Cain Tilling the Ground

Cain, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, works the soil with a hand plow beneath fruit trees in an early cultivated field. Dressed in a rough animal-skin garment, he bends into the labor of the ground, surrounded by orchard fruit, a basket of gathered produce, stone borders, and a simple wooden fence. The scene portrays the Genesis description of Cain as “a worker of the ground,” contrasting his calling with Abel’s work as a keeper of sheep. In the biblical narrative, Cain’s harvest becomes part of the first recorded offering brought before the Lord, introducing themes of worship, obedience, jealousy, and the condition of the heart. This artwork serves well for teaching on Genesis, early human vocation, the first family, offerings, and the spiritual danger of resentment when worship is not rightly ordered before God.