Genesis 4

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

-- Genesis 4: 9-10 (KJV)

I mentioned at the outset that the Bible seems to have tightly circular rhythms and logic, and in the very next chapter after God curses the soil and banishes Adam and Eve from Paradise, we see God cursing the soil yet again and banishing Cain from the territory to be a wandering fugitive and a vagabond. As Robert Alter puts it:

There are several verbal echoes of Adam’s interrogation by God and Adam’s curse, setting up a general biblical pattern in which history is seen as a cycle of approximate and significant recurrences.

Though, it is perhaps cute to point out a significant difference. In the space of one chapter and one generation, we can see how harder hearted humanity has gotten toward God. Adam and Eve were immediately ashamed and contrite, whereas we see Cain playing games with God, being purposefully deceptive, denying any knowledge of any crime, being confrontational rather than meek and submissive. Indeed, even after being cursed, Cain still cries out against the punishment, as if to emotionally bully God into reconsidering.

Is it any wonder that God will decide to wipe out the world and start over again and try a new tack?

Genesis 4

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

-- Genesis 4: 9-10 (KJV)

I mentioned at the outset that the Bible seems to have tightly circular rhythms and logic, and in the very next chapter after God curses the soil and banishes Adam and Eve from Paradise, we see God cursing the soil yet again and banishing Cain from the territory to be a wandering fugitive and a vagabond. As Robert Alter puts it:

There are several verbal echoes of Adam’s interrogation by God and Adam’s curse, setting up a general biblical pattern in which history is seen as a cycle of approximate and significant recurrences.

Though, it is perhaps cute to point out a significant difference. In the space of one chapter and one generation, we can see how harder hearted humanity has gotten toward God. Adam and Eve were immediately ashamed and contrite, whereas we see Cain playing games with God, being purposefully deceptive, denying any knowledge of any crime, being confrontational rather than meek and submissive. Indeed, even after being cursed, Cain still cries out against the punishment, as if to emotionally bully God into reconsidering.

Is it any wonder that God will decide to wipe out the world and start over again and try a new tack?