The Animal Question
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Genesis 4:9 NASB
Keeper? – How do you know if you’re human? No, I’m not asking if you’re homo sapien. That’s a matter of biology. I’m asking something more. I’m asking about ethics. Just to be clear, I’m not asking about morality either. Being human can embrace a very wide range of moral behaviors. But underneath all of these is a question about motivation, about the principles of your existence. Note Heschel’s remarks:
“A man entirely unconcerned with his self is dead; a man exclusively concerned with his self is a beast.”
“Human is he who is concerned with other selves.”
“A vital requirement of human life is transitive concern, a regard for others, in addition to a reflexive concern, an intense regard for itself.”[1]
When God asks Cain where his brother is, He does not ask about geography. God knows perfectly well where the body of Abel is. God asks a human question. Cain gives him an animal reply.
The Hebrew word in question is šāmar. You’ll recognize it as the verb used for “guarding” the commandments. The TWOT article lists four different ranges of meaning:
The basic idea of the root is “to exercise great care over.” This meaning can be seen to underlie the various semantic modifications seen in the verb: In combination with other verbs the meaning is “do carefully or diligently”. Thus Prov 19:8, “Give heed to understanding”; Deut 11:32, “Be careful to do (i.e. perform carefully) all the statutes and ordinances) and in Num 23:12, speak carefully or faithfully.
Secondly it expresses the careful attention to be paid to the obligations of a covenant, to laws, statutes, etc. This is one of the most frequent uses of the verb.
A third ramification is “take care of,” “guard.” This involves keeping or tending to things such as a garden (Gen 2:15), a flock (Gen 30:31), a house (II Sam 15:16).
A fourth category is the meaning “regard” “give heed to.” It is used of a man’s attitude of paying attention to, or reverence for, God or others.
The last category has to do with “preserving,” “storing up,”[2]
When God asks Cain the human question, He might have all four umbrellas open. Cain’s responsibility covers the care, preservation, regard, and covenant obligation. Cain’s animal action removes him from the sphere of “human.” Perhaps that makes sense of Cain’s complaint, “whoever finds me will kill me” (Genesis 4:14). In this story, who is left to find him? Adam? Perhaps the point is that Cain will be hunted like an animal. No man will regard him as human because he has rejected the mark of humanity: šāmar. You might notice the oddity of God’s reply. God doesn’t protect Cain from the possibility. Cain doesn’t fall under the shield of šāmar, as a human being would. God simply says that whoever kills Cain (we should pay attention to the verb, hārag. It is not the same as the verb for “murder,” in the commandments of Exodus 20, i.e., rāṣaḥ), will receive seven fold vengeance. But it’s not clear at all what this means, as no one can be killed seven times. What does seem to be the case is that Cain will be treated as if he were an animal. That’s a scary thought.
We might wonder, “Are there other behaviors that would disqualify me as human?” If Heschel is right about the necessary ethics of being human, what else might be on the list?
Topical Index: being human, šāmar, keeper, guard, concern, Genesis 4:9
[1] Abraham Heschel, Between God and Man: An Interpretation of Judaism (Free Press Paperbacks, 1959), p. 109.
[2] Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., & Waltke, B. K. (Eds.). (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 940). Chicago: Moody Press.
