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| == American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_15337" /> == | | == International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_463" /> == |
| <p> 1. The second son of [[Adam]] and Eve. [[He]] became a shepherd, and offered to [[God]] a sacrifice from his flocks, at the same time that [[Cain]] his brother offered the fruits of the earth. God had respect to Abel's sacrifice, and not to Cain's; hence Cain in anger killed Abel, [[Genesis]] 4:1-26 . It was "by faith" that [[Abel]] offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain; that is, his heart was right towards God, and he worshipped Him in trustful obedience to the divine directions. [[His]] offering, made by the shedding of blood, was that of a penitent sinner confiding in the atonement ordained of God; and it was accepted, "God testifying of his gifts," probably by fire from heaven; "by which he obtained witness that he was righteous," that is, justified, Hebrews 11:4 . "The blood of Abel" called from the ground for vengeance, Genesis 4:10; but the blood of [[Christ]] claims forgiveness and salvation for his people, Hebrews 12:24 1 [[John]] 1:7 </p> <p> 2. Abel is also a prefix in the names of several towns. [[In]] such cases it signifies a grassy place or meadow. </p> | | <p> ''''' ā´bel ''''' ( ×” בל , <i> ''''' hebhel ''''' </i> ; ἈÌβελ , ''''' ''''' <i> AÌbel </i> ; Westcott and Hort, The New [[ Testament]] in Greek <i> ''''' HaÌbel ''''' </i> ; etymology uncertain. Some translation "a breath," "vapor," " transitoriness, " which are suggestive of his brief existence and tragic end; others take it to be a variant of Jabal, <i> ''''' yaÌ„bhaÌ„l ''''' </i> , " shepherd" or "herdman," Genesis 4: 20 . Compare [[ Assyrian]] <i> ''''' ablu ''''' </i> and [[ Babylonian]] < i> ''''' abil ''''' < /i> , "son" ): The second son of Adam and Eve . The absence of the verb <i> ''''' haÌ„raÌ„h ''''' </i> ( Genesis 4: 2; compare Genesis 4: 1 ) has been taken to imply, perhaps truly, that Cain and [[ Abel]] were twins. </p> 1. A [[ Shepherd]] <p> "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground," thus representing the two fundamental pursuits of civilized life, the two earliest subdivisions of the human race. On the [[ Hebrew]] tradition of the superiority of the pastoral over agricultural and city life, see <i> Expositor </ i> <i> Times </ i> , V, 351ff. The narrative may possibly bear witness to the primitive idea that pastoral life was more pleasing to [[ Yahweh]] than husbandry. < /p> 2. A [[ Worshipper]] <p> "In process of time, " the two brothers came in a solemn manner to sacrifice unto Yahweh, in order to express their gratitude to Him whose tenants they were in the land ( Genesis 4:3 , Genesis 4:4 . See [[ Sacrifice]] ). How Yahweh signified His acceptance of the one offering and rejection of the other, we are not told. That it was due to the difference in the material of the sacrifice or in their manner of offering was probably the belief among the early Israelites, who regarded animal offerings as superior to cereal offerings. Both kinds, however, were fully in accord with Hebrew law and custom. It has been suggested that the [[ Septuagint]] rendering of Genesis 4:7 makes Cain's offense a ritual one, the offering not being "correctly" made or rightly divided, and hence rejected as irregular. "If thou makest a proper offering, but dost not cut in pieces rightly, art thou not in fault? Be still!" The Septuagint evidently took the rebuke to turn upon Cain's neglect to prepare his offering according to strict ceremonial requirements. διεÌλῃς , < i> ''''' dieÌleÌ„s ''''' < /i> (Septuagint in the place cited. ), however, implies × ×ª×— , (×× ïŠ×— <i> ''''' naÌ„thahÌ£ ''''' </i> ( <i> ''''' nattahÌ£ ''''' </i> ), and would only apply to animal sacrifices. Compare Exodus 29:17; Leviticus 8:20; Judges 19:29; 1 Kings 18:23; and see [[ Couch]] . </p> 3. A Righteous Man <p> The true reason for the [[ Divine]] preference is doubtless to be found in the disposition of the brothers ( see [[Cain]] ). Well-doing consisted not in the outward offering ( Genesis 4: 7 ) but in the right state of mind and feeling. The acceptability depends on the inner motives and moral characters of the offerers. " By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent (abundant, <i> ''''' pleıÌoÌ„na ''''' </i> ) sacrifice than Cain" ( Hebrews 11: 4 ). The "more abundant sacrifice," Westcott thinks, "suggests the deeper gratitude of Abel, and shows a fuller sense of the claims of God" to the best. Cain 's " works ( the collective expression of his inner life) were evil, and his brother's righteous" ( 1 John 3:12 ). " It would be an outrage if the gods looked to gifts and sacrifices and not to the soul" ( <i> [[ Alcibiades]] </i > II. 149E.150A). Cain's heart was no longer pure; it had a criminal propensity, springing from envy and jealousy, which rendered both his offering and person unacceptable. His evil works and hatred of his brother culminated in the act of murder, specifically evoked by the opposite character of Abel's works and the acceptance of his offering. The evil man cannot endure the sight of goodness in another. </p> 4. A [[Martyr]] <p> Abel ranks as the first martyr ( Matthew 23:35 ), whose blood cried for vengeance ( Genesis 4:10; compare Revelation 6:9 , Revelation 6: 10 ) and brought despair ( Genesis 4: 13 ) , whereas that of Jesus appeals to God for forgiveness and speaks peace ( Hebrews 12:24 ) and is preferred before Abel 's. </p> 5. A Type <p> The first two brothers in history stand as the types and representatives of the two main and enduring divisions of mankind, and bear witness to the absolute antithesis and eternal enmity between good and evil. </p> |
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| == Bridgeway Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_18339" /> ==
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| <p> 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 (Genesis 4:1-4). Abel was a righteous man (Matthew 23:35), and he offered his sacrifice in a thankful attitude of sincere faith (Genesis 4:4; Hebrews 11:4). [[Cain]] was an unrighteous man (1 [[John]] 3:12) and offered his sacrifice in the wrong attitude. God therefore rejected his sacrifice (Genesis 4:5; for further details see SACRIFICE). </p> <p> [[In]] envy and anger, Cain killed Abel (Genesis 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 (Genesis 4:25-26). </p>
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| == Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_30211" /> ==
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| [[ Genesis]] 4:1-16Genesis 4:3-5Genesis 4:8,9John 3:12Matthew 23:35Hebrews 12:24Hebrews 11:4 <p> [[ Abel]] (Hebrews 1 [[Samuel]] 16:18 ), 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 Septuagint, reads in the [[Hebrew]] text <i> 'Ebhen </i> (= a stone), and accordingly translates "unto the great stone, whereon they set down the ark. " This reading is to be preferred. </p> <p> Abel (Heb. לבע), a grassy place, a meadow. This word enters into the composition of the following five entries: [[ Abel-Beth-Maachah]] , [[Abel-Cheramim]] , [[Abel-Meholah]] , [[Abel-Mizraim]] and [[Abel-Shittim]] . </p> | |
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| == Fausset's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_34192" /> ==
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| < p> [[Hebrew]] Ηebel . [[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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> [[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 (Psalms 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.) </p> | |
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| == Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_38185" /> ==
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| [[Genesis]] 4:2 Hebrews 11:4Genesis 4:7 Hebrews 12:24 [[Matthew]] 23:35Luke 11:511 [[John]] 1:7 <p> [[Donald]] R. Potts </p>
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| == Hitchcock's Bible Names <ref name="term_44851" /> ==
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| == Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary <ref name="term_47409" /> ==
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| <p> The second son of [[Adam]] and Eve. [[His]] name is mentioned by the [[Holy]] [[Ghost]] with peculiar honour, in that illustrious list of [[Old]] [[Testament]] saints, who all died, as they had lived, by faith. (Hebrews 11:4.) "By faith, [[Abel]] offered unto [[God]] a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." [[By]] which we derive full authority to conclude, that Abel's faith in Christ, the promised seed, gave a blessedness in the acceptance of his sacrifice, which Cain's had not. Abel came to the [[Lord]] as a sinner; and, by the lamb he offered in sacrifice, testified the sense he had of sin, and his hopes of salvation by Christ. [[Cain]] came to the Lord, not under the apprehension of sin, but to present an offering of tribute. [[He]] therefore slighted the promised seed, and redemption by, Christ: and stands in the front of the Bible, the first desit the world ever knew. (Genesis 4:3-5.) It may be not amiss to add, that the word Abel signifies vanity, a vapor, emptiness, and the like. </p>
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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_49052" /> ==
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| <p> <strong> ABEL </strong> . [[Genesis]] 4:2-10 . The Heb. form <em> Hebhel </em> denotes ‘vapour’ or ‘breath’ (cf. [[Ecclesiastes]] 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.] <em> aplu </em> , ‘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 Genesis 4:8 Heb. has ‘and Cain <em> said unto </em> 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. </p> <p> [[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. Hebrews 11:4 gives ‘faith’ as the reason. [[In]] Hebrews 12:24 the ‘blood of sprinkling’ ‘speaketh something better than the blood of Abel,’ in that the latter cried for vengeance ( Genesis 4:10 ). </p> <p> In [[Matthew]] 23:35 || [[Luke]] 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 [[John]] 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,’ <em> i.e. </em> the instigator of murder as he is of lies. </p> <p> A. H. M’Neile. </p> <p> <strong> ABEL </strong> . A word meaning ‘meadow,’ and entering as an element into several place-names. In 1 [[Samuel]] 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. </p> <p> R. A. S. Macalister. </p>
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| == Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_54941" /> ==
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| <p> [[Abel]] (Ἄβελ) has the first place in the roll of ‘the elders’ (οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, Hebrews 11:2), or men of past generations, who by their faith pleased [[God]] and had witness borne to them. It Is recorded of him that he offered unto God a more excellent [[Sacrifice]] (πλείονα θυσίαν) than his older brother (Hebrews 11:4). [[In]] the original story (Genesis 4:1-7) his offering was probably regarded as mere pleasing on account of the material of his Sacrifice. It was in accordance with primitive [[Semitic]] ideas that the occupation of a keeper of sheep was more pleasing be God than that of a tiller of the ground, and accordingly that a firstling of the flock was a more acceptable offering than the fruit of the ground. The ancient writer of the story (J) evidently wished to teach that animal sacrifice alone was pleasing to God (Gunkel, <i> [[Genesis]] , 38 </i> ; Skinner, 105). The author of Hebrews gives the story a different turn. The greater excellence of Abel’s sacrifice consisted in the disposition with which it was offered. The spirit of the worshipper rather than the substance of the offering is now considered the essential element. Abel’s sacrifice was the offering of a man whose heart was right. Through his faith he won God’s approval of his gifts, and through his faith his blood continued to speak for him after his death. In a later passage of Heb. (Hebrews 12:24) that blood is contrasted with ‘the blood of sprinkling,’ by which the new covenant is confirmed. The blood of Abel cried out from the ground for vengeance (cf. [[Job]] 16:18, [[Isaiah]] 26:21, 2 Kings 9:26; also [[Revelation]] 6:9-10): it was such a cry as is sounded in Milton’s sonnet, ‘Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints’; but the blood of the eternal covenant intercedes for mercy. </p> <p> St. [[John]] (1 John 3:12) uses the murder of Abel by his brother to illustrate the absence of that spirit of love which is the essence of goodness. The writer indicates that the new commandment, or message (ἀγγελία), which has been heard from the beginning of the [[Christian]] era, was also the fundamental law of the moral life from the beginning of human history. [[Cain]] was of the evil one (ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ), and slaughtered (ἔσφαξεν) his brother. </p> <p> Literature.-Besides the articles in the [[Bible]] Dictionaries, see W. G. Elmslie, <i> [[Expository]] Lectures and Sermons </i> , 1892, p. 164; J. Hastings, <i> [[Greater]] Men and [[Women]] of the Bible </i> , vol. i. [1913] p. 53; G. Matheson, <i> The [[Representative]] Men of the Bible </i> , i. [1902] 45; A. P. Peabody, <i> king’s [[Chapel]] Sermons </i> , 1891, p. 317; A. Whyte, <i> Bible Characters </i> , i. [1896] 44. </p> <p> [[James]] Strahan. </p>
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| == Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_64517" /> ==
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| <p> The second [[Son]] of Adam. The name, <i> Hebel </i> given him by his mother, signifying 'breath' or 'vanity,' possibly originated in her disappointment at [[Cain]] not proving to be the promised Redeemer. [[In]] process of time the great difference in the two brothers was manifested by [[Abel]] offering to [[God]] a slain animal, whilst Cain brought the fruit of own labour from the cursed ground, ignoring the facts that in the fall of [[Adam]] life had been forfeited and the ground cursed. Abel presented a sacrifice in the way of faith through a slain firstling of the flock. Hebrews 11:4 . [[He]] thus obtained a witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: cf. [[Matthew]] 23:35 . [[Thus]] early were brought out in clear lines the two seeds: one born of God, and the other 'of that wicked one' 1 [[John]] 3:12 . Abel is a type of Christ, as Cain is that of the Jew. [[As]] the [[Jews]] broke the law against both God and their neighbour, so Cain disregarded God's judgement on man, and slew his brother. In Cain is also exemplified the religion of the natural man, who, disregarding his distance from God, thinks he can approach at any time and with any form of worship. </p>
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| == People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_69488" /> ==
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| <p> [[Abel]] (â'bel), vapor, [[Genesis]] 4:2, was the second son of [[Adam]] and Eve, so called perhaps from the shortness of his life, as he was murdered by Cain. [[Hence]] to [[Eve]] the life of Abel seemed but "a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." [[James]] 4:14. Abel was occupied as 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, It is supposed that besides a thank-offering, Abel brought a sin-offering, and thus showed his sense of sin, as well as his faith in a promised Saviour. [[He]] did it by faith, Hebrews 11:4, founded no doubt upon some revelation from God. [[His]] offering was a type of Christ, the "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." [[Revelation]] 13:8; Revelation 5:6; Revelation 5:12; Revelation 1:6; [[John]] 1:29. "The [[Lord]] had respect unto Abel and his offering," Genesis 4:4, and accepted it. Hebrews 11:4. Not so with Cain. [[Either]] his sacrifice, or the manner of presenting it, was offensive to God, and the offering was rejected. 1 John 3:12. [[Cain]] was angry, and filled with envy, and when he and his brother were in the field together, he took his brother's life. Genesis 4:3-8. Our [[Saviour]] distinguishes Abel by the title righteous, [[Matthew]] 23:35. He is also one of the faithful "elders" mentioned in the epistle to the Hebrews, ch. 11:4, and is justly called the first martyr. </p> <p> Abel, meadow, grassy plain, as below. A name prefixed to several places. [[Instead]] of "the great stone of Abel," in 1 [[Samuel]] 6:18, the Septuagint, and [[Chaldee]] versions, and some [[Hebrew]] manuscripts, read "the great stone;" as in the margin, and the 14th and 15th verses. Most likely this "great stone" was a boundary mark, or an ancient monument, in Bethshemesh, on the confines of Judah, Dan, and Philistia. </p>
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| == Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_71123" /> ==
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| <p> A'bel. ( that is, breath, vapor, transitoriness, probably, so called, from the shortness of his life). </p> <p> 1. The second son of Adam, murdered by his brother Cain, [[Genesis]] 4:1-16, he was a keeper or feeder of sheep. Our [[Lord]] spoke of [[Abel]] as the first martyr, [[Matthew]] 23:35, so did the early [[Church]] subsequently. The traditional site of his murder and his grave are pointed out near Damascus. </p> <p> 2. The name of several places in Palestine, probably signifies a meadow. </p>
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| == Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_80036" /> ==
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| <p> [[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 <em> vapour, vanity, </em> 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 <em> face </em> or <em> presence </em> 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." </p> <p> <strong> 2. </strong> 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. </p> <p> As to the matter of the sacrifice, it was an <em> animal </em> 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 <em> faith. </em> 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 <em> more abundant, </em> or of a <em> better, </em> a <em> more excellent </em> 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 <em> also. </em> 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 <em> quantity </em> of an offering, for the one has no relation to the other. </p> <p> <strong> 3. </strong> 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 <em> righteous? </em> His doctrine is, that men are sinners; that all, consequently, need pardon; and <em> to be declared, witnessed, </em> and <em> accounted righteous, </em> 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 <em> righteous </em> men; the instrument in both cases, is </p> <p> <em> faith; </em> and the transaction is, in both cases also, publicly and sensibly <em> witnessed, </em> —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. </p> <p> 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: </p> <p> 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 <em> faith, </em> 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 <em> abundance, </em> or <em> kind, </em> 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 <em> faith; </em> and to this faith as expressing itself by his offering a more excellent sacrifice." </p> <p> <strong> 4. </strong> If, then, the faith of Abel had an immediate connection with his sacrifice, and both with his being accepted as "righteous,"—that is, <em> justified, </em> 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. </p> <p> Faith, in this chapter, is taken in the sense of <em> affiance </em> 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. </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> Now that which Abel did "by faith," was, <em> generally, </em> 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 <em> confide. </em> 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 <em> righteous;" </em> 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. </p> <p> <strong> 5. </strong> 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 <em> vicariously, </em> 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. </p> <p> "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 <em> his reason </em> 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 <em> enlightened </em> followers, in rejecting the sacrifice of Christ." </p> <p> Abel was killed about the year of the world, 130. </p>
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| == Whyte's Dictionary of Bible Characters <ref name="term_197233" /> ==
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| <p> THE BLOOD OF SPRINKLING </p> <p> RIGHTEOUS [[Abel]] would have silenced his own accusing blood if he only could. When [[Cain]] suddenly struck him down, dying Abel took all the blame on himself. [[As]] long as he could speak Abel excused his brother, and sought to be reconciled to his brother. [[He]] put himself in the wrong and his brother in the right. He saw, now, when it was too late, how he had grieved and vexed and offended his brother. He had not thought about his brother. He had not put himself into his brother's place. He had not looked at things with his brother's eyes. He had been glad, and he had let his gladness too much appear, when his own offerings were respected and his brother's despised. [[Forgive]] me, O my God! Forgive me, O my brother! was Abel's last prayer. [[Whatever]] dead Abel's blood may have cried, I feel sure what dying Abel himself cried. Lord, lay not this blow to my brother's charge, he cried. And when Abel had said that again and again he fell asleep. </p> <p> [[If]] Cain had only done the exact opposite of what he immediately did as soon as he had buried Abel: if he had only determined in spite of it all still to abide in the land of Eden; if he had only kept himself in the presence of the Lord, and had not allowed himself to go out from the presence of the Lord; if he had only laid the foundations of his city beside Abel's grave, then Abel's prayer for his brother would have been heard, and Abel's blood from that day would have begun to speak almost like the blood of [[Christ]] itself. Had Cain all his after days prevented the dawning of the morning that he might offer unceasing sacrifices beside his brother's grave; had he risen from his bed at midnight till, being in an agony, his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground on Abel's grave; then Cain would have been a pattern that in him [[God]] might first show forth all long-suffering to those who should after Cain believe to life everlasting. And if you would but determine to learn tonight of Cain and Abel; if you would but keep at home and dwell in the presence of your past sin, and in the presence of the Lord; if you would but build your house, and if God would but prepare your table, in the presence of your enemies; now that Christ's atoning blood has taken the place of Abel's accusing blood; now that Christ's peace-speaking blood is every day and every night being sprinkled from heaven upon [[His]] and other men's murderers,-you would even yet escape being a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and would be made a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God. </p> <p> Where, then, is Abel thy brother? [[Answer]] that on the spot. Where hast thou hid him? [[Say]] on the spot, Lord, come with me and I will shew Thee. [[Go]] back often to Abel's grave. Go back continually to your past life. Go back to your school days. Go back to your college days. Go back to your first office, your first shop, your first workshop. [[Recall]] your first friend. [[Pass]] before your eyes the first young man, the first young woman, you were intimate with. [[Call]] up the long-mouldered corpse of your first affection, your first passion, your first love, your first lust. [[Give]] instances. Give names; and ask if God has another case like yours in all His Book. [[Face]] full in the face that monstrous folly; that word, that act, that makes you blush scarlet and turn in your seat to think of it. They are turning on their beds in hell at this moment for far less. Go back to that farmhouse in the country, to that hamlet up among the hills, out of which you were so glad to escape from the presence of the Lord, and from the place of your sin, and get away to hide yourself in the great city. [[See]] how one ghost awakens another ghost till they come up an army of the ghosts of dead men and dead women against you. Men and women now dead, and in their own places. Men and women also still alive, but dead to you,-would God they were! Men and women who, when they, or their children, or only their spoken or written names pass before you, make you wish they were dead-they or you. Go back, I say. [[In]] God's name, in God's strength, go back! [[Take]] time, and go back. Take trouble, and go back. Take pains, and go back. Do not grudge time and trouble and pains. You will be well paid for all your time and trouble in humiliation, in remorse, and in godly sorrow. Even if you took, what Cain, it is to be feared, did not take-even if you took one whole hour every night alone with your past life, it would not be mis-spent time. [[Redeem]] the time. Redeem it, and you will be justified for so doing long before the great white throne is set No; one whole hour every twenty-four hours of your present life would not be too much time to give to go over your past life. I undertake that if you will go home, and shut your door, and begin with such an hour tonight, you will not fall asleep in your chair. Why are you so pushed for time to repent? Why is retrospection the only thing that you have no time for, and always push it into a corner? Is it because you are not your brother's keeper? Is it because you never struck a foul blow in the field? Is it because no grey head has ever gone down to a grave that your hands dug? Is it because no young man's faith, and no young woman's trust, and no unsuspecting friend's good name has ever been shaken, or deceived, or pulled down and murdered by you? [[Have]] your hands been always so washed in innocency? Are there no tears against you in God's bottle, and no names in His book? God takes care and account not of murdered lives only, but also of murdered names and reputations. [[How]] many men and women have we all struck at with that sharp razor, an envious, malicious, murderous tongue? [[Work]] at your consciences, you children of God, till they are as quick to detect, to record, and to recollect an unkind, unjust, unhandsome, slighting, detracting, belittling, sneering word, or look, or shrug, as they are to keep you in mind of a foul blow in a field, and a far-back grave in a wood. It would lay some high heads here low enough this night if the graves of all the good names and reputations they have had a hand in murdering were to suddenly open around them. [[All]] good men, all men of God, keep a whole churchyard of such graves ever open before them. And, if you do not, whatever you may think you are, and whatever other men may think you are, Christ, your angry Judge, knows what you are. </p> <p> There are no ministers here, but there are a good many divinity students who will too soon be ministers. [[Will]] they listen and let me speak a word or two to them on the blood of Abel? [[One]] word which I have purchased a right to speak. [[Alas!]] alas! We are called and ordained to be our brother's keeper long before any one has taken us and shown us the way to keep ourselves. And with what result? [[With]] what result let our communion-rolls and our visiting-books answer. If any minister would be shut up and determined to preach nothing else and nothing ever but the peace-speaking blood of Christ, let him read every night in his communion-roll, in his young communicants' class list, and in his pastoral visitation-book. That name, that name, that name, that family of names! Where are the owners of all these names? What account can I give of them? If they are not here tonight, where are they? Why are they not here, and why are they where they are? What a preacher [[Paul]] must have been, and what a pastor, and supported and seconded by what a staff of elders, since he was able to say to his assembled kirk-session in [[Ephesus]] that he was clear of the blood of all his people! What mornings to his tent-making, and to his sermons, and to his epistles; and what afternoons and evenings to humility, and to tears, and to temptations, both publicly and from house to house! Like [[Samuel]] Rutherford, and long before his day, always at his books, always among his people, always at their sick-beds, always catechising their children, always preaching and always praying. No, I know no reading so humbling, so condemning, so killing to us ministers as our communion-roll. We ministers must always appear before our people, and before God, clothed from head to foot with humility, with a rope upon our heads, and with nothing in our bands or in our mouths but the cross of Christ and the blood of Christ, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. </p> <p> The blood of Christ! O my brethren, what blood the blood of Christ must be! What wonderful, what wonder-working blood! What amazing blood! How can even the blood of Christ atone for, and make amends to God and man for, all our envy, and malice, and murder of men's bodies, souls, and reputations? The more I think of that-I do not know, I cannot tell, I cannot imagine. And then, not atonement and amends only, not bare pardon for all the past only, but eternal life, and all that leads up to eternal life, and all that eternal life is and contains. [[For]] the [[Holy]] [[Ghost]] also is the purchase of Christ's blood, a new heart also, and a whole lifetime of the means of grace The [[Bible]] also, the [[Sabbath]] day, the Lord's table, a minister after God's own heart, deep, divine, unsearchable providences, a peaceful death-bed, a happy resurrection morning, a place at the right hand of the Judge, an open acknowledgment and acquittal on the day of judgment, 'Come, ye blessed of My Father,' and then a mansion with our own name in blood upon its door-post and its lintel to all eternity! Yes; precious blood indeed! What blood that must be that can so outery and drown silent in its depths all the accusing cries that are even now going up to God all behind me and all around me! I feel that I would need a whole [[Redeemer]] and all His redeeming blood to myself. But, then, after that fountain filled with blood has drowned in the depths of the sea all the accusations that my sinful life has raised against me, that same blood will still flow for you and will do the same service for you. And the blood of Christ is the same blood yesterday, today, and for ever. For after it has spoken better things than that of Abel to you and to me, it will still abide and will still do the same service to our children and to their children, till a multitude that no man can number have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. [[No]] wonder that Paul called that blood not the blood of Christ only, but the blood of God. </p>
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| == Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types <ref name="term_197391" /> ==
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| <p> [[Genesis]] 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. </p> <p> [[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," 1 [[John]] 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. </p>
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| == Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_14819" /> ==
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| <p> Abel, 1 </p> <p> A´bel, properly Hebel, the second son of Adam, who was slain by Cain, his elder brother (Genesis 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. </p> <p> Abel, 2 </p> <p> 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. </p> <p> Abel, 3 </p> <p> 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' (2 [[Samuel]] 20:19). The identity of the city under these different names will be seen by a comparison of 2 Samuel 20:14-15; 2 Samuel 20:18; 1 Kings 15:20; 2 [[Chronicles]] 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]] (2 Kings 15:29). </p>
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| == Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_17046" /> ==
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| <p> (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]] (Genesis 4:1-16), B.C. cir. 4045. (See [[Adam]]). </p> <p> 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 (Hebrews 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 (Genesis 4:8-9; comp. 1 [[John]] 3:12). (See [[Cain]]). </p> <p> 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.) </p> <p> 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 [[Genesis]] 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 Psalms 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). </p> <p> 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.) </p> <p> III. [[Character]] of his Offering. — The superiority of Abel's sacrifice is ascribed by the [[Apostle]] [[Paul]] to faith (Hebrews 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 Hebrews 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" (Matthew 23:35; comp. 1 John 3:12). He ranks among the illustrious elders mentioned in Hebrews 11:1-40. According to Hebrews 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. </p> <p> ADDENDUM FROM VOLUME 11: </p> <p> (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 אב and 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.) </p>
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| == The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_66952" /> ==
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| <p> The second son of [[Adam]] and Eve; slain by his brother. The death of [[Abel]] is the subject of a poem by Gessner and a tragedy by Legouvé. </p>
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| ==References == | | ==References == |
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| <ref name="term_15337"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/abel Abel from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref> | | <ref name="term_463"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/abel+(1) Abel from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref> |
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| <ref name="term_18339"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/bridgeway-bible-dictionary/abel Abel from Bridgeway Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_30211"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/abel Abel from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_34192"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/fausset-s-bible-dictionary/abel Abel from Fausset's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_38185"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/abel Abel from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_44851"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hitchcock-s-bible-names/abel Abel from Hitchcock's Bible Names]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_47409"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hawker-s-poor-man-s-concordance-and-dictionary/abel Abel from Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_49052"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/abel Abel from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_54941"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/abel Abel from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_64517"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/abel Abel from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_69488"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/abel Abel from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_71123"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/abel Abel from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_80036"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/abel Abel from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_197233"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/whyte-s-dictionary-of-bible-characters/abel Abel from Whyte's Dictionary of Bible Characters]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_197391"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/wilson-s-dictionary-of-bible-types/abel Abel from Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_14819"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/abel Abel from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_17046"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/abel Abel from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
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| <ref name="term_66952"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/the-nuttall-encyclopedia/abel Abel from The Nuttall Encyclopedia]</ref>
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| </references> | | </references> |
