ABSTRACT
The author reads Gen. 4:1–16 from the standpoint of present-day migrants, especially the so-called undocumented immigrants. This reading, informed primarily by Agamben and building upon the insights of Byron, Borges, and Vallejo, concentrates on God’s responsibility for the murder of Abel, the paradoxical reasons that caused Cain to commit this murder, and on Cain’s mark as a symbol of ownership and abandonment. The author presents the resulting interpretation in the context of the contemporary discourse on human rights, especially with regard to the contentious issues of citizenship and humanitarian intervention.
