The story goes that one night, long after leaving Eden when Cain and Abel were young men, Eve was shaken awake by a horrific vision. As The Penitence of Adam (22:2:1-23:3:2) tells it, she recounts the dream to Adam: "While I was sleeping, I saw in a night vision that the blood of our son Abel was entering the mouth of our son Cain. Cain drank his blood without mercy. Abel beseeched him to leave a little, but he drank his blood completely."

Can you imagine the horror? Eve sees Cain, not just harming Abel, but consuming him, drinking his very life force. The image is brutal, primal.

Adam, upon hearing this, immediately understands. "Surely this means that Cain must intend to kill Abel," he says. His response is one of immediate, desperate action. He suggests separation, hoping to avert the impending tragedy. "Come, let us keep them apart. Let each of them live in a separate place." So, he commands his sons to go their separate ways.

But even Adam's efforts are not enough to change what is already destined.

According to the story, God then sends the angel Michael to Adam with a crucial message. Adam is not to reveal the details of Eve's vision to Cain. Why? Because, the message explains, "Cain is a son of wrath who will kill Abel, his brother." In other words, it's already written.

But there's also a promise of hope: God assures Adam that he will be given another son, Seth, to replace Abel. And Seth, crucially, "will bear my image, and through him many mysteries will be revealed."

Adam, after receiving this divine message, shares it only with Eve. Together, they grieve, knowing the fate that awaits Abel. Dreams and visions in Jewish tradition, as Rabbi Schwartz points out in Tree of Souls, are often understood to be prophetic. Eve's "night vision" is no exception. It’s a window into a dark future, a premonition of fratricide.

The story, as we find it in Penitence of Adam, paints a vivid picture of Cain's crime, portraying it in the stark and primitive terms of drinking his victim's blood. It's a disturbing image, a reflection of the raw, untamed emotions that can lead to such violence.

Interestingly, the promise of Seth, and the description of his special powers, suggests to some scholars a connection to Gnosticism, where Seth plays a central role. The Apocalypse of Adam, for example, features Adam passing down secret Gnostic knowledge to Seth. This makes you wonder: is this story a simple tale of sibling rivalry, or does it hold deeper, more esoteric meanings?

Eve's terrible dream and the events that follow offer a powerful meditation on fate, free will, and the enduring hope for renewal even in the face of profound loss. Is it possible to change a future that has been foretold? What role do our dreams play in shaping our reality? Food for thought, isn't it?