Cain and Abel: The Choices They Did Not Make

Finding God in the Garden: Backyard Reflections on Life, Love, and Compost
By Rabbi Balfour Brickner

(Page 5 of 6)

The Bible's early emphasis on humanity's free will appears again in the fratricidal tragedy found in chapter 4 of Genesis: the Cain and Abel story. No sooner were Adam and Eve out of the garden than Eve became pregnant - first with Cain and then with Abel. Never were there more mismatched brothers than these two.

"Abel became a keeper of sheep and Cain became a tiller of the soil" (Gen. 4:2). Enmity between farmer and shepherd is as old as human settlement. It is likely that this story of fraternal hate was included by the biblical writers to champion the rights of the shepherd over the rights of the farmer. The "school" that wrote this legend came from the southern mountainous section of ancient Canaan, where shepherding was the primary way of life and remained so until very recent times. As a young child living with my family for a year in what was then known as Palestine, I frequently saw herds of goats and sheep moving through the landscape of our community just south of Jerusalem. Shepherding was the way of life for the Bedouin who freely traveled that countryside.

The story of Cain and Abel is well known. They seem never to have lived in peace with each other. A ritual act brought matters to a head. Both offered sacrifices to their Deity. Abel's was accepted (the sign of that acceptance is not given us), Cain's rejected. Cain was furious.

God asked Cain, "Why are you angry?" (Gen. 4:6), as if the Eternal One did not know. But God did know, even as God probably knew what Cain was about to do. God did all that could be done to prevent what the Eternal saw coming.

And the Lord said to Cain: why are you angry? And why is your face fallen? If you do well, shall it not be lifted up? And if you do not well, sin crouches at the door and unto you is its desire, but thou mayest rule over it. Gen. 4:7 (italics added)

The Hebrew words are "v'atah timshal ba." The construction of the language is telling.

Not only did the author John Steinbeck see the nuances here, but he built his entire novel East of Eden on understanding the powerful meaning of this fragment of conversation. Steinbeck rejected the translation of the phrase as found in the American Standard Version of the Bible - "Do thou rule over it" - which makes it an order, not what the text implies. Similarly, he rejected the King James translation of these words: "Thou shalt rule over him." This, he observed, is a promise that Cain would conquer sin. But the original text makes no such promise.

Steinbeck came to see the real meaning of the original Hebrew, and he put the explanation in the mouth of his character Lee, the Chinese cook and intellectual hero of East of Eden:

"Don't you see?" he cried. "The American Standard translation orders men to triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation makes a promise in 'Thou shalt,' meaning that men will surely triumph over sin. But the Hebrew word, the word timshel - 'Thou mayest' - that gives a choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That throws it right back on a man. For if 'Thou mayest' - it is also true that 'Thou mayest not.' Don't you see?"…

"…Now, there are many millions in their sects and churches who feel the order, 'Do thou,' and throw their weight into obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in 'Thou shalt.' Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But 'Thou mayest'! Why, that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win… It cuts the feet from under weakness and cowardliness and laziness."…

"…I feel that a man is a very important thing - maybe more important than a star. That is not theology. I have no bent toward gods. But I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never destroyed - because 'Thou mayest.'" The use of the word may conveys exactly what the biblical writers wanted to say to their readers: we are given free will to choose the course of our behavior. Just imagine this exchange between God and Cain: "Cain! Whoa! Wait a minute. Think about what you are doing. You're angry now, but you don't have to kill Abel. Put down the weapon in your hand. Cool off a minute. Think it over. The sin of anger crouches at the door of your will. It tempts you, but wait, you can control it. You may rule over it. You are better than your present anger." That was all God could do or say.

Poor Cain! He probably could not even hear God at this moment. With adrenaline pumping through his entire being, maybe it was too much to expect Cain to step back. In any event, he didn't. With some instrument (the Bible does not tell us what kind), he killed Abel. God cried out, "Where is your brother? What have you done? Your brother's blood cries out to me" (Gen. 4:10). Immediately, Cain was overwhelmed with remorse and self-pity: "You have banished me this day from the soil and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on earth" (Gen. 4:14).

God and Cain no longer saw each other. Their faces were hidden from each other. How graphically accurate is this image. The moment we choose badly, act stupidly, hurt one another, we blind ourselves not only to one another but also to all that the word Divinity might mean in our lives.

Copyright © 2002 by Rabbi Balfour Brickner

About the Author

BALFOUR BRICKNER has been a rabbi for half a century and still he lives to tell the tale. His career began in Washington, DC where he was the founding rabbi of Temple Sinai, a congregation he built and served for a decade. In 1961 he moved to New York City to join the national executive staff of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the central organization of Reform Judaism.