Bereshit (Genesis) 4 — Cain and Abel, Sacrifice, and the Age of the World

Bereshit 4:3–5

3 In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the soil;

4 and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. The LORD paid heed to Abel and his offering,

5 but to Cain and his offering He paid no heed. Cain was much distressed and his face fell. ^*

Sacrifice and the Question of Offerings

In Bereshit (Genesis) 4 of the Torah, the narrative turns to the story of Cain and Abel and introduces the theme of sacrifice.

The text describes offerings brought to the LORD, including sacrifices involving the killing of animals.

Yet the voice of conscience — through which the Almighty speaks to us — does not affirm the destruction of life as a path to Divine favor. The Almighty does not accept offerings based on suffering or the destruction of life. Such practices reflect traditions in which sacrifice was believed to appease “spiritual powers” through acts of bloodshed and pain.

Only lower spiritual forces are nourished by the energy of suffering. For this reason, sacrificial rituals involving the killing of living beings were historically directed toward such powers and accompanied by words presenting the act as a gift to them.

The belief that such offerings could be pleasing to the Almighty reflects a profound misunderstanding of the nature of Absolute Love.

Bereshit 4:14

14 Since You have banished me this day from the soil, and I must avoid Your presence and become a restless wanderer on earth—anyone who meets me may kill me!”

Cain and the Land of Exile

Cain is banished by the LORD after the murder of Abel, who had previously brought animal sacrifices to the LORD.

The narrative does not describe Cain being sent to a separate realm belonging to LORD beyond the Garden of Eden. Instead, he is expelled into a land that already exists within the world created by the Almighty. In this way, authority is exercised within a creation that ultimately belongs to the Creator of all.

The story therefore presents a striking tension: obedience is demanded by LORD, yet the world in which this command is carried out remains the creation of the Almighty.

A related interpretation of this passage can be found in the Bible commentary on Genesis 4, which examines the story of Cain and Abel from another perspective.

Genealogy and the Age of the World

The narrative then turns to the genealogy of the first humans and their descendants.

These genealogies are presented as a continuous record reaching back to the earliest generations of humanity. Yet the age of our planetary system extends across vast spans of time measured in hundreds of millions of years. This contrast invites reflection on how such lineages were preserved and transmitted across immense periods of history.

Many people today question the idea that the world is only a few thousand years old. This is a natural starting point: read carefully, test what you encounter with reason, and weigh it against the voice of conscience — the inner witness of the Almighty.

The moral questions raised in this story become even more pronounced in the later description of humanity’s corruption in Bereshit 6.

* The text is quoted from the Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS (1985). ↑ back