Because names were associated with character, many rabbis speculated that this vain and empty Abel was trying to undermine Cain and get what belonged to the first born.

It doesn’t help that Cain’s name means “gotten” – “I’ve gotten a man” says Eve, a man who will be the serpent crusher God promised - while Abel’s name means “vanity, vain, meaningless, empty.” In Ecclesiastes, when Solomon says “all is vanity,” Abel’s name and the word for vanity are derived from that word. The rabbis speculate that there was tension between them for a variety of reasons. It contains a warning – the way of Cain – but in the telling you will see that God also reveals the way of Life.Ĭain (Genesis 4) was the firstborn of Adam and Eve, brother – perhaps twin brother – of Abel.Ĭain followed in his father’s footsteps and became a farmer Abel tended flocks.

“Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.”

Cain and abel sermon