Cain and Abel: the First Murder
Two brothers bring offerings: Abel's is accepted, Cain's is not. In the field Cain kills his brother and becomes a wanderer.
The first children choose different lives: Cain works the soil, Abel keeps sheep. Cain is the first to think of bringing an offering—but brings simply "from the fruit of the ground", while Abel brings the firstborn and the choicest of his flock. The younger brother's gift is accepted, the elder's is not. God speaks to Cain almost gently: if you do well you will lift your head; if not, sin crouches at the door, its desire is toward you, but you can rule over it. This is the Torah's first statement of free will.
Cain does not listen. "And Cain said to Abel his brother"—the Torah never reports what; the next words are already about a field and a killing. Then: "Where is Abel your brother?" and the notorious reply, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The blood cries out from the ground. Cain is sentenced to wander, yet given a protective sign and settles in the land of Nod.
How we know
Sources
Tanakh
- Bereishit 4:1–17 — the offerings, the murder, “am I my brother’s keeper” and Kayin’s sentence
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Bereishit Rabbah 22:7 — three versions of what the brothers quarrelled about in the field
- Bereishit Rabbah 23:4 — Kayin’s line after the expulsion — where it went
- Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5 — “your brother’s bloods” in the plural: his descendants perished with him
Rishonim
- Rashi on Bereishit 4:3 — why Kayin’s offering was not accepted: “of the fruit” — the poorer part
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.