CAIN AND ABEL
Cain and Abel were the eldest sons of Adam and Eve, born after their expulsion from the Garden Eden. Cain, the elder, was the first human being to be born__ as opposed to being created__according to the Torah. Cain tilled the Earth while Abel was a shepherd, herding lambs.
One day, God asked Cain and Abel to each make a sacrifice to him. It is said that Abel thought very hard about what kind of sacrifice would make God happiest. He decided to sacrifice one of his precious lambs. Cain, on the other hand, thought only about what he needed least. He sacrificed some fruit and grain. God clearly preferred Abel’s sacrifice.
Cain quickly became jealous of his younger brother and murdeded him. When God came to look for Abel, he could not find him. He asked Cain where Abel was. Cain replied, “I”” don’t know, Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9)
After God realized what Cain had done, he punized him with a curse; he could no longer farm and had to wander for the rest of his life. Cain worried he would be harmed by people he met, so God placed a protective marking on him.
Besides the religious and moral lessons, the Cain and Abel story illustrates the historical conflict between people who were using the sparse fertile land for growing crops and those who were using it to raise livestock. A similar tale appereas in Sumerian culture about a beautiful goddess forced to choose between two suitors: a farmer god and a shephered god.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
1. The nature of the mark placed on Cain is not described. Some claim that it was a mark on his face or red hair. Still othe
rs argue that it was black skin, a theory later used to justify slavery.
2. On some Muslim version of the story, Abel is claimed to have offered no resistance while his brother murdered him and is seen as a symbol of pacifism.
Puzzle 