Two Cities

Cognovit autem Cain uxorem suam, et concepit, et peperit Henoch, et aedificavit Cain civitatem Quid ergo sibi per figuram vult, quod impiorum progenies civitatem in ipsa mundi origine construxit? Nisi quod noveris impios in hac vita esse fundatos, sanctos vero hospites esse et peregrinos. Unde et Abel tanquam peregrinus in terris, id est, populus Christianus non condidit civitatem. Superna enim est sanctorum civitas, quamvis hic pariat cives, in quibus peregrinatur, donec regni ejus tempus adveniat. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis, Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Genesin, Caput VI Source: Migne PL 83.227a

Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Henoch, and Cain built a city. 1 What, then, does he wish to convey with this figure, that the offspring of the wicked built a city at the beginning of this world? What but that you understand that the wicked are established in this life and the holy are as guests and passers by. Whence Abel also was a wanderer on the earth, that is, the Christian people have not founded a city here. For the city of the holy is above, 2 although it brings forth citizens here, among whom it wanders about, until the time of its kingdom shall come. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Genesis, Chapter 6 1 Gen 4.17 2 Heb 12.22-24, Apoc 21.2-4

Cain's Grief

ΕΡΩΤ ΚΜΑ’ Εἰ ἐλυπήθη Κάϊν μὴ δεχθέντων τῶν παρ' αὐτοῦ προσενεχθέντων, δῆλον ὅτι μετεμελήθη· τῶν γὰρ μεταμελουμένων ἡ λύπη. Ἠνίασεν αὐτὸν οὐχ ἡ αὐτοῦ πλημμέλεια, ἀλλ' ἡ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ εὐπραξία. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ὁ Ἀκύλας ᾐνίξατο· ἔφη δὲ οὕτως, Καὶ ὀργίλον τῷ Κάϊν σφόδρα, καὶ ἔπεσε τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ. Καὶ εἶπε Κύριος πρὸς Κάϊν, Εἰς τί τὸ ὀργίλον σοι. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.143b

Question 41 If Cain grieved because his offerings were not accepted, therefore he was penitent, for penitence is sorrowful. He was not anguished because of his own fault, but because of the good of his brother. To this Aquila alludes when he translates it in this way: 'And Cain was gravely angered, and he cast down his face. And the Lord said to Cain, 'Why are you angry?' 1 Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis 1 Gen 4.5-6

Gifts And Offerings

Respexit Dominus ad Abel et ad munera eius... Sed quaeri potest quare Deus respexit ad munera Abel, ad Cain vero munera non respexit? Nunquid enim plus placet peculiaris hostia quam sacrificium Deo de fructibus? Sed sciendum quia Deus plus mentes offerentium, quam id quod offerebatur, attendit, et ideo respexit, id est, acceptum habuit et placuit illi munus ejus. Potest et aliud dici, quia avaritia detestatus est in labore Cain. Sunt enim quidam qui plus justo desudant in laborando, non tantum ut habeant sufficientiam, sed ut superflua quaeque et minus necessari congregent. Hunc laborem superfluum vidit Deus in Cain et ideo ad munus ejus non respexit. Ars vero pastoralis simplex est et innocua, quam post Abel sancti Patres habuisse leguntur. Remigius Antissiodorensis, Commentarius In Genesim, Cap IV Source: Migne PL 131.68d-69a

The Lord looked on Abel and his gift... 1 But one may ask: why did God look on the gifts of Abel but not on the gifts of Cain? Shall it be that the offering of one's own animals is more pleasing to God than a sacrifice of fruits? But it must be understood that God looks more on the mind of those who offer, than what is offered, and therefore He looked on, that is, he accepted and was pleased, by his gift. It is possible to say something else, that the avarice that was in the labour of Cain was detested. For there are some who toil more in their labour than the righteous man, so that they might not only have what is sufficient, but that they even gather to themselves what is superfluous and quite unneeded. God sees this superfluous labour in Cain and therefore He does not look on his gift. The art of the shepherd is simple and harmless, which one reads that the holy patriarchs possessed after Abel. Remigius of Auxerre, Commentary On Genesis, Chapter 4 1 Gen 4.4

The First Death

Ερώτησις ΜϚ' Τί δὴ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἡμαρτηκότος Ἄβελ ὁ δίκαιος ἐτελεύτησε πρῶτος; Σαθρὸν ἠβουλήθη ὁ Θεὸς γενέσθαι τὸν τοῦ θανάτου θεμέλιον. Εἰ γὰρ Ἀδὰμ πρότερος ἐτελεύτησεν, ἔσθεν ἂν ἐκεῐνος ἰσχυρὰν τὴν κρηπῖδα, πρῶτον νεκρὸν τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα δεξάμενος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸν ἀδικως ἀνῃρημένον ἐδέξατο πρῶτον, σφαλερὸν τὸ θεμέλιον ἔχει. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.145d-148a

Question 46 Why, when Adam was a sinner, was the righteous Abel the first to die? God wished death to have a weak foundation. For if Adam had perished first, death would have rested on a firmer foundation, since it would have received a sinner as the first dead man. Because, however, it first received him who was unjustly slain, it has a doubtful foundation. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis

Evaluating Offerings

Concluso ergo illo et convicto Cain crimine, aliud oblationis vitium discutiamus. Obtulit, inquit, ex fructibus terrae, non a primis fructibus primitias Deo. Hoc est primitias sibi prius vindicare: Deo autem sequentia deferre. Itaque cum vere anima corpori tamquam servo domina sit praeferenda, utique primitias ejus, hoc est, animae prius quam corporis offerre debemus. Primitiae animae primatus sunt bonarum disciplinarum. Quae licet tempore posteriores sint, quam corporis primitiae, quae sunt esca, incrementum, visus, auditus, et tactus, odor, vox (mens autem et sensus pars animae) pars corporis, tamen prioris sunt disciplinis. Quarum primitiva est pure corde et simplici sermone oblata Deo gratiarum actio. Haec munera obtulit Abel, et ideo respexit Deus in munera ejus, quoniam e primitivis obtulit. Accedit ergo quia de primitivis ovium, et de adipibus earum. Considera quia non de insensibilibus, sed de animantibus obtulit. Plus est enim animalis, quam terrenus; siquidem animalis proximus spiritali est. Non enim prius quod spiritale est, sed quod animale, deinde quod spiritale. Quod animale spirat, habet vitalem spiritum: non ita quod de terrarum est fructibus. Deinde obtulit non secunda, sed prima; non exigua, sed pinguia:. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Cain et Abel, Liber I, Caput X Source: Migne PL 14. 377a-b

For that end and the criminal conviction of Cain we may discern some fault of offering. He offered offerings to God, it is said, from the fruit of the land, but not from the first fruits. 1Yet this is the offering that first vindicates one, he however brought to God the things that come after. Thus it truly is that the soul to the body, as that which rules to that which serves, must be preferred, and so his offering should have been an offering of the soul not of the body. The great offering of the soul are the goods of discipline. And the things after are the offerings sacrifices of the body, which are food, growth, sight, hearing, touch, smell, voice, all parts of the body, for mind and reason are parts of the soul, however by the former the things of the body are disciplined, of which the greatest are the pure heart and the simple word for offering to God the deed of thanks. And these gifts Abel offered and therefore God looked on his gifts, because from the first of them he offered. It happened so because it was from the first of the sheep, and from the fat of them. And consider that he offered not from insensible things but from animate creatures. For greater indeed is the animal than the earth, as nearer is the animal to the spiritual. For what is spiritual does not come before but what is animal, and then what is spiritual. Since the animal breathes it has the vital spirit, which is not so concerning the fruit of the earth. Thus he offered not what comes second but what comes first, not poor things, but rich things. Saint Ambrose, Cain and Abel, Book 1, Chap 10 1 Gen 4.3

Acceptable Sacrifices

Ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam vivam, sanctam, placentem Deo, rationabile obsequiam vestrum.   Quia non homo ex eo quod vivit placet, sed placet ex eo bene vivet; nec ex eo fit homo hostia si se Deo offerat, sed si sancte offerat Deo. Quantum enim immaculata victima placat Deum, tantum Deum victima, si maculata fuerit, exacerbat. Audi dicentem Deum: Non offeras mihi claudum, non lusum, non mortis contagione pollutum, sed maturum sine macula. Hinc est quod Apostulus vivam Deo petit hostiam. Probat hoc Cain, qui cum Deo parva a quo totum perceperat ingratus pontifex sic divisit, ut quod erat pessimum, hoc adoleret altari; quod erat optimum, in suam reservaret offensam; denique cum sua suo male partitur cum auctore, se suosque posteros et a vita et ab humano genere perdivisit. Ergo Abel sequamur ad praemium, non Cain comitemur ad poenam. Abel agnum portans ad Dei sacrificium, sicut agnus assumitur: Cain gestans sibi stipulam, fomentum sibi, per quod exureretur, invenit. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CIX

'That you present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing to God.' 1  Because man does not please by the fact that he lives, but that he lives well. He does not offer a sacrifice of himself to God unless he offers himself to God in a holy manner. As much as an unblemished victim pleases God, so a spotted victim makes God angry. Hear God saying, 'Do not offer me a lame thing, or something half blind, or polluted because it is intended for death, but something mature without blemish.' 2 Hence it is the Apostle seeks a living sacrifice for God. Cain gives proof of this; he who as an ungrateful priest shared so few of his possessions with God, from whom he had received everything, that he offered the worst of them upon the altar, since what was best he kept for himself, and so offended. Thus wickedly arranging this division with his Creator, he separated himself and his descendants from life and from the human race. Therefore let us follow Abel to reward and let us not accompany Cain to punishment. Abel bringing a lamb to sacrifice to God was accepted as a lamb; Cain, bearing his stubble, found it to be kindling for himself, by which he was to burn. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 109 1 Rom 12.1 2 Lev 22.20