Cain and Abel is the classic sibling rivalry story. Cain and Abel are born of Adam and Eve, the first human beings. Abel was the keeper of the sheep and Cain was tiller of the earth. For reasons that are not explicitly stated, Abel's sacrifices to God are well received, but Cain's sacrifices are spurned. God basically tells Cain to suck less at life, so Cain's already diminished sense of self isn't helped any by God's pep talk. He and Abel talk at some point, and Abel probably says some wisecrack about how mother loved him best, so why wouldn't God do so also, and then Cain kills Abel (any older sibling can sympathize with that want). God asks Cain a question he already knows the answer to ("Where is Abel thy brother?"), Cain lies, and God calls his bluff and commands that the ground, "shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength." Again, the meaning is unclear: will this mean famine in the land because of a lack of crop, or that the crop will not be of any nutritional benefit to the people or something completely different? Regardless, Abel laments to God that because of this punishment, everyone he meets shall wish him dead. To prevent such an easy way out, God marks Abel. The last bit of this chapter is mainly about who fathers whom, leading to Enos who is born of Seth (third son of Adam and Eve), whose birth causes, "men to [begin to] call upon the name of the Lord." Why Enos's birth evokes such a response among men is not made clear in this passage.
To start, it's no wonder there are so many different versions of the bible. As a child, I always questioned why the numerous variations of a book that was supposedly the divine word of God, and it is passages like these that answer that question. Here we are, literally thousands of years after this passage was written, and there still parts of this that make little sense or lack any clarification.
But back to siblings. As an older sibling, I try to set the bar high for my younger sister so she will have somewhat of a challenge overcoming that standard. One of the biggest complaints among younger siblings is that people have a preconceived notion of them because the knew their older sibling, like in school. But can you imagine being the younger sibling to someone who was utterly successful in life, or even related to them? I mean, imagine if Einstein had a son: "It's just a simple integration problem, Einstein!!" Or what about Bach's younger sister in their older years: "your brother is deaf and he can hear pitches better than you!" Or King Tut's kid brother: "your brother became pharaoh when he was only a teenager, and look at you, age twenty-three, and merely a scribe!" (note: I don't think any of these people actually had younger siblings).
"Genesis 4. The Holy Bible: King James Version." Genesis 4. The Holy Bible: King James Version. Web. 1 Oct. 2014. http://www.bartleby.com/108/01/4.html
I like that you acknowledge that this story sort of doesn't make sense. God was so harsh in this Old Testament stuff, punishing all farmers for Cain's sins. I also like your little jokes you slid in there, it makes it fun to read.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your final paragraph about sibling relationships and how the older can affect the younger. Your retelling of the Cain and Abel mythology was very readable too. But the best part of this post is the short paragraph in the middle- it's more of an aside and doesn't necessarily follow the prompt point-for-point, but it's good that you can articulate your own view through observation of an outside work. Good job!
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