I wrote in an earlier post that Noach was the first messianic figure in the bible but perhaps there was an earlier attempt to break the curse. In the story of Kayin(Cain) and Hevel(Able)we have the first two sons of Adam and their vocations. Kayin, who's name comes from the word kinyan meaning possession or aquisition(Chava said "I have aquired a man with God) becomes "a tiller of the ground". He is connected to the ground that is cursed and he is reliant on his own labor, his own mastery of the land for his harvest.
Hevel, who's name means vapor, breath or vanity, becomes a shepherd like the greatest figures in Israel's future(Moses, David, ?). His vocation was very dependent on God for reproduction and even feeding the sheep. "After a period of time"(miketz yamim,literally-end of days, a curious phrase) the brothers bring an offering(mincha) to God. But the son that is stuck in the curse becomes jealous of God's acceptance of his brother's offering and kills him. Hevel's blood cries out for vengeance. Was this an attempt by Hevel to break from the curse that his father had ushered into the world?
Was Kayin's offering rejected because he was content to live in the curse?
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