Abel[a] (Hebrew:הֶבֶלHébel, inpausaהָבֶלHā́ḇel;Biblical Greek:ἍβελHábel;Arabic:هابيل,Hābēl) is a biblical figure in theBook of Genesis within theAbrahamic religions.[1] Born as the second son ofAdam andEve, the first two humans created byGod, he was ashepherd who offered his firstborn flock to God as a religious offering (Genesis 4:1–8). God accepted Abel’s offering but not that of his older brotherCain, leading Cain to kill Abel out of jealousy; some later interpretations suggest that Cain may have slain him with a stone.[2][3] This act marked the first death in biblical history, making Abel the first murder victim.[1]
The story ofCain's murder of Abel and its consequences is told in Genesis 4:1–18:[4]
Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "I have produced a man with the help of the Lord."[5] Next she bore his brother Abel.[6] Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. The Lord said to Cain,
"Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it."
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go out to the field."[7] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He said, "I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?"[8] And the Lord said, "What have you done? Listen; your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground! And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand.[9] When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." Cain said to the Lord, "My punishment is greater than I can bear! Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me." Then the Lord said to him, "Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance." And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him.
Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch; and he built a city, and named it Enoch after his son Enoch.
According to the narrative inGenesis, Abel is Eve's second son. His name in Hebrew is composed of the same three consonants as aroot meaning "the air that remains after you exhale" also synonymous in Hebrew to "nothing", as stated inEcclesiastes.Julius Wellhausen has proposed that the name is independent of the root.[11]Eberhard Schrader had previously put forward theAkkadian (Old Assyrian dialect)ablu ("son") as a more likely etymology.[12]
In Christianity, comparisons are sometimes made between the death of Abel and that ofJesus, the former thus seen as being the first martyr. In Matthew 23:35 Jesus speaks of Abel as "righteous", and theEpistle to the Hebrews states that "The blood of sprinkling ... [speaks] better things than that of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of Jesus is interpreted as bringing mercy; but that of Abel as demanding vengeance (hence the curse and mark).[13]
According to the CopticBook of Adam and Eve (at 2:1–15), and theSyriacCave of Treasures, Abel's body, after many days of mourning, was placed in theCave of Treasures, before which Adam and Eve, and descendants, offered their prayers. In addition, theSethite line of theGenerations of Adam swear by Abel's blood to segregate themselves from theunrighteous.
In theBook of Enoch (22:7), regarded by most Christian and Jewish traditions as extra-biblical, the soul of Abel is described as having been appointed as the chief of martyrs, crying for vengeance, for the destruction of the seed of Cain. A similar view is later shown in theTestament of Abraham (A:13 / B:11), where Abel has been raised to the position as the judge of the souls.
InBereshit Rabbah (22:2), a discussion of Gen. 4:1 ff. has RabbiYehoshua ben Korcha mentioning that Cain was born with a twin sister, and Abel with two twin sisters. This is based on the principle that the otherwise superfluous accusative article "et" always conveys some additional teaching (Pesachim 22b). The "et"'s are parsed slightly differently inYebamot 62a where the two "et"'s in Gen. 4:2 indicate Cain and his sister, and Abel and his (one) sister.
According toShi'a Muslim belief, Abel ("Habeel") is buried in theNabi Habeel Mosque, located on the west mountains ofDamascus, near theZabadani Valley, overlooking the villages of theBarada river (Wadi Barada), inSyria. Shi'a are frequent visitors of this mosque forziyarat. The mosque was built byOttomanWali Ahmad Pasha in 1599.
^Alter, Robert, trans. 2008. "Genesis 4." InThe Five Books of Moses. p. 29.
^4:1 – The Hebrew verb "knew" implies intimate or sexual knowledge, along with possession. The name "Cain", which means "smith", resembles the verb translated as "gotten" but also possibly meaning "to make". (Alter 2008:29).
^4:2 – Abel's name could be associated with "vapor" or "puff of air". (Alter 2008:29).
^4:8 – "Let us go out to the field" does not appear in theMasoretic Text, but is found in other versions including the Septuagint andSamaritan Pentateuch.
^4:9 – the phrase traditionally translated "am I my brother's keeper?" is Hebrew"Hă-šōmêr 'āḥî 'ānōḵî?". "Keeper" is from the verbshamar (שמר), 'guard, keep, watch, preserve.'
^4:10–12 – Cain is cursedmin-ha-adamah, from the earth, being the same root as "man" and Adam.
^Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2019). "Book Five: The Descent of the Savior".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. p. 78.My Father, Hayyi, said to me, "Why are you standing down Yawar? You are Yawar Hibil the messenger![…]"
^abAl-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2019). "Glossary".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. pp. 206–213.
^Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2019). "Book Five: The Descent of the Savior".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. p. 83.In gratitude we give thanks to Manda ʼd Hayyi and to his son Hibil, who established the order of Hayyi.
^abAl-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2019). "Book Five: The Descent of the Savior".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. pp. 70–83.
^Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2019). "Book One, 1st Glorification: The Return of Sheetil, son of Adam to the World of Light".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Left Volume (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. pp. 1–9.
^Al-Saadi, Qais; Al-Saadi, Hamed (2019). "Book Twelve: The Second Illumination".Ginza Rabba. Vol. Right Volume (2nd ed.). Germany: Drabsha. pp. 130–135. [Note: this is book 10 in some other editions.]
.jpg)
