Tag: Cain & Abel

• Cain and Abel – A Different Slant

  Why, in Genesis 4, does this strangely ambiguous and shockingly bloodthirsty story make its appearance, about the two brothers Cain and Abel? Cain was not, of course, a historical person but an invention, a character in a story intended to portray something ‘true to life’. Needing to find him a name, the storyteller came up […]

  calgacus83

  5th Apr 2022

  Christianity, Hebrew Bible, Literature, Mythology, Old Testament, Poetry, Religion

  Cain & Abel, Farmer v Herder, Genesis, Guilt, Murder, Myth, Oklahoma, Rogers & Hammerstein, Yahweh

• Cain and Abel (ii) My Brother’s Keeper

  In the previous post, we saw how Yahweh’s rejection of Cain’s offering was the trigger for red-hot anger. This bottled-up anger was suddenly and catastrophically poured out on his brother Abel. The Greek Septuagint version of this story adds a detail missing from the Hebrew Bible’s account – that Cain said to his brother, “Let’s […]

  calgacus83

  9th May 2021

  Hebrew Bible, Literature, Mythology, Old Testament, Poetry, Religion

  Cain & Abel, Human Family, Human Flaws, Murder, Myth, Spirituality

• Cain and Abel (i) The Crouching Beast

  I’m glad to have studied Biblical Hebrew, though it’s rustier with the passing years. It helps me see things in a different way. At the beginning of Genesis 4, Adam’s wife Eve, having given birth to a son, says something that’s translatable in different ways. The literal reading of the Hebrew is, “I’ve acquired/created (canah) […]

  calgacus83

  7th May 2021

  Hebrew Bible, Literature, Mythology, Old Testament, Poetry, Religion

  Adam & Eve, Anger, Cain & Abel, Feelings, Genesis, God