The first murder story in the bible is an infamous one. Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve, are in the heart of it. Why did Cain kill Abel? And what were the consequences? In today's episode, we answer those questions and discuss how everything about this tale is tied to the curse on Adamah, the ground, going back to the time of Adam and Eve in The Garden of Eden.
The story of Cain and Abel, told in the fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis, is the first murder story in the bible. It’s an infamous tale of contempt and jealousy between siblings, but many of us forget it’s more than just that.
The brothers’ story starts with two offerings. One from Abel, which God accepts. And one from Cain, which God rejects.
Why? Many over the centuries have theorized the reasons for this, from religious ones to cultural ones.
In this week’s episode of The Bible You Thought You Knew, we discuss all of them, and explore a new theory - the role of the ground, Adamah, in the the bible, and how a curse on it affected Cain and Abel’s faith.
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Additional resources
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For more reading, check out my book The Faith of the Outsider: Exclusion and Inclusion in the Biblical Story!