2-HeadedGiraffe: Mark of...Cain?
I was watching a program on TV earlier about the story of Cain and Abel, which is probably one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It was interesting how they brought the Judaic and Islamic traditions, as well as other later writings about the event, into the interpretation and discussion.
This story holds my interest in particular for a few reasons. Cain, essentially, would have had little concept of murder. No human being had died before. It wouldn't be until much later when God would actually tell humans it was wrong to kill, though perhaps eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (or the Knowledge of Everything, in some translations) should have given humans that information already. The fact of the matter is, though, this was a completely unprecedented crime, so whether he realized the magnitude of what he was doing before he did it is a valid question.
The other issue is that God banishes Cain and marks him as protected. Somehow, Cain meets a wife (the program suggested some traditions say it was his sister because there being another woman would necessitate more people than the story says exist at the time). He builds the first city and his descendants go on to make some wonderful discoveries. This does not sound like typical Biblical treatment of a murderer.
So, to summarize, this guy gets jealous, does something no one's told him not to do, and receives a mixed blessing. Mixed because, while he and his family do great things, he's been cast out of the presence of God, which for a true believer would be a very bad thing.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong here, but it's a very interesting story.
Mood: Contentish
Music: None
Etc.: Nunchuck
I was watching a program on TV earlier about the story of Cain and Abel, which is probably one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It was interesting how they brought the Judaic and Islamic traditions, as well as other later writings about the event, into the interpretation and discussion.
This story holds my interest in particular for a few reasons. Cain, essentially, would have had little concept of murder. No human being had died before. It wouldn't be until much later when God would actually tell humans it was wrong to kill, though perhaps eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (or the Knowledge of Everything, in some translations) should have given humans that information already. The fact of the matter is, though, this was a completely unprecedented crime, so whether he realized the magnitude of what he was doing before he did it is a valid question.
The other issue is that God banishes Cain and marks him as protected. Somehow, Cain meets a wife (the program suggested some traditions say it was his sister because there being another woman would necessitate more people than the story says exist at the time). He builds the first city and his descendants go on to make some wonderful discoveries. This does not sound like typical Biblical treatment of a murderer.
So, to summarize, this guy gets jealous, does something no one's told him not to do, and receives a mixed blessing. Mixed because, while he and his family do great things, he's been cast out of the presence of God, which for a true believer would be a very bad thing.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong here, but it's a very interesting story.
Mood: Contentish
Music: None
Etc.: Nunchuck
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The Bible names Adam and Eve as the first humans, and follows their story specifically, but never names them as the only humans created and not born.
Finally, there is no "Biblical treatment" for murder. If anything, God is depicted as a sadistic gambler (book of Job), giver of ridiculous decrees (Leviticus), and demander of sacrifices (most notably the story of Isaac). This "omnipotent" dictator then backtracks and cuts his list of rules down to 10 only.
So basically, God's treatment of people does not seem commesurate with the acts they've commited. In fact, it often seems that the best behaved followers receive the worst treatment.