Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. Yahweh said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
⛓ Read Genesis 4 forward — the whole chapter and its afterlife →Where this passage surfaces again, sorted by the strength of the link. Each kind of reuse — formal quotation, deliberate allusion, faint echo, figural pattern — carries its own mark. Follow any reference to read it in place.
Quotation1
A formal citation — high verbal volume, often introduced by a saying-formula.
"From the blood of Abel" cites Cain's murder of Abel whose blood "cries to me from the ground." Abel is named as the first martyr, the opening term of the canon-spanning blood-of-the-prophets formula in 11:51.
High confidenceAllusion1
A deliberate verbal borrowing without a citation formula.
"The blood of righteous Abel" (v35) cites the first murder, whose blood 'cries to me from the ground' — the inaugural shed innocent blood opening the canonical span of martyrdom.
High confidence