3 ms·

Here's a link to the full text http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr532.htm http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr532.htm This seems like 3,000BC version

Here's a link to the full text http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr532.htm http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section5/tr532.htm This seems like 3,000BC version of a rap battle, with rhyming put downs and brags. Unlike apparently everyone else, I can't see any likeness with the story of Cain and Able, other than the involvement of plants and animals. https://www.blueletterbible.org/nlt/gen/4/1/s_4001 https://www.blueletterbible.org/nlt/gen/4/1/s_4001

oflannabhra 9y ago
Cain offered grain (or at least produce) as a sacrifice. Abel offered a lamb (a living sacrifice). Abel's offering is deemed worthy, whereas Cain's is not. I'd say the similarity between the two is that they both present an opposition of grain and sheep. I agree with you, that is not incredibly similar.
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  I'd wager that during the time that all these things were written, the common themes and archetypes would probably have been more apparently and obvious to the people, even if they seem kind of like a stretch to us.
  - oflannabhra 9y ago
    Yep, I would bet that the reason the Cain and Abel story is referenced is because during that era, there was an inherent tension between the two types of sustenance, that is much deeper (societally and culturally) than today.
gwern 9y ago
If you enjoy that, you could look up other https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyting & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_debate_poetry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_debate_poetry to read. There are also fun prose debates like the Islamic "The Case of the Animals versus Man Before the King of the Jinn".
- schoen 9y ago
  Also the Lis Consonantium, in which the letter sigma sues the letter tau: https://lucianofsamosata.info/TrialInTheCourtOfVowels.html https://lucianofsamosata.info/TrialInTheCourtOfVowels.html
- hood_syntax 9y ago
  Had a fun read on those links, thanks for sharing.

oflannabhra 9y ago

Cain offered grain (or at least produce) as a sacrifice. Abel offered a lamb (a living sacrifice). Abel's offering is deemed worthy, whereas Cain's is not. I'd say the similarity between the two is that they both present an opposition of grain and sheep. I agree with you, that is not incredibly similar.

pavel_lishin 9y ago
I'd wager that during the time that all these things were written, the common themes and archetypes would probably have been more apparently and obvious to the people, even if they seem kind of like a stretch to us.
- oflannabhra 9y ago
  Yep, I would bet that the reason the Cain and Abel story is referenced is because during that era, there was an inherent tension between the two types of sustenance, that is much deeper (societally and culturally) than today.

gwern 9y ago

If you enjoy that, you could look up other https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyting & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_debate_poetry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_debate_poetry to read. There are also fun prose debates like the Islamic "The Case of the Animals versus Man Before the King of the Jinn".

schoen 9y ago
Also the Lis Consonantium, in which the letter sigma sues the letter tau: https://lucianofsamosata.info/TrialInTheCourtOfVowels.html https://lucianofsamosata.info/TrialInTheCourtOfVowels.html
hood_syntax 9y ago
Had a fun read on those links, thanks for sharing.