Editing Cain (section)

==Interpretations==
=== Jewish and Christian interpretations ===

A question arising early in the story is why God rejected Cain's sacrifice. The text states, "In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor."<ref>[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+4%3A3-5&version=NIV Genesis 4:3-5a].</ref> Noteworthy is the difference in the type of sacrifice: fruits of the soil are renewable and bloodless, while fat portions are set apart for the Lord<ref>[see [https://biblehub.com/leviticus/3-16.htm Leviticus 3:16]</ref> and taken from the firstborn, pointing to an act of faith, since it is not guaranteed there will be more. The [[Midrash]] suggests that although Abel brought the best meat from his flock, Cain did not set aside the best of his harvest for God.<ref>Doukhan 2016, pp. 57, 61.</ref>

Similar to the internalized spiritual death, God warns Adam and Eve off from eating the forbidden fruit—they do not physically die immediately, but over time, their bodies age and die—the Lord warns Cain that his inappropriate anger is waiting to consume him: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must rule over it.<ref>[ [https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+4%3A7&version=NIV Genesis 4:7]</ref>

===Curse and mark===
{{See also|Curse and mark of Cain}}

According to {{Bibleref2|Genesis|4:1–16|HE}}, Cain treacherously murdered his brother, Abel, lied about the murder to God, and as a result, was cursed and marked for life. With the earth left cursed to drink Abel's blood, Cain could no longer farm the land. He becomes a "fugitive and wanderer" and receives a mark from God - commonly referred to as the ''[[mark of Cain]] -'' so that no one can enact vengeance on him.{{Sfn|Byron|2011|pp=93, 119, 121}}

[[Exegesis]] of the [[Septuagint]]'s narrative, "groaning and shaking upon the earth" has Cain suffering from body tremors.{{sfn|Byron|2011|p=98}} Interpretations extend Cain's curse to his descendants, where they all died in the [[Genesis flood narrative|Great Deluge]] as retribution for the loss of Abel's potential offspring.{{Sfn|Byron|2011|p= 122}}

The [[Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)|Pearl of Great Price]], a [[Mormonism|Mormon]] book of scripture, has been interpreted to depict the descendants of Cain as dark-skinned,<ref name="Harris2015">{{cite book|last1=Harris|first1=Matthew L.|last2=Bringhurst|first2=Newell G.|title=The Mormon Church and Blacks: A Documentary History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pn20CgAAQBAJ&pg=PAiii|date=2015|publisher=University of Illinois Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-252-08121-7}}</ref>{{rp|12}} and church president Brigham Young stated, "What is the mark? You will see it on the countenance of every African you ever did see...."<ref name=Teachings>{{cite book |last1=Collier |first1=Fred C. |title=The Teachings of President Brigham Young Vol. 3 1852–1854 |date=1987 |publisher=Collier Publishing Co. |location=Salt Lake City |isbn=9780934964012 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LkRZGQ8oO8IC}}</ref><ref>{{cite archive |first=George D. |last=Watt |item =Brigham Young, 1852 February 5 |item-url=https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/c87f81ec-019c-4962-b395-d7c1c925fa61/0/2 |type= |item-id=CR 100 317 |date=5 Feb 1852 |page=2|collection=Historian's Office reports of speeches, 1845-1885 |collection-url=https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/record/73160837-a293-4121-b723-41387a081cb8/|institution=LDS Church History Library |location =Salt Lake City}}</ref> However, this position was disavowed by modern leaders of [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]]. 

In another biblical account, [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] discovered his father [[Noah]] drunk and naked in his tent. Because of this, Noah cursed Ham's son, [[Canaan (son of Ham)|Canaan]] to be "servants of servants".<ref>{{bibleref2|Genesis|9:20-27|KJV}}</ref><ref name="Reeve 2015">{{cite book|last1=Reeve|first1=W. Paul|title=Religion of a Different Color: Race and the Mormon Struggle for Whiteness|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=95j4BQAAQBAJ|location=New York, New York|isbn=978-0-19-975407-6}}</ref>{{rp|125}} Although the scriptures do not mention Ham's skin color, some doctrines associated the curse with black people and used it to justify [[slavery]].<ref name="Reeve 2015" />{{rp|125}}

===Islamic interpretation===
{{Main|Cain and Abel in Islam}}
{{expand section|date=June 2024}}
Cain's name in Islamic tradition is Qabil ({{langx|ar|قابيل}}). His story is mentioned in the [[Quran]], though without a name, where he and his brother [[Abel]] offer sacrifices; Abel's sacrifice was accepted while Cain's was not. Cain gets angry and threatens to murder his brother, but Abel tries to console him, saying that God only accepts sacrifices from the God-fearing and that he wouldn't try to harm Cain. In the end, Cain kills Abel. God sends a [[crow]] searching in the ground to show Cain how to hide the disgrace of his brother. In his shame, Cain began to curse himself and became full of guilt.<ref>[https://quran.com/5?startingVerse=27 Quran 5:27-31]</ref>