Three Who Came With a Pretext and the Raven That Taught Burial

The Rabbis taught: Three came with a complaint of injustice: Cain, Esau, and Manasseh. Cain, as it is written, "My iniquity is greater than I can bear." Esau, as it is written, (Genesis 27:38) "Have you but one blessing, my father?" Manasseh, who at first called upon many gods and in the end called upon the God of his fathers. Once a person's end has arrived, all gain mastery over him, as it is said, "and it shall be that whoever finds me will slay me." Rava said: From this verse, "For Your judgments they stand this day, for all are Your servants." Rabbi Tzadok says: Great hatred entered Cain's heart over his offering, which had been rejected. And not only that, but Abel's twin sister was the fairest of women, and he desired her in his heart, as it is said, (above, verse 8) "And it came to pass when they were in the field," this refers to a woman, who is likened to a field. Rabbi Yohanan said: Cain did not know that hidden things are revealed before the Holy One, blessed be He, and he took Abel's corpse and hid it in the field. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said before Him, "Master of the universe, You made me a keeper of field and vineyard; am I my brother's keeper?" Cain said, "My iniquity is greater than I can bear, and not only that, but now some righteous one will arise in the earth and invoke Your great name against me and kill me." What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He took one letter from the twenty-two letters of the Torah and set it upon Cain's arm so that he would not be killed, as it is said, "And the LORD set a sign for Cain." The dog that had guarded Abel's flock now guarded his corpse from every beast and every bird of heaven. And Adam and his helpmate sat weeping and mourning over him, and they did not know what to do. One raven whose companion had died said, "I will teach this man what to do." It took its companion and dug in the earth before their eyes and buried it. Adam said, "Let us do as this raven does." He took Abel's corpse and buried it in the earth. And the Holy One, blessed be He, paid a good reward to the ravens in this world: when they give birth to their young and see them white, they flee from them, supposing they are the children of a serpent, yet God gives them their food without lack, as it is said, (Job 38:41) "Who provides for the raven its prey?" And not only that, but they call out for rain to fall upon the earth, and the Holy One, blessed be He, answers them, as it is said, "He gives to the beast its food," and so forth.