Word Study: Where Is Your Brother Abel WORD STUDY WHERE IS YOUR BROTHER ABEL Genesis 4:9-10, And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: [Am] I my brother s keeper? What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother s blood crieth unto me from the ground. I don t know about you but when God asked Cain where his brother was, I had a number of questions come to my mind. Why ask Cain? God knows full well where Abel was. Secondly, it is really possible that this was the very first human death. What was Abel to think upon seeing death for the first time.
Finally, what did he mean by asking if he was his brother s keeper, that sounds very imprudent of Abel towards God. First, Jewish tradition teaches this was not an imprudent answer, but a defense. Even today our courts and juries look very closely at the motive behind a murder. It may be a proven fact that a person took another person s life, but a trial is still held to determine the motive behind the killing as that will determine the punishment. Even in combat there are degrees of killing. A soldier may be held for murder if he kills a prisoner of war who has surrendered and is no longer a threat, or if a kills a civilian during time of war. All this is to say that not all killing is a capital crime. God did not execute Cain for the murder of his brother, should He have not done this? This may not have been a cold blooded premeditated murder which warranted a capital punishment. When Cain was asked, Where is your brother, this appears to be a rather senseless question, everyone knows he is dead. God knows it, Cain knows it, why ask? The answer might be found in verse 10, the voice of your brother s blood crieth unto me from the ground. The word blood in Hebrew is demi which is in a plural form. The ancient sages taught that this is in a plural form because it was the blood of all the future descendants of Cain that were crying out. Cain died before it was God s ordered time, before Cain was to fulfill his purpose in this life. Cain did not just kill his brother, he killed all his future generations. When God asked Cain, Where is your brother? He was asking where is the work that your brother was to complete on this earth, where are his children and their children s children. Cain said that he did not know, that he was not his brother s keeper. That is an unfortunate rendering today as it sounds like he is supposed to be like a zoo keeper, taking care of his kid brother like a pet or animal. If that were the case then this would have been a pretty saucy response. The word for keeper in Hebrew is shomer which means a guardian. In Exodus 22:10-13
we have the responsibility of a shomer or guardian laid out. If someone is given the responsibility of care for a living creature and it is torn to pieces (tarof yitaref) by a wild animal, the man is not responsible for the loss. Joseph s brothers knew they would be held responsible for their brother s alleged death by their father as they were his shomer or guardians. In ancient times an elder brother was held responsible for the wellbeing of a younger brother. In order to relieve themselves of any guilt they presented evidence that Joseph was torn to pieces (tarof yitaref) by a wild animal. Jacob, upon being given the evidence of the blood on Joseph s coat declared his brother s innocence by saying, surely he has been tarof yitaref (torn to pieces). Cain gave as his defense by asking if he was his brother s shomer. He was not responsible for the work that his brother was to perform, he was not responsible for the future generations of his brother, which was God s job and responsibility. Then God said that his brother s bloods crieth out. The rendering of this word for crieth out does not go far enough. It is the word tso ekim which is not just crying out but crying out in grief, sorrow and pain. It is for this reason that Cain was found guilty, he was guilty of inflicting sorrow, grief and pain and for that he would be punished. Perhaps this was not first degree murder for which he deserved a capital punishment and be put to death, perhaps it was manslaughter. Perhaps he did not know what death was. However, he was given a mark to be protected so there must have been more relatives out there that would avenge his brother and possibly some of them may have died. Scripture is silent on that issue, but it is highly possible he did not intend to kill his brother, he did not intend to inflict pain on his brother, but in his passion and anger that is what he did and for that he was punished, not as severally as a premeditated murder, but punished nonetheless. Not too long ago I felt God calling me to pray for a man who committed adultery. As a result he lost everything including his children and was now in dire circumstances. I rebelled, I
cried out to God, No, I will not pray for this person, he has brought grief and pain to his wife and his children and he is getting what he deserves. How can you ask me to pray for his restoration, how can you weep over him, you should weep for his children and his wife. No I will not weep for him. All I could sense was Jesus saying, I am his shomer the guardian of his heart, I know why he did what he did and I weep for his loneliness, his pain and his desperation to be loved. Sin is sin, and God must punish us for our sins, for He is also a just God, but He also knows our hearts, he is a shomer, the guardian of our hearts. He does understand why we sin, He understands our fears, our need to be loved, our need for security, our longing to have what others have. He knows why we sin and he weeps for our suffering. Note verse seven in this chapter where God explains why he cannot receive Cain s offering, If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. The word well in Hebrew is tov which means to be in harmony with God. If Cain would do what was in harmony with God he would be accepted, if he does not do what is in harmony with God, it does not mean it is sin, but that sin lies at the door. The word door is patach in Hebrew which means a portal. The word for lay is rovets which is a resting place for precious stones. In other words if we do not do what is in harmony with God sin will rest at the portal to God s presence offering precious stones, or offering something to entice us away from something even more precious, His presence and love. WORD STUDY THE SILENT
צעק SCREAM Genesis 4:9 And the Lord said unto Cain, where is Abel thy brother? And he said: I know not, am I my brother s keeper? There are a number of aspects to this story that has always bothered me. Well, not the story, but the way it is translated. From our English translation it appears God is looking for Abel. Don t you think that maybe God knew where Abel was at? I have heard the explanation that God was playing a little game with Cain, trying to get him to fess up. But I cannot believe God would stoop to such game playing, nor do I believe in a sarcastic God. Another thing about this rendering is that it appears Cain committed a bold face lie to God saying he did not know where Abel was at. Cain was no dummy, he knew God knew full well where Cain was at and what happened. Cain would have had to have the intelligence of a turnip to think he could fool God with his innocent behavior. Then Cain says: Am I my brother s keeper.? This gives the appearance that Cain is literally saying: How am I suppose to know where my brother is at, am I to keep constant watch on him so I know where he is every second of the day? This whole scene begs for some alternative rendering to this passage. The first question to examine is why does God say: Where is Cain, they brother. I mean are there any other Cains out there? Does God have to be so specific so there is no confusing his brother with some other Cain. Besides, at this state of civilization anyone would be Abel s brother unless
maybe there was a Cain Junior out there. The same word for brother is ach. The same spelling is used for an expression of grief. Hence God may not be asking where is your brother but where is your grief. He could also be making a play on the word for brother by using the apocopated (loss or omission of a letter or symbol) form of achad which means to be united as one, and asking: Where is the person that you were united as one? My next issue is Abel s responds to God of I know not. As if he really believes God is going to buy into that little dodge. The word know is yada which is a relationship word. It is the word used to show an intimacy. Abel could be saying: I have no grief over Abel s death because I was not intimate with him. The he asks God that all important question: Am I my brother s keeper? The word keeper is shamar which means one who guards or watches. In its Semitic origins it has the idea of not so much guarding but observing and taking heed. Perhaps Abel was not so much saying: Am I my brother s guardian as he was saying: Am I to listen to him and observe him? Remember the whole dispute was over Abel offering an acceptable sacrifice and Cain offering one that was rejected. Abel brought an animal sacrifice and blood offering to God while Cain brought a more bloodless sacrifice of the produce from the ground. Both sacrifices represented a portion of each s labor, but the problem with Abel s sacrifice is that it
came from the ground and the ground had been cursed. So Cain was offering something that was cursed. Abel probably pointed this out, and rightly so, You can t offer God something from the ground, He cursed the ground. Cain probably got into a dispute with his brother over this: Oh so who died and made you my spiritual guide? I happen to be just as spiritual as you, what makes you think you hear from God and I don t? Who are you to tell me what is right or wrong? We are not yada intimate you know? Of course they were achad united as one. He could have thought a little about his brother s rebuke before lashing out at him. Maybe it is possible Cain could not handle a little spiritual correction from his brother. Of course such things never happen to day, right? I John 3:15 tells us that whoever hates his brother is a murderer. We as Christians today are united with each other (achad) as one, as ach (brothers and sisters) through Jesus Christ. We are to watch each other s backs. Living a Christian life is not easy and we need each to make us aware of sins that may have entered our lives without our knowing. However, if some brother or sister points this out to us we immediate become defensive with a mind your own business attitude. To be sure a believer pointing out our shortcomings may have a personal agenda and they may be wrong, check out the Apostle Paul. A rumor was spread that Paul could not be in God s will receptive of the blessings of God if he was sitting in a prison. But Paul s response was not one of hatred or bitterness. He was deeply hurt declaring they were ashamed of his bonds. True, people in a family sometimes do hurt each other, but
they are still part of the family and there is the need for forgiveness which Cain did not exercise. Instead he took another approach. Here is a real question, what did God mean in verse 10: The voice of thy brother s blood crieth to me from the ground. We know from Scripture that life of every creature is in the blood Leviticus 17:14. Indeed blood is made up of living cells. The word voice in Hebrew is qol which means an actual sound either in the physical realm or in the spiritual realm. A spirit has no ears to hear actual sound, a spirit, as with God, receives the vibrations or the release of energy from sounds. Sounds are made when vibrations strike against the atmosphere. However, there is the transference of the sound waves or energy waves are picked up in the spirit world. The ancients believed that innocent blood has no voice yet it does scream when it is shed by murder. God hears those screams. Science has yet to prove there is a difference between blood shed by accident and blood shed violence but maybe one day they will prove that if blood is violently released from the body resulting in death the energy waves or vibration are heard in the spirit world and heard by God. Just a theory based upon the use of the word qol for voice which can be metaphoric, but usually is not. It may refer to an actual voice heard in the spirit. The word cries is tsoaqim from the root word tsaaq which is a cry of appeal or a cry to summon help or justice. We do not know how the spirit world works, but I believe there is a Hebraic basis in Genesis 4:9-10 for the shedding of innocent blood that actually screams out in the spirit world. Someone once made a movie called the Silent Scream about abortion and they showed an x-ray picture of a fetus as it was aborted and it mouth was open like it was screaming. Maybe,
maybe not but I firmly believe when a fetus is aborted and its blood is violently released, there is a silent scream heard in the spirit world and heard by the Spirit of God.