Abel’s murder and the requirement to stone murderers and hang them form a symbolic and thematic narrative that reflects sin, judgment, and reconciliation. I want to posit a theory that these elements are interconnected, each providing commentary on the nature of murder, repentance, and divine justice. Abel, being the first murdered, holds a key role in this narrative, and his death, particularly by a stone, creates a link with later biblical commands regarding murderers, such as stoning and hanging.
One of the things I find fascinating about many laws, is that they are tied to specific events - as if to teach a deeper lesson. For example, we can't eat the sciatic nerve of an animal because the angel touched Jacob's hip, althought, that's the much shorter simpler version. Likewise, we have laws for a murderer, and perhaps (just maybe), they too are connected to the first murderer.
Laws for a Murderer
According to Exodus 21:12 and Numbers 35:16-21, anyone who murders another shall be put to death. Deuteronomy 17:6-7 expounds on this and clarifies that they are to be stoned to death. Deuteronomy then states:
"And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day, for he who is hanged is accursed of God; that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance." (Deuteronomy 21:22-23)
So as a quick overview to remember, this is the process that we must follow for someone charged of murder:
Stone to death
Hang him - public display
Take him down before nightfall
Bury him that same day (court responsibility)
Cain and Abel
Abel’s murder by his brother Cain marks the first recorded act of violence and fratricide. According to the text, after Cain's offering was rejected, he killed Abel (Genesis 4:8). If we want rationale behind why these laws for a murderer exist, what better place to look than the first murder?
Stone to death
While the Torah does not specify the method of murder, rabbinic traditions suggest that Cain used a stone to kill Abel.
Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (Chapter 21) provides one version of this tradition, stating that Cain, unsure of how to kill, saw a stone on the ground and struck Abel with it, thereby causing his death. This Midrashic source emphasizes the primitive nature of the act and Cain’s unfamiliarity with death, which mirrors humanity’s first confrontation with mortality and the consequences of sin.
Just as the first murderer's tool was a stone, so too is the stone the tool to murder all murderers after him.
Hang him - public display
In Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer 21, it is suggested that Abel's body remained exposed on the ground because Cain, unfamiliar with burial practices, did not know how to deal with his brother’s lifeless body.
Bereishit Rabbah 22:10 states that Abel's soul was unable to ascend up to heaven because no other soul had. But Abel's soul was also unable to descend into the ground because no man had yet been buried in the ground, so the ground would not accept his soul. As a result, Abel’s soul was suspended between heaven and earth.
Just as the first murderer left a body exposed and a soul in limbo between heaven and earth, so too is the murderer left exposed with his body between heaven and earth.
Take him down before nightfall
The commandment to take the hanged body down before nightfall, found in Deuteronomy 21:23, adds an important dimension to the process of justice and reconciliation of the first murderer. In the case of Abel’s murder, Cain’s act of repentance mirrors this need to restore cosmic balance. According to Midrash Tanchuma, after God confronted Cain, Cain immediately recognized his sin and repented, though his punishment was exile rather than death. Despite his initial guilt and the weight of his crime, Cain’s repentance allowed Abel’s suspended state to be resolved, and Abel’s soul was finally able to descend into the earth.
It is possible that this allows us to better understand the first murderer as well. Is it possible that Cain was confronted by God the same day Abel was murdered? Is it possible that Cain showed remorse and repented before nightfall? According to Vayikra Rabbah 10:5, Cain repented as soon as God confronted him.
Bury him that same day
According to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 21:10, Adam and Eve were weaping and mourning for Abel after Cain had left. After observing a raven bury its dead, Adam then dug a hole for Abel and buried him as well.
Can it be derived?
It seems that all murderers are reconciling the first murder. The first murderer used a stone to murder, so they are killed by stones. The first murderer left his victim exposed in a state of limbo between heaven and earth, so too the first murderer must be exposed and suspended between heaven and earth. But whereas the first murderer did not bury his victim and left it to his family, God corrects this and says, "you must also bury him" leaving the responsibility on the court who executed him. It's almost as if God is saying, "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you" as well as "he who lives by the stone, will die by the stone."
What are your thoughts? Are the laws of a murderer reconciliation for the first murder?
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