What is the meaning of the distinction here made between a gift and a sacrifice? (Genesis 4:4).
The man who slays a sacrifice, after having made a division, pours the blood around the altar and takes the flesh home; but he who offers it as a gift, offers as it should seem the whole to him who accepts it. Therefore, the man who is a lover of self is a distributor, like Cain; but he who is a lover of God is the giver of a free gift, as was Abel.
How it was that Cain became aware that his offering had not pleased God? (Genesis 4:5).