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garden” (3:10) and “Listen [lit., “voice”]! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the
ground” (4:10); the curse against Cain (“You are cursed from the land [hā’ādāmâ],”
4:11) and the curses against the serpent (“You are more cursed,” 3:14) and the “ground”
(hā’ādāmâ; 3:17); the protective “mark” of Cain and the provision of Adam's clothing
(4:15 with 3:21); the divine forewarning of “desire” and “rule” (4:7 with 3:16); and the
expulsion toward “east of Eden” by “driving” (gāraš) out the culprits (4:14 with 3:24). 11
Literary Considerations
Structurally, the bulk of Gen 4:1-16 is seen as being sandwiched between two sections
which detail the birth (4:1-2) and genealogy of Cain (4:17-22). 12 Outside of the genealogical
elements present in 4:1-2, 4:1-16 is a narrative. 13 The presence of a variety of literary forms and
certain anomalies 14 within the text has led commentators to believe that Gen 4 is an
amalgamation of different traditions and sources. Indeed, many commentators believe that the
account of Cain and Abel was originally independent of the account of Adam and Eve. 15 The
Yahwehist (J) and Priestly (P) authors are seen as the most probable sources for the content of
Gen 4, 16 with J being seen as the most likely source of the Cain and Abel narrative. 17
11
Ibid.
K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11, Kindle edition, 259.
13
Ibid, 259-260.
14
For example, Matthews observes that Cain’s occupation is identified as being a tiller of the soil and a
builder at different places in the chapter. Cf. K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11, Kindle edition, 260.
15
Cf. Victor P Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17, Scribd.com edition, (Grand Rapids, MI:
W.B. Eerdmans, 1990), 370.
16
K. A. Mathews, Genesis 1-11, Kindle edition, 260.
17
M. W. Scarlata, Outside of Eden: Cain in the Ancient Versions of Genesis 4:1-16 (London: Bloomsbury
Publishing, 2012), 20.
12