical version of the “fall” of Adam and Eve for the Narrator to fully grasp the story in a different light than the allusion the Takers live in.
After his brief history, Ishmael shifts his attention to the creation. "A culture is a people enacting a story" (41), and the story of the Garden of Eden opened up new thoughts on man's transformation from dependent to independent beings. When Adam and Eve began their lives on earth, they fully depended on the gods for all their necessities. Just like all of the other animals in the garden, they followed the philosophy of "leavers" and left the question of who should live and who should die up to the gods. However, the serpent, a member of the "taker" group tempted Eve with fruit from a tree that would give them the knowledge of life and death. Eve, which means "life" (179) in turn, tempted Adam with the fruit. Although pre-warned that eating this forbidden fruit would kill man, Adam fell into temptation and his desire for life. Through this action, his eyes were partially opened to the gods' vision. However, this knowledge ultimately would lead to the fulfillment of the gods' warnings that "[the world's] doom was assured" (166). After man's realization, he placed himself in a category separate from the animals and beasts that continued to rely on the world's situation rather than themselves.
In John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Steinbeck uses Cal and Aron Trask to represent the biblical story of Cain and Abel, demonstrating a struggle of good and evil through an underlying religious point of view as well as the overlying fictional telling of the same story. Cal’s innate evil nature contrasting Aron’s inherent goodness are evident throughout the novel and portray Steinbeck’s overall theme of a constant conflict between morality and immorality.
John Steinbeck frequently expresses his idea of a reoccurring cycle between the struggles of good and evil. It seems fairly apparent that Steinbeck had passed the persistent loop of Cain and Abel’s story from Charles and Adam onto the next generation of brothers, Caleb and Aron Trask. In order to sustain his continuous biblical allusions, Steinbeck uses the metaphor of the man who was “smart as Satan.” This allows for a reestablished pattern of the biblical story, Cain and Abel. By doing so, Steinbeck effectively adds a new element towards his predetermined design of the novel.
Symbolism is very prominent over the course of this story, giving it that much more meaning. Knowles makes not only one, but several instances to religious principles and more precisely in this case, Adam and Eve. These of jealousy, greed, and selfishness are prominent throughout both stories as well is a significant fall whether it would be as monstrous as humanity or on the smaller scale of relationships. The disruption of peace and harmony are also evident in the two. In addition, it is interesting how the author finds a way to tie them all into each other.
.... Because of man’s evil heritage, being descendent of Cain, he is naturally forgiven for any breach in purity (Levant, Howard. p. 244).
story from ancient literature-it is an allusion of the well-known story of Cain and Abel in the Bible.
Immediately after the fall of mankind and the expulsion from the garden, the human race begins populating God's creation. Cain is the first-born son of Adam and Eve. His actions in life from beginning to end exhibit one thing: a lack of reverence for God. In contrast to Cain's irreverence, Abel comes along and displays a greater sense of concern in pleasing God. Abel, who was righteous and zealous in pleasing God, became a "keeper of sheep" (cf. Gen 4:2). Cain, however, was a "tiller of the ground" (cf. Gen. 4:2).
Steinbeck uses the biblical story of Cain and Abel in East of Eden to show us that we do not have set fate. Steinbeck uses the Hebrew word “timshel”, which means “thou mayest”, to suggest that man has the ability to choose good or evil. “Timshel” affects the characters in East of Eden such as Cal and Aron and their choice of overcoming good or evil. Steinbeck sees this novel as his most important work, and he uses it as a way to state his personal ideas concerning mankind:“The free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any idea, religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual.”(Steinbeck,132). Steinbeck shows God has given humans free will and their ability to choose good or evil, if they so decide. He portrays the “C” characters to be connected to Cain, such as Charles and Cal and the “A” characters to be connected to Abel, such as Aron and Adam.
Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis not only mark a loss of innocence, but for years the story has been used as a biblical teaching. It is an important story that sets up a relationship between God and mankind. The story begins with the phrase, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," (Pagels, xi). From the opening words of the story God is deemed as the creator. He is the creator, the absolute being from which all other things are created. In the process of God's creation, he repeats the phrase "according to its/their kind," (Pagels, xi). He does this to emphasize that each creature has its own unique function, and to establish that there are limits and boundaries to each creatures existence.
What if the situation was reversed and it was Abel’s offering which was rejected by Jehovah? Would Abel have slew Cain. To understand this look into the occupation of each. Cain was a farmer, a land owner which is a very respected upper class member in a communal society. Abel was a shepherd, a keeper of sheep and not a landowner, which is a lower class member in a communal society. Cain held a high position in society while Abel did not. When the “Lord” of the estate showed favor to a lower class member of society, Cain instantly became jealous and slew Abel in his rage.
Finally, the analogy to the fruit of knowledge and the downfall of man is played out by Sethe as she gathers her children (her fruit) to her. The text continues the analogy as Sethe does something unthinkable, something evil, and she is cast out of the garden for it. These passages serve to reaffirm the never ending battle between good and evil.
When Sethe chooses to murder her daughter, rather than allowing her to be returned to slavery, she must face the consequences of her actions. Sethe’s murder of Beloved creates an allusion to the biblical character of Cain. According to the Bible’s Old Testament, Cain’s slaughter of Abel marks the first murder ever committed. In the aftermath of Abel’s death, Cain mourns that, “My punishment is greater than I can bear...I shall be a fugitive and wanderer on earth” (English Standard Version, Gen. 4.13-14). Sethe experiences a similar reaction after she takes Beloved’s life. Taken to prison after killing Beloved, Sethe faces ostracism from her community. However, living with the memory of the murder seems a worse fate. Like Cain, the “punishment”, both psychological and physical, that results from her murder is so great that it almost destroys her. Her murder, like Cain’s, violates society’s norms and both opens her to judgment and sets her
Sin is elusive. It hides behind our motives and intentions. Sin will parade in a garment that looks stunningly beautiful but when uncovered there is nothing but ugliness and wickedness hiding underneath. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” ( Mt. 23:27 NIV) Sin masquerades deceptively as something it is not. Laying the groundwork which led to Eve’s questioning the trustworthiness of God concerning the forbidden fruit the serpent said “Ye shall not surely die: (Gen. 3 :4b KJV ). The insertion