Genesis 4 explained: Two Brothers and the First Murder

Two brothers, two offerings (vv. 1-5)

Both brothers bring God some of what their work produced, but only Abel's offering is accepted, and Cain is furious. The text notes that Abel gave the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions, the choicest parts, but it never says outright why Cain's gift was turned down.

God warns Cain (vv. 6-7)

God asks Cain why he is angry and pictures sin as an animal crouching at his door, eager to control him unless he controls it. The Hebrew is difficult, so translations differ on details, such as whether doing right means being 'accepted' or having his face 'lifted up' again.

The first murder (vv. 8-12)

Cain kills Abel in the field, then lies to God and asks, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' God says Abel's blood cries out from the ground, so Cain the farmer is cursed: the soil will no longer feed him, and he must live as a restless wanderer.

Punished but protected (vv. 13-16)

Cain fears he will be killed, so God promises sevenfold vengeance on anyone who harms him and gives a sign of protection, which some translations call a mark on Cain and others a sign for him. No one knows what it was, and nothing in the text ties it to skin color or any people, though it was later misused to defend racism.

Cain's family line (vv. 17-24)

Cain builds a city, and his descendants include the founders of tent-dwelling herding, music and metalwork, so skills and culture grow in his line. But Lamech, who takes two wives, boasts in a short poem of killing a young man for wounding him and claims vengeance seventy-seven times over, far beyond the sevenfold protection God gave Cain.

A new son, Seth (vv. 25-26)

Eve names a new son Seth, which sounds like the Hebrew word for 'granted' or 'appointed,' and sees him as given in place of Abel. After Seth's son Enosh is born, people begin to call on the name of the LORD, usually understood as the start of regular worship of God by name.

Key verse: Genesis 4:7

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on why God accepted Abel's offering and not Cain's: some point to Abel giving his best, some to his inner attitude or faith (as the New Testament letter to the Hebrews suggests), some older readers to the animal sacrifice itself, and others hold that the text deliberately leaves it unexplained.

Something to think about

How far do you think people are responsible for one another, and where, if anywhere, would you draw the line?