Cain


1
Cain Abel (Genesis 43-5 8-15) In the course
of time Cain brought to YHWH an offering of the
fruit of the ground and Abel for his part
brought of the firstlings of his flock their fat
portions. And YHWH had regard for Abel and his
offering but for Cain and his offering he had no
regard. So Cain was very angry and his
countenance fell Cain said to his brother Abel
Let us go out to the field. And when they were
in the field Cain rose up against his brother
Abel and killed him. Then YHWH said to Cain
Where is your brother Abel He said I do not
know am I my brothers keeper And YHWH said
What have you done Listen your brothers blood
is crying out to me from the ground! And now you
are cursed from the ground which has opened its
mouth to receive your brothers blood from your
hand. When you till the ground it will no longer
yield to you its strength you will be a fugitive
and a wanderer on the earth. Cain said to YHWH
My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today
you have driven me away from the soil and I
shall be hidden from your face I shall be a
fugitive and a wanderer on the earth and anyone
who meets me may kill me. Then YHWH said to him
Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a
sevenfold vengeance. And YHWH put a mark on
Cain so that no one who came upon him would kill
him.
2
Mimetic Theory (adapeted from James
Alison)Raising Abel (New York Crossroad 1996)
pp. 21-23

• We are all always and everywhere immensely
  violent creatures and the only way which we have
  to control this violence is the search for
  collective unanimity against a victim. We can
  imagine a founding murder of this type of the
  sort that can be detected in much human
  mythology.
• A group enters into conflict and there is the
  threat of chaos.
• Mysteriously there occurs a spontaneous movement
  which unites everybody against someone who is
  blamed for the conflict and easy to victimize
  (that is cant take vengeance). This is called
  scapegoating.
• That person is killed and immediately peace is
  restored.
• And the group must preserve the belief that the
  scapegoat caused the original conflict and that
  the killing was justified.

3

• Example
• Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus.
• Romulus and Remus fight over who has the favor of
  the Gods.
• Romulus kills Remus.
• Remus was blamed for offending the Gods so his
  killing was justified.

4

• What is interesting about many stories in the
  Bible is that they do not reinforce this plot
  line starting with the story of Cain and Abel.
• Cain kills Abel and founds human culture.
• But God says the murder is just a murder a
  sordid crime impossible to justify.
• Abel is not avenged Cain is protected from
  vengeance by a mark from God.
• Because many stories in the Bible are told from
  the standpoint of the innocent victim they
  gradually unmask the scapegoating mechanism at
  the foundation of most cultures (and in some
  parts of the Bible too).

5
The Tower of Babel (Genesis 111-9) Now the whole
earth had one language and the same words. And as
they migrated from the east they came upon a
plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
And they said to one another Come let us make
bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had
brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then
they said Come let us build ourselves a city
and a tower with its top in the heavens and let
us make a name for ourselves otherwise we shall
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole
earth. YHWH came down to see the city and the
tower which mortals had built. And YHWH said
Look they are one people and they have all one
language and this is only the beginning of what
they will do nothing that they propose to do
will now be impossible for them. Come let us go
down and confuse their language there so that
they will not understand one anothers speech.
So YHWH scattered them abroad from there over the
face of all the earth and they left off building
the city. Therefore it was called Babel because
there YHWH confused the language of all the
earth and from there YHWH scattered them abroad
over the face of all the earth.
6
The Calling of Abram (Abraham) (Genesis
121-9) Now YHWH said to Abram Go from your
country and your kindred and your fathers house
to the land that I will show you. I will make of
you a great nation and I will bless you and
make your name great so that you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you and
the one who curses you I will curse and in you
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
So Abram went as YHWH had told him and Lot went
with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when
he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai
and his brothers son Lot and all the
possessions that they had gathered and the
persons whom they had acquired in Haran and they
set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they
had come to the land of Canaan Abram passed
through the land to the place at Shechem to the
oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in
the land. Anachronism Then YHWH appeared to
Abram and said To your offspring I will give
this land. So he built there an altar to YHWH
who had appeared to him. From there he moved on
to the hill country on the east of Bethel and
pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai
on the east and there he built an altar to YHWH
and invoked the name of YHWH. And Abram journeyed
on by stages toward the Negeb.
7
YHWHs Covenant with Abraham (Yahwist Version)
(Genesis 156-12 17b-18) Abraham believed YHWH
and YHWH reckoned it to him as righteousness.
Then he said to him I am YHWH who brought you
from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land
to possess. But he said O Lord Elohim how am
I to know that I shall possess it He said to
him Bring me a heifer three years old a female
goat three years old a ram three years old a
turtledove and a young pigeon. He brought him
all these and cut them in two laying each half
over against the other but he did not cut the
birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on
the carcasses Abram drove them away. As the sun
was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abram and
a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon
him. When it was dark a smoking fire pot and
a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On
that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram saying
To your descendants I give this land from the
river of Egypt to the great river the river
Euphrates
8
Elohims Covenant with Abraham (Priestly
Version)(Genesis 171-14) When Abram was
ninety-nine years old YHWH appeared to
Abram and said to him I am Elohim Almighty
El-Shaddai walk before me and be blameless.
And I will make my covenant between me and you
and will make you exceedingly numerous. Then
Abram fell on his face and Elohim said to him
As for me this is my covenant with you You
shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations.
No longer shall your name be Abram but your name
shall be Abraham for I have made you the
ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make
you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations
of you and kings shall come from you. I will
establish my covenant between me and you and
your offspring after you throughout their
generations for an everlasting covenant to be
Elohim to you and to your offspring after you.
And I will give to you and to your offspring
after you the land where you are now an alien
all the land of Canaan for a perpetual holding
and I will be their Elohim. Elohim said to
Abraham As for you you shall keep my covenant
you and your offspring after you throughout their
generations. This is my covenant which you shall
keep between me and you and your offspring after
you Every male among you shall be circumcised.
You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins
and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me
and you. Throughout your generations every male
among you shall be circumcised when he is eight
days old including the slave born in your house
and the one bought with your money from any
foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the
slave born in your house and the one bought with
your money must be circumcised. So shall my
covenant be in your flesh an everlasting
covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not
circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be
cut off from his people he has broken my
covenant.
9
The Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22) After these
things Elohim tested Abraham. He said to him
Abraham! And he said Here I am. He said
Take your son your only son Isaac whom you
love and go to the land of Moriah and offer him
there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains
that I shall show you. So Abraham rose early in
the morning saddled his donkey and took two of
his young men with him and his son Isaac he cut
the wood for the burnt offering and set out and
went to the place in the distance that Elohim had
shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and
saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his
young men Stay here with the donkey the boy
and I will go over there we will worship and
then we will come back to you. Abraham took the
wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son
Isaac and he himself carried the fire and the
knife. So the two of them walked on together.
Isaac said to his father Abraham Father! And
he said Here I am my son. He said The fire
and the wood are here but where is the lamb for
a burnt offering Abraham said Elohim himself
will provide the lamb for a burnt offering my
son. So the two of them walked on together. When
they came to the place that Elohim had shown him
Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in
order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on
the altar on top of the wood. Then Abraham
reached out his hand and took the knife to kill
his son. (Continued)
10
The Binding of Isaac (continued) But the angel of
YHWH called to him from heaven and said
Abraham Abraham! And he said Here I am. He
said Do not lay your hand on the boy or do
anything to him for now I know that you fear
Elohim since you have not withheld your son
your only son from me. And Abraham looked up
and saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns.
Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up
as a burnt offering instead of his son. So
Abraham called that place The Lord will
provide as it is said to this day On the
mount of YHWH it shall be provided. The angel of
YHWH called to Abraham a second time from heaven
and said By myself I have sworn says YHWH
Because you have done this and have not withheld
your son your only son I will indeed bless you
and I will make your offspring as numerous as the
stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the
seashore. And your offspring shall possess the
gate of their enemies and by your offspring
shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing
for themselves because you have obeyed my
voice. So Abraham returned to his young men and
they arose and went together to Beer-sheba and
Abraham lived at Beer-sheba. Many scholars
regard the highlighted text as an early
redactors insertion. Isaac is never mentioned
again in the Elohist source. Was he sacrificed
11
The Parable of the Old Man and the Young Wilfred
Owen (WWI Poet) So Abram rose and clave the
wood and went And took the fire with him and a
knife. And as they sojourned both of them
together Isaac the first-born spake and said My
Father Behold the preparations fire and
iron But where the lamb for this
burnt-offering Then Abram bound the youth with
belts and straps and builded parapets and
trenches there And stretchèd forth the knife to
slay his son. When lo! an angel called him out of
heaven Saying Lay not thy hand upon the
lad Neither do anything to him thy son. Behold!
Caught in a thicket by its horns A Ram. Offer
the Ram of Pride instead. But the old man would
not so but slew his son And half the seed of
Europe one by one.
12
Jacob Wrestles Elohim and Wins An Etiology
(Genesis 3224-33) Jacob was left alone and a
man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the
man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob he
struck him on the hip socket and Jacobs hip was
put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he
said Let me go for the day is breaking. But
Jacob said I will not let you go unless you
bless me. So he said to him What is your
name And he said Jacob. Then the man said
You shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel
for you have striven with Elohim and with humans
and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him
Please tell me your name. But he said Why is
it that you ask my name And there he blessed
him. So Jacob called the place Peniel saying
For I have seen Elohim face to face and yet my
life is preserved. The sun rose upon him as he
passed Penuel limping because of his hip.
Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat
the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket
because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the
thigh muscle. Question Would scholars
consider this text from the Priestly source or
from the Elohist source Is God portrayed as a
distant planner or as involved and responsive