Kejadian 4:8

4:8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” ¹  While they were in the field, Cain attacked ²  his brother ³  Abel and killed him.

Ibrani 11:4

11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith ⁴  he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith ⁵  he still speaks, though he is dead.

Ibrani 12:24

12:24 and to Jesus, the mediator ⁶  of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. ⁷ 

Ibrani 12:1

The Lord’s Discipline

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, ⁸  we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,

Yohanes 3:11-12

3:11 I tell you the solemn truth, ⁹  we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but ¹⁰  you people ¹¹  do not accept our testimony. ¹²  3:12 If I have told you people ¹³  about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹⁴ 

[4:8]  ¹ tc The MT has simply “and Cain said to Abel his brother,” omitting Cain’s words to Abel. It is possible that the elliptical text is original. Perhaps the author uses the technique of aposiopesis, “a sudden silence” to create tension. In the midst of the story the narrator suddenly rushes ahead to what happened in the field. It is more likely that the ancient versions (Samaritan Pentateuch, LXX, Vulgate, and Syriac), which include Cain’s words, “Let’s go out to the field,” preserve the original reading here. After writing אָחִיו (’akhiyv, “his brother”), a scribe’s eye may have jumped to the end of the form בַּשָּׂדֶה (basadeh, “to the field”) and accidentally omitted the quotation. This would be an error of virtual homoioteleuton. In older phases of the Hebrew script the sequence יו (yod-vav) on אָחִיו is graphically similar to the final ה (he) on בַּשָּׂדֶה.

[4:8]  ² tn Heb “arose against” (in a hostile sense).

[4:8]  ³ sn The word “brother” appears six times in vv. 8-11, stressing the shocking nature of Cain’s fratricide (see 1 John 3:12).

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through which.”

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through it.”

[12:24]  ⁶ tn The Greek word μεσίτης (mesith", “mediator”) in this context does not imply that Jesus was a mediator in the contemporary sense of the word, i.e., he worked for compromise between opposing parties. Here the term describes his function as the one who was used by God to enact a new covenant which established a new relationship between God and his people, but entirely on God’s terms.

[12:24]  ⁷ sn Abel’s shed blood cried out to the Lord for justice and judgment, but Jesus’ blood speaks of redemption and forgiveness, something better than Abel’s does (Gen 4:10; Heb 9:11-14; 11:4).

[12:1]  ⁸ tn Grk “having such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”

[3:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:11]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to show the contrast present in the context.

[3:11]  ¹¹ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in the translation to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).

[3:11]  ¹² sn Note the remarkable similarity of Jesus’ testimony to the later testimony of the Apostle John himself in 1 John 1:2: “And we have seen and testify and report to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us.” This is only one example of how thoroughly the author’s own thoughts were saturated with the words of Jesus (and also how difficult it is to distinguish the words of Jesus from the words of the author in the Fourth Gospel).

[3:12]  ¹³ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied to indicate that the verb is second person plural (referring to more than Nicodemus alone).

[3:12]  ¹⁴ sn Obviously earthly things and heavenly things are in contrast, but what is the contrast? What are earthly things which Jesus has just spoken to Nicodemus? And through him to others – this is not the first instance of the plural pronoun, see v. 7, you must all. Since Nicodemus began with a plural (we know, v. 2) Jesus continues it, and through Nicodemus addresses a broader audience. It makes most sense to take this as a reference to the things Jesus has just said (and the things he is about to say, vv. 13-15). If this is the case (and it seems the most natural explanation) then earthly things are not necessarily strictly physical things, but are so called because they take place on earth, in contrast to things like v. 16, which take place in heaven. Some have added the suggestion that the things are called earthly because physical analogies (birth, wind, water) are used to describe them. This is possible, but it seems more probable that Jesus calls these things earthly because they happen on earth (even though they are spiritual things). In the context, taking earthly things as referring to the words Jesus has just spoken fits with the fact that Nicodemus did not believe. And he would not after hearing heavenly things either, unless he first believed in the earthly things – which included the necessity of a regenerating work from above, by the Holy Spirit.