A Biblical Example of Hatred
The Old Testament story of Cain and Abel (Gen. 4:2-16), the oldest record of homicide in biblical literature, is a classic example of hatred. Cain and Abel both brought their offerings to God. God did not accept Cains offering, but he did accept his brothers. Rather than owning responsibility for his actions, Cain projected his inner conflict onto Abel, who became the object of his hate. Cain inaccurately perceived the rejection of his offering as Gods rejection of him as a person. Then Cain began to hate the class of people whose offerings were acceptable to God. In verse 8, the phrase, Lets go out to the field,implies Cains premeditation of murder, annihilating the target of his pain. When God asked him in verse 9, Where is your brother?Cain demonstrated indifference, his total lack of remorse for the crime. I dont know. Am I my brothers