The Armenian Saint Lazarus Library in Venice houses three manuscripts containing the Book of Adam, written at different times. One of these manuscripts is numbered 729. It is a small manuscript containing two columns of 25 lines each, but without a date. The following is taken from this manuscript, entitled The Story of Cain and Abel, the Good News of Seth, and the Words of Adam to Seth.

After the deceit of Satan, Adam having fasted five days — which we call The fast of the Septuagesima — God grew tender toward him, and sent His angel to tell him about God taking flesh, and about his deliverance from the hands of Satan. And then he brought the Ox and caused it to be obedient unto him, that he should use it to plough the ground, that he might till and cultivate it, and eat its produce, and be satisfied; and commanded Adam to take from the produce a portion for God.

And Adam's first-born was Cain. When Cain was thirty years old, then Abel and his sister were born. Eve brought forth children only once every thirty years, and she brought them forth in pairs, a male and a female.

Abel, at the age of twenty years old, became a keeper of sheep, and Cain was a tiller of the ground. And Adam said unto them: From the produce of your labor, ye shall take out one tenth for God's portion. And the sheep of Abel brought forth one with numberless speckles; Abel chose it for God's portion; but for love of his brother, he would not offer it. He said within himself: When the crops of my brother are ripe, then we will offer up together the portion to God.

When Cain's crops of corn were ripe, he cut down his corn, he made bunches of that which was beaten by the wind, fastened it up in sheaves, and put them apart for God's portion.

And Abel brought his lamb that he had chosen, and had promised unto God as his portion. And Cain stood up in prayer to God, saying: "Know, thou, O Lord, Creator of all, that from everything that I worked for and produced, I took out a portion and a tenth part of my substance and offered unto thee. And now let thy will be done, as it pleases thee"

And the Lord was wroth with Cain, and as a handful of dust is carried away of the wind, so he scattered all his harvest of corn, and destroyed all his riches, so that not even an ear of corn could be found. He bent Cain's face with hail, which blackened like coal, and thus he remained with an obscured face.

But Abel offered unto God the firstborn lamb, and stretching out his hands, prayed unto the Lord, saying: "Lord God, Creator and maker of all good things, I beseech thee, accept my offering which I offer thee as a portion of those good gifts that thou hast created and distributed unto us. Of the good things thou hast granted, I offer unto thee that they should be acceptable before thee."

Immediately a gentle breeze blew, and a light came down from heaven, and Abel's face became shining, and a voice came from heaven, saying: "Thy prayer is heard, and thine offering is accepted. And a shining cloud covered Abel, and took his lamb up to heaven."

And Cain nourished a hatred against Abel, and would have killed him, but knew not how, for as yet no murder had taken place. And Abel knew not the wicked intention of his brother, and they did always eat, and drink, and walk together.

But on a certain day Cain said unto his brother: Let us go and take a walk in the field. So they arose and went into the field, and Cain wished to bind his brother; but Abel was more vigorous than Cain, and therefore Cain could not reveal his intention unto him. Then he began to play with his brother, and wrestle with him, trying to take hold of him in flank to see whether he was strong enough to overcome him; but in trying to take hold of him in flank, he fell down, and could not overcome Abel. Then Cain getting up, looked around here and there, and saw a very long shoot of a vine, and said: Come brother, let us play with this shoot.

Abel said: How shall we play with a shoot?

Cain said: Throw your arms around this tree, and with these three shoots I will bind thee, and see whether thou canst break them, and set thyself free. Thou will embrace the tree, and thou shalt bind me; and so will we see who shall be able to break free.

And he was strong, but with this he would try and see who was stronger.

Then Abel approached the tree, and Cain took the shoot of the vine, and with it he bound him around three times, body and binds. Then Abel understood his brother's wickedness, and entreated him, saying: Brother, let me loose from the bond. But Cain would not release him; he bound him stronger, and with many shoots of the vine he surrounded him and the tree, from the feet to the head. And Abel wept and said: Brother, let me loose; shed not my blood for the sake of this perishable world. What harm have I done unto thee? Why art thou wrath against me? Let all the world be thine.

But Cain walked about and looked for something with which he could kill his brother, but he knew not the way to give him a death-blow.

And Satan, the wicked one, at the close of the day, with a black pebble... there was a stone, sharp like a razor, with which one slew another.

And then threw down the sharp stone. Cain having learned from it, took the sharp stone and came unto Abel.

The Bible does not specify the circumstances of Abel's death. But note that his murder is described with some variations in other manuscripts:

Cain struck Abel from behind with a stick until he was knocked unconscious, then crushed his head with a stone. |The Combat of Adam and Eve - Book 1, Chapter 1:79|

Cain grabbed the sharp end of his farming tool and suddenly struck his brother. |The Book of Jasher - Chapter 1|

And Abel wept, saying: Hast thou not pity upon our parents?

But Cain had no pity upon him. When he came near to kill him, Abel, shedding tears, said: Brother, bring thy face that I may kiss it, that my heart should not be in want of it; thou knowest the judgment of God.

When he was cutting the throat of his brother with the stone, his brother said: Tell my mother who nourished me with her milk to grant me her pardon.

And as the stone was a small one, hardly could he in an hour slay him. And while he was cutting his throat, his brother continued saying: I am going away from this world, mayest thou enjoy the affection of our parents.

When he had slain his brother, and was going away cheerfully, the Lord appeared unto him on the way, fifty cubits above in the sky, and said to him: Where is thy brother?

And he boldly said: Who made me his guardian that thou askest me?

Now God asked him for a purpose, that by chance he might repent; but when the Lord saw that Cain gave such an answer, His anger was kindled against him and He inflicted upon him seven punishments.

1. The first of the punishments was, that upon his head sprung up two horns.

2. The second punishment was, that one of the horns cried out in a loud voice saying: Cain is the murderer of his brother. And the mountains, the rocks and the valleys echoed, saying: Cain is the murderer of his brother.

3. The third punishment was, that he quivered like a yew-tree in his feet, hands, and all his members.

4. The fourth punishment was, that no matter how much he ate, he was never satisfied.

5. The fifth punishment was, that he could not eat what in his heart he wished to eat; and when he put anything into his mouth to eat it fell to the ground.

6. The sixth punishment was, that he could not sleep, neither by night nor by day.

7. The seventh punishment was, that God did not prescribe him death, but said the Lord: Whosoever shall slay Cain, his punishment shall fall upon the murderer.

And thus Cain lived for eight hundred and sixty years. Then he was in despair, for he wished to die, and did not die. And God brought from above a skin and covered him.

*It is a fact that black skin is the origin of all other skin tones. However, many believe that the mark on Cain was black skin, God having changed Cain's skin color in order to identify him. The problem with this hypothesis is that the mark on Cain was supposed to “protect” him, yet people with dark skin have suffered oppression, torture, and abuse for thousands of years simply because of their darker complexion. Now, from a more contextual perspective, if Adam and Eve lived on Earth as black individuals, their sons Abel and Cain were alsoof black descent, therefore black skin cannot be the mark that was placed on Cain. In light of this fact, several experts have hypothesized that the curse placed on Cain as a sign could have been a total loss of melanin in his skin. This hypothesis is further supported by examples of other biblical characters, namely Naaman, Gehazi, and Miriam (Aaron's sister), who saw their skin changed as a sign of a curse.

• Numbers 12:10 "And when the cloud departed from above the tabernacle, suddenly Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. Then Aaron turned toward Miriam, and there she was, a leper"

• 2 Kings 5:27 "Therefore, the leprosy of Naaman will cling to you and your descendants forever!” And as Gehazi left his presence, he was leprous—as white as snow."

And Lamech having mounted a horse, and gone hunting, Cain came in sight from afar with his horns and skin. Lamech, on seeing him, thought it was a stag; and letting an arrow fly from his bow, he killed Cain. Then the punishment fell upon Lamech. But Lamech's wife was a good woman; she entreated God, and the Lord was gracious unto him, on account of his wife's shedding many tears , so his pain was healed and the punishment was removed from Lamech.

And when Adam and Eve heard of Abel's murder, they wept and mourned for a long time. And every time they buried Abel's body, it came out upon the face of the ground; likewise his blood never dried up, and his body neither stank nor grew worm-eaten. For God said to Adam that he first should return to dust and then his generations. Wherefore Adam ought first to die and return unto dust, and then his generation; until Abel's body fell, no one had died, and therefore it did not return unto dust neither his blood dried up. Until Adam's death Abel's body remained thus unaltered, as if it were alive and in sleep; but when Adam died, then Abel's body also entered into its grave.

And Cain after having murdered Abel, being afflicted by seven punishments, mourned and cried woe unto himself and wept bitterly. And his parents, Adam and Eve, as long as they saw Abel covered with blood and Cain struck with punishment, wept and mourned over their children. For a space of two hundred years Adam knew not his wife; he said, he was afraid that through their mourning another son, still more wicked might be born. But the Lord was gracious unto them, and sent them good tidings for the sake of Seth, and gave comfort to Adam and to Eve his wife.