abel Summary and Overview

(Heb. Hebhel), a breath, or vanity, the second son of Adam and Eve. He was put to death by his brother Cain (Gen. 4:1-16). Guided by the instruction of their father, the two brothers were trained in the duty of worshipping God. "And in process of time" (marg. "at the end of days", i.e., on the Sabbath) each of them offered up to God of the first-fruits of his labors. Cain, as a husbandman, offered the fruits of the field; Abel, as a shepherd, of the firstlings of his flock. "The Lord had respect unto Abel and his offering; but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect" (Gen. 4:3-5). On this account Cain was angry with his brother, and formed the design of putting him to death; a design which he at length found an opportunity of carrying into effect (Gen. 4:8,9. Compare 1 John 3:12). There are several references to Abel in the New Testament. Our Saviour speaks of him as "righteous" (Matt. 23:35). "The blood of sprinkling" is said to speak "better things than that of Abel" (Heb. 12:24); i.e., the blood of Jesus is the reality of which the blood of the offering made by Abel was only the type. The comparison here is between the sacrifice offered by Christ and that offered by Abel, and not between the blood of Christ calling for mercy and the blood of the murdered Abel calling for vengeance, as has sometimes been supposed. It is also said (Heb. 11:4) that "Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." This sacrifice was made "by faith;" this faith rested in God, not only as the Creator and the God of providence, but especially in God as the great Redeemer, whose sacrifice was typified by the sacrifices which, no doubt by the divine institution, were offered from the days of Adam downward. On account of that "faith" which looked forward to the great atoning sacrifice, Abel's offering was accepted of God. Cain's offering had no such reference, and therefore was rejected. Abel was the first martyr, as he was the first of our race to die. Abel (Heb. 'abhel), lamentation (1 Sam. 6:18), the name given to the great stone in Joshua's field whereon the ark was "set down." The Revised Version, however, following the Targum and the LXX., reads in the Hebrew text "'ebhen" (= a stone), and accordingly translates "unto the great stone, whereon they set down the ark." This reading is to be preferred. Abel (Heb. 'abhel), a grassy place, a meadow. This word enters into the composition of the following words:

(i.e., breath, vapor, transitoriness, probably so called from the shortness of his life), the second son of Adam, murdered by his brother Cain, #Ge 4:1-16| he was a keeper or feeder of sheep. Our Lord spoke of Abel as the first martyr, #Mt 23:35| so did the early Church subsequently. The traditional site of his murder and his grave are pointed out near Damascus.

A'BEL ( Heb. Hebel--i. e. breath, vapor), the second son of Adam and Eve, so called perhaps from the fleeting character of his life, or because, since Cain was not the promised seed, as Eve expected at his birth, life itself seemed of little worth; it was but "a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." Gen 4:2. He was a keeper or feeder of sheep, and in process of time brought of the firstlings or first-fruits of his flock an offering unto the Lord. God accepted his offering and gave him evidence of it. Heb 11:4. Not so with Cain. Either his sacrifice, or the manner of presenting it, offended God, and the offering was rejected. 1 John 3:12. Cain, exceedingly angry, and filled with envy, embraced an opportunity when they were in the field together to take his brother's life. Gen 4. Our Saviour distinguishes Abel by the title "righteous." Matt 23:35. He is also one of the faithful "elders" mentioned in the Epistle to the Matt 23:Hebrews, ch. 11 , and is justly called the first martyr.

Hebrew Hebel. Second of Adam and Eve's sons, Genesis 4: Abel means "vanity" or "weakness", "vapor" or "transitoriness". Cain means "possession"; for Eve said at his birth, "I have gotten as a possession a man from Jehovah," or as the Hebrew (eth) may mean, "with the help of Jehovah"; she inferring the commencement of the fulfillment of the promise of the Redeemer (Genesis 3:15) herein. On the contrary, Abel's weakness of body suggested his name: moreover prophetic inspiration guided her to choose one indicative of his untimely death. But God's way is here from the first shown, "My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9; Hebrews 11:34. The cause of Cain's hatred was "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1 John 3:12). Envy of the godly was "the way of Cain" (Judges 1:11). "Faith" was present in Abel, absent from Cain (Hebrews 11:4); consequently the kind of sacrifice (the mode of showing faith) Abel offered was "much more a sacrifice" (Wycliffe; so the Greek) than Cain's. "By faith Abel offered unto God a much more sacrifice than Cain," i.e. one which had more of the true virtue of sacrifice; for it was an animal sacrifice of the firstlings of the flock, a token of the forfeiture of man's life by sin, and a type of the Redeemer to be bruised in heel that He might bruise the serpent's head. God's having made for man coats of skin presupposes the slaying of animals; and doubtless implies that Abel's sacrifice of an animal life was an act of faith which rested on God's command (though not expressly recorded) that such were the sacrifices He required. If it had not been God's command, it would have been presumptuous will worship (Colossians 2:23), and taking of a life which man had no right over before the flood (Genesis 9:2-4). Cain in self-righteous unbelief, refusing to confess his guilt and need of atonement (typified by sacrifice), presented a mere thank offering of the first fruits; not, like Abel, feeling his need of the propitiatory offering for sin. So "God had respect unto Abel (first) and (then) to his offering." "God testified of his gifts" by consuming them with fire from the shekinah or cherubic symbol E. of Eden ("the presence of the Lord": Genesis 4:16; Genesis 3:24), where the first sacrifices were offered. Thus" he obtained witness that he was righteous," namely, with the righteousness which is by faith to the sincere penitent. Christ calls him "righteous": Matthew 23:35. Abel represents the regenerate, Cain the unregenerate natural man. Abel offered the best, Cain that most readily procured. The words "in process of time" (Genesis 4:3 margin), "at the end of days," probably mark the definite time appointed for public worship already in paradise, the seventh day sabbath. The firstling and the fat point to the divine dignity and infinite fullness of the Spirit in the coming Messiah. "By faith he being dead yet speaketh" to us; his "blood crying from the ground to God" (Genesis 4:10) shows how precious in God's sight is the death of His saints (Psalm 116:15; Revelation 6:10). The shedding of Abel's blood is the first, as that of Jesus is the last and crowning guilt which brought the accumulated vengeance on the Jews (Luke 11:51; Matthew 23:34-35-38). There is a further avenging of still more accentuated guilt, of innocent blood yet coming on "them that dwell on the earth". (Revelation 11). In Hebrews 12:24, it is written "Christ's blood of sprinkling speaketh better things than that of Abel," namely, than the blood of Abel's animal sacrifice. For Abel's is but the type, Christ's the antitype and one only true propitiatory sacrifice. To deny the propitiation would make Cain's offering to be as much a sacrifice as Abel's. Tradition makes the place of his murder and grave to be near Damascus. (See ABILA.)