Bible Timeline · After the Fall
Cain and Abel: The First Murder
Adam and Eve's first two sons brought offerings to God. God accepted Abel's but not Cain's, and Cain killed his brother in a field. God put a mark on Cain to protect him as he wandered.
Read it in the Bible: Genesis 4:1-26 Hebrews 11:4 Hebrews 12:24 1 John 3:12 Matthew 23:35
Cain and Abel were the first two sons of Adam and Eve. Both brought an offering to God, but God accepted Abel's and not Cain's. Cain grew angry, ignored God's warning and killed his brother. It is the first murder in the Bible, and it happened outside the garden, after the Fall and before the birth of their brother Seth. Just one chapter after sin entered the world, it already turned brother against brother.
Who Were Cain and Abel?
Cain was the oldest son. He was a farmer who worked the ground. Abel was his younger brother, and he kept sheep. Eve's words when Cain was born in Genesis 4:1 sound full of hope, as if she wondered whether this might be the promised son of Genesis 3:15. Sadly, he was not.
Why Did God Accept Abel's Offering and Not Cain's?
This is the big question people ask. Genesis tells us what each brother brought.
while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. And Yahweh looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. Genesis 4:4 to 5
Cain brought "some of the fruit of the soil," according to Genesis 4:3. Abel brought the firstborn and the best portions. So one gave God his best, and the other just gave God something. Christians have offered a few explanations, and they fit together well:
- The heart: Hebrews 11:4 says Abel offered his gift by faith. Cain's problem was his heart, not his vegetables.
- The quality: Abel gave the first and best. Cain's gift sounds like an afterthought.
- The blood: Some see a link to Genesis 3:21, where God covered sin through an animal's death, and think Abel followed that pattern.
By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4
What Did God Say to Cain Before the Murder?
Before anything terrible happened, God came to Cain with a warning and a way out.
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.” Genesis 4:7
This is the first time the Bible uses the word sin, and it pictures sin like a wild animal waiting by the door. God tells Cain he can still turn around. Cain had a choice. He chose wrong.
How Did Cain Kill Abel?
Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:8
Then God asked a question, just like He had asked Adam, "Where are you?"
And Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9
That is one of the most famous lines in the Bible, and the answer God expects is yes. God tells Cain that Abel's blood cries out from the ground. John later explains the root of it in 1 John 3:12. Cain killed his brother because his own deeds were evil and his brother's were righteous. Envy turned into hatred, and hatred turned into murder.
What Was the Mark of Cain?
God sentenced Cain to be a wanderer, and the ground would no longer give him crops. Cain said the punishment was more than he could bear, and he was afraid someone would kill him. So God showed him mercy.
“Not so!” replied Yahweh. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And Yahweh placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him. Genesis 4:15
The Bible does not tell us what the mark looked like. People have guessed for centuries, but we don't know. What we do know is that the mark was for protection, not just shame. Sadly, in history some people misused this story to claim a curse on certain races. The Bible says nothing like that, and Christians today rightly reject it.
Where Did Cain's Wife Come From?
This is the question every Sunday school kid asks, usually right when the teacher thought class was going well. Genesis 5:4 says Adam had other sons and daughters. Cain's wife was almost certainly a sister or a close relative. In the first generations, before God gave laws against marrying close family in Leviticus 18, there was no other option. Genesis also shows Cain's family building a city and inventing music and metalwork in Genesis 4:17 to 22.
How Does Cain and Abel Point to Jesus?
Abel was the first person in the Bible to die for doing right. Jesus named him as the first of the righteous whose blood was shed in Matthew 23:35. And the book of Hebrews makes a beautiful comparison.
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Hebrews 12:24
Abel's blood cried out for justice. Jesus' blood cries out for mercy. That is the better word. For you today, the story is a warning and a hope. Sin is still crouching at the door, and anger left alone can grow into something terrible. But God still comes with a warning and a way out, and the blood of Jesus speaks forgiveness even for people who have done the worst.
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Questions People Ask
Why did God reject Cain's offering?
Hebrews 11:4 says Abel offered by faith, so the main difference was the heart. Abel also brought the firstborn and best portions, while Cain brought some of his crops. God even warned Cain that he could still do right and be accepted.
What was the mark of Cain?
The Bible does not say what it looked like. Genesis 4:15 says God put it on Cain so no one would kill him, so it was a sign of protection. Claims that it was a racial mark have no support in the Bible.
Who was Cain's wife?
Genesis 5:4 says Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters. Cain's wife was most likely a sister or close relative. God's laws against close marriages came much later, in the time of Moses.
What does Am I my brother's keeper mean?
It was Cain's sarcastic reply when God asked where Abel was, in Genesis 4:9. He was trying to dodge responsibility. The whole Bible answers that yes, we are responsible to care for one another.