Abel

The younger son of Adam and Eve, who became the first person both to die and to be murdered by his brother Cain. Abel has become in Christian imagery as the symbol of the obedient (even model) person who does what is right whatever the consequences, i.e., a martyr.

Abel is not mentioned in the OT apart from Gen 4 where his life as a shepherd who brought a sacrifice of the firstborn of his flock which God looked upon with favour aroused the jealousy and anger of his brother Cain who then killed him. "Seven times in eleven verses . . . the fact is stressed that the two are brothers, thus indelibly emphasizing the depravity of Cain—jealous enough to commit even fratricide" (Dictionary of Biblical Imagery). It has been suggested that Cain and Abel may have been twin "since the Bible never mentions that Eve conceived twice before their birth" (Ibid.); the Hebrew verb (toseph) that begins v.2 suggests such a reading is nit-picking.

Abel is mentioned by Jesus as the first of the long list of martyrs in his denouncement of the scribes and Pharisees for their disbelief (Matt 23:35; Lk 11:51). For the author of the letter to the Hebrews Abel stands as the man of faith who "offered God a better sacrifice than Cain," and who "by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead" (Heb 11:12). Abel serves for the author also as a comparison extolling the supreme efficacy of Christ's self-sacrifice; Jesus is "the mediator of a new covenant [whose] sprinkled blood speaks a better word that the blood of Abel" (12:24).

It is seldom noticed that Abel was the first person to die in the Bible, yet he died because of his righteousness; he brought a gift that was pleasing to God. It is significant that, as the first person to die in the Bible, it is the sin of others that brought about his death. From the beginning the Bible makes it clear that death is not always to be understood as the judgment of God upon the dead. Abel's death is the first of countless that will always perplex us with the question, "Why, God?" for which there is never an adequate answer. His name, hebel in Hebrew means "vapour," "breath," "meaninglessness" (Eccl 1:2), suggesting the brevity or inconsequence of his life; for what did he live?

Read the entry in:

Eaton's Illustrated Bible Dictionary

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia