Sibling Rivalry

Sibling rivalry is a predominant theme throughout all of Genesis. Of course every family is different; some siblings may have an amazing relationship, while others despise each other. There is always more to any story; the underlaying causes of sibling rivalry. Why does this happen? Can this rivalry be prevented? In this paper I am going to examine a few stories, some worse than others, and try and go behind the scenes.

If the story of Cain and Abel took place today, it may be referred to as �The Crime of the Century.’ They were the first siblings on this earth, and their story may possibly be the most tragic case of sibling rivalry of them all. Their parents were the first humans, they had to learn almost everything on their own. The only one guiding them was G-d, and that was all they knew. When they had their children they were absent from their lives much more than they should have been. They were still exploring life and all the earth had to offer. Two offerings were made by the children, G-d only accepted one. According to Elie Wiesel, Cain was the first one to think of doing something nice for G-d by bringing him a gift, and Abel followed his brother. When Cain’s offererings were rejected, he became so upset, he went and murdered his brother. This story is filled with questions; the slaughter happened so quickly and only basic background information was provided.

Abel (a keeper of the sheep), offered G-d an animal sacrifice, while Cain (a tiller of the soil) offered fruit. Why did G-d only accept Abel’s offering and was He in any way responsible for the crime? Wiesel wonders if G-d thought that Abel’s offerings were better than that of his brothers. But almost turns down that idea because he believes the value of a gift does not really matter to G-d. Nahum N. Sarna has a slightly different outlook regarding if G-d did in fact accept what Abel brought him. It seemed like Able took the time to chose the best of his flock, while Cain just simply offered him fruit.

“By contrasting the details the Bible is saying that Abel demonstrated a quality of the heart and mind that Cain did not have” (Sarna, 29).

Before the offerings were made Cain and Abel were on the same playing ground. Like his brother, Cain just wanted to make G-d happy. Instead he receives a rejection from G-d, a rejection that G-d probably could have gone about differently. Rather than G-d comforting him, He ridiculed Cain in a sense. G-d only made him more upset and lost, he did not know how to deal with those feelings. Therefore, he went to the most extreme measure and killed his brother. G-d knows exactly what happened and he asks Cain, maybe as a test, where his brother is. He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (4.9) Clearly Cain did not understand who G-d really is and what He is capable of, because if he did he would not have lied.

“The Bible wishes to establish emphatically the moral principle that man is indeed his brother’s keeper and that all homicide is at the same time fratricide” (Sarna, 31).

Cain and Abel are brothers, they should have been always looking out for each other. Once Cain realized that G-d does know all, he immediately lost his arrogance. He accepts his fate and is cursed to wander.

Any normal person who knows the story of Cain and Able wonders about what Adam and Eve were doing, or rather, not doing. They deserve a little slack because they were the first people on this universe, and pretty much had no idea what they were doing. Both parents were absent from their children’s lives more than they should have been. They were aware that Cain was the problem child, and they should have watched him more closely. Perhaps, even take some time to explain to them what a family is all about; loyalty, love, togetherness...etc. The theories on why they may had been fighting could have easily been resolved with some education from their parents. They may have been fighting for the attention of their mother. Or could it have been about material possessions? They did have a chance to inherit all of the world. However, their parents were both still alive at the time; meaning they still had time to figure that out. What the whole story comes down to is brothers are supposed to look out for each other always.

The next story is the story of Jacob and Esau. They were born as twins, Esau being the older brother. Right before they were born Rebekah could feel them struggling inside of her. G-d tells her,

“Two nations are in your womb, two separate peoples shall issue from your body; one people shall be mightier than the other, and the older shall serve the young” (25.23)

This actually means that Jacob was destined by G-d Himself to be the father of the Chosen People. In a way G-d is foreshadowing the future; Esau was blessed with strong physical power and Jacob was meant to lead. It is very interesting to me that when Jacob came out of the womb he was holding onto Esau’s heel. It is as if they started fighting before they even entered the world.

Esau is portrayed as a skillful hunter, he is strong, and for those reasons he is favored by their father. Jacob is more of a free-spirit, mild and timid; he of course is favored by their mother. But do not be fooled, Jacob is much sneakier then he initially seems. Jacob was cooking stew one day when Esau came back from hunting. Esau was very hungry and asked for some stew. The nice brotherly thing to do would have been to simply give him a nice hot bowl of the lentil soup. But no, Jacob tells him he can get stew only if Esau gives him his birthright. It does not seem like this really upsets Esau all that much, he and Jacob possess a strange understanding of each other.

The real scandal of this particular story is what Rebekah tells Jacob to do next. She overhears Isaac, who is now old and has trouble seeing, tell Esau to go out and hunt him game, prepare his favorite dish, and bring it to him. When he does this Isaac will bless him before he dies. She tells Jacob to go bring her food, she will prepare the dish for Isaac, then he will bring it to his father pretending to be Esau so he will get the blessing. Jacob worries that because he is not hairy like Esau his father will figure it all out. He does not worry or become upset by the fact that he is literally stealing what belongs to his brother. So Jacob goes out and does what his mother tells him, they even dress him in Esau’s clothing to make it more believable. The plan actually works. Isaac is thrown off at first by his voice, but they made Jacob smell and feel like Esau. The