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00:00In the Bible and the Quran, it is the first death and the first murder.
00:16Consumed with rage and jealousy, Cain kills his brother Abel and is banished, condemned to wander the earth alone.
00:23The first murder in the Bible is a fratricide, as if to say all murder is the murder of a brother.
00:30The story is full of riddles, God's preference for brother over brother, Cain's violent response, and a mysterious mark that would inspire hatred and bigotry for 2,000 years.
00:42This story is highly significant and relevant today, especially in the post-911 world.
00:49Join scholars and archaeologists as they explore an astonishing past and one of the most brutal and most perplexing stories ever told, the dark mystery of Cain and Abel.
01:00The Cain and Abel story is one of the most haunting in the Bible.
01:18It depicts the first death of a human being and the first murder of one brother killing another.
01:24But what makes this story so powerful is that Cain and Abel is a lesson not just for one family, but for all of mankind.
01:36The story becomes an allegory and because it is so powerful in reflecting us as a human species and all the dilemmas, all the problems, all the passions and the hatreds and emotions, it becomes so relevant to us in the 21st century.
01:52The very short, enigmatic, cryptic tale of Cain and Abel introduces the theme of fraternal rivalry, which then reverberates throughout the entire book of Genesis.
02:06The tale of Cain and Abel is not for the faint of heart.
02:11Brutal and bare bones, just 16 verses of Genesis tell the story of this slaying, and there is a riddle entwined in almost every moment of it.
02:20It all begins after God expels Adam and Eve from paradise, and they produce two sons.
02:29Cain, their firstborn, becomes a farmer.
02:32His younger brother, Abel, becomes a shepherd.
02:34Both brothers try to please God by giving him thanks and offering him sacrifices.
02:44These are the first ritual sacrifices ever recorded in the Bible, as each brother makes his offering according to his own livelihood.
02:52The Bible tells us that Cain reaches out to God by offering him a sacrifice from his crops.
03:03And Abel offers God a sacrifice from his herd, his firstborn lamb.
03:10God accepts Abel's offering, but he rejects Cain's for no apparent reason.
03:16This is the first of the many riddles in the story.
03:23Why would God prefer one sacrifice to another?
03:27One brother to another?
03:30On this matter, Genesis is mute.
03:36But the story continues.
03:38Cain becomes angry and jealous of his more successful brother, and lashes out.
03:43And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel.
03:54And killed him.
03:58Here's another mystery.
03:59If no one had been killed before, let alone murdered, how did Cain know how to kill?
04:08And did he even understand what he had done?
04:10Then the Lord said to Cain,
04:15Where is your brother Abel?
04:19He said, I do not know.
04:22Am I my brother's keeper?
04:24And the Lord said,
04:26What have you done?
04:28Listen,
04:30your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground.
04:33And now you are cursed from the ground,
04:39which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.
04:44And now the Bible makes it clear how angry God is with Cain for committing such a heinous crime.
04:59He banishes him from his home forever,
05:02and condemns him to wander the earth alone.
05:04Cain pleads with God,
05:08saying he is afraid he would be killed by any people he might encounter in the wilderness.
05:14So God promises to put a mark on him,
05:17so that no one who comes upon Cain will harm him.
05:22More riddles.
05:23If in the beginning there is only Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel,
05:28who are the people Cain fears in the wilderness?
05:33And most puzzling of all,
05:35a riddle that would echo through the ages.
05:38What is the mark of Cain?
05:42Finally, Cain wanders off into the land of Nod,
05:45east of Eden,
05:46never to return home again.
05:48Sixteen perplexing verses that generate more questions than answers.
05:54But one compelling message does come through loud and clear.
05:59Yes, indeed, you are your brother's keeper.
06:02The story is extremely significant,
06:04because it lays down the principles of war and peace,
06:09of goodwill and nonviolence,
06:11and of really two ways of approaching the world.
06:14According to Dr. Ahmed,
06:19the pacifism of Jesus,
06:21Gandhi,
06:22and Martin Luther King
06:24can all be traced back to the story of Cain and Abel,
06:28with its message about the brotherhood of man
06:30and the importance of nonviolence.
06:35But at the same time,
06:37the mark of Cain has for hundreds of years
06:40been used to demonize and destroy people, nations, and races.
06:45Where did this puzzling, contradictory,
06:48and almost bizarre story come from?
06:51From Sunday school sermons
06:53to sophisticated theological debate,
06:56the great religions of the world
06:58have long struggled to penetrate
06:59the mysteries of their sacred texts.
07:01The story of Cain and Abel
07:05lives more lives than a cat.
07:08It gets interpreted many more times than nine
07:11in the subsequent Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.
07:17Essentially, it's the same story
07:19being told and retold and retold.
07:21And with each generation, each century,
07:24a new generation of scholars
07:25is able to write, embellish,
07:29expand on the same story.
07:30Each tradition adds intriguing and surprising details
07:37to try and reconcile the riddles and contradictions
07:40of this extraordinary story.
07:44Despite centuries of feuds and wars and bloodshed,
07:49Jews, Christians, and Muslims all agree on one thing.
07:55They all trace their beliefs in one God
07:57and the concept that all of us
07:59are the descendants of Adam and Eve
08:01to the ancient Hebrew tribes
08:03and the prophet Abraham.
08:07The central enduring philosophies
08:10of a God of love and forgiveness
08:11are the fundamental and uniting force
08:14behind the great religions of the world.
08:18Nevertheless, each religion has to wrestle
08:21with the riddles of the story in its own way.
08:25The first great puzzle of the ancient text.
08:29Why is Cain's offering of grain rejected
08:31while Abel's blood sacrifice is accepted?
08:36In fact, in some Quranic commentaries,
08:39Abel's sacrifice is not just accepted,
08:41it is spectacularly received.
08:45God declared his acceptance in a visible manner
08:48by causing fire to descend from heaven
08:57and consume it.
08:58Brother Cain would have had a hard time
09:05overlooking that fiery sign of approval from God.
09:10In the Quran and the Bible,
09:12Cain has no idea why God has rejected his offering
09:15and accepted Abel's.
09:18And this makes him jealous and angry.
09:20While scholars agree the Bible provides
09:29no reason for God's preference,
09:31they believe the answer to this riddle
09:33might be contained within a completely different
09:36and startling question.
09:37It's hard to know why God favors Abel's sacrifice
09:41over Cain's.
09:42But the focus of the text
09:45is not on why one offering was accepted
09:48and the other was rejected.
09:49The focus of the text is
09:51that the rejection
09:53did not have to split apart the family
09:55and result in murder.
09:57Many commentators believe
09:59the story's lesson is in God's challenge to Cain.
10:02To recognize and accept
10:04that his brother has insights,
10:06gifts, and talents that he doesn't have.
10:10And to recognize that
10:11instead of being overcome by jealousy,
10:14he could benefit from his brother's ability
10:16to please God.
10:17In other words,
10:20none of us has it all.
10:23And therefore,
10:24we are dependent on the other
10:25in order to acquire those sensitivities,
10:30those abilities.
10:33Instead,
10:34when Abel is rewarded by God,
10:36Cain is filled with resentment.
10:38Some other Islamic and Hebrew commentators
10:46suggest a startling reason
10:48why God accepts Abel's offering,
10:50but not the offering of Cain.
10:54Abel's heart is righteous
10:57because God knows everything.
10:59God knows how we think.
11:00God knows our hearts.
11:02So God is accepting one offering
11:04and not happy with Cain's offering.
11:08But what could Cain have done
11:09to offend God?
11:11Both traditions offer another explanation
11:14to answer this unresolved issue in Genesis.
11:18According to some Hebrew and Islamic scholars,
11:21it's the predictable source of conflict
11:23between two men,
11:24a woman.
11:27Cain covets the woman
11:28who is intended for Abel,
11:29hence God's anger
11:31with the older brother.
11:33The commentators suggest
11:34that Cain and Abel had a sister.
11:37Her name was Awan.
11:43Genesis, by the way,
11:44has no trouble
11:45with brothers and sisters marrying
11:46because there is no other option
11:48at this point.
11:50Now Cain's resentments
11:52seem a little clearer.
11:54God has favored Abel
11:56in both marriage and sacrifice.
11:58God warns Cain
12:02that he must turn away
12:03from evil thoughts,
12:04but he does not.
12:06And so Cain asks his brother
12:08to go with him into the fields
12:10with violence in mind.
12:14Over the centuries,
12:16Islamic tradition
12:17adds more details to the story,
12:19which emphasize
12:20the peaceful ways of Abel.
12:23The two of them are arguing,
12:25there's an altercation,
12:26and Abel,
12:28very much non-violent,
12:30in the best traditions
12:30that will be followed
12:32by generations of non-violence,
12:34lies down
12:35and says,
12:36all right,
12:36do with me what you will.
12:38But oddly,
12:39despite Abel's passive response,
12:42Cain can't finish
12:43the terrible deed.
12:45But is this really
12:46so surprising?
12:47In this young world,
12:50no human being
12:51has yet died,
12:52and no man
12:53has killed another.
12:55According to the commentators
12:57of the Holy Quran,
12:58only one supernatural being
13:00can teach a man
13:01how to kill his brother.
13:05Enter the serpent.
13:06For over 2,000 years,
13:11the short and enigmatic story
13:12of Cain and Abel
13:14has challenged readers
13:15of the Bible and the Quran
13:16with its mysterious poetry
13:18and tantalizing riddles.
13:21As the story is interpreted
13:22by commentators
13:23of the Holy Quran,
13:25Abel refuses to fight his brother,
13:27even as Cain attempts
13:29to strangle him to death.
13:31When Cain discovers
13:32that despite his best efforts,
13:34he can't kill him.
13:36The devil appears
13:37and speaks to Cain
13:39and instructs him
13:40how to commit
13:41the act of murder.
13:43The devil tells Cain
13:45to hit his brother
13:46on the head
13:46with a rock.
13:54But what does murder mean
13:56in this world without death?
14:00The Islamic commentaries
14:01offer some detail
14:02about just how
14:04novel and shocking
14:05the situation was.
14:12One of them describes
14:14how the emotions
14:15of sorrow and pain
14:16are introduced to the world
14:17for the first time
14:18by the gloating devil.
14:22When the devil visits Eve,
14:24who does not yet know
14:25that her youngest son is dead,
14:27he tells her,
14:28your son Abel
14:30is not going to come back to you.
14:33What do you mean?
14:35He's dead.
14:37He's killed.
14:39What does killed mean?
14:42What does death mean?
14:43Remember,
14:44remember there's just the beginning,
14:46the start of everything
14:47as far as the human species
14:49is concerned.
14:50And the devil then explains
14:51that he shall not
14:53speak to you anymore.
14:54He shall not return.
14:55He shall not eat.
14:56He shall not laugh.
14:57He shall not breathe.
14:59And she begins to weep.
15:00She's after all the mother.
15:01According to the Quran commentaries,
15:07Eve's tears are the first tears
15:09ever shed by a human being.
15:13In the Islamic tradition,
15:15this is how sadness
15:16first becomes part
15:17of human experience.
15:20In all of the monotheistic traditions,
15:23this is the first instance
15:24of death, murder,
15:26fratricide, and grief.
15:27And forever after,
15:32sorrows multiply
15:33in both the Old
15:34and the New Testaments.
15:36Tears,
15:37rending of clothes,
15:38gnashing of teeth,
15:40and shedding of blood.
15:41All of them mirror
15:42this second fall
15:43from God's grace,
15:45the killing of a brother.
15:47And the rest of the Old Testament
15:49is brimming with stories
15:51that echo the most violent themes
15:53of Cain and Abel.
15:55Brothers set against each other
15:57by family,
15:58by blood,
15:59by inheritance,
16:00by jealousy.
16:02But something profound
16:03begins to happen over time.
16:05The angry brothers
16:06begin to learn forgiveness.
16:09In the 25th chapter
16:11in the book of Genesis,
16:13the redemption begins
16:14with the story
16:15of the twin brothers
16:16Jacob and Esau,
16:18who quarrel over the inheritance
16:19of their father, Isaac.
16:22Jacob and Esau
16:23start to fight
16:24when they are still
16:25in their mother's womb.
16:27Their mother,
16:28Rebekah,
16:29finds there's a terrible
16:30ruckus going on
16:31in her womb.
16:32She doesn't know
16:32what's going on
16:33and she seeks out
16:33an oracle from the Lord
16:35who says,
16:36you've got two nations
16:36fighting in your womb.
16:38You can imagine
16:38what that's like
16:39to have two nations.
16:40That's a tough pregnancy
16:41when you have two
16:41whole nations
16:42fighting in the womb.
16:45Esau,
16:45who was later associated
16:47with Christianity,
16:48emerged first
16:49and became the eldest
16:50and won the inheritance.
16:53But Jacob,
16:55who symbolized Judaism,
16:56never conceded
16:57and continued to fight.
17:00Jacob finally triumphed
17:01over his older brother
17:02when he tricked Esau
17:03into trading his inheritance
17:05for a bowl of lentil soup.
17:08Esau is starving at the time,
17:10but that buys him
17:11no mercy in the story.
17:13that Esau would sell
17:16his familial rights
17:17in exchange
17:18for a bowl of soup
17:19is sometimes interpreted
17:22as a sign of disrespect
17:23for his father's traditions.
17:27Esau vows to kill Jacob
17:29and Jacob has to flee
17:30from Canaan.
17:36But after about 20 years,
17:38he cannot resist the need
17:39to return home.
17:41Esau,
17:41despite the loss
17:42of his birthright,
17:43has become powerful
17:44and rich
17:45and confronts
17:46the returning Jacob
17:47with an army.
17:49But as soon as he sees
17:51his brother,
17:51he is overcome with joy.
17:54When Esau saw Jacob,
17:56he ran to meet him,
17:57took him in his arms,
17:59threw himself on his neck
18:01and wept
18:02as he kissed him.
18:05Here we glimpse
18:06a first step
18:07toward a gentler meaning
18:09of brotherhood
18:09than Cain and Abel provide.
18:11But the truest reconciliation
18:14of the brother-against-brother theme
18:16first appearing in Cain and Abel
18:18is yet to come.
18:21This sibling rivalry
18:23between these brothers
18:24ricochets or reverberates
18:26throughout the book of Genesis.
18:28It comes to its crescendo
18:29in its most elaborate form
18:30at the very end of Genesis
18:32in the story of Joseph.
18:34And it all begins
18:38with the famous coat
18:39of many colors.
18:41A gift from Jacob
18:42to his youngest son,
18:44Joseph,
18:44and a symbol
18:45that he will receive
18:46his father's inheritance.
18:50Joseph's older brothers
18:51are filled with jealousy
18:52and anger.
18:56They steal the multicolored coat,
18:58fake his murder,
18:59and sell him off
19:00to slave traders.
19:07Joseph ends up in Egypt
19:08where he is enslaved
19:09and thrown into prison.
19:14But after two years
19:16of suffering,
19:17Joseph is summoned
19:17by the pharaoh.
19:21Pharaoh has learned
19:22that this particular slave
19:24has a special gift
19:25for interpreting dreams.
19:30And as Joseph listens
19:32to Pharaoh's dream,
19:33he realizes
19:34it is a divine prophecy.
19:37Joseph warns Pharaoh
19:38that the waters
19:39of the Nile
19:39will dry up
19:40and a seven-year famine
19:42is approaching.
19:44And he tells him
19:44how to protect the kingdom.
19:47The pharaoh is so impressed
19:48with Joseph
19:49that he appoints him
19:50to the highest political office
19:51of Egypt.
19:52He becomes powerful
19:55and wealthy
19:56beyond imagining.
19:58And finally,
19:58his opportunity
19:59for vengeance arrives.
20:02When he learns
20:03that his brothers
20:04have come to Egypt
20:04to escape the famine,
20:06Joseph knows
20:07he can destroy them
20:08as Cain destroyed Abel.
20:10But instead,
20:12he welcomes them.
20:15Now don't be grieved
20:16nor angry with yourselves
20:18that you sold me here.
20:19for God sent me before you
20:22to preserve life.
20:24Joseph has saved the lives
20:26of those
20:27who sought to kill him.
20:29And so sibling rivalry
20:30does not have to mean
20:31hatred, violence,
20:33triumphalism,
20:34or feelings of superiority.
20:37The theme
20:38of brotherly betrayal
20:39and redemption
20:40runs from Cain and Abel
20:42through Joseph
20:42and his brothers.
20:43Another famous betrayal
20:48in the Bible
20:48occurs, of course,
20:49in the story of Jesus.
20:51He who preached
20:52brotherhood and forgiveness
20:54was handed over
20:55to the authorities
20:55by his disciple
20:56and, some might say,
20:58spiritual brother,
21:00Judas.
21:02And he accepted his death
21:04with non-violent grace,
21:06which, says the Holy Quran,
21:08began with Abel.
21:09Certainly, the cry
21:13forgive them, father,
21:15they know not what they do
21:16could have been a cry
21:17for Cain himself,
21:19killing without any knowledge
21:21of what death
21:22or murder really meant.
21:25But almost from the inception
21:27of institutionalized Christianity,
21:29redemption themes
21:30in the story of Cain and Abel
21:32have been the farthest thing
21:33from the minds
21:34of some clerics
21:35and scholars.
21:35Instead, many were obsessed
21:38with that great riddle.
21:40What was the mark of Cain?
21:42The mark that God
21:43put upon the first murderer.
21:47In Genesis,
21:48after Abel dies,
21:50there is a truly remarkable
21:51exchange between God
21:53and Cain.
21:55God does not sentence Cain
21:57to death for his awful crime,
21:59but to banishment,
22:00to wander alone
22:01in the land of Nod.
22:02Still, Cain has the temerity
22:06to ask God for help.
22:10Cain said to the Lord,
22:13Today you are driving me
22:14from the land,
22:15and I will be hidden
22:16from your presence.
22:18I will be a restless wanderer
22:20on the earth,
22:22and whoever finds me
22:23will kill me.
22:27And God agrees to give Cain
22:29an unexpected form
22:30of protection.
22:31If anyone kills Cain,
22:34he will suffer vengeance
22:36seven times over.
22:38Then the Lord
22:39put a mark on Cain
22:40so that no one
22:41who found him
22:42would kill him.
22:46But what is the mark?
22:49The story gives
22:50no detailed description of it.
22:54Some ancient rabbis
22:56have said that God
22:57made horns grow
22:58on Cain's head
22:59so he could defend himself.
23:01Others believe that Cain
23:03was marked with leprosy,
23:04a sure guarantee
23:05that his enemies
23:06would keep their distance.
23:08But still others
23:09have said that it may
23:10have not been
23:11a physical mark,
23:12that God caused the sun
23:14to shine on Cain
23:15wherever he went,
23:16so all would know
23:17that he was under
23:18God's protection.
23:19And although the mysterious mark
23:28is clearly intended
23:29to shield Cain
23:30from Abel's Avengers,
23:31it doesn't safeguard
23:33his name
23:33from hundreds of years
23:35of slander
23:35and misinterpretation.
23:40The Christian father,
23:42St. Augustine,
23:43was an early example
23:44of a writer
23:45who linked Cain
23:46and his mark
23:46with the forces
23:47that crucified Jesus.
23:51Around 400 A.D.,
23:54Augustine found himself
23:55in the midst of a battle
23:56for the survival
23:57of the Catholic Church.
24:02To defend the church
24:03against its critics,
24:05Augustine tried
24:06to shift the blame
24:07for the evils of the world
24:08onto the Jewish people.
24:12Augustine believed
24:13that the Jews
24:13had descended
24:14from the murderous Cain
24:15while the non-violent Abel
24:17represented Jesus
24:18and the church.
24:20And he sees Abel
24:22as representing Jesus
24:23and just as Cain
24:25killed Abel,
24:26so the Jews
24:27killed Jesus.
24:29And just as Cain
24:30was forced to be
24:31a wanderer,
24:33rootless,
24:34unable to
24:35establish himself,
24:38that is to be
24:39the destiny
24:40of the Jewish people.
24:41Augustine wrote
24:43in his famous work
24:44The City of God.
24:47He was a type
24:48of the Jews
24:48that killed Christ,
24:51prefigured
24:51in the shepherd Abel.
24:55The writings
24:56of Augustine
24:57did nothing
24:57to slow the growth
24:58of an anti-Semitic movement
25:00that eventually
25:00spread across the world.
25:05In the 13th century,
25:07Pope Innocent III
25:08echoed Augustine's view
25:09of Cain and Abel
25:10and issued a papal order
25:11for all Jews
25:12to distinguish themselves
25:13by their clothing.
25:17A century later,
25:18in Spain,
25:19Alfonso X issued
25:21a similar law.
25:23Any Jew
25:24who does not bear
25:25such identifying mark
25:26shall pay for each time
25:28he is found without it
25:30ten maravedis of gold.
25:33And if he has not
25:34the means to do this,
25:36he shall receive
25:36ten lashes
25:37for his offense.
25:38But the Christians
25:43were not alone
25:44in the use
25:45of the mark of Cain
25:46to justify crimes
25:47against humanity.
25:51In the 17th century,
25:53slavery was justified
25:54by many church-going
25:55Englishmen
25:56who believed Africans
25:57were the bearers
25:58of the mark of Cain.
26:01A hundred years later,
26:02in 1852,
26:04Brigham Young,
26:05president of the Church
26:06of Jesus Christ
26:06of Latter-day Saints
26:07said this,
26:09I tell you,
26:11this people
26:11that are commonly
26:12called Negroes
26:13are the children
26:14of old Cain.
26:19In the 20th century,
26:21this twisting of Genesis
26:22took another ominous turn.
26:25In 1941,
26:26when the Nazis
26:27ordered all German Jews
26:29to identify themselves
26:30in public
26:31with a yellow star,
26:33propaganda minister
26:34Joseph Goebbels
26:35wrote a newspaper editorial
26:36in which he compared
26:38the yellow star
26:39to the mark of Cain
26:40and mocked the Berlin Jews
26:42for attempting
26:43to cover it up.
26:46Each Jew on the street
26:48for the New Saber
26:49to conceal his mark
26:51of Cain.
26:55And after,
26:57the anti-Semitic
26:58and racist interpretation
26:59of Cain and Abel
27:00lived on
27:01in the violent rhetoric
27:02of one hate group
27:04after another.
27:05In support of their views,
27:07they frequently repeated
27:08the claim that Cain's mark
27:10is actually black skin,
27:12that Cain's descendants
27:13are black,
27:15and that Africans
27:15and Jews
27:16have both been cursed
27:17by God
27:18for the murder of Jesus.
27:22But today,
27:23most Christian
27:24and Jewish scholars
27:25agree that the
27:26spiritual concepts
27:27behind the story
27:28of Cain and Abel
27:29have been hijacked
27:30and completely miss
27:32the deeper point.
27:34The mark of Cain
27:35is sometimes understood
27:37as the sign
27:38of a curse,
27:40the sign of punishment.
27:42But it's also
27:43seen and read
27:45and interpreted
27:46as a sign
27:46of God's mercy.
27:48It provides protection.
27:50But why would God
27:51protect Cain,
27:53a cold-blooded murderer?
27:55This has been
27:56one of the most enduring
27:57mysteries
27:57of this perplexing story.
28:01One answer comes
28:02from the ancient rabbis
28:03who commented
28:04extensively on Genesis,
28:05and their answer
28:07is one that might
28:08be recognizable
28:09in a court of law
28:10today.
28:11They made the observation
28:12that before Cain
28:14killed Abel,
28:15no one had ever
28:16died before.
28:18And if Cain
28:19had no idea
28:20what would happen
28:21when he struck
28:21his brother
28:22with the rock,
28:23the crime was not
28:24murder in the first degree.
28:26It was an accident.
28:27And in ancient
28:32Hebrew courts,
28:33accidental killing
28:34was not punishable
28:35by death.
28:38Today,
28:39some modern
28:40Jewish scholars
28:40suggest another possibility,
28:43one that challenges
28:44the long-held
28:45Christian perception
28:46of the Old Testament
28:47God
28:47as an angry,
28:49vengeful God.
28:50One of the answers
28:51that you find
28:52oddly enough
28:52is that he actually
28:53repented.
28:54When Cain
28:57begs God
28:57for mercy,
28:59the ancient Hebrew
29:00is often translated
29:01as,
29:01my punishment
29:02is too great
29:03to bear.
29:04But another translation
29:06of Cain's plea
29:07to God
29:07creates a very
29:08different impression.
29:11The word
29:12for punishment,
29:13the Hebrew word
29:14avon,
29:14can also be
29:15translated
29:16as iniquity.
29:18So sometimes
29:19it's translated
29:20as the iniquity
29:22of what I've done,
29:23the enormity,
29:24the magnitude
29:25of the sin
29:26that I have performed
29:27is greater than
29:28I can,
29:29I can't tolerate this.
29:31And according
29:32to rabbinic theology,
29:34there is no one
29:35who is so lost
29:36in sin
29:36that he can't
29:37be forgiven.
29:39So here you've got
29:40the original fratricide,
29:41the murderer
29:42of his brother
29:43for what seems
29:44to be no good reason
29:45at all.
29:46And yet he is forgiven
29:47and protected
29:49because of his repentance.
29:53There are other signs
29:58of God's forgiveness
29:59toward Cain.
30:00After wandering
30:01in the wilderness,
30:03Cain has a son,
30:04Enoch.
30:05And he builds
30:06a city in Enoch's honor.
30:09It is the first city
30:10and the founding
30:12of civilization.
30:14For archaeologists
30:15and historians,
30:16there are kernels
30:17of truth
30:17in the story
30:18of Cain and Abel,
30:20kernels to be found
30:20hidden in the shadows
30:21of the Egyptian pyramids.
30:26Others think
30:27the story goes
30:28much further back
30:29to the dawn
30:30of civilization
30:31and the site
30:32of the original Eden.
30:40This is Egypt,
30:41the land of the pharaohs,
30:43of course,
30:43but also the land
30:44where the Israelites
30:45lived for generations.
30:49That other spiritual
30:50descendant of Cain,
30:52Joseph,
30:52made a home here
30:53for his once treacherous
30:54brothers and all
30:55of his people.
30:58Nearly 400 years later,
31:00however,
31:01pharaoh grew afraid
31:02of the Israelites'
31:03prosperity
31:04and enslaved them.
31:07Then a pharaoh's daughter
31:08found a baby
31:09in a river
31:10and raised him
31:11in the royal household.
31:14Thus begins
31:14the story of Moses,
31:16savior of the Jewish people,
31:18leader of the great exodus.
31:22According to Scripture,
31:23God dictated
31:24the five books
31:25of the Hebrew Bible
31:26to Moses
31:27on Mount Sinai.
31:29But there are scholars
31:30who think Moses
31:31may have taken
31:32more out of Egypt
31:32than his people.
31:35He may have taken
31:37bits of Egyptian religion
31:38as well,
31:40bits that seem
31:40to resonate
31:41in amazing ways
31:42with the story
31:43of Cain and Abel.
31:45The Egyptians
31:46immortalized the stories
31:47of their religion
31:48on the walls
31:49of their own tombs
31:50deep inside the pyramids.
31:52And it is here
31:54where we find
31:54tantalizing parallels
31:56with the conflict
31:57between those first brothers
31:58of the Old Testament
31:59and that first murder.
32:03And if you go
32:04into the tombs,
32:05you can see these writings
32:06right on the wall.
32:07stories about creation,
32:09references to the first city.
32:12Many of the elements
32:12you find
32:13in the biblical Genesis stories
32:14you find
32:15in these ancient writings.
32:21The Pyramid of Unas
32:22is over 4,000 years old.
32:26Hundreds of magical spells
32:27are inscribed
32:28on the walls
32:29of this sanctuary.
32:30Among the spells
32:33and incantations
32:34is a powerful story
32:36of jealousy
32:37and fratricide,
32:38strikingly similar
32:39to Cain and Abel.
32:43The Egyptian hieroglyphics
32:45tell the story
32:45of two brothers,
32:47the gods Osiris
32:48and Seth.
32:51Osiris was the god
32:53of agriculture
32:53and the ruler
32:54of the world.
32:56And Seth was the god
32:57of war and conflict.
33:00One day,
33:01Seth became jealous
33:02and murdered Osiris,
33:05chopped him up
33:05into 42 pieces
33:07and scattered him
33:08all over the world.
33:11Fratricide is not
33:12the only echo
33:13of the story
33:13of Cain and Abel.
33:15We also find
33:16a detail that parallels
33:18the later commentaries
33:19on Genesis.
33:21The two Egyptian gods
33:22fought to the death
33:23because they were both
33:24in love with the same woman,
33:26their sister.
33:29Just as the Hebrew
33:30and Muslim commentators
33:31say that Cain killed Abel
33:33over the love
33:33of their sister.
33:38Today, scholars
33:39and archaeologists
33:40see other similarities.
33:42A story that resonates
33:44with the fall of man,
33:45the expulsion from Eden,
33:47and of Cain's role
33:49in a totally new way
33:50for mankind to live.
33:52Almost all religions
33:54have some sort of
33:55moment of creation
33:56and in ancient Egypt,
33:57like in Genesis,
33:59you have this sort of
33:59perfect, idyllic,
34:01very pastoral kind of place
34:02where you have animals
34:03and things, people.
34:05Everyone's living together
34:06in a harmonious way,
34:07which of course
34:08has to be shattered
34:09before you can go on
34:10for civilization
34:11to be created.
34:16In the Egyptian religion,
34:18Osiris is resurrected
34:20and he builds
34:21the first city of Egypt,
34:23Heliopolis,
34:24which is now in ruins
34:25on the outskirts of Cairo.
34:30In Genesis,
34:31Cain goes out
34:32and builds the first city.
34:34So we see a large number
34:35of parallels
34:36between the Egyptian story
34:38and the biblical story.
34:41And it's interesting
34:41because in the Torah,
34:43everything that Osiris does
34:45actually is given over
34:46to some extent to Cain,
34:47going over and founding cities,
34:50having agriculture,
34:52passing out ideas
34:53to people
34:54to sort of be good,
34:55settled, non-nomadic people.
34:58But for many scientists
35:00and scholars,
35:02whatever Egyptian elements
35:03may have influenced
35:04the Old Testament story
35:05of Cain and Abel,
35:07they are rooted even deeper
35:08in human prehistory.
35:09They hearken back
35:13to a violent
35:14and astounding event.
35:16Some say perhaps
35:17the most important revolution
35:19in the history of man,
35:21agriculture.
35:25The vital clues lie
35:27in those first sacrifices
35:28in the Old Testament.
35:31Cain, the farmer,
35:32offering up grain and fruit.
35:34Abel, the herder,
35:36offering his firstborn lamb.
35:37Now this is the sort of story
35:41that you can compare
35:42to what happened
35:43around 7,000 B.C.,
35:45what we call
35:45the Neolithic Revolution,
35:46when these two groups
35:47of people,
35:48the farmers and the shepherds,
35:49started to get into conflict
35:51with each other.
35:53It all began
35:54in the cradle of civilization
35:56in what is now Iraq.
35:59People had begun
36:00to move away
36:01from Stone Age
36:02hunter-gatherer ways
36:03and had started
36:04controlling their environments.
36:07They no longer gathered food,
36:11they produced it.
36:13There were those
36:14who domesticated animals,
36:16the herders,
36:17and those who domesticated plants,
36:19the farmers.
36:25Experts think violence erupted
36:27when bands of herders
36:28moved through the countryside
36:29and allowed their herds
36:31of animals to feed on
36:32and trample
36:33the farmers' fields and crops.
36:35The ensuing battles
36:37left many dead
36:38and became the stuff of legend.
36:43But eventually,
36:44the nomadic groups
36:45began to settle down
36:46and adopt the more sophisticated ways
36:48of the farmers.
36:50As villages became small cities
36:53and the populations grew,
36:56a new culture
36:57of early civilization
36:58began to emerge.
37:01The stories of the clashes
37:03between herders
37:04and farmers
37:04were eventually
37:05written down
37:06on clay tablets
37:07by the people
37:08who invented writing,
37:09the Sumerians.
37:12The Sumerians lived
37:13in Mesopotamia,
37:15part of which is now
37:15known as Iraq,
37:16over 6,000 years ago.
37:18They're the people
37:20that I consider
37:22to be one of the most
37:22gifted people
37:23in the whole face
37:23of the earth
37:24because they invented writing,
37:26they invented laws,
37:27they invented all sorts
37:28of moral reasoning,
37:30proverbs,
37:31they invented
37:32religious belief systems
37:33to explain why there's good
37:34and why there's evil.
37:39Carved in stone tablets,
37:41Sumerian accounts
37:42of the battles
37:42between the shepherds
37:43and farmers
37:44took the shape
37:45of a myth,
37:46strikingly similar
37:47to the story
37:48of Cain and Abel.
37:51In the Sumerian tale,
37:53the shepherd god,
37:54Dumuzi,
37:55battles with his brother,
37:56the farmer god,
37:57and Kimdu
37:58for the favors
37:59of their sister,
38:00the goddess Inanna.
38:05But how would
38:06such a tale
38:07have survived
38:08for thousands of years
38:09to become part
38:10of a monotheistic tradition?
38:13I think we have
38:14to realize
38:14that the stories
38:15in Genesis
38:16are oral traditions
38:17originally.
38:18they are stories
38:19told by the elders
38:20of tribes
38:21to the rest
38:22of the tribe.
38:23And of course,
38:24they're going to get changed
38:25and distorted slightly
38:26over time.
38:27But essentially,
38:27until they're written down
38:28for the first time,
38:29these are oral traditions
38:30and that's what Genesis is.
38:31The biblical record shows
38:35another remarkable parallel
38:36with this oral history
38:38of the agricultural revolution.
38:42It seems that after all
38:44of those thousands
38:45of years of tales
38:46told around campfires,
38:48the location
38:49of where it all began
38:50may have been preserved.
38:52The place called Eden.
38:55You've got to look
38:56at the geography,
38:57the landscape of the story.
38:58That really is where
38:59you find
39:00the Cain and Abel story
39:01in the landscape.
39:02The Garden of Eden,
39:03says the Bible,
39:04is located
39:05at the headwaters
39:06of four rivers,
39:07including the Tigris
39:08and Euphrates,
39:09which are still known today
39:11by their biblical names.
39:13Those two rivers
39:14we knew about
39:14from the start,
39:15so those weren't difficult.
39:16The real problem was,
39:17where were the other two rivers?
39:19The other two biblical rivers,
39:21the Gihon and Pishon,
39:22do not appear
39:23on any modern map.
39:27Rohl believes
39:28the modern-day
39:29Araxes River,
39:30which flows
39:31from the north
39:31of Lake Ermia
39:32to the Caspian Sea
39:33to the east,
39:35is the biblical Gihon River.
39:38And the Uzun,
39:39which rises near
39:40Mount Sahand,
39:41was once called
39:41the Pishon.
39:46A study of the ancient languages
39:48shows that over time,
39:49the letter P
39:50was often substituted
39:51for the letter U,
39:53making it quite possible
39:54that the biblical river Pishon
39:56became known
39:57as the river Ushon.
40:00Having identified
40:01all four biblical rivers,
40:04Rohl believes
40:04he has found
40:05the lost Garden of Eden.
40:08So let's bring up
40:10our four quadrants,
40:11the four quarters of Eden,
40:13if you like,
40:13and at the center,
40:14at the heart,
40:15is the land of Eden itself.
40:17And that is where
40:18the Garden of Eden
40:18is located.
40:19According to Dr. Rohl,
40:22the Garden of Eden
40:23is located
40:24in what is now known
40:25as Western Iran.
40:29This is the place,
40:30Rohl believes,
40:31where the story
40:32of Cain and Abel
40:33has its origins.
40:36But not all scholars agree.
40:39Dr. Uras Zarens
40:41puts the Garden of Eden
40:42further south,
40:43where the Euphrates
40:44and Tigris rivers
40:45meet the Persian Gulf.
40:46According to Zarens,
40:51satellite images
40:52of the Middle East
40:53reveal the traces
40:54of an ancient fossil river
40:56that once flowed
40:57through northern Arabia
40:58and through the now
40:59dry valleys.
41:01This river,
41:02he claims,
41:03is the lost
41:03biblical river Pishon.
41:08The fourth river,
41:10the Gihon,
41:10is the present-day Karun
41:12flowing into the Persian Gulf,
41:14where Zarens concludes
41:16the Garden of Eden
41:17is submerged beneath the water.
41:217,000 years ago,
41:23according to geologic surveys,
41:25the Persian Gulf
41:26was not the huge body
41:27of water it is today,
41:29but a lush green valley
41:33filled with rivers
41:34and freshwater springs.
41:35I would say the first people
41:39who were living there
41:40would be people
41:41who were hunters
41:41and gatherers
41:42looking at a large oasis.
41:46There would be
41:46a huge number of river systems
41:48coming in from the north,
41:49and they would be taking
41:51and exploiting resources
41:52in that area
41:53along the rivers,
41:54along marshes,
41:55along banks,
41:56maybe a cut bank
41:58of some kind,
41:59maybe even a little lake
42:00in the area.
42:01They would have
42:01a tremendous amount
42:02of resources
42:02in the area
42:03at about 7,000 years ago,
42:065,000 B.C.
42:08Precise geography aside,
42:11both scholars agree
42:12that the story
42:13of Cain and Abel
42:14originated in ancient
42:15Mesopotamia
42:16some 7,000 years ago.
42:21Cain's way
42:22of settled farming
42:23triumphed
42:24over the less productive
42:25nomadic traditions
42:26of shepherds
42:27and their herds of animals.
42:29And once man learned
42:30to control nature
42:31and grow his crops
42:33according to his needs,
42:35he was able
42:35to stop wandering
42:36across the lands
42:37in search of food,
42:39to put down roots,
42:41build villages
42:42and cities,
42:43and develop more
42:45and more advanced technologies
42:46that ultimately led
42:48to a sophisticated culture
42:50of art, music,
42:52and the written word
42:53that would endure
42:54for all time.
42:55There is a heart-rending coda
43:01to the story
43:02of Cain and Abel
43:03that is not in Genesis,
43:05but is a vital part
43:06of the Islamic tradition.
43:11Cain, realizing the depths
43:13of his sin
43:14for the first time,
43:15tries to hide it
43:16from the eyes
43:16of man and God.
43:18When Cain actually
43:23kills Abel,
43:24he doesn't know
43:24what to do with the body.
43:25The body is lying
43:26on stony ground.
43:27He doesn't know
43:27what to do
43:28with the body itself
43:29until he sees
43:30a raven or a crow
43:32killing another raven
43:33and then with his beak
43:36making a little hole
43:37and then burying that raven
43:39and putting some sand on it.
43:41So that gives Cain
43:43the idea of how
43:44to bury a human body
43:46and that's what he does.
43:48And this,
43:50the commentaries say,
43:51is how the concept
43:52of human burial originated.
43:55For many scholars,
43:57Cain's crime resonates
43:58with sins found
44:00throughout the Old Testament
44:01and the belief
44:04that it's not just
44:05the sinful act,
44:06but the attempt
44:07to hide it
44:07from the eyes of God
44:08that incurs his wrath,
44:11which is precisely
44:12what happened
44:13to Cain's parents.
44:16In the Garden
44:17of Eden,
44:18Adam and Eve
44:19disobey God
44:20and eat from
44:21the tree of knowledge.
44:23And when he asks them
44:25why they have disobeyed him,
44:27instead of accepting
44:28responsibility
44:29for their own actions,
44:30they blame the serpent
44:32for tempting them,
44:34just as Cain refuses
44:35to accept responsibility
44:37for killing his brother.
44:40I'm not sure God
44:41is opposed to the claiming
44:44of knowledge
44:44that is inherent
44:46in taking the forbidden fruit.
44:48But what God
44:49finds dreadfully reprehensible
44:51is the fact
44:53that they will not own up
44:54to what they've done.
44:57And that failure
44:59to be responsible
45:01gets replayed by Cain.
45:04And Cain's sin
45:07goes even deeper
45:08than murder and denial,
45:10as one interpretation
45:11of the text suggests.
45:13And the Lord said,
45:15What have you done?
45:18Listen,
45:19your brother's blood
45:20is crying out to me
45:22from the ground.
45:23The Hebrew word
45:25for blood
45:26is damim.
45:28And a more accurate
45:29translation of the phrase
45:30would be in the plural.
45:32Your brother's bloods
45:33are crying out to me
45:34from the ground.
45:36What do you mean bloods?
45:37He just killed one person.
45:39And the answer is,
45:40it's the blood
45:41of Abel himself
45:42and of all his descendants,
45:44ad sofa'ulam,
45:45until the world
45:46comes to an end.
45:47All the descendants
45:48that would have come
45:48out of Abel
45:50will not be able
45:51to come out of him
45:51now that he was killed.
45:52So the person
45:53who kills someone
45:55really kills more
45:56than just that one person.
46:00When Cain killed
46:01his brother,
46:02he didn't just kill
46:03one man.
46:04He destroyed
46:05a whole world.
46:07We are infinitely
46:08precious.
46:09That's an affirmation
46:11that seems to me
46:12built into
46:13the heart of the Jewish,
46:15Christian,
46:16and Muslim traditions.
46:17But this story
46:18also asks
46:19one of the most
46:20profound and audacious
46:21questions
46:22of the Bible.
46:23Am I my brother's keeper?
46:26Clearly,
46:27the text is telling us
46:28that we are all
46:29indeed caretakers
46:30of each other.
46:31But what of God's
46:32responsibility?
46:33Why is he not
46:34the keeper
46:34of his children?
46:36Why does he let
46:37bad things happen
46:37to good people?
46:39And we can all
46:40ask the question,
46:41why doesn't God
46:42prevent murders?
46:43Why didn't God
46:43prevent the Holocaust?
46:45Why didn't God
46:46prevent 9-11?
46:47the biblical teaching
46:49would be that
46:51people have
46:52obligations
46:52to prevent
46:53those things.
46:53They cannot rely
46:55on the miracle
46:55of God's intervention.
46:56And so we come
47:04to the end
47:05of the remarkable
47:06tale of Cain
47:07and Abel.
47:09According to
47:10ancient Hebrew
47:11texts,
47:12Cain settled down
47:13and married his
47:13sister,
47:15had a son,
47:16built a city,
47:17and lit the candle
47:19of civilization.
47:20The mark upon him,
47:26whatever form
47:27it may have taken,
47:28sent him down
47:29a path that would
47:30enlighten humankind
47:31forever.
47:41But too often,
47:42the lessons Cain
47:43learned have been
47:44forgotten or turned
47:45into terrible
47:46rationales for
47:47retribution along
47:48the way.
47:50Perhaps the deepest
47:53irony is this.
47:55All of the
47:56monotheistic religions
47:57are literal
47:58and spiritual
47:58brothers.
48:00In their holiest
48:01writings,
48:02all claim
48:03descent from
48:03Adam and Eve.
48:04All recognize
48:05the lessons
48:06of Cain and Abel.
48:09But their
48:10descendants have
48:11spent centuries
48:12trying to conquer,
48:13even exterminate,
48:14each other.
48:16And the true
48:18message of the
48:18first fratricide
48:19seems long.
48:20lost.
48:23Millennia of
48:24murderous
48:25anti-Semitism.
48:28The crusades
48:30bent on ending
48:30the golden age
48:31of Islam.
48:36And now,
48:37terrible religious
48:38conflict in the
48:39Middle East.
48:42Today, more than ever,
48:44the message of the
48:45first death,
48:47the first murder,
48:47fear, the first sorrow,
48:50and the first
48:51forgiveness beg our
48:53attention.
48:56For me, the story of
48:57Cain and Abel is
48:59highly significant and
49:00relevant today,
49:02especially in the
49:03post-9-11 world.
49:04The two great ideas in play
49:07after 9-11 are the ideas
49:09of the clash of
49:11civilizations or the idea
49:14of the dialogue of
49:15civilizations.
49:15things.
49:16The Bible ultimately recognizes
49:20that we are all bound one to
49:24another, and therefore our
49:26obligations and our duties
49:27extend ultimately to the ends
49:30of the earth.
49:31For God's sake, for our own
49:33future, for our
49:34children's sakes, let's
49:36pull back.
49:36Let us take the
49:38example of Abel.
49:39Let's bring him to the
49:40forefront of our
49:41discussion.
49:42So when I have a
49:42conversation or a
49:43dialogue with my
49:44enemy, with the
49:45person I don't like,
49:47I will still be
49:48tolerant.
49:48I will still be
49:49accommodating.
49:50He may hit me on
49:51one cheek, I'll
49:51turn the other
49:52cheek, because
49:52ultimately, that
49:54is the moral
49:55authority that
49:56God required of
49:58me.