Kayin and Yonah/0
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Kayin and Yonah
Introduction
At first glance, Kayin and Yonah appear to have little in common. One is the first murderer in the history of mankind, the other a prophet of God. Both stories, though, revolve around sin and the possibility of repentance, explore how people respond when given second chances, and question what it means to stand before God. Somewhat ironically, in these two stories it is the murderer who is upset about being cast away from Hashem, while it is the prophet who attempts to flee but is not given the opportunity.
Content Parallels
There are several points of contact between the stories:
- Shared themes – As mentioned the themes of repentance and second chances are the focus of each story.
- Leaving God – Both Kayin and Yonah go out from before God.
- Distresses – Kayin is upset, apparently feeling that it was unjust of Hashem to accept only Hevel's offering. Yonah is upset, apparently finding something unjust or wrong about Hashem's acceptance of Nineveh's repentance.
- Hashem questions each of Kayin and Yonah whether their anger is justified.
- Punishment and flight – Kayin is punished and forced to "flee" from Hashem after killing Hevel. Yonah is punished at sea because he tried to flee from Hashem.
Literary Allusions
There are several linguistic parallels between the two stories as highlighted in the following table:
EN/HEע/E
| קין (בראשית פרק ד') | יונה (יונה פרקים א'-ד') |
| (ה) וְאֶל קַיִן וְאֶל מִנְחָתוֹ לֹא שָׁעָה וַיִּחַר לְקַיִן מְאֹד וַיִּפְּלוּ פָּנָיו. (ו) וַיֹּאמֶר י״י אֶל קָיִן לָמָּה חָרָה לָךְ וְלָמָּה נָפְלוּ פָנֶיךָ. (ז) הֲלוֹא אִם תֵּיטִיב שְׂאֵת... | (ד:ד) וַיֹּאמֶר י״י הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לָךְ. (ט) וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל יוֹנָה הַהֵיטֵב חָרָה לְךָ עַל הַקִּיקָיוֹן וַיֹּאמֶר הֵיטֵב חָרָה לִי עַד מָוֶת. |
| (יד) הֵן גֵּרַשְׁתָּ אֹתִי הַיּוֹם מֵעַל פְּנֵי הָאֲדָמָה וּמִפָּנֶיךָ אֶסָּתֵר וְהָיִיתִי נָע וָנָד בָּאָרֶץ וְהָיָה כׇל מֹצְאִי יַהַרְגֵנִי. | (ה) וַאֲנִי אָמַרְתִּי נִגְרַשְׁתִּי מִנֶּגֶד עֵינֶיךָ אַךְ אוֹסִיף לְהַבִּיט אֶל הֵיכַל קׇדְשֶׁךָ. |
| (טז) וַיֵּצֵא קַיִן מִלִּפְנֵי י״י | (ג) וַיָּקׇם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה מִלִּפְנֵי י״י |
| (טז) וַיֵּצֵא קַיִן... וַיֵּשֶׁב בְּאֶרֶץ נוֹד קִדְמַת עֵדֶן. (יז) וַיֵּדַע קַיִן אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וַתַּהַר וַתֵּלֶד אֶת חֲנוֹךְ וַיְהִי בֹּנֶה עִיר וַיִּקְרָא שֵׁם הָעִיר כְּשֵׁם בְּנוֹ חֲנוֹךְ. | (ה) וַיֵּצֵא יוֹנָה מִן הָעִיר וַיֵּשֶׁב מִקֶּדֶם לָעִיר וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ שָׁם סֻכָּה וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחְתֶּיהָ בַּצֵּל עַד אֲשֶׁר יִרְאֶה מַה יִּהְיֶה בָּעִיר. |
Analysis
- Degree of similarity – Most of the above parallels are not linguistically identical, and share roots rather than exact grammatical forms.
- Distinctive phrases – Though none of the individual words above are unique to our stories, some of the combinations and phrases are rare in Tanakh:
- Though the root "חרה" appears many times in Tanakh, the specific form of "חָרָה לָךְ " comes up only here and in one other story.1
- The phrase "מִלִּפְנֵי י״י" appears about 18 times in Tanakh, but Kayin and Yonah are the only two people said to have left/ fled from before God.
- Though the roots "ישב" and "קדם" are prevalent in Tanakh, the combination is not. In only three places do people settle "to the east", in our two stories and in the story of the Tower of Bavel (Bereshit 11:2).
Points of Contrast
As is often the case, some of the parallels serve to highlight points of contrast rather than similarities between the stories:
- Kayin is upset, apparently feeling that Hashem was unjust he offerings, Hashem tells him he can improve and gives him a second chance, which he does not take.
- Yonah is upset after others have been given a second chance to improve and do, in fact, heed the warning.
- After killing his brother, when again rebuked by Hashem, Kayin says "גָּדוֹל עֲוֺנִי מִנְּשֹׂא", appearing to repent. When Yonah is chastised (both via the storm and in Chapter 4), he makes no admission of guilt.2
- Kayin is upset that he is cast away from Hashem when rebuked, while Yonah voluntarily runs away from God when asked to rebuke others.
- While Kayin is afraid that others might kill him, Yonah asks to die.
- Yonah sits to the east of a city which is in danger of destruction. Kayin moves to the east to build a new city.
- In addition, while Yonah makes for himself a temporary dwelling (סכה), Kayin (despite being punished to be a nomad) builds a permanent settlement.
