Genesis 4:2
“Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.”
What does Genesis 4:2 mean?
After Cain's birth, Eve had another son, Abel, and the two brothers took up different ways of making their living. Cain worked the soil as a farmer while Abel tended flocks of sheep, and the text simply notes these distinct callings without judgment at first. This detail about their occupations becomes important because later, when they each bring offerings to God, what they do for work shapes what they offer, revealing something about the attitudes of their hearts. In those early days of humanity, both farming and shepherding were honorable work, yet the story hints that how we do our work and what we bring to God matters more than the work itself.