What kind of mother was Eve to Cain and Abel?

Answer 1

Another view of Eve as a mother, not only of Cain & Abel, but of all mankind:

Eve sold herself to Satan by following his delinquent suggestion. This in turn gave Cain and Abel the heritage of 'sin', and the resulting consequence of sin, 'death'. What kind of mother is such a mother? It would be equivilant to a mother with unborn child in her womb, if she smokes, or was a druggie. Even if the child is born, what kind of mother has her child in a smoke-filled room?

Because of her, and her husband, -- the world is what it is. Had they stood up to Satan, and resisted him - - that would have been a good mother; one loyal to her Creator.

We must also remember, that while Eve never mentions Abel with favor (shame on her), in Hebrews 11:4, Abel is the one from that time period, who is mentioned with favor by God. He was the one called 'righteous'. His sacrifice is called 'of greater worth than Cain's'.

Answer 2

The conventional translation of qanithi 'ish 'eth 'Adonaiin Genesis 4:1 is "I have gotten a man from (or with the help of) the Lord," which makes Eve seem grateful and even pious. However, Leon R. Kass (The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis) says that "with the help of" is an interpretive interpolation. In Kass's view, the context clearly favours "I have gotten [or created] a man [equally] with God", or in plain speech, "God created a man, and now so have I." The literal meaning of this passage makes Eve seem to believe that she is the equal to God when she gave birth to Cain.

In contrast, the birth of Abel is not celebrated by his mother. Abel, who is introduced only as "his brother, Abel" (Genesis 4:2), seems to be an afterthought and there is no described relation to his mother, only to Cain. Abel is important only as the character who will be murdered by his own brother. Even his Hebrew name, Hevel, is homonymous with a biblical word that means "breath that vanishes". Those who know Hebrew were clearly intended to hear the pun and think that Abel was prophetically named.