Verse 10
‘And Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s bloods (literally) is crying to me from the ground.” ’
“What have you done?” compare Genesis 3:13. These parallels suggest that the story of the Garden of Eden was known to the original author in some form.
The plural for blood is intensive, referring to shed blood. It may also vividly suggest the different rivulets of blood that are staining the ground, sown by the ‘worker of the ground’. It is not said to be the dead body that cries out, but the blood soaking the ground. Is this ironically seen as Cain’s latest ‘offering’ of his fruits? And it is an offering of blood. By these words God makes clear that nothing is hidden from Him. Even the blood of a victim cries to Him in a loud voice, for the blood is the life, and the life belongs to him (Deuteronomy 12:23).
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