The story of Abel a righteous man is told in Genesis 4:2-12.
Abel, the younger brother of Cain, was called righteous as he did things God’s way.
He was a shepherd and looked after animals.
Abel did well in God’s sight but was murdered by his older brother because of envy and jealousy.
Abel (hebel in Hebrew) means: Transitoriness, grassy meadow, breath.
Background Reading:
Cain and Abel
4:1 Later, Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve. She became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have given birth to a male child—the LORD.” 2 And she did it again, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel shepherded flocks and Cain became a farmer.
3 Later, after a while, Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit that he had harvested, 4 while Abel brought the best parts of some of the firstborn from his flock. The LORD looked favorably upon Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not look favorably upon Cain and his offering.
When Cain became very upset and depressed, 6 the LORD asked Cain, “Why are you so upset? Why are you depressed? 7 If you do what is appropriate, you’ll be accepted, won’t you? But if you don’t do what is appropriate, sin is crouching near your doorway, turning toward you. Now as for you, will you take dominion over it?”
8 Instead, Cain told his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the wilderness.” When they were outside in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Later, the LORD asked Cain, “Where’s your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. “Am I my brother’s guardian?”
10 “What did you do?” God asked. “Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you’re more cursed than the ground, which has opened to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 Whenever you work the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you, and you’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive.”
13 “My punishment is too great to bear,” Cain told the LORD. 14 “You’re driving me from the soil today. I’ll be hidden from you, and I’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive. In the future, whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 The LORD told him, “This won’t happen, because whoever kills you will suffer seven times the vengeance.” Then the LORD placed a sign on Cain so that no one finding him would kill him. 16 After this, Cain left the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Genesis 4:1-16
Other slides in this module:
- In the beginning, God created the earth
- The 7 or Seven Days of Creation
- Adam was the first created man specifically named in Scripture
- Eve the first woman specifically named in Scripture
- Tree of Life
- Cain the first human murderer and older brother of Abel
- Abel a righteous man
- Seth
- About a 1100 Year gap between the birth of Adam and the birth of Noah
- Enoch did not die
- Noah built an ark with God’s instructions
- The Ark, God’s way of saving people from the Flood
- The Tower of Babel
- 400 years between Noah and Abraham
- Abraham the father of nations
- Sarah was the wife of Abraham
- Lot is rescued by Abraham
- Melchizedek was the King of Salem
- Hagar, an Egyptian slave given to Abraham by the Pharaoh of Egypt
- The birth of Isaac Abraham’s son
- Ishmael the son of Hagar and Abraham
- Rebekah married Isaac
- Esau the son that Isaac loved
- The birth of Jacob the son of Isaac
- King Abimelech a local king and Isaac
- Questions and Answers 1-11
- Questions and Answers 12-26
- Genesis Part Two » »
- Time Line for Genesis part one »
- Resources – The book of Genesis