Second Son is Number One

One of the most interesting topics that Armstrong addressed (along with in-class) within the first chapter of Jerusalem was “God’s persistent choice of the second son instead of the first” (25). Pondering this concept, I found myself asking why did God choose the second sibling rather than the firstborn? 

Abel over Cain, Isaac over Ismael, Jacob over Esau— these are just a few examples of when God’s second child favoritism is presented.

The first example I mentioned, Abel over Cain, is the first time God’s second child favoritism is at play and ultimately leads to the first murder within the holy text. In Genesis, the sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, make sacrificial offerings of their respective first fruits. Cain, the eldest son, a farmer, offered the fruit of the ground, while Abel, the second son, a shepherd, offered the best of his flock. In response to these offerings, God answers with “regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard” (Gen 4:4-5). After this rejection, Cain murders Abel, committing a grave sin.

It is later discovered the reasoning why Abel’s gift was accepted over Cain’s was over faith, as the book of Hebrews states: “By faith, Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did” (Hebrews 11:4). Although the Bible states that God’s decision was made upon Abel having more faith than Cain, I believe more was at play in God's decision. 

From a historical lens, a valuable sacrifice to a deity often involved killing a worthy animal, ergo, a blood sacrifice. Abel offered what was traditionally considered a satisfactory sacrifice in other religious groups of the time, while Cain offered a more unique sacrifice— a bloodless one. By not providing an offering acceptable by ancient Israelite society, Cain was found unworthy, and this unworthiness was reflected in the Bible as Cain progressively became more demonized.

Further evidence of this demonization of Cain can be seen when looking at other sibling relationships that also were affected by God’s favoritism to the second child. Armstrong takes note that “there is real pathos in the story of Hagar and Ishmael, and the reader is made to sympathize with Esau’s distress” (26). This empathy that is a commonality with other siblings in this situation is lacking between Cain and Abel. By erasing all potential sympathizing emotions towards Cain, Cain has no way to be redeemed by Biblical readers. 

I believe that the initial goal of Cain being the unfavorable brother was to ensure those within the growing popularity of Abrahamic Religions would always bestow a worthy sacrifice to God. After Cain was deemed as unworthy, the writers' turned Cain into a representative of evil and sin to showcase what evil is and what one should not do in the world.

While this is not a popular opinion, I believe that by looking through another lens, we can see new reasoning as to why God preferred Abel over Cain before Cain committed murder.