3.1.2 Gen. 4, 1 – 16: Cain and Abel

After the mutual seduction of the spouses to the sin now already the first  brother conflict follows which ends directly with a manslaughter. It is  terrible that this sin happens of all things still in the face of God, in the  cultic, religious area! 

God has the freedom to favor one person but not another (Ex. 33:19),  even though from our point of view it is considered to be “is perceived as “unjust. The great humanity riddle of inequality cannot  be solved. The difference of the people and the chances in their life still  grows with the division of the occupations, here already in the two  agrarian main directions agriculture and cattle breeding. The inequality  of chances is already expressed in the naming: Cain means translated:  lance, Abel is an allusion to הבל (hbl): Breath, nothingness. 

The 2nd half of the sentence of 4.1 is completely dark and is considered  in its literal sense as no longer explainable today. True to the letter  would be: “I have brought forth a man: Yahweh. ” The translation “with  the help of Yahweh”. (e.g. Luther Bible) is an obvious stopgap. Very interesting, but also not entirely unproblematic is the messianic interpretation by  Fruchtenbaum, p.17. 

Gen. 4 shows the image of man expelled from paradise: Sin has now  grown, man is restless and fleeting on earth. Land “Nod” means as  much as “fleeting” – the land of restlessness. The curse is followed then,  nevertheless by a certain protecting affection. Despite all punishment,  God’s mercy breaks through again and again in the Old Testament.