Literary Devices – Bereshit 4/0

Literary Devices – Bereshit 4

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Key Words

Tanakh Lab reveals that the most significant key words in the story of Kayin and Hevel (Bereshit 4:1-16) are: אדמה, הרג, מנחה, and אח. When looking at Chapter 4 as a whole, including its second half which lists Kayin's descendants, these words still top the list but are joined by the verb "ילד" (to bear a child) reflecting the theme of the second half of the unit. Discussion of some of these words follows:

אֲדָמָה (Land)

The word "אֲדָמָה" appears six times in verses 1-16, and can be used to trace the plot. The reader is introduced to Kayin through his occupation as a worker of the land (עֹבֵד אֲדָמָה).  The murder of Hevel, though, cannot be tolerated by the land, as his blood cries out from within (דְּמֵי אָחִיךָ צֹעֲקִים אֵלַי מִן הָאֲדָמָה).  As such, Kayin is cursed from the land (אָרוּר אָתָּה מִן הָאֲדָמָה), which will no longer produce fruit for him, forcing him to wander.

הרג (Kill)

Given the theme of fratricide, it is not surprising that the root "הרג" appears multiple times in the chapter.  Interestingly, though, in addition to the three mentions in the story of Hevel's murder, the root also appears twice in the genealogy list of the second half of the chapter, when speaking of Kayin's descendant Lemech. The continuity of the theme makes one question whether Kayin's whole line was marked by violence, and whether sins of fathers are doomed to be repeated by their children.¹

אָח (Brother)

• אח – The word “אָח” (brother) appears seven times in the unit.  The repetition of the word serves to underscore the unusual cruelty of Hevel’s murder at the hands of Kayin by emphasizing the familial bond that he severed.²

Articles

• See Prof. Yonatan Grossman's Leitwort (V) who discusses how key words, including the word "אח" in our narrative, might be used for ironic purposes.
• For a larger overview of the use of key words in the Biblical text, see Martin Buber’s דרכו של מקרא: עיונים בדפוסי-סגנון בתנ”ך. See also The Multi-Purpose ‘Leading Word’ and the Problems of Its Usage, by Yairah Amit and Jeffrey M. Green for further analysis of the various purposes and characteristics of leading words.

Chiastic Structure

Kayin and Hevel

The beginning of the Kayin and Hevel narrative is characterized by a double chiastic structure: 

A) Kayin's birth (4:1)

B) Hevel's birth (4:2)

B') Hevel’s occupation as a shepherd (4:2)

A') Kayin’s occupation as a farmer (4:2)

A) Kayin brings sacrifice (4:3)

B) Hevel brings sacrifice (4:4)

B') Hevel’s sacrifice is accepted (4:4)

A') Kayin’s sacrifice is rejected (4:5)

This chiastic structure and the alternating pattern in naming the brothers might serve a couple of purposes:

• Competition – It highlights the extent to which the two brothers are locked in competition, such that everything about each of them is narrated in the context of the other. 
• Reason for rejection – Second, the double chiasm provides support for the perspective that the reason for Hashem’s  rejection of the sacrifice at the end of the second chiasm is the brothers’ differing choices of profession at the end of the first chiasm. 

Articles

• For analysis of the idea that this story is primarily about competition and “the roots of strife” rather than fratricide, see R. Ezra Bick’s Raising Cain and Hevel.
• For analysis of how the literary structure reflects the deeper message of the story and is central to understanding Kayn's rejection, see R. Elchanan Samet's article, Why Did God Not Accept Kayin’s Offering.³

Parallelisms

Examples

The song of Lemekh (4:23-24) is an excellent example of Biblical parallelism, in which adjacent phrases parallel each other.  This is a typical feature of Biblical poetry:

• עָדָה וְצִלָּה שְׁמַעַן קוֹלִי / נְשֵׁי לֶמֶךְ הַאְזֵנָּה אִמְרָתִי
• כִּי אִישׁ הָרַגְתִּי לְפִצְעִי / וְיֶלֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִי
• כִּי שִׁבְעָתַיִם יֻקַּם קָיִן / וְלֶמֶךְ שִׁבְעִים וְשִׁבְעָה

Articles

• For more information about the nature of Biblical parallelism, see Prof. Mayer I. Gruber’s article The Meaning of Biblical Parallelism: A Biblical Perspective and Prof. Adele Berlin’s Grammatical Aspects of Biblical Parallelism.⁴

Allusions

Rebuke Repeated

Tanakh Lab highlights that the Divine censure and curses of Kayin recall the curses of Adam and Chavvah:

• Chavvah is told that her "אֶל אִישֵׁךְ תְּשׁוּקָתֵךְ וְהוּא יִמְשׇׁל בָּךְ", while Kayin is told that "לַפֶּתַח חַטָּאת רֹבֵץ וְאֵלֶיךָ תְּשׁוּקָתוֹ וְאַתָּה תִּמְשׇׁל בּוֹ".
• Kayin is cursed from the land: אָרוּר אָתָּה מִן הָאֲדָמָה echoing how Adam had been told that the  land was cursed before him :אֲרוּרָה הָאֲדָמָה בַּעֲבוּרֶךָ

Sources and Articles

• See Prof. Yonatan Grossman’s article Religious Sin, Ethical Sin, and the Punishment of Exile. that perhaps the allusion is an indication of the ways in which Kayin’s sin serves as the prototype of sins between man and man, just as Adam and Chavvah’s sin typifies sins between man and God.
• Rav Hirsch explains the virtually identical language of Kayin’s and Chavvah’s curses to indicate that, just as the marriage of a man and woman is meant to be harmonious, a person’s relationship to the different aspects of himself (including his material desires and even his evil inclination) is ultimately meant to be a harmonious, integrated whole.

Character Titles

Hevel

Hevel is referred to in three ways in the chapter: a) with his proper name, Hevel, b) in relationship to Kayin, "הֶבֶל אָחִיו" (his brother, Hevel),  c) and sometimes, simply: "אָחִיךָ"/ "אָחִי" (your/my brother)

• הָבֶל – In the opening verses of the chapter (2-4) Hevel is referred to by his proper name alone. Though these verses contrast him and Kayin, there is no repeated emphasis on their relationship, and Hevel is described in terms of his own name, occupation, and actions.
• הֶבֶל אָחִיו – In verses 8-9 which describe the murder and its immediate aftermath, the text highlights the relationship, emphasizing the this is not simply murder but fratricide, all the more terrible due to the familial bond.
• "אָחִיךָ"/ "אָחִי" – In the second half of verse 9-11, when Hashem accuses and punishes Kayin, Hevel's identity is solely that of "brother", with the verse focusing only on the relationship, no longer even mentioning his name. With his death, Hevel is no longer, not even in name, and all that remains is the reminder of brotherhood that should have been.

Kayin

• Interestingly, Kayin has but one title throughout, his proper name. In contrast to Hevel, he is never referred to as Hevel's brother, perhaps because he proved himself not to really be one.

¹ See Lemekh's Monologue for various readings of that story and the approach of some commentators that Lemekh's violent streak went beyond that of Kayin.

² The use of the word “אח” in this narrative is also an example of a relational epithet, a device by which a person is referred to in relation to another person in order to emphasize the significance of their relationship in the context of the story. [See Character Titles, below.]

³ See also the opinions of Abarbanel and Rav Hirsch in Kayin's Sacrifice Rejected which elaborate on why Kayin's chosen profession was problematic.

⁴ Other resources include Prof. Robert Alter’s The Art of Biblical Poetry pp. 3-61, Prof. Adele Berlin’s The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism, and Prof. James Kugel’s The Idea of Biblical Poetry: Parallelism and Its History.