AbeL

ABEL (Hebrew for breath), the second son of Adam, slain

by Cain, his elder brother (Gen. iv. 1-16). The narrative

in Genesis which tells us that ``the Lord had respect unto

Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering

he had not respect,'' is supplemented by the statement of the

New Testament, that ``by faith Abel offered unto God a more

excellent sacrifice than Cain'' (Heb. xi. 4), and that Cain

slew Abel ``because his own works were evil and his brother's

righteous'' (1 John iii. 12). See further under CAIN. The

name has been identified with the Assyrian ablu, ``son,'' but

this is far from certain. It more probably means ``herdsman''

(cf. the name Jabal), and a distinction is drawn between the

pastoral Abel and the agriculturist Cain. If Cain is the eponym

of the Kenites it is quite possible that Abel was originally

a South Judaean demigod or hero; on this, see Winckler,

Gesch. Israels, ii. p. 189; E. Meyer, Israelitein, p.

395. A sect of Abelitae, who seem to have lived in North

Africa, is mentioned by Augustine (De Haeresibus, lxxxvi.).

Source: An unnamed encyclopedia from a project that puts out-of-copyright texts into the public domain. This is from a *very* old source, and reflects the thinking of the turn of the last century. -- BryceHarrington