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Conclusion
Gen 4:1-16 is a rich source for exegesis, interpretation, and application to a life of faith. It
is beyond dispute that definite and important variations exist between the MT and LXX
renderings of this passage. These variations show that the LXX translators moved beyond an
interlinear model of translation, adopting instead a model of nuanced interpretation through their
translation. 248 In so doing, the LXX makes clear where the MT remains ambiguous. Through its
interpretive translation, the LXX introduces notions of moral and spiritual differences between
Cain and Abel which are not readily found in the MT. These differences, as we have seen, came
to be very important when this text was used within the New Testament as the New Testament
writers clearly favored the LXX rendering of Gen 4:1-16.
In the final analysis, the question of the theological significance of the use of the LXX’s
rendering of Gen 4:1-16 in the New Testament would seem to indicate that, in light of the
Paschal Mystery, the saving death and resurrection of Christ, the writers of the New Testament
saw in the LXX’s rendering a means of understanding important truths about the Church and its
faith in Christ. The LXX’s rendering of Gen 4:1-16 gave the nascent Church a means of
understanding rejection and persecution, as well as a way of understanding how and how not to
live as members of the Christian community in the Church. They saw in the figure of Abel a
model for righteousness and cooperation with grace, a precursor for the Christian life. Perhaps
most importantly, the saw the futility of the innocent blood of Abel to bring about
transformation, and saw, in comparison, the power of Christ’s innocent blood to transform life
and death, a power we receive and participate in through the Eucharist.
248
M. W. Scarlata, Outside of Eden: Cain in the Ancient Versions of Genesis 4:1-16, 211.