By the time we get to Gen 4 and the Cain and Abel story, inconsistencies start occurring. Yahweh alone (translated as Adonai - Lord in the Hebrew version) either doesn't respect or doesn't heed or doesn't make a fuss about Cain's vegetable offering. Depending on the translation, Yahweh appears to be chiding or consoling with Cain. Is Yahweh being some weirdo who doesn't appreciate grain offerings or did he just overlook the grain since Abel's fat little lambs were just so awesome? My guess is that the priestly class wanted the people to know that they prefer meat offerings to grain and so this story. Otherwise, what's the message? Yahweh says, "Work hard and good things will happen to you - meaning what? Cain didn't work hard?
Cain's fratricidal response is in reaction to feeling unappreciated by Yahweh, who could be seen as a punishing, judgmental father figure who threw his parents out of paradise for disobeying authority, for daring to think and act for themselves. It isn't hard to see where Freud drew some of his ideas (speaking of Freud, I also suspect he lifted some from Dostoevsky - but that would be the subject of a thesis).
One could certainly be more abstract about the whole thing and say that the scene in the garden of Eden reflects humanity's essential urge towards duality and distinctions, or be moralistic and say that man will cleave to his impulses. How one interprets those impulses can make for very different story lines. You can say that humanity is weak and will obey its animal impulses and succumb to its appetites and curiosities despite being told (knowing?) what they should do. Is our essential humanity one of instinct that should obey (and often does obey) external authority and power? How is this different from animals that bow to power? Actually the more we learn about the animal world, the more we find that animals, like humans, don't all follow one pattern of behavior either, even within a species. There are animal geniuses, rebels, empaths and lunatics too.
Are our instincts a type of base authority that should be rejected so as to see ourselves as separate from the rest of the world, so as to struggle with duality and diversity and discover for ourselves the meaning of Life? The meaning of these stories is very unclear, which is what makes them so ripe for interpretation - and abuse.
One translation issue I found in these passages was diametrically opposing translations of Gen. 4:23. This is where Lamech, Cain's great-great-great-grandson, reveals that he has killed a man and a child, but it is not clear whether the passage is telling you how he did it, or why he did it.
The New King James translates is as
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;The New International version (2010), which one would assume has the latest in scholarship, has the same as the New King James, above. Both suggest that Lamech's murders were acts of retribution.
Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man for hurting me."
The regular King James has "to my wounding" and "to my hurting" since the Hebrew preposition used is L', meaning "to" (as in L'Chaim). This is the most neutral (and precise) translation since there doesn't seem to be consensus on the actual meaning.
The Hebrew version here translates this passage as
"Lemekh said to his wives, 'Adah and Tzillah, hear my voice; wives of Lemekh, listen to my speech. I have killed a man by wounding [him], and a child by bruising [him]."The Stone Chumash, which is used by Orthodox Jews, has "Have I slain a man by my wound and a child by my bruise?" and includes a footnote with a bizarre story from the medieval Biblical scholar Rashi, which purports to fill in the blanks on this story. It relates that Lamech was blind and while he was out hunting with his son, his son thought he saw an animal in the bushes and told his blind father to shoot it. It turns out the animal was Lamech's great-great-great grandfather Cain and that he was wounded to death by mistake. When Lamech found out that he had mistakenly murdered Cain, he beat his son to death. Then Lamech claims that since Cain's punishment was delayed until the 7th generation (although I think it was the 6th), he will be safe since whoever murders him will receive 77-fold vengeance. Just crazy shit.
I'm reading this stuff because I think a culturally literate person should be familiar with this material, but it shocks me to no end that people really try to live their lives by such an arbitrary, and often ethically reprehensible document.
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