In short, Cain and Abel is the story of two brothers, the sons of Adam and Eve after they are sent into the world. Abel kept the livestock, and Cain worked the land. In an offering to god, Cain sacrificed a portion of his crops, while Abel gave his fattest sheep. God was most pleased with Abel's offering, and this angered Cain, and he killed Abel. Cain is exiled by god, but wanders the land east of Eden where he has a child named Enoch, and Cain named his new founded city after his son. Adam and Eve have another child named Seth to replace the one that died.
I think all of us with siblings can relate to Cain in a way. While this fable shows an extreme side of sibling rivalry, it's something that we experience when having to live with brothers and sisters. This is very similar to the story of the founding of Rome, where Romulus slew his brother Remus over a petty squabble. Conflict between siblings reaches back very far, and isn't that much different now. Being the oldest of two much younger brothers myself, I can absolutely understand that anger towards a sibling when you feel you are being unfairly treated in comparison. But sometimes it's just not fair, and you need to get over that because nothing in life is going to be fair, and you'd better get used to it now rather than later. If he had been able to control his anger, Cain should of not chosen to kill his brother, but instead not worry about the competition and do what he needed to do to maintain the relationship. When you have to live together with you're family it's more important to worry about working together than sibling rivalry.
"Genesis 4. The Holy Bible: King James Version." Genesis 4. The Holy Bible: King James Version. The American Bible Society. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.
I like how you related the story to the founding of Rome to make the story more interesting. I am the older sibling as well, so I totally agree that it just all seems unfair sometime. It's important to work together as a family, you're right about that!
ReplyDeleteI completely understand what you mean about sibling rivalries, because I also have two younger brothers who try to annoy me. Although I would never think about killing them, I definitely want to lock them in the basement sometimes. I also like how you alluded to the story of Romulus and Remus, because it adds depth to the blog post.
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