Knowing The Word in Genesis 4:8-12, Cain and Abel Part 2

8 Cain spoke to Abel his brother. [What is said is either unreported or deliberately left out.] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. [The first murder in human history is far worse than Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. It shows the growth of sin and violence in God’s “good” world. Being in the field shows there is premeditation. The word used for “killed” conveys ruthless violence by one person against another.] 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” [God is inviting Cain to acknowledge his responsibility.] He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” [This impertinent witticism could be paraphrased as “Am I the shepherd’s shepherd?” To keep a man is like a shepherd who has to watch his sheep continually. Cain’s outright denial demonstrates a greater hardness than that of Adam and Eve, who did confess to their sin.] 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. [Life is in the blood. See Lev 17:11. Shed blood is the most polluting of all substances. Unatoned-for murders pollute the land, making it unfit for divine presence. Because man is made in the image of God, homicide must be avenged (Gen 9:5), and here Abel’s blood is pictured as crying to God for vengeance.] 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. [Before, the serpent and the ground were cursed. Now Cain is cursed.] 12 When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” [Cain had tilled the land. He offered the fruit of the land. He gave the land his brother’s blood. Now from the land the blood cries out against him. The land will refuse him its fruit. Cain is driven from the land. His relationships with his parents (his family) and the Lord are broken.]