The Bible Story of Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)
Blog #4
This is blog number four of six which will highlight the bible story of Cain and Abel and analyze and compare the measures of justice used then to those being used now.
Summary of Story
The story is told of two brothers; Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve. Cain was the older of the two brothers and was a tiller of the ground, who we would call a farmer in today’s society. On the other hand, Abel was a keeper of sheep/ a shepherd. In this story, they were expected to give offerings (living sacrifices) to God, in which Abel offered the fat animals of the first-born of his flock while Cain offered fruits. This led to God favoring Abel’s offering because Cain had disobeyed his request for a living sacrifice. Cain became so angry that he killed his brother, and denied it. Consequently, God punished Cain by putting a curse on him so that he would not be able to plant and reap abundantly and also by condemning him to a life of wandering.
How is this similar to today’s society?
This can be compared to the measures of Justice in today’s society in that, both societies have systems and leaders in place that will administer punishment to individuals who have committed unlawful actions. In the biblical society, it was considered a crime to kill another person and this was outlined in the ten commandments, while in modern society we have laws in place which when violated will be met with various consequences.
What differences would there be for this action in today’s society?
In the society in which Cain and Abel lived, Jesus was the one who administered punishment and they had no structured justice system in which they had trials. On the other hand, in today’s society there is a structured justice system with various arms (law enforcement, courts, corrections) that deals with individuals who have committed crimes which allows them to go to a fair trial to prove their guilt or innocence. Cain was guilty and despite saying he knew not where his brother was, he was given this punishment because the all-knowing God had evidence (Genesis 4:10 (NIV), The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.). In today’s justice system, evidence needs to be solid and irrefutable in nature which both the defense and prosecution can not contest or deny.
In today’s society, Cain’s actions would be classified as First degree murder where he would go to trial and when found guilty would be sentenced to life imprisonment with a low chance of getting parole, instead of simple being ostracized from society and being condemned to a life of wandering. This is due to the fact that he planned to bring his brother to the field (premeditated) and intended to kill him (mens rea) out of anger, hatred and jealousy.
Justice back then is very different from the numerous measures of justice now. The actions of Cain would have been met with serious consequences if this happened in the modern system of justice. however, while they are different, we see that in both societies, criminal acts will be punished even though the method of punishment or judicial system was not necessarily the same.
Educate Yourself, Get Involved! Stay Tuned for More!- Zorian Clarke
