"Where is thy brother Abel"
Reading through this passage there was a line that peaked my interest. God asks Cain "Where is thy brother Abel?"(Genesis, chapter 4, passage 9). Why did God ask this when he clearly knew what happened as seen a passage later when God says "What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth?"(Genesis, chapter 4, passage 10) Another question that I asked is why would Cain lie to God when he knows that God knows everything. It's similar to how Adam and Eve tried to hide from God when God came looking for them after they ate the forbidden fruit.
I found a commentary on the Old Testament called Rashi that gave me an idea as to why God asked the question and that was to give Cain a chance to repent for his actions. Cain clearly knew that what he did was wrong, otherwise he wouldn't have answered God by saying "I know not: am I my brothers keeper?" (Genesis, chapter 4, passage 9) The actions that Cain and his parents did were clearly wrong, but they're punishments probably wouldn't have been so severe if they hadn't also tried to trick God. It was also probably worse for Cain because he didn't learn from the mistakes of his parents, although I'm not actually sure which punishment could be considered worse. Overall I think that there are multiple lessons to be learned here about honesty, apologies, and not killing people.
References
"BibleGateway." Genesis 4 DRA - - Bible Gateway. Accessed February 13, 2018. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2B4&version=DRA.
What's Bothering Rashi. Accessed February 13, 2018. http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/bonchek/archives/bereishis65.htm
I found a commentary on the Old Testament called Rashi that gave me an idea as to why God asked the question and that was to give Cain a chance to repent for his actions. Cain clearly knew that what he did was wrong, otherwise he wouldn't have answered God by saying "I know not: am I my brothers keeper?" (Genesis, chapter 4, passage 9) The actions that Cain and his parents did were clearly wrong, but they're punishments probably wouldn't have been so severe if they hadn't also tried to trick God. It was also probably worse for Cain because he didn't learn from the mistakes of his parents, although I'm not actually sure which punishment could be considered worse. Overall I think that there are multiple lessons to be learned here about honesty, apologies, and not killing people.
References
"BibleGateway." Genesis 4 DRA - - Bible Gateway. Accessed February 13, 2018. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2B4&version=DRA.
What's Bothering Rashi. Accessed February 13, 2018. http://www.shemayisrael.com/parsha/bonchek/archives/bereishis65.htm
I think that God is portrayed as merciful in this interpretation of Cain and Abel. You are right to assume that God is giving Cain a redeeming chance and confess to God—it seems that this family has a lot of trust issues. Going forward I wonder if there is any evidence in Genesis of Adam telling Cain and Abel there morals, or if that is just in the Cain and Abel play.
ReplyDeleteI interpreted "Where is thy brother Abel?" as God asking Cain to tell him what happened, then hearing the fate of Abel from Earth's cries, and proceeding to punish Cain after learning what he had done. However, maybe God wanted to see if Cain would tell the truth so that he could judge his character and hear Cain's reason for murdering Abel.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of your question about Cain lying, I think this idea can be extended to why people lie in general. Even though I knew my mom would find out I lost her earrings, I would lie simply because I don't want to take responsibility for my actions.