In Book 4 of Genesis, Cain and Abel both offer fruits of their labor to God and God favors Abel’s offering over Cain’s. Cain becomes angry at God and acts upon his rage by killing Abel. His jealousy over his brother, attention seeking attitude, and cunning abilities give Cain the motivation to murder his brother, Abel.
Jealousy and anger are two of the factors that cause Cain to kill his brother. When God approves of Abel’s offering instead of both Cain and Abel’s, Cain becomes furious which God notices and scolds him to not do anything drastic. He states, “Why are you incensed, and why is your face fallen? For whether you offer well, or whether you do not, at the tent flap sin crouches and for you is its longing but you will rule over it,”
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He tries to get Cain to reveal the truth about killing his brother in cold blood. Cain plays coy and lies to God stating, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (98) When reading this exchange between them, it is clear that God wants Cain to accept the fact that he did the one thing that God warned him not to do. This angers God and he gets his revenge by placing a curse on Cain stating that he will become a restless wanderer and the soil from which he tills will fail him and not give him any food. This coincides with the previous curse that God placed on Adam …show more content…
When they eventually get to the field, the unthinkable happens and only one is left standing. He thought that when Abel was killed, and nobody was there to witness, he would be in the clear. I don’t believe that he counted on God stopping him and already knowing that he killed his brother. When it is stated that, “Cain rose against Abel his brother and killed him,” the picture in my head is of a man coming up behind his brother and striking him multiple times with either a rock or a tool used to till the soil and gather the plants (98). Another part of the story where Cain is cunning or tricks somebody is when God confronts Cain and by lying to God about the whereabouts of Abel. This goes to show that everything we do is noticed by God and horrible events never have a good