Brotherly Love? The World's First Murder

The man now was intimate with his wife; she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain, saying, "both I and the Eternal have made a man." She then continued, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd, while Cain tilled the soil.

[One day,] in the course of time, Cain brought some of his harvest as an offering to the Eternal, and Abel, too, brought [an offering] from among the choice lambs of his flock and their fattest parts. The Eternal approved Abel and his offering, but did not approve Cain and his offering. Can was filled with rage; his face fell. The Eternal One then said to Cain, "Why are you so angry?/Why your fallen face?/Would you not do so well to lift it?/For if you do not do well - sin is a demon at the door/you are the one it craves/and yet you can govern it."

Cain then said to his brother Abel...Then, when they were in the field, Cain turned on his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Eternal One said to Cain, "Where is your brother, Abel?" And he replied, "how should I know; am I my brother's keeper?" And God said, "What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground!"

(1) ויהי הבל רועה צאן, Abel chose this vocation as it required more intelligence and involved one’s mental activities more that farming.

(1) ויהי מקץ ימים, it was some time after Cain had become a farmer tilling the soil, that he offered a gift to G’d. The Torah is deliberately vague about how much time had elapsed, writing only מקץ ימים, at the end of a number of years...It would seem therefore, that after having worked the soil for a full year Cain offered a gift to G’d, part of what he had harvested. He did this in the spot in which his father Adam had offered prayer and had offered a sacrifice of his own as an acknowledgement of his gratitude, his sons presumably having been in attendance...His sons imitated him, each one bringing a gift from what his labour had produced. The offering was meant to be an expression of man’s gratitude to G’d for the success of his endeavours.

מפרי, the Torah is vague about precisely what the offering consisted of, other than saying that it was part of the fruit produced by the earth. We know nothing about the quality or quantity of this offering. Seeing that when describing Abel’s offering the Torah adds the words: “from the firstborn of his sheep and from their best ones,” it is reasonable to assume that Cain’s gift, by comparison, was stingy, in fact represented an insult to G’d rather than a grateful acknowledgment of G’d’s part in making the earth produce a crop for him. This is why his offering was not welcome, was rejected. Had Cain at least brought of the best quality of the produce he had grown, the Torah would have mentioned this to his credit, just as it had done in the case of Abel’s offering.

(20) Cain and Abel are a case in point. Abel offered of the first-born of his sheep and of their fats, and Cain offered of the worst of the fruits of the earth, as we are told by our Sages of blessed memory (Bereshit Rabbah 22:5). What was the outcome? (Genesis 4:4,5), "And God gave heed to Abel and his gift, but to Cain and his gift He gave no heed." And (Malachi 1:14), "Cursed is the deceiver who has in his flock a male, but pledges and sacrifies an abomination to God ... for I am a great King."

(1) ואל קין ואל מנחתו לא שעה, but to Cain and to his offering G’d did not turn benevolently. His intention had not been good and pure; G’d does not need to accept gifts proffered reluctantly, as He is not in need of them. How did Cain find out that G’d had not looked with favor on his offering? He found out that Abel’s offering had been accepted, fire descending on it from heaven and consuming it. Nothing of that kind happened to Cain’s offering. This caused Cain dismay and anger and his face became downcast. The expression נפלו פניו, describes that someone feels insulted, depressed..

(2) ויאמר קין, Cain accused his brother of being the cause that G’d had rebuked him. As a result his anger had intensified. He did not attack Abel physically at that time as he was afraid of the reaction of his father. He kept his fury under control until the two of them were alone together in the field. This is when he killed him out of jealousy.