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¶ … crime in the Bible: The slaying of Abel by Cain
One of the most famous crime in the Bible is the killing of Abel by his brother Cain, an act often called the first murder. Cain killed his brother when he was outraged at the fact that God accepted his brother's sacrifice but not Cain's offering. As described in the Bible, the murder is clearly premeditated: Cain murders Abel in cold blood although the actual details of the crime are not fully spelled out. "Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him' (Genesis IV: 8). So the spare yet evocative wording of Genesis records history's first murder" (Marshall 2013). When God asks where Abel is, Cain tries to conceal his crime, famously asking if he is his 'brother's keeper.' The crime is premeditated, and Cain exhibits no apparent remorse. The interpretation of the Bible story is often one which underlines the responsibility of Cain for his brother, as well as his guilt. "When God asks Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' he makes Cain responsible for his brother, that is, responsible for another" (Duyndam 2009). Cain cannot act out of anger towards his brother -- there is a moral order to the world which God has created.
According to the Alaskan statute describing the crime of murder in the first degree: "a person commits the crime of murder in the first degree if with intent to cause the death of another person, the person causes the death of any person" (AS 11.41.100). Cain clearly acted with intent: if anything, Cain's ultimate punishment was more rather than less lenient: he was banished rather than put to death or imprisoned for life. Murder is established as wrong and so is the idea that we are not responsible for the welfare of our fellow human beings.
References
AS 11.41.100. Murder in the First Degree. Retrieved from:
http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title11/Chapter41/Section100.htm
Duyndam, J. (2009). Girard and Levinas, Cain and Abel, mimesis and the face. Contagion,
15/16, 237-248,262.
Marshall, C.R. (2013). Oh brother, what art thou? Beauty vs. cruelty in Cain and Abel.
International Journal of Arts & Sciences, 6(2), 167-176.
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