- 'Verbal echoes' of know, till, drive out & ground
- Similar narrative sequence: brief description of an offence; pointed questions from God; curses which focus on the ground, God's given items to the offenders; banishment of the transgressors to east of Eden.
All of which tells us that the story of Cain and Abel is heavily linked with the story of Adam and Eve
Turner refers repeatedly to the commission of 1:28 and its modification by the curses of 3:14-19, they provide a conext, or shadow in which to see the rest of this story and the rest of the book of Genesis and we see the man and woman and their offspring carrying out the commission.
He also claims it is ironic that:
- the man 'knows' the woman after having 'known' good and evil
- they procreate new life after having been barred from the tree of life
This a story about brothers, the word is repeated so much it is overused unless the intention is to emphasise this point
The difference between the two brothers in terms of their offering to God is emphasised through Chiasm
This is the first instance of the recurring motif (throughout Genesis) of the preferement of the younger over the older (could this be a compensation or consolation provided by a society - through its folklore - to counter the greater economic status of the eldest son - if it is there are no equivalent displays of anxiety or consciense expressed through Genesis (or the Hebrew Bible) about the lack of status accorded to daughters, whether oldest or not.)
Is Eve's cry in 4.1 sinful? Turner suggests that it should be translated 'I have created a man as well as the Lord' instead of the NRSV/NIV translation 'with the help of the Lord', or 'By the Lord's help I have acquired a son' (Good News); 'I have gotten a man with Yahweh's help' (WEB); 'I have gotten a man with the help of Jehovah' (ASV); 'I have gotten a man from the Lord' (KJV)
Assonance is used to relate the name Cain (קַיִן) to acquired/produced/created (קָנִיתִי)
Abel (הֶבֶל) means breath/shadow, the fact that the name is given by the narrator not Eve is 'an ominous foreshadowing of his role in the story'
Cain's offering is rejected because of it has no 'firstlings' which corresponds to the recurring prhase 'first fruits' (Turner suggests Exodus 23:19; 34;26; Lev.2:14 - this is a case where a Christian reader is bound to include 1Corinthians 15:20; Romans 11:16; 16:5; James 1:18)
According to Turner the fact that Cain is unable to master the sin that rules over him calls into question whether the man will be able to rule over the woman.
The fact that sin has a desire for Cain suggests that it is a personified power, an external force like the serpent but also parasitic
The fact that we are given no motive for Cain's murder of Abel is an example of a device used elsewhere in Hebrew literature (no examples given) whereby witheld information grabs and sustains the reader's interest (isn't it strongly implied that the motive is jealousy and bitterness at God's favour towards Abel?)
The Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have "Let's go out to the field" in 4: 8
Turner is struck by the lack of conscience or remorse displayed by Cain, along with arrogance and defiance. Even when he pleads with God it is because of his punishment not his crime. His use of the previous motifs 'knowing' and 'guarding/keeping' in the phrase 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?' emphasises his callousness.
Turner considers that he fears being killed by Adam or Eve since there is no one else yet extant to exact revenge on him, but this seems odd in the context of him being 'a wanderer on the earth', a phrase which seems to suggest he will come into contact with people (perhaps not chosen people?) out in the land beyond Eden. (Also revenge is not mentioned as a reason forr someone to kill him, simply being a stranger 'away from home' is perhaps reason enough )Just as chronology is previously sacrificed for structural symmetry so it may be unnecessary or undesirable to keep within the strict chronological logic which would say that at that time these are the only other people alive. Does this verse betray two incompatible ideas operating in the same narrative - that the garden of Eden is the beginning of all humanity/that it is only the beginning of some people (e.g. the israelite/jews/semites depending on how narrowly you interpret this.)
The previous curse was focused on the ground, now it switches from the ground to the offender: The man was told 'Cursed is the ground because of you' whereas Cain is told 'Cursed are you from the ground'
"The mark (of Cain) announces his guilt and his safety (Brueggemann 1982: 160) in much the same way that Yahweh's gift of clothes to the human couple are reminders of their offence yet also of Yahweh's grace."
The land of Nod (נוֹד)is a verbal echo of Nad (וָנָד) which means 'wanderer'
"Yet his situation could be worse. Despite his banishment, Cain is a man who stands simultaneously under the condemnation and protection of God" Compare with Esau and Jacob (27:41-28:9)
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