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00:00Untold centuries ago, one monstrous act forged a terrible legacy for mankind.
00:10The world's first murder.
00:14Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass that when they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel and slew him.
00:26Genesis 4, 8.
00:30The victim, a humble shepherd named Abel. The assailant, Abel's older brother, Cain.
00:39They are the Bible's first two siblings, the sons of Adam and Eve.
00:47The tale of this sinister deed is one of the most chilling accounts in the Bible.
00:52Though the book of Genesis records the identity of the killer, this ancient crime, in essence, remains unsolved.
01:01It's almost as though we've gotten a police report of a particularly nasty murder.
01:08And even though we have the culprit, we don't know why he did what he did.
01:13We don't know how he did what he did.
01:16Riddled with paradox, this ancient murder mystery probes deep into mankind's darkest dimension.
01:23I think the biggest mystery of Cain and Abel is why God would create creatures who have such a capacity for hatred and evil.
01:34What compelled Cain to kill his brother?
01:40Was the crime premeditated murder or merely negligent homicide?
01:44What was the enigmatic mark God branded on Cain as a consequence of his crime?
01:55And what is the haunting meaning which this, the first recorded murder in history, holds for our own time?
02:03These are but a few of the mysteries of the Bible.
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03:17And she conceived and bore Cain, and said,
03:21I have gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord.
03:26Genesis 4, 1
03:29In the beginning, mankind's first couple shares the wonder of a miracle, the first human birth.
03:42For Adam and Eve, it is a profound moment of renewed hope.
03:47Their first taste of joy since their heart-breaking expulsion from paradise by God.
03:58For them, their newborn son Cain represents the prospect of a happier future.
04:03So, too, does their second child, Abel.
04:13It is a hopeful new dawn for mankind.
04:20So begins the Bible's account of the first sibling relationship.
04:24But the two brothers are destined to meet a tragic end.
04:34The story of Cain and Abel is shocking and timeless.
04:38A cautionary tale rich with relevance for countless generations.
04:42But the account in Genesis, only 17 verses long,
04:51resembles a murder mystery with key pieces of the puzzle missing.
04:59In order to unlock the story's secrets,
05:02biblical scholars have virtually assumed the role of criminal investigators.
05:06Two pieces missing from this ancient puzzle
05:15are complete character profiles of Cain and Abel themselves.
05:24Rather than describing their individual personalities,
05:28the Bible defines them largely in terms of their relationship to one another.
05:32But mysteriously omitted from the Genesis account
05:39are the brothers' formative years.
05:42The time in which that relationship would have taken shape.
05:49Were Cain and Abel splintered by rivalry at the outset,
05:53or could there once have been a deep brotherly love between them
05:57that the Bible fails to mention?
06:02In search of the answer, historians have discovered one crucial clue.
06:13Throughout the brief narrative,
06:15Cain and Abel's relationship as brothers
06:17is mentioned an astonishing seven times.
06:23Is there significance to this repetition?
06:27Could it carry a hidden message?
06:29Could it carry a hidden message?
06:32The constant repetition of the word brother
06:35is to show its ambiguity.
06:38On the one hand, they are brothers by blood.
06:41On the other hand, they are not brothers in spirit.
06:44And without the second, the first is meaningless.
06:47And so from the very beginning,
06:49there must have been friction and anger and resentment
06:53that culminated in this terrible deed.
06:57What was the cause of this bitter rivalry?
07:05Once again, the Hebrew Bible is inexplicably silent.
07:10But one theory finds its basis in a few key words of the story.
07:14In this harsher world, outside the Garden of Eden,
07:31the brothers divide their labor to ensure the survival of their family.
07:36Is it possible that their contrasting vocations were at the heart of their rivalry?
07:46What we have here is a paradigm of ancient competition over resources.
07:52Because, you see, the farmers need irrigation.
07:55They need water.
07:56They need water rights.
07:57At the same time, the shepherds are looking for a place to pasture their flocks
08:02and are looking for a place where they, too, can water their flocks
08:06so that water becomes a real issue between these two groups.
08:12Although there was probably a professional antagonism between the brothers,
08:16it may have been merely a symptom of their rivalry
08:19rather than its root cause.
08:21In search of the core of their conflict,
08:28scholars are drawn inexorably to the flawed character of Cain.
08:34Who is this notorious figure?
08:37What is he thinking?
08:39What is he doing during the mysterious gap in the narrative preceding the murder?
08:44Even though it's very hard to be sure about what character Cain might have had
08:53before the incident with his brother Abel
08:56and what Abel might have been like in relationship to Cain,
09:00there are some assumptions we can make.
09:02One is that Cain, as the older brother,
09:06may well have felt a certain degree of propriety, control,
09:14desire to be first in the family.
09:16Because that can happen to any older child.
09:19Would he have been discriminating against his brother?
09:22Would he have been resentful of his brother, jealous of his brother?
09:25Would he have been lording it over his brother?
09:29An even more intriguing question is how Cain viewed God.
09:33Is it possible that a rivalry had developed not only between Cain and Abel,
09:40but also between Cain and God?
09:46And what was the nature of Cain's other significant relationship
09:50with his parents, Adam and Eve?
09:56Once again, the biblical text is silent.
10:03But scholars have discovered a clue
10:05that Adam and Eve may have foreseen the terrible tragedy to come.
10:12The evidence is contained in a time-honored Hebrew text
10:15known as the Midrash,
10:17a compilation of biblical traditions written by ancient rabbis.
10:21The rabbis tell us that Eve had a dream one night,
10:27and she saw blood coming out of Abel's mouth
10:31and falling into the mouth of Cain.
10:34When she told Adam that dream,
10:36he was extremely upset,
10:37and he wondered whether or not the enmity
10:40that he was already seeing between these brothers
10:42was to turn into something worse.
10:44And so he settled the two boys in different places,
10:48gave them different households,
10:49even trained them to different professions
10:51in order to keep them apart,
10:53to avert the violence that Eve had seen in her dream.
11:00Could Adam truly prevent the catastrophe foreseen
11:03in Eve's terrifying prophetic dream?
11:08Or was a fatal confrontation inevitable?
11:10Ironically, the chain of events leading Cain
11:25to commit the world's first murder
11:27begins with the first act of divine worship,
11:31an act of sacrifice.
11:32So it came about in the course of time
11:38that Cain brought an offering to the Lord
11:40of the fruit of the ground,
11:43and Abel on his part brought his flock
11:46and of the fat thereof.
11:49Genesis 4, 3.
11:51Each brother expresses his reverence for God
12:01with a different form of sacrifice.
12:07Each offers the product of his chosen vocation.
12:13But what has prompted them to perform this ritual
12:16is unclear.
12:17The biblical account makes no mention
12:21of God requesting it.
12:25What inspired this early act of worship?
12:31And why does it take the form of sacrifice?
12:36In the Bible, and even today,
12:39there is a sense that if you love someone,
12:41the best way to show that love
12:43is to offer something dear to you.
12:46And when somebody in the Bible
12:48wants to show God some measure of devotion
12:51or care or love,
12:52what they do is take something that's dear
12:54and offer it to God.
12:56It's not that God needs it,
12:57but people do.
13:02In response to Cain and Abel's worship,
13:04God pronounces a judgment
13:06which ignites Cain's fury.
13:08And the Lord had regard for Abel
13:16and his offering,
13:18but for Cain and his offering
13:20he had no regard.
13:23Genesis 4, 5.
13:31The Bible does not specify
13:33the manner in which God makes
13:34his decision known to the brothers,
13:36but one theory of what may have occurred
13:39is found in the Midrash,
13:42the oral traditions of ancient rabbis.
13:49The rabbis tell us that
13:51when Abel's sacrifice is made,
13:55God accepts it in a shooting flame
13:57that goes up to heaven,
13:59and hence we know
14:00that God took Abel's sacrifice.
14:02Cain's, however,
14:05just lays there inert.
14:07It's a dud of a sacrifice,
14:09and Cain immediately flies into a rage.
14:13He's filled with bitterness
14:14and envy and hatred,
14:16and perhaps the biggest problem
14:18is that he doesn't voice his hatred
14:21to the right person.
14:23It's not his brother who has rejected him,
14:25it's God.
14:26One of the great mysteries
14:31of the Cain and Abel story
14:32is the question of why God
14:34does not accept Cain's offering,
14:36but does accept Abel's offering.
14:39According to the rules of sacrifice
14:41in the Bible,
14:43a grain offering is every bit as worthy
14:45as a meat offering.
14:48Therefore, it's puzzling.
14:50It's very puzzling.
14:52What's wrong with Cain's offering?
14:54For centuries,
14:58this one question
14:59has obsessed biblical scholars.
15:03To answer it is imperative
15:05because it is God's unexplained preference
15:08for evil
15:09which becomes Cain's motive for murder.
15:15But what was God's motive
15:16in rejecting Cain's sacrifice?
15:18One theory focuses
15:24on a critical literary omission.
15:27The text specifies
15:28that Abel offered to God
15:30the choicest of his sheep,
15:33but makes no mention
15:34of the quality
15:35of Cain's fruit of the soil.
15:42Could this indicate
15:43that God rejected Cain
15:45because he had not given
15:46his finest offering?
15:53In the biblical text,
15:55it says that Abel
15:57offered of his best.
15:59Cain wanted to sacrifice,
16:01but without any of the pain
16:02that sacrifice must demand
16:04from somebody who's sincere.
16:05So he just offered
16:06whatever was lying around.
16:08But Abel actually showed God
16:10his devotion
16:11by offering
16:11what really mattered
16:12of his best.
16:17Either Cain didn't love God as much
16:19or Cain loved Cain too much.
16:25God criticizes Cain
16:27when he refuses
16:28to accept his offering.
16:30And it doesn't just say
16:31God did not find favor
16:33with Cain's offering.
16:34It says God did not find favor
16:37with Cain and with his offering.
16:41So the offering is rejected
16:43not because it's a bad kind
16:46of offering,
16:47but because it's offered
16:49by a bad kind of person.
16:55Whatever God's motive
16:56for spurning Cain,
16:57his judgment sets into motion
16:59the chilling chain of events.
17:05Foreseeing the tragedy to come,
17:06he breaks his silence.
17:11Speaking directly
17:12with the infuriated Cain,
17:13he issues a dire warning.
17:19The Lord said unto Cain,
17:21Why are you angry?
17:24And why has your countenance fallen?
17:27Sin is crouching at the door
17:29and its desire is for you,
17:32but you must master it.
17:33Genesis 4, 6.
17:42It is in this passage
17:43from Genesis
17:44where the word sin
17:46makes its first appearance
17:47in the Bible.
17:52The word appears
17:53more than 4,000 times
17:54in the Hebrew Bible
17:55and New Testament.
17:56But only here
17:59is sin characterized
18:01as a living,
18:02monstrous entity.
18:08The appearance
18:09of this strange creature,
18:11sin,
18:12that is sort of crouching
18:14at Cain's door
18:16is one of the weirdest
18:17passages in the Bible.
18:19We have nothing else like this
18:20where sin is personified
18:22in quite this way.
18:27God describes sin
18:28almost like a dangerous animal.
18:32And that ability
18:33to be trapped by sin,
18:37to be trapped by the darker side
18:39of human nature,
18:40and to be motivated by it
18:42and led by it
18:42and to be ruled by it
18:44is what we see
18:45developing in this story
18:46even to the fatal extent
18:49that a brother
18:50can kill a brother.
18:55Unable to control
18:56his spiraling rage,
18:58Cain looked upon Abel
18:59with a murderous eye.
19:02Does Abel suspect
19:03his evil scheme?
19:05Will God intervene?
19:21Centuries ago,
19:22a world untarnished
19:24by violence
19:25basked in its last
19:26moments of innocence.
19:30For the world's first murder
19:33is about to be committed.
19:35to be committed.
19:37Mysteriously,
19:38this pivotal incident
19:39in biblical history
19:40is described only briefly
19:41in the Genesis narrative.
19:48Cain talked with Abel,
19:49his brother,
19:51and it came to pass
19:52that when they were
19:53in the field,
19:55Cain rose up against Abel
19:57and slew him.
19:59Genesis 4, 8.
20:05The brevity of the murder's
20:07description provokes
20:08questions unanswered
20:10to this day.
20:14How did Cain kill Abel?
20:21Did Cain bury
20:22or destroy the body,
20:24trying to conceal his crime?
20:25But one crucial question
20:31goes beyond the physical
20:32circumstances of the crime.
20:37Was Cain truly guilty
20:39of murder?
20:42Or could extenuating
20:43circumstances have existed
20:45which lessen his degree
20:47of responsibility
20:48for Abel's death?
20:49Some scholars point out
20:55that before the murder,
20:57the death of a human being
20:58was an unknown experience.
21:02Did Cain realize
21:04he was capable
21:05of extinguishing
21:06his brother's life?
21:07He certainly knows
21:12what it is
21:12to kill an animal
21:13because you have
21:15to kill the animals
21:15to bring the sacrifices
21:17that his brother Abel brought.
21:19It's implicit in the story
21:20that they really knew
21:22what it was to kill.
21:24And I would presume
21:25that Adam and Eve
21:27had taught Cain
21:29and Abel both.
21:30You can kill these animals
21:31for these purposes,
21:33but whatever you do,
21:34don't kill one of us.
21:36one of us human beings.
21:37That's wrong.
21:40Most scholars, however,
21:41believe that Cain
21:42was not aware
21:43that his attack
21:44could result in Abel's death.
21:50It's quite likely
21:51that Cain
21:53did not know
21:55the effect
21:57of the blows
21:58that he rained,
22:00whether by fist
22:01or by stone
22:02or rocks
22:03or so on,
22:04on his brother.
22:05He must have been
22:06utterly horrified,
22:08actually,
22:08since he'd never seen
22:09a dead human being before.
22:11He must have been
22:12totally stunned
22:13by what happened.
22:15It was a homicide,
22:17but not actually murder.
22:26Whether or not
22:27the fatal outcome
22:28of Cain's attack
22:29on Abel
22:29is premeditated,
22:30he cannot conceal it
22:32from God.
22:37In an unexpected twist
22:39in the narrative,
22:40a witness to the murder
22:42surfaces to expose Cain.
22:46But this is not a witness
22:47in the conventional sense.
22:51The damning testimony
22:52came from a ghostly extension
22:54of Abel himself.
23:00It's very interesting
23:01in the story
23:02how God finds out
23:03about the murder.
23:05God finds out
23:06about the murder
23:06because Abel's blood
23:08cries out to him
23:09from the ground.
23:11Here is a very interesting
23:12picture of blood
23:13as the life force,
23:15that even after
23:16you are killed,
23:17it somehow still has
23:18that quality of life
23:19in it.
23:20and this quality of life
23:22can cry out
23:23to the accused,
23:25can cry out
23:25to the God
23:27who judges
23:28the criminal
23:30and to point out
23:31who the criminal is
23:32in a sense.
23:36God's quest for justice
23:38forces him
23:39into an icy confrontation
23:40with Cain.
23:44And the Lord said unto Cain,
23:46Where is Abel thy brother?
23:49And he said,
23:50I know not.
23:52Am I my brother's keeper?
23:56Genesis 4, 9.
24:02In this historic exchange,
24:04Cain does much more
24:05than compound his crime
24:07with a lie.
24:09In his sarcasm,
24:11he unwittingly poses
24:12a question
24:12destined to challenge
24:14the conscience
24:14of countless generations.
24:16Am I my brother's keeper
24:22is the first question
24:23that human beings
24:24ask in the Bible.
24:25And it is,
24:26in some sense,
24:27the question
24:28that every human being
24:29has to address
24:29in his or her life.
24:31Brother here,
24:32not in the most literal sense,
24:34but am I the keeper
24:35of my fellow human beings?
24:36And God doesn't answer it
24:38because the entirety
24:39of the Bible
24:40is an answer
24:40to that question.
24:42And what it says is,
24:43if you are not
24:44your brother's keeper,
24:45then there was no reason
24:46for human beings
24:47to have been created.
24:49But if you are,
24:50then you prove yourself
24:51the crown of my creation.
24:52Cain,
24:58demonstrating himself
24:59the direct opposite
25:00of God's ideal,
25:01awaits punishment.
25:05Will God exact a life
25:07for a life?
25:09Or will Cain face
25:11a fate crueler than death?
25:22In the wake
25:27of the world's
25:27first murder,
25:29an unsuspecting shepherd
25:30named Abel
25:31lies dead.
25:35Precisely how,
25:36where,
25:37and why he was killed
25:38by his brother Cain
25:39may never be known.
25:44But these unanswered questions
25:45quickly give way
25:46in the biblical account
25:47to a whole new set
25:49of mysteries.
25:52Perhaps the most baffling
25:55of these mysteries
25:56is God's unusual
25:57punishment of Cain.
26:02When thou tillest
26:03the ground,
26:04it shall not yield
26:05unto thee her strength.
26:08A fugitive and a vagabond
26:09shalt thou be on the earth.
26:12Genesis 4, 12.
26:20Rather than imposing
26:21a death sentence
26:22in the biblical tradition
26:24of an eye for an eye,
26:26God banished Cain
26:27to the wilderness.
26:31Is this an act of mercy?
26:35Or does God have
26:36a deeper purpose
26:37in allowing Cain to live?
26:42In the Bible,
26:43Cain is the first human being
26:45who lives with the knowledge
26:46that he took the life
26:47of another human being.
26:48and one senses
26:52that that knowledge
26:53tortured him
26:54and perhaps God
26:55left Cain alive
26:56because he stood
26:58as a warning
26:59to all subsequent generations
27:00that it's not only
27:02that God punishes you
27:03when you do wrong,
27:05but that somewhere
27:06deep inside,
27:07a human being punishes
27:08him or herself
27:09and that in some way,
27:11conscience is the most powerful
27:13and painful punisher.
27:15Some scholars suspect
27:21a different motive
27:22may lie behind God's mercy.
27:27One wonders
27:28if God doesn't feel
27:30after the fact
27:31something like an accomplice
27:33in Abel's murder
27:34because God is the one
27:37who treated the two boys
27:38differently,
27:39hence giving them
27:40a reason to fight.
27:42So we have to wonder
27:44if God doesn't feel
27:45rather sheepish
27:47about the fact
27:48that God had a part
27:50in what happened
27:51to Abel.
27:55Whatever God's motive
27:56for sparing Cain's life,
27:58his judgment
27:59inexplicably
28:00terrifies Cain.
28:05And Cain said unto the Lord,
28:08My punishment is more
28:10than I can bear.
28:11And it shall come to pass
28:14that everyone
28:15that findest me
28:16shall kill me.
28:19Genesis 4, 13.
28:25But who were
28:26the potential assassins
28:27he feared?
28:30According to the Bible,
28:31after Abel's murder,
28:33Earth's only inhabitants
28:34were Cain himself
28:35and his parents,
28:36Adam and Eve.
28:37The question of the identity
28:45of these mysterious assassins
28:48may never be resolved.
28:50But God's response
28:51to Cain's fear
28:52is unequivocal.
28:53So the Lord said unto him,
28:59Therefore,
29:00whoever kills Cain,
29:03vengeance will be taken
29:04on him sevenfold.
29:06And the Lord set a mark
29:08upon Cain,
29:10lest anyone finding him
29:11should kill him.
29:14Genesis 4, 15.
29:17Cain stands alone
29:21in biblical history
29:22as the only person
29:24ever to receive
29:25such a mark.
29:30For centuries,
29:31its meaning
29:32has been misconstrued
29:33by many
29:33as a sign of shame.
29:36In reality,
29:38it was a divine form
29:39of protection.
29:40But the Bible
29:44does not specify
29:45what form
29:46the mark took.
29:49What was it?
29:52The most prevalent theory
29:54is that it was
29:55a brand on the forehead.
29:59We know from
30:01Mesopotamian law codes
30:02that it was common
30:04to put a marking
30:05on a convicted criminal
30:07who was about
30:08to be sent into slavery.
30:09This slave's mark
30:11was known as
30:11an abutum
30:12and it was tattooed
30:14or gashed
30:15into the cheek
30:16or the forehead.
30:18So it may be
30:19that this is the kind
30:20of mark
30:20that Cain is receiving.
30:26This image of Cain
30:28branded on the face
30:29has become an archetype.
30:33But scholars
30:34throughout history
30:35have proposed
30:36a variety
30:37of intriguing alternatives.
30:39some medieval interpreters
30:43theorized
30:44that the mark
30:45consisted of horns
30:46growing from Cain's head.
30:50Others considered it
30:52to be an outbreak
30:52of leprosy.
30:55And still others
30:56speculated
30:57that it was not
30:58a mark at all
30:59but a dog
31:00assigned to accompany Cain
31:02and protect him
31:03from all threats.
31:04whatever the form
31:08of Cain's
31:09protective mark
31:10God banishes him
31:11to the land
31:12of Nod.
31:19But where is this
31:20mysterious wilderness?
31:24The only hint
31:25provided by the Bible
31:26is that it lies
31:27somewhere
31:28to the east
31:29of Eden.
31:29To this day
31:33no archaeological evidence
31:35has been found
31:36which pinpoints
31:37Nod's location.
31:42Some scholars believe
31:44Nod is not an actual place
31:46which can be found
31:47on a map.
31:51In Hebrew
31:51the word Nod
31:52means wandering.
31:53therefore
31:57no matter
31:58where Cain roamed
31:59he was in
32:00the land
32:00of Nod.
32:04It is at this point
32:06in the Genesis account
32:07that a new character
32:08abruptly appears.
32:11Cain's wife.
32:15Inexplicably
32:16the Bible mentions
32:17neither her name
32:18nor how Cain
32:19encountered her
32:20in the wilderness.
32:23but the larger mystery
32:27lies in her
32:28very existence.
32:32Again
32:32the Bible
32:33has made no mention
32:34of any other people
32:35besides Cain,
32:36Abel
32:37and their parents.
32:43The most likely
32:44assumption
32:45is that she's actually
32:46what we would call
32:48a sister.
32:49In other words
32:50Adam and Eve
32:50had a lot
32:51of children.
32:52we should not
32:53be fooled
32:54by the focus
32:56on Cain
32:57and Abel
32:57to think
32:58that there were
32:58not many others
32:59because in fact
33:00Genesis 2 tells us
33:01there were
33:02many others.
33:04So
33:04the most likely
33:06candidate
33:06to be Cain's wife
33:08is one of his sisters.
33:12Notice that
33:13Adam and Eve
33:14having other
33:15children
33:15and daughters
33:16solves the problem
33:18of where Cain's wife
33:19comes from
33:20but creates
33:21a new problem
33:21because then
33:22you have Cain
33:23marrying his sister
33:24and that's incest.
33:25So once the problem
33:26arises in the literary
33:28history of the story
33:29solving it
33:30has a domino effect
33:32of creating new problems.
33:36Whoever this
33:37unnamed woman was
33:38she was Cain's salvation
33:40from a life
33:41of loneliness.
33:42But Cain was still
33:46a haunted man
33:47forced to live
33:48outside God's presence
33:50for the rest
33:50of his days.
33:55What finally became
33:57of this social outcast?
34:01Like many aspects
34:03of this intriguing tale
34:04Cain's final fate
34:06is also cloaked
34:07trapped in mystery.
34:21Brother
34:22murderer
34:26fugitive
34:29nomad
34:32The final chapter
34:36of Cain's
34:37tragic descent
34:38takes the story
34:39to the mysterious
34:40land of Nard.
34:44And Cain
34:45built a city
34:46and called
34:47the name
34:48of the city
34:48Enoch
34:49after the name
34:51of his son.
34:53Genesis
34:534
34:5417
34:55Although Cain
35:01had been condemned
35:02by God
35:02to wander
35:03the rest of his days
35:04he constructs
35:05a permanent settlement.
35:12There with his new wife
35:13he will bring forth
35:14a new race
35:15of city dwellers.
35:20How could a man
35:22cursed to be a nomad
35:23become the patriarch
35:24of a new community?
35:29Is it possible
35:30Cain
35:30successfully
35:31defied
35:32God's curse?
35:37Or is this a clue
35:38that God
35:39eased
35:39his punishment
35:40of Cain?
35:44Some scholars
35:45believe God
35:46allowed Cain
35:47to settle
35:47and build
35:48as an act
35:48of consolation.
35:53The most painful
35:54aspect
35:54of Cain's punishment
35:55was his
35:56severed relationship
35:57with God.
36:01To fill
36:01that spiritual
36:02void
36:03God may have
36:03granted Cain
36:04who destroyed
36:05life
36:05an opportunity
36:07to create it.
36:12We know
36:13that he
36:13in fact
36:15turns out
36:16to be
36:16a very able
36:18person
36:19mechanically.
36:19He's a builder.
36:21He's a creator.
36:22So one can assume
36:24that Cain
36:24probably had
36:26a certain amount
36:26of satisfaction
36:27in that work.
36:28He probably
36:29had some
36:30of the joy
36:31that anybody
36:31would have
36:32in being a builder
36:32and a creator.
36:34But how sad
36:35that that should
36:36have to substitute
36:36for a real
36:38true godly
36:39relationship
36:39with his
36:40own creator.
36:44Outwardly
36:44successful
36:45yet spiritually
36:46vacant
36:46Cain lives
36:48out the rest
36:48of his days
36:49in the city
36:50he built.
36:53But the Bible
36:54is silent
36:55concerning how
36:56Cain finally
36:57died.
37:00Searching
37:01for clues
37:02scholars have
37:02looked to
37:03ancient texts
37:04beyond the Bible
37:05which offer
37:06intriguing
37:06theories.
37:10One revealing
37:10story is contained
37:11in the Book
37:12of Jubilees
37:13an expansion
37:14of the Book
37:14of Genesis
37:15from the 3rd
37:16century before
37:17the Common Era.
37:22In its account
37:22the manner
37:23of Cain's death
37:24eerily echoes
37:25the way that Cain
37:26had killed
37:26Abel.
37:31We are told
37:31that Cain
37:32killed Abel
37:33with a stone.
37:35The outcome
37:36of this
37:37the implication
37:38of this
37:39is that Cain
37:40later on
37:41dies
37:42when his house
37:44collapses.
37:45His house
37:45was made of stone.
37:47No person
37:47kills him
37:48because God
37:49had given him
37:50a mark
37:50so that no one
37:51would kill him
37:52but his own house
37:53kills him.
37:53The rocks
37:54kill him.
37:55The implement
37:55with which he killed
37:56Abel
37:57kills him in return.
37:59So there is a tit-for-tat,
38:00a life for a life.
38:01another later theory
38:07suggests
38:08that Cain's
38:09enigmatic mark
38:10not only fails
38:11to prevent his death
38:12but actually
38:13causes it.
38:15According to this theory
38:16Cain's mark
38:17consists of horns
38:19growing from his head
38:20and it is this
38:24bestial appearance
38:25which causes
38:26a tragic accident
38:27involving one
38:28of Cain's descendants.
38:34His offspring
38:35is out hunting
38:37but he's blind
38:38so he goes
38:39with his little boy
38:40and the little boy
38:41says,
38:41Dad,
38:42off in that direction
38:43I see a strange creature
38:44with a horn.
38:46Well,
38:46Cain's offspring
38:47shoots the arrow
38:49and when the boy
38:50and the hunter
38:52go to see
38:53what has been killed
38:54it turns out
38:55it was their father Cain.
39:01Whatever the manner
39:02of Cain's death
39:03the legacy
39:04of his tormented life
39:05endures.
39:07For as long
39:08as the potential
39:09for violence
39:10lurks within
39:10each human heart
39:11perhaps the murder
39:13Cain committed
39:14will never truly
39:15be solved
39:16and the significance
39:19of Cain's haunting
39:20question to God
39:21echoes to this day
39:23Am I my brother's keeper?
39:28It is a question
39:30which speaks
39:30to the very purpose
39:31of our existence
39:32and which transcends
39:36our responsibility
39:37to our blood relatives.
39:39What the Bible
39:44is trying to tell us
39:45is
39:46again
39:47something of
39:48eternal relevance
39:49that all human beings
39:51are indeed
39:52their brothers
39:53keepers
39:53because
39:54since all human beings
39:56go back
39:57to
39:57common
39:58ancestry
39:59therefore
40:00no matter
40:01how far removed
40:02they may be
40:03from
40:04the original
40:05Adam and Eve
40:06they nevertheless
40:08are all brothers.
40:12This concept
40:14of universal brotherhood
40:15is a cornerstone
40:16of both the Hebrew Bible
40:17and the New Testament
40:18that as members
40:21of a global family
40:22it is our sacred duty
40:23to care
40:24for one another.
40:31The tragic reality
40:33of human history
40:34however
40:34is that we do not.
40:40Mankind has continued
40:41to follow
40:42Cain's murderous example
40:44instead of resisting it.
40:48Ironically
40:49it has been
40:49the conflicts
40:50between brothers
40:51which have been fought
40:52with the worst ferocity.
40:57From the American Civil War
40:59to the violence
41:00that ravages
41:01Northern Ireland
41:02those with the closest
41:04bonds of blood
41:05and family
41:05have often strived
41:07the hardest
41:07to destroy each other.
41:14The painful question remains
41:17is the human family
41:23a breeding ground
41:24for violence
41:25or a place
41:26of nurturing
41:27and peace?
41:28I've always believed
41:33that in some ways
41:34families
41:35are God's way
41:37of teaching us
41:38how to live
41:39with people
41:39that we would otherwise
41:41not know
41:41and perhaps not like
41:43because you don't
41:45choose your brothers
41:46and your sisters
41:47and your parents
41:48and I believe
41:49that that's God's way
41:50of saying
41:50you're not allowed
41:51to go through this world
41:52only picking people
41:54who are congenial
41:54to you
41:55and whom you know
41:56and whom you like
41:57you have to learn
41:58how to live
41:59with a variety
41:59of creations
42:00and therefore
42:01you have brothers
42:02you have sisters
42:03you have parents
42:04you have children.
42:09The tragic fate
42:11of the Bible's
42:11first family
42:12serves as a chilling
42:13warning
42:14to all families
42:15today
42:16for what might have
42:17been a story
42:18of brotherly love
42:19between Cain and Abel
42:20is instead
42:22a tale of murder.
42:23How this affected
42:28their parents
42:29Adam and Eve
42:30the Bible
42:31does not say.
42:34In the final mystery
42:36of this tragic story
42:37the Bible omits
42:38any mention
42:39of the sorrow
42:41and grief
42:41they must have felt.
42:46Poor Adam and Eve
42:47they saw
42:50in their children
42:52the outworking
42:53of their own sin
42:54the sin they had introduced
42:56coming full circle
42:58in their own children
42:59so it must have hurt
43:02it must have hurt
43:02a great deal.
43:07More deeply bonded
43:08than ever
43:09by their grief
43:09did Adam and Eve
43:11finally transcend
43:12their tragic loss
43:13for despite the fate
43:16of their first two sons
43:17they were willing
43:18to try again.
43:24And Adam knew
43:25his wife again
43:26and she bore a son
43:28and called his name
43:30Seth.
43:32Genesis 4.25
43:35The birth of Seth
43:38bears witness
43:39to the resilience
43:40of the human spirit.
43:43When Adam and Eve
43:47go ahead
43:47and conceive
43:48another child
43:48it rather reminds me
43:49of population studies
43:51that show
43:52how the birth rate
43:53booms after a war.
43:57It's a way of saying
43:58despite the fact
43:59that there has been
44:00this terrible destruction
44:02we still essentially
44:03believe in the goodness
44:05of life
44:05and the worthiness
44:06of God's world.
44:10In that sense
44:11it's one of the first
44:12statements of faith
44:13in the Bible
44:14and one of the deepest.
44:43This is the first
44:44of the first