We know from later Scripture ( Leviticus 1:3, 10 Malachi 1:8) that God did not respect just any animal sacrifice: it needed to be an unblemished animal. This argument is seemingly bolstered by Hebrews 11:4, which called Abel’s sacrifice a “more excellent sacrifice” that could be referring to quality. Perhaps Cain had just thrown together his sacrifice, or maybe deliberately offered the stunted and blighted portions of his crops to the Lord. The second, which we’ll call the “ quality of the sacrifice” position, analyzes the text and notices that it specifically mentions that Abel brought the firstborn animals from his flock and also their fat portions while all it says of Cain was that he brought the fruit of the ground. The weakness is that there is no mention that this was a sin offering in the passage, and there were many thanksgiving sacrifices later in Leviticus which were grain, not blood, offerings. The strength of this argument is that it is appealing to the only other previous mention of a sacrifice, done by God himself, as a sin covering, and that it acknowledges the importance of blood sacrifices mentioned elsewhere in Scripture ( Hebrews 9:22). We’ll call this the “ type of sacrifice” position. Cain, knowing this, still decided to offer what he wanted, not what God demanded. Although not recorded in Scripture, God likely instructed Adam (and then Adam would have instructed his sons) that an animal needed to be sacrificed to God to cover sin. In killing animals to clothe Adam and Eve’s sin ( Genesis 3:21), God had set forth a pattern that there were to be blood sacrifices offered to him as sin offerings. Here we briefly summarize the views along with some of their strengths and weaknesses. Over the years there have been three main reasons postulated by theologians and Bible scholars. We don’t know why God had regard for Abel’s sacrifice but not for Cain’s. God accepted (various translations say “regarded” “respected” or “favored”) Abel’s offering, but did not accept Cain’s offering.ĭirectly after the mention of their births, we are told that Cain worked with crops and Abel was a shepherd. Cain brought to the Lord the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions ( Genesis 4:3–4). Then we get an undetermined time reference of “in the course of time” or “in the process of time” and the details of the sacrifice. The Sacrifice of Cain and Abelĭirectly after the mention of their births, we are told that Cain worked with crops and that Abel was a shepherd. Other than the boys’ births being mentioned in Genesis 4:1–2, we know nothing of the brothers’ lives until that fateful day of the two sacrifices. So, it is quite possible that Cain and Abel were in their 120s at the time of their infamous encounter. Since Seth was likely their next son after Abel’s death, then Abel certainly died before Adam and Eve were 130, but probably not too long before that. When she and Adam were 130 years old ( Genesis 5:3), Eve gave birth to Seth, and she viewed him as a replacement for Abel ( Genesis 4:25). Eve could have been, and likely was, a mother by the time she was a one-year-old, and Adam could have been taking Cain on walks as a “two-year-old” man.īut Scripture doesn’t fill in these details nor gives us the age of Adam, Eve, Cain, or Abel at the time of the historical account in Genesis 4:3–5, although it gives us a clue and an upper limit for their ages at the time of Abel’s death. How far apart were Cain and Abel in age? Why did Cain become a farmer and Abel a herdsman? Did the boys get along with each other when they were young? How “old” were Adam and Eve when the boys were born? And when asking this last question, we need to keep in mind that Adam and Eve were unique among all other humans because they were not born but created mature and commanded to “ be fruitful and multiply” right after they were created ( Genesis 1:28). There are many things about both brothers that are not directly mentioned in Scripture. There are sixteen mentions of Cain and nine of Abel by name, and one unnamed reference of Abel ( 1 John 3:12). Cain and Abel are both featured throughout the biblical text. But when you go back and look through Scripture, the references are not so one sided. Why was Cain’s offering rejected? What was the mark of Cain? Who was he afraid of? It seems like Cain gets all the press, while his brother Abel rarely gets mentioned. One of the most frequently asked questions our speakers and correspondence department receive is Where did Cain get his wife? Other questions involving the first family often also center around Cain.