Here’s a sketchy, general structural analysis of Genesis 4.
A. Adam knows Eve, vv 1-2 (Cain born/Abel born//Abel flocks/Cain ground)
B. Cain and Abel, vv 3-16
C. Cain knows wife, v 17-18
B’. Lamech, vv 19-24
A’. Adam knows Eve, vv 25-26
B breaks down as follows:
A. Offerings to Yahweh, vv 3-5 (Cain/Abel//Abel/Cain)
B. Yahweh appears to Cain, vv 6-7 (Yahweh monologue)
C. Cain kills Abel, v 8
B’. Yahweh confronts Cain again, vv 9-15a (Yahweh/Cain/Yahweh/Cain/Yahweh)
A’. Yahweh appoints sign; Cain leaves presence of Yahweh, v 15b-16
Significantly, the story of Cain and Abel uses the name Yahweh eight times.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
Ethics of Rhetoric in Times of War
What we say matters. And the way we say it matters. This is especially true in times…
How the State Failed Noelia Castillo
On March 26, Noelia Castillo, a twenty-five-year-old Spanish woman, was killed by her doctors at her own…
The Mind’s Profane and Sacred Loves
The teachers you have make all the difference in your life. That they happened to come into…
