View source for Cain and Abel

{{Short description|First two sons of Adam and Eve}}
{{About|the first and second sons of Adam and Eve}}
{{pp-pc}}
[[File:Peter Paul Rubens - Cain slaying Abel (Courtauld Institute).jpg|thumb|''Cain slaying Abel'', by [[Peter Paul Rubens]], {{c.|1600}}]]

In the biblical [[Book of Genesis]], [[Cain]]{{efn|{{IPAc-en|k|eɪ|n}}; {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebr|קַיִן}}|Qayīn}}, in [[pausa]] {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|קָיִן}}|Qāyīn|label=none}}; {{langx|grc|Κάϊν|Káïn}}; {{langx|ar|قابيل/قايين|Qābīl / Qāyīn}}}} and [[Abel]]{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|b|əl}}; {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebr|הֶבֶל}}|Heḇel}}, in [[pausa]] {{langx|hbo|{{Script/Hebrew|הָבֶל}}|Hāḇel|label=none}}; {{langx|grc|Ἅβελ|Hábel}}; {{langx|ar|هابيل|Hābīl}}}} are the first two sons of [[Adam and Eve]].{{sfn|Schwartz|Loebel-Fried|Ginsburg|2004|p=447}} Cain, the firstborn, was a [[agriculture|farmer]], and his brother Abel was a [[shepherd]]. The brothers made [[sacrifice]]s, each from his own fields, to [[God]]. God had regard for Abel's offering, but had no regard for Cain's. Cain killed Abel and God cursed Cain, sentencing him to a life of transience. Cain then dwelt in the [[land of Nod]] ({{Langx|hbo|נוֹד|label=none|lit=wandering}}), where he built a city and fathered the line of descendants beginning with [[Enoch (son of Cain)|Enoch]].

The New Testament [[Epistle to the Hebrews]]  interprets Abel’s sacrifice as more acceptable than Cain’s because it was offered in faith, earning Abel God’s approval. In the [[Quran|Qur'an]], Cain and Abel are known as '''Qābīl''' ({{langx|ar|قابيل}}) and '''Hābīl''' ({{lang|ar|هابيل}}), respectively. In Islamic tradition, the story of Cain and Abel portrays Cain as the first [[Murder|murderer]] driven by [[jealousy]] and lust, guided by [[Satan|the devil]], and punished with guilt and disgrace, with some scholars debating the identity and motives of the brothers. In the [[Sethianism|Sethian]] ''[[Apocryphon of John]]'', Cain and Abel are [[Archon|Archons]], children of the [[Demiurge]] [[Yaldabaoth]], named [[Yahweh]] and [[Elohim]] but called Cain and Abel to deceive. 

The story of Cain and Abel is widely interpreted in academic biblical scholarship as a symbolic tale reflecting early [[Agriculture|agricultural]] society’s tensions—such as those between [[Nomad|nomadic]] [[Herder|herders]] and settled [[Farmer|farmers]]—and may draw from the older [[Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian]] myth ''[[Enlil|Enlil Chooses the Farmer-God]].''  Cain and Abel have become enduring cultural symbols of [[fratricide]] and [[Sibling rivalry|sibling conflict]], referenced and reinterpreted across art, literature, theater, music, and film from [[Middle Ages|medieval]] times to modern [[popular culture]]. 

==Genesis narrative==
[[File:Cain leadeth abel to death tissot.jpg|thumb|''Cain leadeth Abel to death'', by [[James Tissot]], {{circa|1900}}]]

The story of [[Cain]]'s murder of Abel and its consequences is told in Genesis 4:1–18:<ref>[[Robert Alter|Alter, Robert]], trans. 2008. "Genesis 4." In ''The Five Books of Moses''. p. 29.</ref>

{{blockquote|Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the Lord."<ref group="lower-roman">4:1 – The Hebrew verb "knew" implies intimate or sexual knowledge, along with possession. The name "Cain", which means "smith", resembles the verb translated as "gotten" but also possibly meaning "to make". (Alter 2008:29).</ref> Next she bore his brother Abel.<ref group="lower-roman">4:2 – Abel's name could be associated with "vapor" or "puff of air". (Alter 2008:29).</ref> Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.  In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain, 
{{Poem quote|text="Why are you angry, 
and why has your countenance fallen?  
If you do well, 
will you not be accepted? 
And if you do not do well, 
sin is lurking at the door; 
its desire is for you, 
but you must master it."|char=|sign=|title=|source=}}

Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field."<ref group="lower-roman">4:8 – "Let us go out to the field" does not appear in the [[Masoretic Text]], but is found in other versions including the Septuagint and [[Samaritan Pentateuch]].</ref>  And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"<ref group="lower-roman">4:9 – the phrase traditionally translated "am I my brother's keeper?" is Hebrew {{transliteration|hbo|"Hă-šōmêr 'āḥî 'ānōḵî?"}}. "Keeper" is from the verb {{transliteration|hbo|shamar}} ({{lang|hbo|שמר}}), 'guard, keep, watch, preserve.'</ref> And the Lord said, "What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.<ref group="lower-roman">4:10–12 – Cain is cursed {{transliteration|hbo|min-ha-adamah}}, from the earth, being the same root as "man" and Adam.</ref> When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me."  Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him.

Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch.|[[Book of Genesis]], 4:1–18<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|4:1–18}}</ref>}} 

=== Translation notes ===
{{Reflist|35em|group=lower-roman}}

== Origins ==

=== Context of the story ===
Abel, the first murder victim, is sometimes seen as the first [[martyr]], while Cain, the first murderer, is sometimes seen as an ancestor of [[evil]]. Some scholars suggest the [[pericope]] may have been based on a [[Sumer]]ian story representing the conflict between nomadic shepherds and settled farmers.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} Modern scholars typically view the stories of [[Adam and Eve]] and Cain and Abel to be about the development of civilization during the age of agriculture; not the beginnings of man, but when people first learned [[agriculture]], replacing the ways of the [[hunter-gatherer]].{{sfn|Kugel|1998|pp=54–57}} It has also been seen as a depiction of [[nomadic conflict]], the struggle for land and resources (and divine favour) between [[Pastoralism|nomadic herders]] and [[Sedentism|sedentary farmers]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1831/cain--abel/|title=Cain & Abel|website=World History Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/cain-abel-reflects-bronze-age-rivalry|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210314151117/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/cain-abel-reflects-bronze-age-rivalry|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 14, 2021|title=Cain and Abel's clash may reflect ancient Bronze Age rivalries|date=April 10, 2019 |website=National Geographic}}</ref>

The academic theologian [[Joseph Blenkinsopp]] holds that Cain and Abel are symbolic rather than real.{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|2011|p=2}} Like almost all of the persons, places and stories in the [[primeval history]] (the first eleven chapters of Genesis), they are mentioned nowhere else in the [[Hebrew Bible]], a fact that for some scholars suggests that the history is a late composition attached to Genesis to serve as an introduction.{{sfn|Sailhamer|2010|p=301}} The date is also disputed: the history may be as late as the [[Hellenistic period]] (first decades of the 4th century BCE){{sfn|Gmirkin|2006|pp=240–41}} or as early as the 9th-8th centuries BCE,{{sfn|Hendel|2012|p=63}} but the high level of Babylonian myth behind its stories has led others to date it to the [[Babylonian exile]] (6th century BCE).{{sfn|Gmirkin|2006|p=6}}{{sfn|Kugler|Hartin|2009|pp=53–54}} A prominent Mesopotamian parallel to Cain and Abel is ''[[Enlil#Enlil Chooses the Farmer-God|Enlil Chooses the Farmer-God]]'',{{sfn|Kramer|1961|page=49}} in which the shepherd-god [[Emesh]] and the farmer-god [[Enten]] bring their dispute over which of them is better to the chief god [[Enlil]],{{sfn|Kramer|1961|pages=50–51}} who rules in favor of Enten (the farmer).{{sfn|Kramer|1961|page=51}}

== Christian interpretation ==
{{Main|Cain|Abel}}
{{expand section|date=May 2021}}
{{Religious text primary|section|date=July 2023}}

[[Authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews|The author]] of the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]], in [[Hebrews 11]]:4, makes a brief reference to the Cain and Abel story:

{{blockquote|By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain's. Through this he received approval as righteous, God himself giving approval to his gifts; he died, but through his faith he still speaks.|Hebrews 11:4, [[New Revised Standard Version]] Updated Edition<ref>{{bibleverse|Hebrews|11:4|NRSVUE}}</ref>}}

==Islamic interpretation==
{{Main|Cain and Abel in Islam|Al-Ma'ida}}
[[File:Berlin, Pertsch Persisch 1016 fol 17v Islamic Cain carrying dead Abel.jpg|thumb|Islamic illustration of Cain carrying his murdered brother, Abel, to hide his body from God from a [[Qisas al-Anbiya|''Stories of the Prophets'']] manuscript.]]
The story of Cain and Abel appears in the [[Quran 5:27–31]]:<ref>{{cite web|author=Abel |url=http://corpus.quran.com/concept.jsp?id=abel |title=Abel - Ontology of Quranic Concepts from the Quranic Arabic Corpus |publisher=Corpus.quran.com |access-date=2015-12-17}}</ref>

{{blockquote|[Prophet], tell them the truth about the story of Adam's two sons: each of them offered a sacrifice, and it was accepted from one and not the other. One said, 'I will kill you,' but the other said, 'God only accepts the sacrifice of those who are mindful of Him. If you raise your hand to kill me, I will not raise mine to kill you. I fear God, the Lord of all worlds, and I would rather you were burdened with my sins as well as yours and became an inhabitant of the Fire: such is the evildoers' reward.' But his soul prompted him to kill his brother: he killed him and became one of the losers. God sent a raven to scratch up the ground and show him how to cover his brother's corpse and he said, 'Woe is me! Could I not have been like this raven and covered up my brother's body?' He became remorseful.|The Quran, translated by [[Muhammad Abdel-Haleem]]|title=|source=}}

The story of Cain and Abel has been used as a deterrent from murder in Islamic tradition. [[Abdullah ibn Mas'ud]] reported that [[Muhammad]] said in a ''[[hadith]]'':<ref>[[Sahih Bukhari]] and [[Sahih Muslim]]</ref>

{{blockquote|No soul is wrongfully killed except that some of the burden falls upon the son of Adam, for he was the first to establish the practice of murder.}}

Muslim scholars were divided on the motive for Cain's murder of Abel, and why the brothers were obliged to offer sacrifices to God. Some scholars believed that Cain's motives were jealousy and lust. Both Cain and Abel desired to marry their sister, Adam's beautiful daughter, [[Aclima]] (Arabic: {{transliteration|ar|Aqlimia'}}). Seeking to end the dispute, Adam suggested that each present an offering to God. The one whose offering God accepted would marry Aclima. Abel, a generous shepherd, offered the fattest of his sheep as an [[oblation]] to God. But Cain, a miserly farmer, offered only a bunch of grass and some worthless seeds. God accepted Abel's offering and rejected Cain's—an indication that Abel was more righteous than Cain, and thus worthier of Aclima. As a result, it was decided that Abel would marry Aclima. Cain would marry her less beautiful sister. Blinded by anger and lust for Aclima, Cain sought to get revenge on Abel and escape with Aclima.<ref>[[Ibn Kathir]]. "Surat [[Al-Ma'ida]]." In ''Tafsir al-Qur'an al-adhim'' [''Interpretation of the Holy Qur'an''].</ref><ref name=Benslama189>{{cite book |last=Benslama |first=Fethi |year=2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fkwkp86_ir0C&q=offered+grass&pg=PA189 |title=Psychoanalysis and the Challenge of Islam |publisher=U of Minnesota Press |isbn=978-0816648887 |page=189}}</ref>

According to another tradition, the [[devil in Islam|devil]] appeared to Cain and instructed him how to exact revenge on Abel. "Hit Abel's head with a stone and kill him," whispered the devil to Cain. After the murder, the devil hurried to [[Eve]] shouting: "Eve! Cain has murdered Abel!"  Eve did not know what murder was or how death felt. She asked, bewildered and horrified, "Woe to you! What is murder?"  "He [Abel] does not eat. He does not drink. He does not move [That is what murder and death are]," answered the Devil. Eve burst into tears and started to wail madly. She ran to Adam and tried to tell him what happened. However, she could not speak because she could not stop wailing. Since then, women wail broken-heartedly when a loved one dies.<ref>Adapted from Ibn Abul-Hatim's narrative in ''Tafsir al-Qur'an al-adhim'' and ''[[Tafsir al-Tabari]]'', Surat [[Al-Ma'ida]]</ref> A different tradition narrates that while Cain was quarreling with Abel, the devil killed an animal with a stone in Cain's sight to show him how to murder Abel.<ref name="ReferenceA">''Tafsir al-Qur'an al-adhim'' and ''[[Tafsir al-Tabari]]'', Surat Al Ma'ida</ref>

After burying Abel and escaping from his family, Cain married and had children. They died in Noah's flood among tyrants and unbelievers.<ref>''The Beginning and the End'', [[Ibn Kathir]] – Volume I</ref>

Some Muslim scholars puzzled over the mention of offerings in the narrative of Cain and Abel. Offerings and sacrifices were ordained only after the revelation of {{transliteration|ar|[[Tawrat]]}} to [[Moses in Islam]]. This suggested to some scholars, such as [[Said ibn al-Musayyib|Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib]], that the sons of Adam, as mentioned in the Quran, are actually two Israelites, not Cain and Abel.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

== Sethian interpretation ==
In the [[Apocryphon of John]], a work used in [[Sethianism]], Cain and Abel are [[Archon (Gnosticism)|Archons]], being the offspring of the lesser god or [[Demiurge#Gnosticism|Demiurge]] called [[Yaldabaoth]], placed over the elements of fire, wind, water and earth. In this narrative their true names are [[Yahweh]] and [[Elohim]], but they are given their earthly names as a form of deception.<ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Marvin Meyer]]|author2=[[Willis Barnstone]]|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]]|chapter=The Secret Book of John|url=http://gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn-meyer.html|date=June 30, 2009|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Gnosticism - Apocryphon of John|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/gnosticism/Apocryphon-of-John|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref>

== Legacy and symbolism ==

[[File:Cain and Abel. Plaster cast after bronze (1425-1438 CE) by Jacopo Della Quercia (1374-1483 CE), Bologna, Italy. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|Cain and Abel. Plaster cast after bronze (1425–1438) by Jacopo Della Quercia (1374–1438), Bologna, Italy. National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh]]
[[File:Cain and Abel, 15th century.jpg|thumb|right|Cain and Abel, 15th-century German depiction from {{lang|la|[[Speculum Humanae Salvationis]]}}]]
[[File:Titian - Cain and Abel.JPG|thumb|''Cain and Abel'', 16th-century painting by [[Titian]]]]

[[Allusion]]s to Cain and Abel as an [[archetype]] of [[fratricide]] appear in numerous references and retellings, through [[medieval art]] and [[Shakespeare]]an works up to present day fiction.{{sfn|Byron|2011|p=93}}

The [[serpent seed]] explanation for Cain being capable of murder is that he may have been the offspring of a [[fallen angel]] or [[Satan]] himself, rather than being from Adam.<ref name="Ginzberg">Louis Ginzberg, [https://books.google.com/books?id=Jv-pv47G5ZsC&pg=PA75 ''The Legends of the Jews'', Vol. 1], [[Johns Hopkins University Press]], 1998, {{ISBN|0-8018-5890-9}}, pp. 105–09</ref>{{sfn|Luttikhuizen|2003|p=vii}}{{sfn|Byron|2011|pp=15–19}}

A treatise on [[Hermeticism|Christian Hermeticism]], ''[[Meditations on the Tarot|Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism]]'', describes the biblical account of Cain and Abel as a myth, in that it expresses, in a form narrated for a particular case, an "eternal" idea. It argues that brothers can become mortal enemies through the very fact that they worship the same God in the same way. According to the author, the source of religious wars is revealed. It is not the difference in dogma or ritual which is the cause, but the "pretention to equality" or "the negation of hierarchy."<ref name="Meditations on the Tarot">Powell, Robert, trans. [1985] 2002. ''[[Meditations on the Tarot|Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism]]''. pp. 14–15</ref>

There were other, minor traditions concerning Cain and Abel, of both older and newer date. The apocryphal ''[[Life of Adam and Eve]]'' tells of [[Eve]] having a dream in which Cain drank his brother's blood. In an attempt to prevent the prophecy from happening the two young men are separated and given different jobs.<ref>[[David Williams (medievalist)|Williams, David]]. 1982. "Cain and Beowulf: A Study in Secular Allegory." p. 21. University of Toronto Press.</ref>

=== Cultural references ===

Like other prominent biblical figures, Cain and Abel appear in many works of art, including works by [[Titian]], [[Peter Paul Rubens]] and [[William Blake]].

Multiple plays allude to the story. In [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Hamlet]]'', the characters [[King Claudius]] and [[King Hamlet]] are parallels of Cain and Abel.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xas-AAAAQBAJ&q=Claudius+hamlet+cain&pg=PA154 | title=The Bible in Shakespeare|page=154|isbn=978-0199677610| last1=Hamlin| first1=Hannibal| date=2013| publisher=OUP Oxford}}</ref> [[Lord Byron]] also rewrote and dramatized the story in his own play ''[[Cain (play)|Cain]]'' (1821), viewing Cain as symbolic of a [[Four temperaments|sanguine temperament]], provoked by Abel's hypocrisy and sanctimony.<ref name="deVries76">{{cite book|last=de Vries|first=Ad|title=Dictionary of Symbols and Imagery|year=1976|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/75 75]|publisher=North-Holland Publishing Company|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-0-7204-8021-4|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofsymb0000vrie/page/75}}</ref> The 2008 Danish stage play {{lang|nl|[[Biblen]]}} discusses and reenacts various [[Bible story|Biblical stories]], including Abel's murder by Cain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jp.dk/kultur/teater/teater/article1277035.ece|title= Bibelen (Nørrebro Teater)|date=5 October 2008|publisher=jp.dk|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081005132125/http://jp.dk/kultur/teater/teater/article1277035.ece|access-date=10 September 2018|archive-date= 2008-10-05}}</ref>

Many novels feature the characters, or are closely based on them. [[Miguel de Unamuno]]'s 1917 novel ''[[Abel Sánchez: The History of a Passion|Abel Sánchez: A Story of a Passion]]'' is a re-telling of the Cain and Abel story.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quinones |first1=Ricardo J. |title=The Changes of Cain: Violence and the Lost Brother in Cain and Abel Literature |date=14 July 2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6214-6 |page=176 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0i4ABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 |language=en}}</ref> [[John Steinbeck]]'s 1952 novel ''[[East of Eden (novel)|East of Eden]]'' (also a [[East of Eden (film)|1955 film]]) refers in its title to Cain's exile and contains discussions of the Cain and Abel story which then play out in the plot.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16719/east-of-eden#articles-reviews |title=Pop Culture 101: East of Eden |access-date=2014-04-11|website=Turner Classic Movies|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406203032/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/16719/East-of-Eden/articles.html#05 |archive-date=2016-04-06}}</ref> [[James Baldwin]]'s 1957 short story, "[[Sonny's Blues]]", has been seen as alluding to the Cain and Abel story.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stahlberg |first1=Lesleigh Cushing |last2=Hawkins |first2=Peter S. |title=The Bible in the American Short Story |date=2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1474237185 |pages=43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k78zDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Sonny%27s+Blues%22+baldwin+cain+abel&pg=PA43 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=McKenzie |first1=Barbara |title=The Process of Fiction: Contemporary Stories and Criticism |date=1974 |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |isbn=978-0155719866 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/processoffiction00mcke/page/45 45] |url=https://archive.org/details/processoffiction00mcke |url-access=registration |quote=Baldwin establishes such a verbal clue when the narrator remembers his mothers warning. |language=en}}</ref> Author [[Daniel Quinn]], first in his novel ''[[Ishmael (Quinn novel)|Ishmael]]'' (1992) and later in ''[[The Story of B]]'' (1996), proposes that the story of Cain and Abel is an account of early Semitic herdsmen observing the beginnings of what he calls totalitarian agriculture, with Cain representing the first 'modern' agriculturists and Abel the [[Pastoralism|pastoralists]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Whittemore |first1=Amie |title=Ishmael – Part 9: Sections 9–11|url=https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/i/ishmael/summary-and-analysis/part-9-sections-911|access-date=2 January 2017|website=Cliffs Notes|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt}}</ref> [[José Saramago]]'s 2009 novel ''[[Cain (novel)]]'' is a ironical re-telling of Cain's history.

They have also featured in television series and, allegorically, in film. In ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'' (1978), [[Bobby Ewing|Bobby]] and [[J.R. Ewing]] have been described as variations of Cain and Abel.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJvRvXUdQskC&q=dallas+bobby+j.r.+abel+cain&pg=PA128|title=Mediating Religion: Studies in Media, Religion, and Culture|first1=Jolyon P.|last1=Mitchell|first2=Sophia|last2=Marriage|date=2003|publisher=A&C Black|access-date=2 September 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0567088079}}</ref> More direct references include the appearance of [[Cain (DC Comics)|Cain]] and [[Abel (DC Comics)|Abel]] as characters in [[DC Comics]] since the 1950s. In 1989, [[Neil Gaiman]] made the two [[List of The Sandman characters#Cain and Abel|recurring characters]] in his graphic novel series ''[[The Sandman (Vertigo)|The Sandman]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSywCgAAQBAJ&q=cain+abel+gaiman+sandman&pg=PA127|title=The Encyclopedia of the Gothic |publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2015|isbn=978-1119064602|access-date=2 September 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref> In [[Darren Aronofsky]]'s [[Allegory|allegorical]] film ''[[Mother!]]'' (2017), the characters "oldest son" and "younger brother" represent Cain and Abel.<ref>{{cite news|author=Adam White|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/mother-meaning-spoilers-biblical-references-ending-explained/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/mother-meaning-spoilers-biblical-references-ending-explained/ |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Mother! explained|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=September 23, 2017|access-date=September 30, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The [[Bruce Springsteen]] song "[[Adam Raised a Cain]]" (1978) invokes the symbolism of Cain.<ref>Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2020). Bruce Springsteen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 112</ref> It is also the title of a season 2 episode of [[Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Calvert |first1=Bronwen |title=Being Bionic: The World of TV Cyborgs |date=2017 |publisher=I.B. Tauris}}</ref>

American heavy metal band [[Avenged Sevenfold]] has a song called "[[Chapter Four (song)|Chapter Four]]" (2003) which is based on the story of Cain and Abel.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Parillo |first1=Michael |title=DRUMMERS, FEATURE STORIES James "The Rev" Sullivan |url=https://www.moderndrummer.com/2009/12/james-the-rev-sullivan/#_ |website=Modern Drummer |date=December 2009 |access-date=26 October 2022 |quote=We have a song called "Chapter Four" that's about the first murder ever, which is a story in the Bible. Matt [Shadows] writes all the lyrics, and he just thinks the first murder is a cool story.}}</ref> American heavy metal band [[Danzig (band)|Danzig]] has a song named "[[Danzig (album)|Twist of Cain]]" which lyrically is inspired by the story of Cain and Abel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.the7thhouse.com/news/Articles/rip87_2.jpg |title=Glenn Danzig: Resurrection of a Misfit|last=Gitter|first=Mike|date=October 1987|publisher=RIP magazine|access-date=September 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017174656/http://www.the7thhouse.com/news/Articles/rip87_2.jpg|archive-date=October 17, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> British rock band [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]] has a song written by frontman [[Liam Gallagher]] called "[[Don't Believe the Truth|Guess God Thinks I'm Abel]]", a reference to his infamously tempestuous relationship to brother and bandmate [[Noel Gallagher]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Spitz |first=Marc |date=2019-05-30 |title=“It’s Kind of Illegal for Two Brothers to Make Love”: Our 2005 Feature on Oasis’ Noel and Liam Gallagher |url=https://www.spin.com/2019/05/2005-oasis-gallaghers-feature/ |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=SPIN |language=en-US}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Biblical figures in Islamic tradition#Cain and Abel|Biblical figures in Islamic tradition]]
* [[Biblical narratives and the Quran#Cain and Abel (Qābīl and Hābīl)|Biblical narratives and the Qur'an]]
* [[Debate between sheep and grain]], Sumerian creation myth that has been compared to the story of Cain and Abel
* [[Debate between Winter and Summer]], Sumerian creation myth that has been compared to the story of Cain and Abel
* [[Nabi Habeel Mosque]], considered to be the burial-place of Abel
* [[Seth]], third son of Adam and Eve
* [[Romulus and Remus]]

== Notes ==

{{notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book
|last      = Alter
|first     = Robert
|title     = The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary
|year      = 2008
|publisher = W. W. Norton & Company
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZcMhkJ8a708C
|isbn     = 9780393070248
}}
* {{cite book|last=BDB|first=Francis Brown|author-link=Francis Brown (theologian)|title=The Brown Driver Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon: with an appendix containing the biblical Aramaic; coded with the numbering system from "Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible"|publisher=Hendrickson|location=Peabody|isbn=978-1565632066|edition=7. print.|year=1997|orig-date=1906|author2=Samuel Rolles Driver|author2-link=Samuel Rolles Driver|author3=Charles Augustus Briggs|author3-link=Charles Augustus Briggs}}
* {{cite book|last=Byron|first=John|title=Cain and Abel in Text and Tradition: Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the First Sibling Rivalry|year=2011|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]]|isbn=978-9004192522|author-link=John Byron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NnnVmbnE-TcC}}
* {{cite book
|first     = Joseph
|last      = Blenkinsopp
|author-link= Joseph Blenkinsopp
|title     = Creation, Un-creation, Re-creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1-11
|year      = 2011
|publisher = Bloomsbury T&T Clark
|location  = New York
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=B12qwOSMD20C&q=Creation%2C+Un-creation%2C+Re-creation%3A+A+Discursive+Commentary+on+Genesis+1-11|isbn=978-0-567-37287-1
}}
* {{cite journal |author-last=Craig |author-first=Kenneth M. Jr. |date=December 1999 |title=Questions Outside Eden (Genesis 4.1-16): Yahweh, Cain, and Their Rhetorical Interchange |editor1-last=Shepherd |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Tiemeyer |editor2-first=Lena-Sofia |journal=[[Journal for the Study of the Old Testament]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=24 |issue=86 |pages=107–128 |doi=10.1177/030908929902408606 |issn=1476-6728 |s2cid=170152565}}
* {{cite book |title=From Creation to Abraham: Further Studies in Genesis 1-11 |last=Day |first=John |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-567-70311-8 |pages=78–97 |chapter=Problems in the Interpretation of the Story of Cain and Abel |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIpFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA78}}
* {{cite book
| last     = Doukhan
| first    = Abi
| year     = 2016
| title    = Biblical Portraits of Exile: A Philosophical Reading
| location = Oxon
| publisher = Routledge
| isbn      = 978-1-4724-7241-0
}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Gmirkin
|first     = Russell E.
|title     = Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus
|year      = 2006
|publisher = Bloomsbury
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=CKuoAwAAQBAJ&q=composition+table+of+nations+genesis
|isbn     = 9780567134394
}}
* {{cite book |title=The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation |last=Hendel |first=Ronald |publisher=BRILL |year=2012 |isbn=978-90-04-22653-1 |pages=51–81 |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=Craig A. |chapter=Historical Context |editor-last2=Lohr |editor-first2=Joel N. |editor-last3=Petersen |editor-first3=David L. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tB77B7HT23wC&pg=PA51}}
* {{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Kugler|first2=Patrick|last2=Hartin|title=An Introduction to the Bible |year=2009 |publisher=Eerdmans |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8WbXbPjxpoC&q=%22the+Yahwist+and+Priestly+works+in+Genesis+1-11%22&pg=PA55|isbn=9780802846365}}
* {{citation|last=Kramer|first=Samuel Noah|author-link=Samuel Noah Kramer|date=1961|title=Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium B.C.: Revised Edition|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]|location=[[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] |isbn=978-0-8122-1047-7|url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/sum/}}
* {{cite book|last=Kugel|first=James L.|title=Traditions of the Bible: A Guide to the Bible as it was at the Start of the Common Era |year=1998 |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|location=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] [u.a.]|isbn=978-0674791510|author-link=James Kugel}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Luttikhuizen|editor-first=Gerard P. |editor-link=Gerard Luttikhuizen |title=Eve's Children: The Biblical Stories Retold and Interpreted in Jewish and Christian traditions |date=2003|publisher=[[Brill Publishers]]|location=[[Leiden]] and [[Boston]]|isbn=978-9004126152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s1Wa2N2WrlAC |edition=Vol. 5}}
* {{cite journal |author-last=Mann |author-first=Steven T. |date=September 2021 |title=Let There Be Cain: A Clash of Imaginations in Genesis 4 |editor1-last=Shepherd |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Tiemeyer |editor2-first=Lena-Sofia |journal=[[Journal for the Study of the Old Testament]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=79–95 |doi=10.1177/0309089221998390 |issn=1476-6728 |s2cid=238412495}}
* {{cite book
|last      = Sailhamer
|first     = John H. 
|title     = The Meaning of the Pentateuch: Revelation, Composition and Interpretation
|year      = 2010
|publisher = InterVarsity Press
|url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=pBVWU9U85m0C
|isbn     = 9780830878888 
}}
* {{cite book |last=Schlimm |first=Matthew R. |year=2011 |chapter=Part 3. In Search of A Brother's Keeper: Anger and Its Antitheses in Genesis – Ethics outside Eden: Cain and Abel |title=From Fratricide to Forgiveness: The Language and Ethics of Anger in Genesis |location=[[University Park, Pennsylvania]] |publisher=[[Eisenbrauns]], imprint of [[Penn State University Press]] |series=Siphrut: Literature and Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures |volume=7 |pages=135–143 |doi=10.5325/j.ctv1bxgwgm.15 |isbn=978-1-57506-224-2 |s2cid=209438529}}
* {{cite book 
|last1     = Schwartz 
|first1    =Howard
|author-link1=Howard Schwartz 
|last2     =Loebel-Fried 
|first2    =Caren 
|last3     =Ginsburg 
|first3    =Elliot K. 
|date      =2004 
|title     =Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism 
|publisher =[[Oxford University Press]] 
|isbn      =978-0195358704 
|page      =447 
|url       =https://books.google.com/books?id=60iVk1p8Y9IC&q=Cain+Abel&pg=PA447
}}
*{{cite journal |last=Zucker |first=David J. |date=February 2020 |title=My Punishment Is Too Great to Bear: Raising Cain |journal=[[Biblical Theology Bulletin]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publications]] on behalf of Biblical Theology Bulletin Inc. |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=7–21 |doi=10.1177/0146107919892839 |doi-access=free |issn=1945-7596 |s2cid=213466632}}

== Further reading ==

* {{cite book|last=Aptowitzer|first=Victor|title=Kain und Abel in der agada: den Apokryphen, der hellenistischen, christlichen und muhammedanischen literatur|year=1922|publisher=R. Löwit|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PGkQAQAAIAAJ|author-link=Victor Aptowitzer|edition=Vol. 1}}
* {{cite book|last=Glenthøj|first=Johannes Bartholdy|title=Cain and Abel in Syriac and Greek writers: (4th – 6th centuries) |year=1997 |publisher=Peeters |location=Lovanii|isbn=978-9068319095|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ViKPYpebc4C}}
* ''[[s:A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture/V. Cain and Abel|A Practical Christian Commentary on Cain and Abel]]'' by Friedrich Justus Knecht, London, B. Herder (1910)

* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{Wikisource-inline|list=
** [[s:Bible (King James)/Genesis#Chapter 4|Bible (King James) / Genesis 4]]
** [[s:Pearl of Great Price/Moses#Chapter 5|''Book of Moses'', Chapter 5]] in ''Pearl of Great Price''
** [[s:Cain|Cain]]
** [[s:Abel|Abel]]
}}

== External links ==
* {{bibleref2|Genesis|4|9|Genesis 4 (KJV)}} at BibleGateway.com
* Story of Cain and Abel in [http://quran.tanyt.info/index.php?lang=en&sura=119#a26 ''Sura The Table (Al Ma'ida)''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113145902/http://quran.tanyt.info/index.php?lang=en&sura=119#a26 |date=2013-11-13 }}
* [https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/8168/showrashi/true#showrashi=true Rashi on Genesis, Chapter 4], by [[Rashi]]
* [https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.37b?lang=bi Sanhedrin 37b], [[Sefaria]]

{{Cain and Abel}}
{{Adam and Eve}}
{{Book of Genesis}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cain and Abel| ]]
[[Category:Groups of biblical people]]
[[Category:Biblical murder victims]]
[[Category:Biblical murderers]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Brother duos]]
[[Category:Characters in the Divine Comedy]]
[[Category:Children of Adam and Eve]]
[[Category:Bereshit (parashah)]]