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ABEL (Person)
Second male child of Adam and Eve (Gn 4:2). The name is probably related to Sumerian and Akkadian words meaning “son” and was thus used as a generic term for the human race.
Abel’s older brother, Cain, was engaged in agriculture, but Abel himself was a shepherd. When both brothers brought offerings, God accepted Abel’s animal sacrifice but rejected Cain’s vegetable offering. As a result, Cain became jealous of Abel and killed him.
The narrative indicates that Abel’s character was more worthy of God’s blessing; hence his offering was accepted and Cain’s was not (Gn 4:7). There is no scriptural evidence that cereal or vegetable offerings were less effective as either sin offerings or fellowship meals than offerings involving the shedding of blood, since in later Mosaic law both were prescribed. In the NT Abel is regarded as the first martyr (Mt 23:35; Lk 11:51; Heb 11:4).