Cain & Abel (Genesis 4:3-5, 8-15)In the course of time Cain brought to YHWH an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And YHWH had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell … Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him. Then YHWH said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And YHWH said, “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to YHWH, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” Then YHWH said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And YHWH put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him.

Mimetic Theory (adapeted from James Alison)Mimetic Theory (adapeted from James Alison)Raising AbelRaising Abel (New York: Crossroad, 1996), pp. 21-23 (New York: Crossroad, 1996), pp. 21-23

We are all, always and everywhere, immensely violent We are all, always and everywhere, immensely violent creatures, and the only way which we have to control creatures, and the only way which we have to control this violence is the search for collective unanimity this violence is the search for collective unanimity against a victim. We can imagine a founding murder of against a victim. We can imagine a founding murder of this type, of the sort that can be detected in much human this type, of the sort that can be detected in much human mythology.mythology.A group enters into conflict and there is the threat of A group enters into conflict and there is the threat of chaos. chaos. Mysteriously there occurs a spontaneous movement Mysteriously there occurs a spontaneous movement which unites everybody against someone who is blamed which unites everybody against someone who is blamed for the conflict and easy to victimize (that is, can’t take for the conflict and easy to victimize (that is, can’t take vengeance). This is called scapegoating.vengeance). This is called scapegoating.That person is killed, and immediately peace is restored.That person is killed, and immediately peace is restored.And the group must preserve the belief that the And the group must preserve the belief that the scapegoat caused the original conflict, and that the killing scapegoat caused the original conflict, and that the killing was justified.was justified.

Example: Example:

Rome was founded by Rome was founded by the twins, Romulus the twins, Romulus and Remus.and Remus.

Romulus and Remus Romulus and Remus fight over who has the fight over who has the favor of the Gods.favor of the Gods.

Romulus kills Remus.Romulus kills Remus.

Remus was blamed for Remus was blamed for offending the Gods, so offending the Gods, so his killing was justified.his killing was justified.

What is interesting about many stories in the Bible is What is interesting about many stories in the Bible is that they do not reinforce this plot line, starting with the that they do not reinforce this plot line, starting with the story of Cain and Abel.story of Cain and Abel.Cain kills Abel and founds human culture.Cain kills Abel and founds human culture.But God says the murder is just a murder, a sordid But God says the murder is just a murder, a sordid crime, impossible to justify.crime, impossible to justify.Abel is not avenged; Cain is protected from vengeance Abel is not avenged; Cain is protected from vengeance by a mark from God.by a mark from God.Because many stories in the Bible are told from the Because many stories in the Bible are told from the standpoint of the innocent victim, they gradually unmask standpoint of the innocent victim, they gradually unmask the “scapegoating mechanism” at the foundation of most the “scapegoating mechanism” at the foundation of most cultures (and in some parts of the Bible too). cultures (and in some parts of the Bible too).

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” YHWH came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And YHWH said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So YHWH scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there YHWH confused the language of all the earth; and from there YHWH scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

The Calling of Abram (Abraham) (Genesis 12:1-9)

Now YHWH said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as YHWH had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. [Anachronism?] Then YHWH appeared to Abram, and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to YHWH, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to YHWH and invoked the name of YHWH. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.

YHWH’s Covenant with Abraham (Yahwist Version) (Genesis 15:6-12, 17b-18)

Abraham believed YHWH; and YHWH reckoned it to him as righteousness. Then he said to him, “I am YHWH who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord Elohim, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. … [When] it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day YHWH made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates”

Elohim’s Covenant with Abraham (Priestly Version)(Genesis 17:1-14)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH [?] appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am Elohim Almighty [El-Shaddai]; walk before me, and be blameless. And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will make you exceedingly numerous.” Then Abram fell on his face; and Elohim said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be Elohim to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their Elohim.” Elohim said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations every male among you shall be circumcised when he is eight days old, including the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both the slave born in your house and the one bought with your money must be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

The Binding of Isaac (Genesis 22)

After these things Elohim tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that Elohim had shown him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “Elohim himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together. When they came to the place that Elohim had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. (Continued)

The Binding of Isaac (continued)

But the angel of YHWH called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear Elohim, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of YHWH it shall be provided.” The angel of YHWH called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By myself I have sworn, says YHWH: Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will indeed bless you, and I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of their enemies, and by your offspring shall all the nations of the earth gain blessing for themselves, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham lived at Beer-sheba.

[Many scholars regard the highlighted text as an early redactor’s insertion. Isaac is never mentioned again in the Elohist source. Was he sacrificed?]

The Parable of the Old Man and the Young—Wilfred Owen (WWI Poet)

So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,And took the fire with him, and a knife.And as they sojourned both of them together,Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,Behold the preparations, fire and iron,But where the lamb for this burnt-offering?Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,and builded parapets and trenches there,And stretchèd forth the knife to slay his son.When lo! an angel called him out of heaven,Saying, Lay not thy hand upon the lad,Neither do anything to him, thy son.Behold! Caught in a thicket by its horns,A Ram. Offer the Ram of Pride instead.

But the old man would not so, but slew his son,And half the seed of Europe, one by one.

Jacob Wrestles Elohim and Wins: An Etiology (Genesis 32:24-33)

Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with Elohim and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen Elohim face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

[Question: Would scholars consider this text from the Priestly source or from the Elohist source? Is God portrayed as a distant planner or as involved and responsive?]