La Genèse 4:10 Midrash : Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Midrash Tanchuma, Bamidbar Rabbah & Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer

MISHNAH: How were the witnesses awestruck in criminal cases? They were brought in and warned: Perhaps your testimony is based only on a supposition, or on hearsay, or on that of another witness, or you have had it from a trustworthy man; or perhaps you are not aware that finally we will investigate the matter by examination and cross examination. You may also be aware of the fact that there is no similarity between civil and criminal cases. In civil cases one may repay the money damage and he is atoned; but in criminal cases the blood of the person executed, and of his descendants to the end of all generations, clings to the instigator of his executions, for thus do we find in the case of Cain, who slew his brother, concerning whom it is said (Gen. 4, 10) The voice of the blood of thy brother is crying unto me from the ground. Blood is not mentioned in the singular, but in the plural (bloods), which means his blood and the blood of his descendants. According to others, the bloods of thy brother — i.e., his blood has scattered over all the trees and stones. Therefore the man was created singly, to teach that he who destroys one soul of a human being is considered by Scriptures as if he had destroyed the whole world, and he who saves one soul of Israel, Scripture considers it as if he had saved the whole world. And also in order to preserve peace among creatures, so that one should not say: "My grandfather was greater than yours;" and also that the heretic shall not say: "There are many creators in heaven." And also to proclaim the glory of the Holy One, praised be He! For a human being stamps many coins with one stamp, and all of them are alike; but the King of all the kings, the Holy One, praised be He! has stamped every man with the stamp of Adam the first, and nevertheless not one of them is like the other. Therefore every man may say: "The world was created for my sake, hence I must be upright, just," etc. Should the witness say: (Ib. b) "Why should we take so much trouble upon ourselves?" Behold it is written (Lev. 5, 1) And he is a witness, since he hath seen or knoweth something; if he do not tell it, then he should bear his iniquity. And should you say: "Why should we testify to the disadvantage of that man's blood?" Behold, it has been said (Prov. 11, 10) When the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

How did he kill him? He inflicted numerous bruises upon his body with a stone. He smote him over his entire body, from his hands and feet to his throat, for he had no way of knowing from where his soul would depart. When the Holy One, blessed be He, asked him: Where is Abel, your brother? he replied: “I know not; am I my brother’s keeper? (Gen. 4:9). You are the guardian of all, yet You seek him from me!” This may be compared to a thief who steals during the night but is not apprehended while committing the crime. When the watchman seizes him the next morning and asks: “Why did you steal those utensils?”, the thief replies: “I am a thief and I did not neglect my profession. Your job is to keep watch at the gate. Why did you neglect your duties? Now you question me?” So Cain retorted: “True, I slew him, but You created the evil inclination within me. Since You are the guardian of all, why did You permit me to slay him? You who are called the I³³I am the Lord your God (Exod. 20:2). killed him, for if You had accepted my sacrifice as You accepted his, I would not have been envious of him.” The Holy One, blessed be He, replied immediately: What have you done? The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto Me (ibid., v. 10). This verse indicates that he inflected numerous wounds upon Abel.

“Balak…saw” – when his emissaries came to Bilam, the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Who are [these] men…?” (Numbers 22:9). Bilam said to Him: “Balak son of Tzipor, king of Moav, sent to me” (Numbers 22:10). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: This is one of three people whom the Holy One blessed be He examined but found them to be a jug of urine.¹¹A vessel that is only worthy of contemptible use. They are Cain, Hezekiah, and Bilam. Cain, when the Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ he sought, as it were, to mislead. He should have said: ‘Master of the universe, the concealed and the revealed are revealed before You, and You are asking me regarding my brother?’ Instead, he said to Him: “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘This is how you speak? “The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. [Now, you are cursed…]”’ (Genesis 4:10–11).
Hezekiah, when he recovered from his illness, Merodakh Baladan sent him a gift, as it is stated: “At that time, Merodakh Baladan…sent [scrolls and a gift to Hezekiah]” (Isaiah 39:1). Isaiah came and said to him: “What did those men say, and from where did they come to you?” (Isaiah 39:3). He [Hezekiah] should have said to him: ‘You are a prophet of the Omnipresent, and you are asking me?’ Instead, he began boasting: “They came to me from a distant land, from Babylonia” (Isaiah 39:3). Isaiah said to him: ‘Since that is what you said: “Behold, days are coming and everything that is in your house…will be carried [to Babylonia]…From your sons, who will descend from you…they will be officials in the palace of the king of Babylon”’ (Isaiah 39:6–7).
Likewise, the wicked Bilam, when Balak sent to him, the Holy One blessed be He said to him: “Who are these men with you?” (Numbers 22:9), he should have said: ‘Master of the universe, everything is revealed before You and nothing is obscured from You, and You are asking me?’ Instead he said to him: “Balak son of Tzipor, king of Moav, sent to me.” The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Since that is how you speak, “do not curse the people” (Numbers 22:12). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Wicked one of the world, it is written in Israel’s regard: “For one who touches you, touches the pupil of his eye” (Zechariah 2:12),¹²The term “pupil of His eye” is expounded to mean the apple of the eye of the Holy One blessed be He, something very dear to Him. and you go to accost them and curse them? Let his eye be removed, as it is stated: “One with an open eye”¹³"An open eye" is explained as meaning that Bilam can see with only one eye. (Numbers 24:3), to realize: “For one who touches you, touches the pupil of his eye.”’