My post on Hevel or Abel is a 2fer. I will talk about Abel and the food God gave man from Genesis 2 through 9.

Abel

The second son of Adam does not get a lot of printed words in the Bible; Genesis 4 and he is mentioned four times in the New Testament. Now Abel is mentioned many times and is associated with town names, it seems to refer to stream, so be careful in your studies.

Hevel is another form of Abel or pronounced the same as Abel. It means vanity and is used by Solomon and others. The vanity idea comes from a breath that is quickly passing. Please use the links below as they do a great job of exploring this word.  

These words surprised me by ending in “el” and not being associated with God. The root words for these words are not the same Hebrew word. I find it interesting that the second son of Adam is associated with breath and a stream of water. This sounds like part of the Trinity to me, not by name but by association.

Hevel: VANITY of Vanities! Is life a Vapour of Nothingness? – Hebrew Word Lessons

Strong’s Hebrew: 1892. הָ֫בֶל (hebel) — vapor, breath (biblehub.com)

Abel | The amazing name Abel: meaning and etymology (abarim-publications.com)

The references in the New Testament deal with blood, either his own or through his sacrifice in Genesis 4. Luke 11:51 and Matthew 23:35 are a statement that Jesus made on the Temple Mount the Tuesday before His crucifixion. He was fussing at the Temple leaders, it is part of the “seven woes”. In this section (V29-39), Jesus points out all of the innocent lives that were lost because religious men were not following God.

Hebrews 11:4 – This starts a section of “better” in my post Better in Hebrews. Abel is recognized for his faith because of his sacrifice in Genesis 4. This is also the verse that made me think about food in Genesis 2 – 9. Better in this verse is polys in Greek, it makes you wonder how much or how many times Abel had made offerings.

Hebrews 12:24 – This is the end of the section that started in 11:4, this “better” is kreitton. It could be read that Jesus’ sprinkled blood is more excellent than Abel. Some translators include or say “of the blood” of Abel, but that is not what the Greek says. Hebrews 12:24 Greek Text Analysis (biblehub.com) I am glad the Holy Spirit who has mastery of all languages helped Hebrew/Aramaic educated men who were writing in Greek.

Food

While working on my Genesis 911 post it was clear that food and animals were part of the plan for the ark. This led to questions that did not have a simple clear-cut answer. I love to find answers in God’s Word and see things in a better level of understanding. Oh, I am good with not always finding an answer, after all this is a STUDY, not an answer. I did look through many websites, Jewish and Christian, but was not confident they were answers to my question. Look up Cain and Abel, but be prepared; even from ancient times, man’s imagination has been very fertile on this subject. Opinions vary on topics like the sacrifice and why it was rejected, the twins’ relationship with their mother, and many other things that were opinions with little or no proof. Some writers superimposed things from after the Law was given back onto Genesis 4. Even the text in Chapter 7 mentions ideas from the Law long before it was delivered to Moses on that mountain. Now for my question.

Why was Abel keeping flocks when they had not been given to man as food? Yes, I came up with many hypotheses, but most required Exodus to Deuteronomy to be a plausible answer. Yes, clothing first came to mind, but then there is the sacrifice. So, please follow the verses from Genesis as I go through what man got to eat and when.

Genesis

2:15 Adam and Eve could eat from the trees.

3:18 Part of the curse was eating the plants of the field.

4:3 Cain brought fruits of the soil, Abel brought fat of the firstborn. This may imply knowledge of what was good inside that lamb.

6:21 To prepare for the flood every kind of food to be eaten was taken into the Ark.

7:2 Seven pairs of every clean animal and two pairs of the unclean animals were to go into the Ark. This predates the requirements of the Law. Please remember that some of the sacrifices and offerings in the Law were eaten in the presence of the Lord after a portion was burnt on the altar.

8:20 After the flood Noah offered animals and birds as sacrifices and the aroma was pleasing to God. Here is the first mention of animals being food for man.

9:3 God adds everything that lives and moves to be food just like the green plants. This verse begins and ends with everything (H 3605). It was repeated for a reason, to confirm the decision.

9:20 God has made a covenant with Noah. The next thing we read is him planting a vineyard, making wine, and getting drunk. I doubt this was an accidental discovery. You could have gotten vinegar just as easily (sour wine). So, there was a process that he must have known about before going into the Ark.

Contrast the big picture of Noah and the Flood to the text of Jeremiah 31 and the new covenant God would make especially verse 29.

Okay, it appears that Abel and later Noah had the idea of an altar and offerings made by fire. I know that Abel and his offering were pleasing to the Father. Jesus refers to him as righteous and the blood of his sacrifice and possibly his blood were part of that consideration.

To complete the study, view some about Cain.  

Strong’s Hebrew: 7014. קָ֫יִן (Qayin) — Cain (biblehub.com)

Cain | The amazing name Cain: meaning and etymology (abarim-publications.com)

What I can rest in is that Adam, Cain, and Abel/Hevel were told things that were not included in our Genesis narrative; I am good with that.