Before he killed his brother, Cain knew that fratricide was evil. And how do we know that he knew it was evil? Listen to what he says: Let us go out into the field (Gen. 4:8). Why, having torn his brother away from the fatherly bosom, does he lead him out into the field? Why does he take him to an empty place? Why does he make him defenseless? Why does he remove him from the father’s sight? Why does he conceal his bold intention, if he is not afraid of sin? Why, after the murder, when questioned, does he grow indignant and lie? For when God asked: Where is Abel your brother? he replied: Am I my brother’s keeper? (Gen. 4:9). From this it is clear that Cain committed the murder with full awareness that it was evil.
Thus, just as he knew before committing the act that murder is evil—and knew it even more clearly afterward, when he was punished and heard: You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth (Gen. 4:12)—so too did his father (Adam). We all know evil before committing it, but we come to know it more clearly afterward—and even more clearly when we suffer punishment. Thus also Cain knew before that fratricide was evil, but he came to know it more clearly through punishment.
Cain killed his brother Abel out of envy, so that the murder was the result of envy. And he killed him after luring him into the field. And what does the all-knowing God say to him? Where is Abel your brother? The One who knows all things does not ask out of ignorance, but to lead the murderer to repentance, saying: Where is Abel your brother? And he replied: I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper? Be that as it may—you are not his keeper; but then why did you kill him? And do you admit that you were not his keeper? Then you ought at least to have preserved him!
What then did God say to him? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. He immediately rebuked him and laid a punishment upon him—not so much for the murder, but for his shamelessness; for God hates not so much the one who sins, as the one who sins without shame. And therefore He did not accept Cain—though he later repented. For what does Cain say? My sin is greater than can be forgiven—as if to say: I have sinned grievously and am no longer worthy to live. And what did God say to him? You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Thus God appointed for him a terrible and heavy punishment.
I do not deprive you of life, He says, so that the truth may not be forgotten, but I make of you a living law that all may read, so that your suffering may become a teacher of wisdom. And Cain walked the earth as a living law, as a moving pillar, silent, and yet emitting a voice louder than any trumpet: Let no one do what I have done.
He was punished for his shamelessness, condemned for his sin—because he did not confess it himself, but was exposed in it. But if he had confessed his sin, he would have wiped it away. And know this too: Cain could have wiped away his sin with a single word.
For every war is cruel, but especially civil war—when brother rises up against brother, and one hates another, provoking him all the more instead of softening him with silence.
Once, Cain killed his brother Abel and shed his brother’s blood. But spiritual murder is more grievous than that physical killing. The closer the kinship, the heavier the crime. For Cain slew the body of his brother—but you sharpen the blade against your brother’s soul. Cain slew Abel, but he did not extinguish love by murder—rather, he stirred it up even more. He did not lessen Abel’s honor by slaughter, but rather increased it.
For even after death, Abel is still mourned—so great is his love before God! While he lived, he was your servant, but you would not accept this. And so he died and became for you a terrible master.
Therefore, reflecting on this, beloved, let us flee far from devilish envy; let us extinguish hatred, and show love toward one another—that we may reap its good fruit both in this life and in the life to come, by the grace and compassion of Thine Only-Begotten Son, with Whom Thou art blessed, together with Thine All-Holy, Good, and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
From: Venerable Job, Abbot of Pochaev: Life, Teachings, Akathist. 3rd edition, revised. (Pochaev Press, 2001).
