The Voice of Abel's Blood Crying From the Ground

Midrash Aggadah Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 4:10 View source

Curated by The Jewish Mythology Team · Published January 1, 2025

God's question to Cain after the murder is a pair of hammer blows. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 4:10) phrases it as: "What hast thou done? The voice of the bloods of the murder of thy brother which are swallowed up in the sod, crieth before Me from the earth."

The Hebrew plural — demei, "bloods" — is preserved. The Mishnah (Sanhedrin 4:5) famously reads this plural to mean the blood of Abel and of all his potential descendants, all of whom were cut off by that single stone. When you kill a person, you do not kill one; you kill a lineage. The blood of an entire future cries out.

The earth has swallowed the blood, but it has not silenced it. The Targumist keeps the image literal: the sod drinks the blood, and then raises a voice. No crime is truly hidden. The ground itself turns witness.

Themes

Divine justice Sin Judgment Death

Biblical References

Genesis 4:10

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