Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets: And Other Old Testament Characters from Various SourcesBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets: And Other Old Testament Characters from Various Sources
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Bible. Old Testament -- Legends
Leonhard Marius on Genesis iv. says, “As to what instrument Cain used,
Scripture is silent. Chrysostom calls it a sword; Prudentius, a spade;
Irenæus, an axe; Isidore says simply, steel; but artists generally
paint a club, and Abulensis thinks he was killed with stones.” Reuchlin
thinks, as iron was not discovered till the times of Tubal-cain, the
weapon must have been made of wood, and he points out how much more
this completes the type of Christ.[117]
Cain and Abel had been born and had lived with Adam in the land of
Adamah; but after Cain slew his brother, he was cast out into the
land Erez, and wherever he went, swords sounded and flashed as though
thirsting to smite him. And he fled that land and came to Acra, where
he had children, and his descendants who live there to this day have
two heads.[118]
Before Cain slew his brother, says the Targum of Jerusalem, the earth
brought forth fruits as the fruits of Eden; but from the day that blood
was spilt upon it, thistles and thorns sprang up; for the face of earth
grew sad, its joy was gone, the stain was on its brow.
Abel’s offering had been of the fattest of his sheep, the Targum adds,
but Cain offered flax.[119]
Abel’s offering, say certain Rabbis, was not perfect; for he offered
the chief part to God, but the remainder he dedicated to the Devil;
and Cain offered the chief part to Satan, and only the remainder to
God.[120]
The Rabbi Johanan said, Cain exclaimed when accused by God of the
murder, “My iniquity is greater than I can bear,” and this is supposed
to mean, “My iniquity is too great to be atoned for, except by my
brother rising from the earth and slaying me.” What did the Holy One
then? He took one letter of the twenty-two which are in the Law, and
He wrote it on the arm of Cain, as it is written, “He put a mark upon
him.”[121]
After Abel was slain, the dog which had kept his sheep guarded his
body, says the Midrash. Adam and Eve sat beside it and wept, and knew
not what to do. Then said a raven whose friend was dead, “I will teach
Adam a lesson,” and he dug a hole in the soil and laid his friend there
and covered him up. And when Adam saw this, he said to Eve, “We will
do the same with Abel.” God rewarded the raven for this by promising
that none should ever injure his young, that he should always have
meat in abundance, and that his prayer for rain should be immediately
answered.[122]
But the Rabbi Johanan taught that Cain buried his brother to hide what
he had done from the eye of God, not knowing that God can see even the
most secret things.[123]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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