A forlorn tree stands in the Dead Vlei in Namibia, Africa.
CAIN and his brother Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, were both farmers. Cain grew crops, whereas Abel was a herdsman. Abel made an offering to God from among his best animals, but Cain’s offering was rejected because he used crops that were no good for anything else.* God urged Cain to be calm, and learn from his mistake; but instead, Cain lured his brother out into the fields, and killed him.
God now came looking for Abel, and asked Cain where he was. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ Cain protested wildly.
But God could hear Abel’s voice, crying to him from the blood-soaked fields. The earth itself would neither forget nor forgive what Cain had done: nothing would grow for this farmer again. God himself, however, felt only pity for Cain. He even laid a mark on him, for his protection, as a warning to anyone who might show less mercy.
* According to St John Chrysostom (?347-407), Archbishop of Constantinople, the error of Cain lay in allocating for sacrifice crops that were not of the best quality. The passage is found in the ancient Greek translation of Genesis 4:7: “Have you not sinned, if you offered it rightly, but did not allocate (διέλῃς) it rightly?” In the Hebrew, what Cain did wrong is not spelled out: instead, he is warned that he must be strong or else sin will master him: “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”
Précis
Abel and his brother Cain both made offerings to God, but unlike Abel, Cain kept his best produce for himself. When his sacrifice was rejected, he was angry, and killed his brother. The very earth itself punished Cain; but God declared that that was enough, and that no one else should exact revenge. (53 / 60 words)
