Kayin and Yonah

Introduction

At first glance, Kayin and Yonah appear to have little in common.¹  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. Kayin, the Ninevites, and Yonah are all given second chances and an opportunity to change, though each reacts to it differently.
• Distress – Kayin is upset, apparently feeling that it was unjust of Hashem to accept only Hevel's offering. Yonah is upset, apparently bothered by Hashem's acceptance of Nineveh's repentance.
• Chastisement – Hashem questions each of Kayin and Yonah whether their anger is justified.
• Leaving God – Both Kayin and Yonah go out from before God.
• 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:

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 Shemuel II 19:43. Moreover, no where else is the association with תֵּיטִיב/הֵיטֵב made.
• 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:

• Distress and improvement – When Kayin is upset, Hashem encourages Kayin by telling him he can improve his ways. Yonah, in contrast, is apparently upset specifically because others do in fact better their ways.²
• Admission of guilt –  When punished by Hashem for killing Hevel, Kayin says "גָּדוֹל עֲוֺנִי מִנְּשֹׂא", appearing to repent.³ In contrast, after Yonah is chastised (both via the storm and in Chapter 4), he makes no admission of guilt.⁴
• Flight – While Kayin is upset that he is cast away from Hashem when rebuked, Yonah voluntarily runs away from God when asked to rebuke others.
• Death – While Kayin is afraid that others might kill him, Yonah asks to die.
• Destruction / building of city – Yonah moves to the east of a city which is in danger of destruction.  Kayin moves to the east to build a new city.
• Temporary or permanent – In addition, while Yonah makes for himself a temporary dwelling (סכה), Kayin (despite being punished to be a nomad) builds a permanent settlement.

Conclusions

It is debatable whether the story of Yonah is intentionally alluding to that of Kayin or if the similarities instead stem from the shared themes of the two stories. Regardless, the comparisons are intriguing, making one explore each of Yonah and Kayin more deeply, with perhaps surprising results:

• Contrast – The comparison highlights the contrast between the two figures, with Kayin emerging as the more positive of the two. Despite the severity of his crime, in the end he appears to repent, and though he is punished, he manages to move on and even to rebuild. Yonah, in contrast, never admits his guilt and continues to question Hashem even in Chapter Four.  As such, he remains a portrait of despair, with his last words in the book being "הֵיטֵב חָרָה לִי עַד מָוֶת".‎⁵  The parallel sends a strong message about the power of repentance: even a murderer can repent of his ways and start afresh.
• Parallel – Alternatively, if one assumes that the Yonah story is intentionally alluding to Sefer Bereshit, it is possible that the purpose is to cause the reader to equate Kayin and Yonah. The comparison implies that Yonah's reluctance to aid a city to repent and avert destruction is akin to murder.⁶