פירוש על בראשית 4:5

ואל קין ואל מנחתו לא שעה, He did not turn to Kayin the donor, as he was not pleasing in the eyes of G’d; He also did not turn with favour to his offering seeing the nature of the offering was not designed to make it welcome;

ויחר לקין מאד, Cain was very angry. The emotion חרון אף indicates that a person feels superior, whereas the expression נפילת אפים indicates that one feels inferior. Cain felt angry at the superiority achieved by his younger brother. He felt inferior towards his brother thinking that the superior quality of his brother's offering was the cause that his own offering had not been accepted. He believed that this was the reason he had suffered a loss of image in the eyes of G'd.

ואל קין ואל מנחתו לא שעה, but to Kayin and to his offering G’d did not turn benevolently. His intention had not been good and pure; G’d does not need to accept gifts proffered reluctantly, as He is not in need of them. How did Kayin find out that G’d had not looked with favour on his offering? He found out that Hevel’s offering had been accepted, fire descending on it from heaven and consuming it. Nothing of that kind happened to Kayin’s offering. This caused Kayin dismay and anger and his face became downcast. The expression נפלו פניו, describes that someone feels insulted, depressed..

לא שעה, “He had not responded.” Rashi understands the word שעה as meaning “He turned toward,” as in אל ישעו, (Exodus 8,9) “let them not turn toward.” However, in Exodus 5,9 he does not explain it in the same manner. We need to understand the word here as similar to another verse in which it means: “do not turn to other altars.” (Isaiah 17,8)

ויחר לקין מאד ויפלו פניו, “This annoyed Kayin very much and his face fell.” Kayin and Hevel were both familiar with the mysticism underlying the ritual of offerings to G’d. They both offered their respective sacrifices in honour of the Lord G’d and Him only. Up until this point in the Book of Genesis we have only encountered two names for G’d; either He was called אלוקים, or ה' אלוקים. Now, in connection with the offering, we encounter the Ineffable four-lettered Name by itself for the first time. The Torah refers to the destination of the offering as מנחה לה'. When each the brothers had offered his respective sacrifice, it turned out that Hevel’s offering had been accepted by G’d whereas Kayin’s offering had not. At that point, Kayin began to develop doubts about the whole system of reward and punishment. This is why G’d saw fit to explain the system to him, i.e. that the entire universe is run and judged by this system of reward and punishment. This is why G’d saw fit to explain the system to Kayin by addressing him personally as we see in the next verse.

ויחר, due to his jealousy of his brother,

Alternatively, when Cain saw that G'd did not accept his own offering he felt angry at the Creator's disdain for His creatures, His not taking any interest in them. This is a very negative character trait. We find an example of such emotions in Isaiah 8,21 where anger is described as leading to blasphemy when someone feels that G'd does not look after him. After Cain found that he had been wrong, that G'd did accept his brother's offering, his anger against G'd turned to anger against G'd's favourite, against his brother Abel.

ויפלו פניו, he was downcast, being ashamed, feeling that G’d had publicly shamed him.

The author quotes a saying by our sages that when someone allows his anger to possess him his soul withdraws. He interprets this statement as referring to the divine image, צלם, that is reflected on man's face. [I have not been able to find such a statement. Ed.] Although Cain's specific acts of wickedness prior to his murdering his brother have not been spelled out by the Torah it is clear from his subsequent actions that he was evil.