Abel

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ABEL.—Gen_4:2-10. The Heb. form Hebhel denotes ‘vapour’ or ‘breath’ (cf. Ecc_1:1, EV [Note: English Version.] ‘vanity’), which is suggestive as the name of a son of Adam (‘man’). But it is perhaps to be connected with the Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] aplu, ‘son.’ Abel was a son of Adam and Eve, and brother of Cain. But the narrative presupposes a long period to have elapsed in human history since the primitive condition of the first pair. The difference between pastoral and agricultural life has come to be recognized for Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground (see Cain). The account, as we have it, is mutilated: in Gen_4:8 Heb. has ‘and Cain said unto Abel his brother’ (not as AV [Note: Authorized Version.] and RV [Note: Revised Version.] ). LXX [Note: Septuagint.] supplies the words ‘Let us pass through into the plain,’ but this may be a mere gloss, and it cannot be known how much of the story is lost.
Nothing is said in Gn. of Abel’s moral character, or of the reason why his offering excelled Cain’s in the eyes of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] ; cereal offerings were as fully in accord with Hebrew law and custom as animal offerings. Heb_11:4 gives ‘faith’ as the reason. In Heb_12:24 the ‘blood of sprinkling’ ‘speaketh something better than the blood of Abel,’ in that the latter cried for vengeance (Gen_4:10).
In Mat_23:35 || Luk_11:51 Abel is named as the first of the true martyrs whose blood had been shed during the period covered by the OT, the last being Zachariah (wh. see). In Joh_8:44 it is possible that Jesus was thinking of the story of Abel when He spoke of the devil as ‘a murderer from the beginning,’ i.e. the instigator of murder as he is of lies.
A. H. M’Neile.
ABEL.—A word meaning ‘meadow,’ and entering as an element into several place-names. In 1Sa_6:18 a reference in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] to ‘Abel’ is in the RV [Note: Revised Version.] corrected ‘great stone.’ Elsewhere the name is found only with to qualifying epithets.
R. A. S. Macalister.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
Edited by James Hastings, D.D. Published in 1909

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 (Gen_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" (2Co_12:9; Heb_11:34. The cause of Cain's hatred was "because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous" (1Jn_3:12). Envy of the godly was "the way of Cain" (Jud_1:11). "Faith" was present in Abel, absent from Cain (Heb_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 (Col_2:23), and taking of a life which man had no right over before the flood (Gen_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": Gen_4:16; Gen_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": Mat_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" (Gen_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" (Gen_4:10) shows how precious in God's sight is the death of His saints (Psa_116:15; Rev_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 (Luk_11:51; Mat 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 Heb_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.)
Fausset's Bible Dictionary
By Andrew Robert Fausset, co-Author of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown's 1888.

A'bel. ( that is, breath, vapor, transitoriness, probably, so called, from the shortness of his life).
1. The second son of Adam, murdered by his brother Cain, Gen_4:1-16, he was a keeper or feeder of sheep. Our Lord spoke of Abel as the first martyr, Mat_23:35, so did the early Church subsequently. The traditional site of his murder and his grave are pointed out near Damascus.
2. The name of several places in Palestine, probably signifies a meadow.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
By Dr. William Smith.Published in 1863

He was the second son of Adam and Eve, and born probably in the second or third year of the world; though some will have it that he and Cain were twins. His name signifies vapour, vanity, and might be given either because our first parents now began so to feel the emptiness and vanity of all earthly things, that the birth of another son reminded them painfully of it, although in itself a matter of joy; or it was imposed under prophetic impulse, and obscurely referred to his premature death. His employment was that of a shepherd; Cain followed the occupation of his father, and was a tiller of the ground. Whether they remained in their father's family at the time when they brought their offerings to the Lord, or had establishments separate from that of Adam, does not clearly appear. Abel was probably unmarried, or had no children; but Cain's wife is mentioned. “At the end of the days,”—which is a more literal rendering than “in process of time,” as in our translation, that is, on the Sabbath,— both brothers brought an offering to the Lord. Cain “brought of the fruit of the ground;” Abel “the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof.” “And the Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and his offering he had not respect.” As Cain afterward complains that “he should be hid from the face or presence of the Lord,” it is probable that the worship of the first family was performed before some. visible manifestation of the glory of God, which thus consecrated a particular place for their services. Some have thought that this was at the east gate of Eden, where “Cherubim and a flaming sword were placed;” but this was a vengeful manifestation, and could only have inspired a dread of God inconsistent with the confidence and hope with which men through the promise of redemption were now encouraged to draw nigh to him. The respect which God was pleased to show to Abel's offering, appears from the account to have been sensibly declared; for Cain must have known by some token that the sacrifice of Abel was accepted, the absence of which sign, as to his own offering, showed that it was rejected. Whether this was by fire going forth from “the presence of the Lord,” to consume the sacrifice, as in later instances recorded in the Old Testament, or in some other way, it is in vain to inquire;—that the token of acceptance was a sensible one is however an almost certain inference. The effect of this upon Cain was not to humble him before God, but to excite anger against his brother; and, being in the field with him, or, as the old versions have it, having said to him, “Let us go out into the field,” “he rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him;” and for that crime, by which the first blood of man was shed by man upon the earth,—a murder aggravated by the relationship and the “righteous” character of the sufferer, and having in it also the nature of religious persecution,—he was pronounced by the Lord “cursed from the earth.”
2. As the sacrifice of Abel is the first on record, and has given rise to some controversy, it demands particular attention. It was offered, says St. Paul, “in faith,” and it was “a more excellent sacrifice” than that of Cain. Both these expressions intimate that it was EXPIATORY and PREFIGURATIVE.
As to the matter of the sacrifice, it was an animal offering. “Cain brought of the fruit of the ground; and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof;” or, more literally, “the fat of them,” that is, according to the Hebrew idiom, the fattest or best of his flock; and in this circumstance consisted its specific character as an act of faith. This is supported by the import of the phrase, ωλειονα υσιαν, used by the Apostle in the Epistle to the Hebrews, when speaking of the sacrifice of Abel. Our translators have rendered it, “a more excellent sacrifice.” Wickliffe translates it, as Archbishop Magee observes, uncouthly, but in the full sense of the original, “a much more sacrifice;” and the controversy which has arisen on this point is, whether this epithet of “much more,” or “fuller,” refers to quantity or quality; whether it is to be understood in the sense of a more abundant, or of a better, a more excellent sacrifice. Dr. Kennicott takes it in the sense of measure and quantity, as well as quality; and supposes that Abel brought a double offering of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fruit of the ground also. His criticism has been very satisfactorily refuted by Archbishop Magee. The sacrifice of Abel was that of animal victims, and it was indicative not of gratitude but of “faith:” a quality not to be made manifest by the quantity of an offering, for the one has no relation to the other.
3. This will more fully appear if we consider the import of the words of the Apostle,— “By FAITH Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained WITNESS that he was RIGHTEOUS, God testifying of his gifts; and by it, he, being dead, yet speaketh.” Now what is the meaning of the Apostle, when he says that it was witnessed or testified to Abel that he was righteous? His doctrine is, that men are sinners; that all, consequently, need pardon; and to be declared, witnessed, and accounted righteous, are, according to his style of writing, the same as “to be justified, pardoned, and dealt with as righteous.” Thus he argues that Abraham believed God, “and it was accounted to him for righteousness,”—”that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness,”—”that he received the sign of circumcision, a seal,” a visible confirmatory, declaratory, and witnessing mark “of the righteousness which he had by faith.” In these cases we have a similarity so striking, that they can scarcely fail to explain each other. In both, sinful men are placed in the condition of righteous men; the instrument in both cases, is
faith; and the transaction is, in both cases also, publicly and sensibly witnessed,—as to Abraham, by the sign of circumcision; as to Abel, by a visible acceptance of his sacrifice, and the rejection of that of Cain.
Abel had faith, and he expressed that faith by the kind of sacrifice he offered. It was in this way that his faith “pleased God;” it pleased him as a principle, and by the act to which it led, which act was the offering of a sacrifice to God different from that of Cain. Cain had not this faith, whatever might be its object; and Cain, accordingly, did not bring an offering to which God had “respect.” That which vitiated the offering of Cain was the want of this faith; for his offering was not significant of faith:
that which “pleased God,” in the case of Abel, was his faith; and he had “respect” to his offering, because it was the expression of that faith; and upon his faith so expressing itself, God witnessed to him “that he was righteous.” So forcibly do the words of St. Paul, when commenting upon this transaction, show, that Abel's sacrifice was accepted, because of its immediate connection with his faith, for by faith he is said to have offered it; and whatever it might be, which made Abel's offering differ from that of Cain, whether abundance, or kind, or both, this was the result of his faith. So evident also is it from the Apostle, that Abel was witnessed to be “righteous,” not with reference to any previous “habit of a religious life,” as some say, but with reference to his faith; and to this faith as expressing itself by his offering a more excellent sacrifice.”
4. If, then, the faith of Abel had an immediate connection with his sacrifice, and both with his being accepted as “righteous,”—that is, justified, in St. Paul's use of the term,—to what had his faith respect? The particular object of the faith of the elders, celebrated in Hebrews 11, is to be deduced from the circumstances mentioned by St. Paul as illustrative of the existence and operation of this great principle, and by which it manifested itself in them. Let us explain this, and then ascertain the object of Abel's faith also from the manner of its manifestation,—from the acts in which it embodied and rendered itself conspicuous.
Faith, in this chapter, is taken in the sense of affiance in God, and, as such, it can only be exercised toward God, as to all its particular acts, in those respects in which we have some warrant to confide in him. This supposes revelation, and, in particular, promises or declarations on his part, as the ground of every act of affiance. When, therefore, it is said that “by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death,” it must be supposed that he had some promise or intimation to this effect, on which, improbable as the event was, he nobly relied; and in the result God honoured his faith in the sight of all men. The faith of Noah had immediate respect to the threatened flood, and to the promise of God to preserve him in the ark which he was commanded to prepare. The chapter is filled with other instances, expressed or implied; and from the whole, as well as from the nature of things, it will appear, that when the Apostle speaks of the faith of the elders in its particular acts, he represents it as having respect to some promise, declaration, or revelation of God.
This revelation was necessarily antecedent to the faith; but it is also to be observed, that the acts by which the faith was represented, whenever it was represented by particular acts, and when the case admitted it, had a natural and striking conformity and correspondence to the previous revelation. So Noah built the ark, which indicated that he had heard the threat of the world's destruction by water, and had received the promise of his own preservation, and that of his family, as well as that of a part of the beasts of the earth. When Abraham went into Canaan at the command of God, and upon the promise that that country should become the inheritance of his descendants, he showed his faith by taking possession of it for them in anticipation, and his residence there indicated the kind of promise which he had received. Thus these instances show, that when the faith which the Apostle commends exhibited itself in some particular act, that act had a correspondency to the previous promise or revelation which was the ground of faith. We must therefore interpret the acts of Abel's faith so as to make them also correspond with an antecedent revelation. His faith had respect to some previous revelation, and the nature of the revelation is to be collected from the significant manner in, which he declared his faith in it.
Now that which Abel did “by faith,” was, generally, to perform an act of solemn worship, in the confidence that it would be acceptable to God. This supposes a revelation, immediate or by tradition, that such acts of worship were acceptable to God, or his faith could have had no warrant, and would not have been faith, but fancy. But the case must be considered more particularly. His faith led him to offer “a more excellent sacrifice” than that of Cain; but this as necessarily implies, that there was some antecedent revelation to which his faith, as thus expressed, had respect, and on which that peculiarity of his offering, which distinguished it from the offering of Cain, was founded; a revelation which indicated that the way in which God would be approached acceptably, in solemn worship, was by animal sacrifices. Without this, the faith to which his offering, which was an offering of the firstlings of his flock, had a special fitness and adaptation, could have had no warrant in Divine authority. But this revelation must have included, in order to its being the ground of faith, as “the substance of things hoped for,” a promise of a benefit to be conferred, in which promise Abel might confide. But if so, then this promise must have been connected, not with the worship of God in general, or performed in any way whatever indifferently, but with his worship by animal oblations; for it was in this way that the faith of Abel specially and distinctively indicated itself. The antecedent revelation was, therefore, a promise of a benefit to be conferred, by means of animal sacrifice; and we are taught what this benefit was, by that which was actually received by the offerer,—”He obtained witness that he was righteous;” which must be interpreted in the sense of a declaration of his personal justification, and acceptance as righteous, by the forgiveness of his sins. The reason of Abel's acceptance and of Cain's rejection is hereby made manifest; the one, in seeking the Divine favour, conformed to his established and appointed method of being approached by guilty men, and the other not only neglected this, but profanely and presumptuously substituted his own inventions.
5. It is impossible, then, to allow the sacrifice of Abel, in this instance, to have been an act of FAITH, without supposing that it had respect to a previous revelation, which agreed with all the parts of that sacrificial action by which he expressed his faith in it. Had Abel's sacrifice been eucharistic merely, it would have expressed gratitude, but not faith; or if faith in the general sense of confidence in God that he would receive an act of grateful worship, and reward the worshippers, it did not more express faith than the offering of Cain, who surely believed these two points, or he would not have brought an offering of any kind. The offering of Abel expressed a faith which Cain had not; and the doctrinal principles which Abel's faith respected were such as his sacrifice visibly embodied. If it was not an eucharistic sacrifice, it was an expiatory one; and, in fact, it is only in a sacrifice of this kind, that it is possible to see that faith exhibited which Abel had, and Cain had not. If then we refer to the subsequent sacrifices of expiation appointed by Divine authority, and their explanation in the New Testament, it will be obvious to what doctrines and principles of an antecedent revelation the faith of Abel had respect, and which his sacrifice, the exhibition of his faith, proclaimed: confession of the fact of being a sinner,—acknowledgment that the demerit and penalty of sin is death,— submission to an appointed mode of expiation,—animal sacrifice offered vicariously, but in itself a mere type of a better sacrifice, “the Seed of the woman,” appointed to be offered at some future period,—and the efficacy of this appointed method of expiation to obtain forgiveness, and to admit the guilty into the Divine favour.
“Abel,” Dr. Magee justly says, “in firm reliance on the promise of God, and in obedience to his command, offered that sacrifice which had been enjoined as the religious expression of his faith; whilst Cain, disregarding the gracious assurances that had been vouchsafed, or at least disdaining to adopt the prescribed mode of manifesting his belief, possibly as not appearing to his reason to possess any efficacy or natural fitness, thought he had sufficiently acquitted himself of his duty in acknowledging the general superintendence of God, and expressing his gratitude to the Supreme Benefactor, by presenting some of those good things which he thereby confessed to have been derived from his bounty. In short, Cain, the first-born of the fall, exhibits the first fruits of his parents' disobedience, in the arrogance and self-sufficiency of reason rejecting the aids of revelation, because they fell not within its apprehension of right. He takes the first place in the annals of Deism, and displays, in his proud rejection of the ordinance of sacrifice, the same spirit which, in later days, has actuated his enlightened followers, in rejecting the sacrifice of Christ.”
Abel was killed about the year of the world, 130.
Biblical and Theological Dictionary by Richard Watson
PRINTER 1849.

The second son of Adam and Eve, Abel was a keeper of sheep. Like his elder brother Cain, he made an offering to God of things God had given him (Gen_4:1-4). Abel was a righteous man (Mat_23:35), and he offered his sacrifice in a thankful attitude of sincere faith (Gen_4:4; Heb_11:4). Cain was an unrighteous man (1Jn_3:12) and offered his sacrifice in the wrong attitude. God therefore rejected his sacrifice (Gen_4:5; for further details see SACRIFICE).
In envy and anger, Cain killed Abel (Gen_4:8). But God gave to Adam and Eve another son, Seth, who helped maintain the sort of faith in God that Abel had shown (Gen_4:25-26).
Bridgeway Bible Dictionary by Don Fleming
PRINTER 1990.

Abel, 1
A?bel, properly Hebel, the second son of Adam, who was slain by Cain, his elder brother (Gen_4:1-16). The circumstances of that mysterious transaction are considered elsewhere [CAIN]. To the name Abel a twofold interpretation has been given. Its primary signification is weakness or vanity. By another rendering it signifies grief or lamentation, both meanings being justified by the Scripture narrative. Cain (a possession) was so named to indicate both the joy of his mother and his right to the inheritance of the first-born: Abel received a name indicative of his weakness and poverty when compared with the supposed glory of his brother's destiny, and prophetically of the pain and sorrow which were to be inflicted on him and his parents.
Abel, 2
Abel, a name of several villages in Israel, with additions in the case of the more important, to distinguish them from one another. It appears to mean fresh grass; and the places so named may be conceived to have been in peculiarly verdant situations.
Abel, 3
Abel, Abel-beth-Maacah, or Abel-Maim. A city in the north of Palestine, which seems to have been of considerable strength from its history, and of importance from its being called 'a mother in Israel' (2Sa_20:19). The identity of the city under these different names will be seen by a comparison of 2Sa_20:14-15; 2Sa_20:18; 1Ki_15:20; 2Ch_16:4. The addition of 'Maacah' marks it as belonging to, or being near to, the region Maacah, which lay eastward of the Jordan under Mount Lebanon. This is the town in which Sheba posted himself when he rebelled against David. Eighty years afterwards it was taken and sacked by Benhadad, king of Syria; and 200 years subsequently by Tiglath-pileser, who sent away the inhabitants captives into Assyria (2Ki_15:29).
The Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
by John Kitto.

Gen_4:4 (c) He is a type of the true believer in regard to salvation. He felt his guilt, he realized his insufficiency to pay the price. He obtained an innocent lamb. He offered this lamb as a sacrifice, killing it and burning it upon the altar whereby he proved his faith in the animal who died for him, and shed his blood for him. This is the path the true believer takes today.

As a sinner he feels his need as Abel did. He goes to the innocent and holy Lamb of GOD, JESUS CHRIST, by faith. He kneels a suppliant for mercy at Calvary, where the blood was shed. He believes the Word of GOD that the "blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, c1eanseth us from all sin," 1Jn_1:7. He trusts his soul and life to the living Lamb on the Throne of GOD who makes the death of Calvary and the shed blood effective for the one who believes.
Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types
press 1957.

Abel
(Heb. He'bel, הֶבֶל, a breath, 1, q. transitory; as Gesenius [Heb. Lex.] thinks, from the shortness of his life or, as Kitto [Daily Bible Illust.] suggests, perhaps i. q. vanity, from the maternal cares experienced during the infancy of Cain; Sept. and N.T. ῎Αβελ; Josephus, ῎Αβελος), the second son of Adam and Eve, slain by his elder brother, Cain (Gen_4:1-16), B.C. cir. 4045. SEE ADAM.
I. History. — Cain and Abel, having been instructed, perhaps by their father, Adam, in the duty of worship to their Creator, each offered the first-fruits of his labors: Cain, as a husbandman, the fruits of the field; Abel, as a shepherd, fatlings of his flock (see Fritzsche, De Sacrificiis Caini et Habelis, Lips. 1751). God was pleased to accept the offering of Abel, in preference to that of his brother (Heb_11:4), in consequence of which Cain, giving himself up to envy, formed the desire of killing Abel; which he at length effected, having invited him to go into the field (Gen_4:8-9; comp. 1Jn_3:12). SEE CAIN.
The Jews had a tradition that Abel was murdered in the plain of Damascus; and accordingly his tomb is still shown on a high hill near the village of Sinie or Seneiah, about twelve miles northwest of Damascus, on the road to Baalbek (Jerome, in Ezechiel 37). The summit of the hill is still called Nebi Abel; but circumstances lead to the probable supposition that this was the site, or in the vicinity of the site, of the ancient Abela or Abila (Pococke, East, 2:168 sq.: Schubert, Reis. 3, 286 sq.). SEE ABILA. The legend, therefore, was most likely suggested by the ancient name of the place (see Stanley, Palest. p. 405). SEE ABEL—. (For literature, see Wolf, Curoe in N.T., 4, 749.)
II. Traditional Views. — Ancient writers abound in observations on the mystical character of Abel; and he is spoken of as the representative of the pastoral tribes, while Cain is regarded as the author of the nomadic life and character. St. Chrysostom calls him the Lamb of Christ, since he suffered the most grievous injuries solely on account of his innocency (Ad Stagir. 2:5); and he directs particular attention to the mode in which Scripture speaks of his offerings, consisting of the best of his flock, “and of the fat thereof,” while it seems to intimate that Cain presented the fruit which might be most easily procured (Hom. in Gen_18:5). St. Augustin, speaking of regeneration, alludes to Abel as representing the new or spiritual man in contradistinction to the natural or corrupt man, and says, “Cain founded a city on earth; but Abel, as a stranger and pilgrim, looked forward to the city of the saints which is in heaven” (De Civitate Dei, 15:1). Abel, he says in another place, was the first-fruits of the Church, and was sacrificed in testimony of the future Mediator. And on Psa_118:1-29 (Serm. 30, § 9) he says. “This city” (that is, “the city of God”) “has its beginning from Abel, as the wicked city from Cain.” Irenaeus says that God, in the case of Abel, subjected the just to the unjust, that the righteousness of the former might be manifested by what he suffered (Contra Haeares. 3, 23). Heretics existed in ancient times who represented Cain and Abel as embodying two spiritual powers, of which the mightier was that of Cain, and to which they accordingly rendered divine homage. In the early Church, Abel was considered the first of the martyrs, and many persons were accustomed to pronounce his name with a particular reverence. An obscure sect arose under the title of Abelites (q.v.), the professed object of which was to inculcate certain fanatical notions respecting marriage; but it was speedily lost amidst a host of more popular parties. For other mythological speculations respecting Abel, see Buttmann's Mythologus, 1:55 sq.; for Rabbinical traditions, see Eisenmenger, Entdeckt. Judenth. 1:462 sq., 832 sq.; for other Oriental notices, see Koran, 5, 35 sq.; Hottinger, Hist. Orient. p. 24 sq.; comp. Fabric. Pseudepigr. 1:113; other Christian views may be seen in Irenaeus, 5, 67; Cedrenus, Hist. p. 8 (Kitto).
The general tenor of these Eastern traditionary fictions is that both Cain and Abel had twin sisters, and that Adam determined to give Cain's sister to Abel, and Abel's sister to Cain in marriage. This arrangement, however, did not please Cain, who desired his own sister as a wife, she being the more beautiful. Adam referred the matter to the divine arbitration, directing each brother to offer a sacrifice, and abide the result. Abel presented a choice animal from his flock, and Cain a few poor ears of grain from his field. Fire fell from heaven and consumed Abel's offering without smoke, while it left Cain's untouched. Still more incensed at this disappointment, Cain resolved to take his brother's life, who, perceiving his design, endeavored to dissuade him from so wicked an act. Cain, however, cherished his malice, but was at a loss how to execute it, until the devil gave him a hint by a vision of a man killing a bird with a stone. Accordingly, one night he crushed the head of his brother, while sleeping, with a large stone. He was now at a loss how to conceal his crime. He enclosed the corpse in a skin, and carried it about for forty days, till the stench became intolerable. Happening to see a crow, which had killed another crow, cover the carcass in a hole in the ground, he acted on the suggestion, and buried his brother's body in the earth. He passed the rest of his days in constant terror, having heard a voice inflicting this curse upon him for his fratricide. (See D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, s.v. Cabil.)
III. Character of his Offering. — The superiority of Abel's sacrifice is ascribed by the Apostle Paul to faith (Heb_11:4). Faith implies a previous revelation: it comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. It is probable that there was some command of God, in reference to the rite of sacrifice, with which Abel complied, and which Cain disobeyed. The “more excellent sacrifice” was the firstlings of his flock; in the offering of which there was a confession that his own sins deserved death, and the expression of a desire to share in the benefits of the great atonement which, in the fullness of time, should be presented to God for the sins of man. By his faith he was accepted as “righteous,” that is, was justified. God testified, probably by some visible sign — the sending of fire from heaven to consume the victim (a token that justice had seized upon the sacrifice instead of the sinner) — that the gift was accepted. Cain had no faith: his offering was not indicative of this principle. Although it is doubtful whether we can render the clause in God's expostulation with him — “sin lieth at the door” — by the words, “a sin-offering lieth or croucheth at the door,” that is, a sin-offering is easily procured, yet the sin of Cain is clearly pointed out, for though he was not a keeper of sheep, yet a victim whose blood could be shed as a typical propitiation could without difficulty have been procured and presented. The truths clearly taught in this important event are, confession of sin; acknowledgment that the penalty of sin is death; submission to an appointed mode of expiation; the vicarious offering of animal sacrifice, typical of the better sacrifice of the Seed of the woman; the efficacy of faith in Christ's sacrifice to obtain pardon, and to admit the guilty into divine favor (Wesley, Notes on Heb_11:4). The difference between the two offerings is clearly and well put by Dr. Magee (On the Atonement, 1:58-61): “Abel, in firm reliance on the promise of God, and in obedience to his command, offered that sacrifice which had been enjoined as the religious expression of his faith; while Cain, disregarding the gracious assurances which had been vouchsafed, or, at least, disdaining to adopt the prescribed method of manifesting his belief, possibly as not appearing to his reason to possess any efficacy or natural fitness, thought he had sufficiently acquitted himself of his duty in acknowledging the general superintendence of God, and expressing his gratitude to the supreme Benefactor, by presenting some of those good things which he thereby confessed to have been derived from His bounty. In short, Cain, the first-born of the fall, exhibits the first-fruits of his parents' disobedience, in the arrogance and self-sufficiency of reason, rejecting the aids of revelation, because they fell not within his apprehension of right. He takes the first place in the annals of Deism, and displays, in his proud rejection of the ordinance of sacrifice, the same spirit which, in later days, has actuated his enlightened followers in rejecting the sacrifice of Christ.” SEE SACRIFICE. There are several references to Abel in the New Testament. Our Savior designates him “righteous” (Mat_23:35; comp. 1Jn_3:12). He ranks among the illustrious elders mentioned in Heb_11:1-40. According to Heb_12:24, while the blood of sprinkling speaks for the remission of sins, the blood of Abel for vengeance: the blood of sprinkling speaks of mercy, the blood of Abel of the malice of the human heart. — Watson, Institutes, 2:174, 191; Whately, Prototypes, p. 29; Horne, Life and Death of Abel, Works, 1812, vol. 4; Hunter, Sacred Biography. p. 17 sq.; Robinson, Script. Characters, i; Williams, Char. of O.T. p. 12; Simeon, Works, 19:371; Close, Genesis, p. 46; Niemeyer, Charakt. 2:37.
ADDENDUM FROM VOLUME 11:
Abel
(הֶבֶל)., Philo, De Sacrif. Ab.et Cain, § 1 (Richter's ed.; p. 64 of Mangey's), explains ῎Αβελ by ἀναφέρων ἐπὶ Θεόν,. "referring to God," and more fully in Quod Det. Pot. Insid. § 10. (ibid. p. 197), ὁ μὲν γὰρ ῎Αβελ ἀναφέρων ἐπὶ Θεὸν πάντα φιλόθεον δόγμα, i.e. "for Abel, who refers everything to God, is, the God-loving opinion." Accordingly, Philo read, אבל, and dividing it into אבand אל, אל=Θεός, and א= ἀναφέρειν, like אבה, יא, "to desire" because he regards Abel as' φιλόθεος in opposition to Cain, whom he calls φιλαυτος, “self-loving." This explanation we also find in Ambrose, De. Cain et A b. i, 1: "Abel (dictus) qui omnnia referret ad Deumi pia devotus mentis attenntione nihil sibi arrogans ut superior frater, sed totum tribuens conditori quod accepisset ab eo." In De Migr. Abr. § 13 (ibid. p. 447), Philo writes: ὄνομα δέ ἐστι τοῦ τὰ θνητὰ πενθοῦντος καὶ ἀθάνατα εὐθαιμονίζοντος., According to this explanation, ςΑβελ — אָבֵל: "the sorrowing" (comp. Josephus, Ant. 1, 2 , ςΑβελσς σημαίνει δὲ πένθος τοῦτο). This second explanation of Philo we find in Theodoret, εἰς τὰ ἄπορ, τῆς θείας γρ; Erot.' ξ; and Euseb. Praep. Ev. (ed. Viger. Col. 1668), 11, 518. Jerome, in De Nom. Hebr, gives two explanations: luctus and "vapor," “vanitas," the latter referring to הבל.' L Between these two explanations Cyprian, Tract. de Sina et Sion, seems to vacillate, for he says, Abel films: — Ade nomen accepit Hebraicum signans fratris interfectionem (הבל) et parentum luctum (אבל)." (B. P.)

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