EOB: Official Site of the Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible (Old and New Testament)

Genesis 4:2

EOB (Eastern / Greek Orthodox Bible):

She had another baby, a boy named Abel. Abel was a shepherd, and Cain worked as a farmer.

EOB Footnote:

The MT includes the phrase “his brother” after Abel’s name when describing Cain’s birth, which is absent in the LXX. The MT also adds “and Abel was” at the transition between the two brothers’ occupations, creating a more explicit subject change that the LXX handles more concisely. The word rendered “shepherd” literally means “one who tends” in Greek; “shepherd of sheep” was chosen for clarity since the Greek specifies the animals being tended. The phrase “tiller of the ground” renders a Greek expression meaning literally “one who works the earth.”

Other Translations:

KJV (King James Version):

And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

WEB (World English Bible):

Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Benton LXX (Vaticanus):

And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Douai-Rheims (Vulgate):

And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.

Apostoliki Diakonia (LXX):

She gave birth again to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of flocks, while Cain became a tiller of the ground.

YLT (Young Literal Translation )(MT):

She continued giving birth to his brother Abel; and Abel became a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

BBE (Bible in Basic English):

And again she became with child, and gave birth to Abel, his brother. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a worker of the earth.

EOB COMMENTARY:

EOB Commentary:

Commentary on Genesis 4:2

The Birth of Abel and the Introduction of Vocations

This verse introduces Abel, whose very name (Hevel in Hebrew, meaning “breath” or “vapor”) foreshadows his brief earthly existence and martyrdom. The Church Fathers see in Abel the first of the righteous who suffer at the hands of the wicked, establishing a pattern that culminates in Christ Himself.

Typological Significance for Christ

Abel stands as one of the most significant Old Testament types of the Savior. Our Lord explicitly connects Himself to Abel when He speaks of “the blood of righteous Abel” in Matthew 23:35, linking Abel’s innocent blood to the blood of all the prophets that would be required of that generation. The Epistle to the Hebrews further develops this typology, stating that the blood of Jesus “speaks better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). Where Abel’s blood cried out for vengeance, Christ’s blood speaks forgiveness and reconciliation.

Saint John Chrysostom observes that Abel, as a keeper of sheep, prefigures Christ the Good Shepherd. Just as Abel tended his flock with care, so Christ tends His spiritual flock, the Church. The shepherd vocation assigned to Abel thus carries profound messianic weight.

The Two Ways of Life

The distinction between Cain as a tiller of the ground and Abel as a keeper of sheep has been understood by the Fathers as representing two orientations of the soul. Saint Ambrose of Milan interprets the agricultural work of Cain as symbolic of attachment to earthly things, while Abel’s shepherding represents the contemplative life oriented toward heaven. This reading anticipates the later distinction in Orthodox spirituality between the active and contemplative lives.

Liturgical Connections

In the Orthodox funeral service, Abel is commemorated among the righteous who have departed this life in faith. The Church remembers him as the first human being to experience death, and significantly, the first to die as a martyr for righteousness. His inclusion in the prayers for the departed reminds the faithful that death entered the world through sin, yet the righteous who die in faith are received into the company of the saints.

The Holy Ancestors Sunday, celebrated before the Nativity of Christ, honors Abel among those who prepared the way for the Incarnation through their faithfulness. His brief life of offering acceptable sacrifice to God establishes him as a model of true worship that the Church continues to hold before the faithful as exemplary of the pure heart that God desires.

Introduction to the book of Leviticus

The Book of Leviticus receives its English title from the Latin Vulgate, which is derived from the Greek Septuagint (LXX) title Leuitikon (Λευιτικόν), meaning “Levitical” or “pertaining to the Levites.”

Read More »

Introduction to the book of Exodus

The Book of Exodus receives its English title from the Greek Septuagint (LXX), where it is called Exodos (Ἔξοδος), meaning “departure” or “exit.” This name was chosen because the central

Read More »