Modern scholars typically view the stories of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel to be about the development of civilization during the age of agriculture not the beginnings of man, but when people first learned agriculture, replacing the ways of the hunter-gatherer. Some scholars suggest the pericope may have been based on a Sumerian story representing the conflict between nomadic shepherds and settled farmers. Abel, the first murder victim, is sometimes seen as the first martyr while Cain, the first murderer, is sometimes seen as an ancestor of evil. Cain and Abel also appear in a number of other texts, and the story is the subject of various interpretations. The oldest known copy of the biblical narrative is from the Dead Sea Scrolls, and dates to the first century BCE. This theory would make the names descriptive of their roles, where Abel works with livestock, and Cain with agriculture-and would parallel the names Adam ( אדם, ‘dm, 'man') and Eve ( חוה, ḥwh, 'life-giver'). Cain ( qyn) is thought to be cognate to the mid-1st millennium BCE South Arabian word qyn, meaning ' metalsmith'. Abel ( hbl) is thought to derive from a reconstructed word meaning 'herdsman', with the modern Arabic cognate ibil now specifically referring only to 'camels'.
It has been proposed that the etymology of their names may be a direct pun on the roles they take in the Genesis narrative. ^ 4:10–12 – Cain is cursed min-ha-adamah, from the earth, being the same root as "man" and Adam.Ĭain and Abel are traditional English renderings of the Hebrew names.^ 4:9 – the phrase traditionally translated "am I my brother's keeper?" is Hebrew "Hă-šōmêr 'āḥî 'ānōḵî?" "Keeper" is from the verb shamar (שמר), "guard, keep, watch, preserve.".^ 4:8 – "Let us go out to the field" does not appear in the Masoretic Text, but is found in other versions including the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch.^ 4:2 – Abel's name could be associated with "vapor" or "puff of air".The name "Cain", which means "smith", resembles the verb translated as "gotten" but also possibly meaning "to make". ^ 4:1 – The Hebrew verb "knew" implies intimate or sexual knowledge, along with possession.Then he became the builder of a city and he called the name of the city like his son's name, Enoch.
And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch. Now that You have driven me this day from the soil I must hide from Your presence, I shall be a restless wanderer on the earth and whoever finds me will kill me." And the Lord said to him, "Therefore whoever kills Cain shall suffer sevenfold vengeance." And the Lord set a mark upon Cain so that whoever found him would not slay him.Īnd Cain went out from the Lord's presence and dwelled in the land of Nod east of Eden. A restless wanderer shall you be on the earth." And Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is too great to bear. If you till the soil, it will no longer give you strength. And so, cursed shall you be by the soil that gaped with its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand.
And the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother? And he said, "I do not know: am I my brother's keeper?" And He said, "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil. And Cain said to Abel his brother, "Let us go out to the field," and when they were in the field Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him.