The Book of Beginnings

Studies in Genesis

Lesson 23 : Genesis 4:1-2 – First Paragraph: The Birth and Occupations of Cain and Abel / Genesis 4:3-8 – Second Paragraph: The Story of the Murder

SECTION THREE: THE STORY OF CAIN AND ABEL (Gen 4:1-26) – A DEPARTURE FROM RABBI CASSUTO’S LAYOUT – THE UNITY OF GENESIS 4 – ADAM ‘KNEW’ EVE – DID EVE CONSIDER HERSELF CO-CREATOR, PUTTING HERSELF ON A PAR WITH YAHWEH AS CREATOR? – DID EVE BELIEVE SHE WAS MERELY FULFILLING HER DIVINELY ASSIGNED ROLE ‘WITH THE HELP OF THE LORD’? – DID EVE THINK THE PROPHECY OF GEN 3:15 HAD BEEN FULFILLED? – Vv. 2-5 ARE THREE CHIASTIC SENTENCES – TO THE LORD – WHY DID THE LORD REJECT CAIN’S OFFERING? – ABEL THE RIGHTEOUS ONE VS ‘THE WAY OF CAIN’ – HOW DID CAIN AND ABEL KNOW THE LORD’S REACTION TO THEIR OFFERINGS? – SIN WILL ENSLAVE – AN INCOMPLETE SENTENCE – THE DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSLATING v. 7