To Autolycus 2.29
Summary: Satan, out of envy, moved Cain to murder Abel, and so death entered the world; God gave Cain, as he had given Adam, a chance to repent.
Greek text · Otto 8:138–140
Ἐν τῷ οὖν γνῶναι τὸν Ἀδὰμ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ Εὔαν συλλαβοῦσα ἔτεκεν υἱόν, ᾧ τοὔνομα Κάϊν. Καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐκτησάμην ἄνθρωπον διὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. Καὶ προσέθετο ἔτι τεκεῖν δεύτερον, ᾧ ὄνομα Ἄβελ. Ἤρξατο ποιμὴν εἶναι προβάτων· Κάϊν δὲ εἰργάζετο τὴν γῆν. Τὰ μὲν οὖν κατʼ αὐτοὺς πλείω ἔχει τὴν ἱστορίαν, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῆς ἐξηγήσεως· διὸ τὰ τῆς ἱστορίας τοὺς φιλομαθεῖς δύναται ἀκριβέστερον διδάξαι αὐτὴ ἡ βίβλος ἥτις ἐπιγράφεται Γένεσις κόσμου. Ὁπότε οὖν ἐθεάσατο ὁ σατανᾶς οὐ μόνον τὸν Ἀδὰμ καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ ζῶντας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τέκνα πεποιηκότας, ἐφʼ ᾧ οὐκ ἴσχυσεν θανατῶσαι αὐτοὺς φθόνῳ φερόμενος, ἡνίκα ἑώρα τὸν Ἄβελ εὐαρεστοῦντα τῷ θεῷ, ἐνεργήσας εἰς τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν καλούμενον Κάϊν ἐποίησεν ἀποκτεῖναι τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ τὸν Ἄβελ. Καὶ οὕτως ἀρχὴ θανάτου ἐγένετο εἰς τόνδε τὸν κόσμον ὁδοιπορεῖν ἕως τοῦ δεῦρο ἐπὶ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων. Ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἐλεήμων ὢν καὶ βουλόμενος ἀφορμὴν μετανοίας καὶ ἐξομολογήσεως παρασχεῖν τῷ Κάϊν, καθάπερ καὶ τῷ Ἀδάμ, εἶπεν· Ποῦ Ἄβελ ὁ ἀδελφός σου; Ὁ δὲ Κάϊν ἀπεκρίθη ἀπειθῶς τῷ θεῷ εἰπών· Οὐ γινώσκω· μὴ φύλαξ εἰμὶ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μου; Οὕτως ὀργισθεὶς αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς ἔφη· Τί ἐποίησας τοῦτο; Φωνὴ αἵματος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου βοᾷ πρὸς με ἐκ τῆς γῆς. Καὶ νῦν ἐπικατάρατος σὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, ἣ ἔχανεν δέξασθαι τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου ἐκ χειρός σου· στένων καὶ τρέμων ἔσῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. Διὸ ἔκτοτε φοβηθεῖσα ἡ γῆ οὐκέτι ἀνθρώπου αἷμα παραδέχεται, ἀλλʼ οὐδέ τινος ζώου· ᾗ φανερὸν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτὴ αἰτία, ἀλλʼ ὁ παραβὰς ἄνθρωπος.
English · Claude translation
When Adam knew his wife Eve, she conceived and bore a son named Cain. And she said, “I have gained a man through God.” And she bore a second son, named Abel. He became a shepherd of sheep, while Cain worked the ground. The story of these two is fuller, and so is the plan of its interpretation; so the book itself, entitled The Genesis of the World, can teach those who love learning its history more precisely. When Satan saw not only Adam and his wife alive but also that they had had children, since he had not been able to kill them, he was driven by envy; and when he saw Abel pleasing God, he worked in his brother, called Cain, and made him kill his brother Abel. And so death began to journey through this world, and it travels on to this day over every race of human beings. But God, being merciful and wishing to give Cain an opportunity for repentance and confession, as he had with Adam, said: “Where is Abel your brother?” But Cain answered God defiantly, saying: “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” So God, angry with him, said: “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. And now cursed are you from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand; groaning and trembling you shall be on the earth.” That is why, from then on, the earth in its fear no longer accepts the blood of a human being, nor of any animal; which shows that the earth is not to blame, but the human being who transgressed.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Driven by envy … death began”: compare Wis 2:24, “through the devil's envy death entered the world.”
- The claim that the earth no longer “accepts” blood is Theophilus's own inference from Gen 4:11.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (the enclitic με printed with an accent): βοᾷ πρὸς μὲ ἐκ τῆς γῆς → βοᾷ πρὸς με ἐκ τῆς γῆς.
Cite this passage
Theophilus, Autol. 2.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/29/).
Plain text
Theophilus, Autol. 2.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theophilus-autolycus/2/29/).
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