murder
...ain was a tiller of the soil. When the two brothers made gifts of their produce to God, Abel's young lambs were preferred to Cain's produce. Abel was killed by Cain while they were out in the field, leaving no children. It is said that this is the first act of murder recorded in the Bible, and that Cain was the original victim of family jealousy. The story is sometimes used to illustrate the ancestral strife between the desert-based nomadic peoples and the settled farming communities in the Near East. and the ancient custom of ritual human sacrifice to please the gods and ensure a good harvest. Murder, in criminal law, intentionally causing the death (homicide) of any person. Murder is distinguished from manslaughter, which means unintentional killing. In most of the U.S., criminal codes distinguish between two degrees of murder, although as many as five degrees are distinguished in some states. In general, murder in the first degree involves a deliberate, premeditated design to cause the death of the person; murder in the second degree involves the intent to cause death, but without premeditation and deliberation. Most states classify a homicide that occurs during the commission of a felony as first-degree murder, even though the element of premeditated intent is absent. In some states the commission of an act in itself imminently dangerous to others, such as throwing a bomb into a crowd and causing death, is classified as first-degree murder. Prosecution for murder is by indictment, and the maximum punishment in some states is death. In states in which the death penalty has been abolished, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment in a state penitentiary.The second son of Adam and Eve, and a shepherd. His brother Cain was a tiller of the soil. When the two brothers made gifts of their produce to God, Abel's young lambs were preferred to Cain's produce. Abel was killed by Cain while they were out in the field, leaving no children. It is said that this is the first act of murder recorded in the Bible, and that Cain was the original victim of family jealousy. The story is sometimes used to illustrate the ancestral strife between the desert-based nomadic peoples and the settled farming communities in the Near East. and the ancient custom of ritual human...