The Cain and Abel Conundrum
Genesis 4:1-16
Lewis Fry
Introduction
Tucked into 16 verses within the biblical book of
Genesis is a story about two brothers who both
presented offerings to God, yet were met with a very
different response. Why God responded as he did is
the conundrum I’ll attempt to examine with a simple
section-by-section commentary on the text itself,
which is provided in full. I hope it’s helpful.
Genesis 4:1-16
1 Now
Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived
and bore Cain, saying,
“I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.”
2 And
again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was
a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an
offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also
brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat
portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his
offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no
regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The
LORD said to Cain,
“Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If
you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do
not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is
for you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain
spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were
in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and
killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain,
“Where is Abel your brother?”
He said,
“I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
10 And
the LORD said,
“What have you done? The voice of your brother's
blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you
are cursed from the ground, which has opened its
mouth to receive your brother's blood from your
hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer
yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a
wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain
said to the LORD,
“My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold,
you have driven me today away from the ground, and
from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive
and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me
will kill me.”
15 Then
the LORD said to him,
“Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken
on him sevenfold.”
And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found
him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from
the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of
Nod, east of Eden.
Commentary
1 Now
Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived
and bore Cain, saying,
“I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.”
2 And
again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was
a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.
The first two verses provide simple but significant
background to the story that follows.
3 In
the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an
offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also
brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat
portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his
offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no
regard.
Here’s the central conundrum: why did God respond
to Abel and Cain as he did? It’s a conundrum because
the writer doesn’t explicitly tell us. What we can do is
pay careful attention to what the writer does tell us –
and see if that sheds any further light.
Here are some things worth noting:
 God’s response concerns the “offerer”, as well
as the offering
i.e., ‘the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, but
for Cain and his offering he had no regard.’
 The content of the offerings are different
The content of their offerings reflect their
occupations. As God has already twice affirmed the
importance of “working the ground” (Genesis 2:15;
3:23), it seems unlikely that God’s disregard of Cain
and his offering expresses a disregard for his
occupation.
 The quality of the offerings seem different
Whereas Cain simply brings ‘an offering of the fruit of
the ground’, Abel brings ‘the firstborn of his flock and
of their fat portions’. Whilst it may be lost on us, these
details are not insignificant. In Hebrew thought, the fat
of the animal was considered the best part - and
offering the firstborn of the flock (or the firstfruits of
the harvest) expressed one’s belief that God, as the
Creator, comes first.
Without an explicit explanation for God’s different
responses to the two brothers, we should be careful
about drawing any firm conclusions at this point. The
most we might say is that the quality of Cain’s
offering may well be significant, especially if it’s a
reflection on the condition of Cain’s heart.
So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD
said to Cain,
“Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If
you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do
not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is
for you, but you must rule over it.”
The following points are worth noting:
 Cain’s anger was intense
Elsewhere in Genesis, ‘very angry’ men are
consequently led to commit murder (Genesis 34:7).
Such an intense reaction certainly tells us something
significant about the condition of Cain’s heart.
However, the writer doesn’t state whether or not this
was the key factor in God’s response to him and his
prior offering.
 God challenges Cain’s anger
“Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?”
God challenges Cain on whether he is right to be angry
for the way God responded to him and his offering.
The implication is that God’s response was not
arbitrary or unfair.
 God clarifies the basis of gaining his acceptance
“Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If
you do well, will you not be accepted?”
God questions Cain’s anger in light of the fact that he
will be accepted if he ‘does well’. This suggests that
God’s response to Cain and his offering was not
arbitrary but linked to some shortcoming on Cain’s
part.
 Sin is identified as of central significance
“...if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door”
This comment lends greatest weight to the idea that
the condition of Cain’s heart was key to why God
didn’t show regard for Cain and his offering.
In Hebrew thought, sin isn’t purely about external
behaviour; rather, wrong external behaviour is
viewed as a symptom of the fact that we don’t love or
trust God as we should.
8 Cain
spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were
in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and
killed him. 9 Then the LORD said to Cain,
“Where is Abel your brother?”
He said,
“I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?”
Two points worth noting:
 Cain’s action reveals the condition of his heart
Though Abel has done him no harm of any kind, Cain
murders his brother, presumably motivated by
jealousy over God’s regard of him. He does this
despite God’s previous reassurance that Cain himself
will be accepted if he does what is right (4:7).
 Cain’s words reveal the condition of his heart
When God gives Cain a chance to confess what he has
done, he expresses no remorse, preferring instead to
lie defensively.
10 And
the LORD said,
“What have you done? The voice of your brother's
blood is crying to me from the ground. 11 And now you
are cursed from the ground, which has opened its
mouth to receive your brother's blood from your
hand. 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer
yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a
wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain
said to the LORD,
“My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold,
you have driven me today away from the ground, and
from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive
and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me
will kill me.”
15 Then
the LORD said to him,
“Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken
on him sevenfold.”
And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who found
him should attack him. 16 Then Cain went away from
the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of
Nod, east of Eden.
One final thing worth noting:
 God shows Cain grace
In keeping with the rest of the Bible, God takes sin
very seriously and (thus) punishes it – Cain’s murder is
not casually overlooked as if unimportant. Yet despite
this, amazing grace is shown to Cain in two ways.
Firstly, God is lenient. In Biblical thought, the
punishment our sin deserves is physical and spiritual
death – total separation from the good, life-giving God
who made us. Yet, though Cain did not spare his
(innocent) brother’s life, God graciously spares Cain’s.
Secondly, when Cain expresses despair over the
severity of his punishment (fearing men will treat him
less graciously than God), God swears to protect him
and then acts upon his promise.
Conclusion
Our original conundrum was caused by the fact that
the writer of Genesis 4 doesn’t explicitly tell us why
God responded to Cain and Abel as he did.
As such, it’s impossible to say with dogmatic
certainty what conclusion the writer expects us to
draw.
The evidence gleaned from what the writer does tell
us, however, seems to suggest that the condition of
Cain’s heart may have been a primary factor.
Contrary to the initial impression that God’s response
to Cain was arbitrary or unfair, what’s striking as the
story unfolds - and Cain’s true character comes to
light - is that (without casually overlooking Cain’s sin)
God shows considerable grace.
A Final Note
Notably, the justice and love of God – his insistence
on punishing evil and his desire to forgive it – are
themes running throughout the entire Bible. For
Christians, these seemingly irreconcilable themes
finally come together in the crucifixion of Jesus.
Hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, the prophet
Isaiah predicted that an innocent man would suffer
for the sins of others so that God could forgive them
without excusing their sins. Isaiah describes the man
he foresaw:
He was despised and rejected by men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief...
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was
crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the
punishment that brought us peace...
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned –
every one – to his own way; and the LORD has laid on
him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:3, 5-6
In Jesus’ death - which he claimed to be on behalf of
others (Mark 10:45; Matthew 26:26-28) - the justice
of God and the love of God come together. On the
one hand, the brutal and bloody execution Jesus
suffered startlingly shows how seriously God takes
sin. On the other hand, Jesus’ willingness to bear the
punishment our sins deserve – and God’s willingness
to send his beloved Son for that purpose – shows just
how unfathomably deep God’s grace really is.
As the New Testament puts it:
‘one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though
perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die
– but God shows his love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.’
Romans 5:7-8
So whilst Genesis 4 may, at first, seem something of a
conundrum, it’s themes point forwards to the “good
news” declared with passion in the New Testament:
that though, like Cain, we do not always “do well”
(and have no right to be accepted by God), God
graciously forgives, loves and accepts all those willing
to place their trust in his Son.
‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.’
John 3:16