Teks -- Genesis 4:2 (NET)

4:2 Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Gen 4:2

Abel signifies vanity. The name given to this son is put upon the whole race, Psa 39:5. Every man is at his best estate vanity; Abel, vanity. He chose that employment which did most befriend contemplation and devotion, for that hath been looked upon as the advantage of a pastoral life. Moses and David kept sheep, and in their solitudes conversed with God.

JFB: Gen 4:2 - Abel was a keeper of sheep

Literally, "a feeder of a flock," which, in Oriental countries, always includes goats as well as sheep. Abel, though the younger, is mentioned first, probably on account of the pre-eminence of his religious character.

Clarke: Gen 4:2 - And she again bare his brother Abel

And she again bare his brother Abel - Literally, She added to bear ( ותסף ללדת vattoseph laledeth ) his brother. From the very face of this account it appears evident that Cain and Abel were twins. In most cases where a subject of this kind is introduced in the Holy Scriptures, and the successive births of children of the same parents are noted, the acts of conceiving and bringing forth are mentioned in reference to each child; here it is not said that she conceived and brought forth Abel, but simply she added to bring forth Abel his brother; that is, as I understand it, Cain was the first-born, Abel, his twin brother, came next

Clarke: Gen 4:2 - Abel was a keeper of sheep

Abel was a keeper of sheep - Adam was originally a gardener, Abel a shepherd, and Cain an agriculturist or farmer. These were the three primitive employments, and, I may add, the most rational, and consequently the best calculated to prevent strife and an immoderate love of the world.

Calvin: Gen 4:2 - And she again bare his brother Abel // And Abel was a keeper of sheep

2.And she again bare his brother Abel ²²⁶ It is well known whence the name of Cain is deduced, and for what reason it was given to him. For his mother said, קניתי ( kaniti,) I have gotten a man; and therefore she called his name Cain. ²²⁷ The same explanation is not given with respect to Abel. ²²⁸ The opinion of some, that he was so called by his mother out of contempt, as if he would prove superfluous and almost useless, is perfectly absurd; for she remembered the end to which her fruitfulness would lead; nor had she forgotten the benediction, “Increase and multiply.” We should (in my judgment) more correctly infer that whereas Eve had testified, in the name given to her firstborn, the joy which suddenly burst upon her, and celebrated the grace of God; she afterwards, in her other offspring, returned to the recollection of the miseries of the human race. And certainly, though the new blessing of God was an occasion for no common joy; yet, on the other hand, she could not look upon a posterity devoted to so many and great evils, of which she had herself been the cause, without the most bitter grief. Therefore, she wished that a monument of her sorrow should exist in the name she gave her second son; and she would, at the same time, hold up a common mirror, by which she might admonish her whole progeny of the vanity of man. That some censure the judgment of Eve as absurd, because she regarded her just and holy sons as worthy to be rejected in comparison with her other wicked and abandoned son, is what I do not approve. For Eve had reason why she should congratulate herself in her firstborn; and no blame attaches to her for having proposed, in her second son, a memorial to herself and to all others, of their own vanity, to induce them to exercise themselves in diligent reflection on their own evils.

And Abel was a keeper of sheep. Whether both the brothers had married wives, and each had a separate home, Moses does not relate. This therefore, remains to us in uncertainty, although it is probable that Cain was married before he slew his brother; since Moses soon after adds, that he knew his wife, and begot children: and no mention is there made of his marriage. Both followed a kind of life in itself holy and laudable. For the cultivation of the earth was commanded by God; and the labor of feeding sheep was not less honorable than useful; in short, the whole of rustic life was innocent and simple, and most of all accommodated to the true order of nature. This, therefore, is to be maintained in the first place, that both exercised themselves in labors approved by God, and necessary to the common use of human life. Whence it is inferred, that they had been well instructed by their father. The rite of sacrificing more fully confirms this; because it proves that they had been accustomed to the worship of God. The life of Cain, therefore, was, in appearance, very well regulated; inasmuch as he cultivated the duties of piety towards God, and sought a maintenance for himself and his, by honest and just labor, as became a provident and sober father of a family. Moreover, it will be here proper to recall to memory what we have before said, that the first men, though they had been deprived of the sacrament of divine love, when they were prohibited from the tree of life, had yet been only so deprived of it, that a hope of salvation was still left to them, of which they had the signs in sacrifices. For we must remember, that the custom of sacrificing was not rashly devised by them, but was divinely delivered to them. For since the Apostle refers the dignity of Abel’s accepted sacrifice to faith, it follows, first, that he had not offered it without the command of God, (Heb 11:4.) Secondly, it has been true from the beginning, of the world, that obedience is better than any sacrifices, (1Sa 15:22,) and is the parent of all virtues. Hence it also follows that man had been taught by God what was pleasing to Him. thirdly, since God has been always like himself, we may not say that he was ever delighted with mere carnal and external worship. Yet he deemed those sacrifices of the first age acceptable. It follows, therefore, further, that they had been spiritually offered to him: that is, that the holy fathers did not mock him with empty ceremonies, but comprehended something more sublime and secret; which they could not have done without divine instruction. ²²⁹ For it is interior truth alone ²³⁰ which, in the external signs, distinguishes the genuine and rational worship of God from that which is gross and superstitious. And, certainly, they could not sincerely devote their mind to the worship of God, unless they had been assured of his benevolence; because voluntary reverence springs from a sense of, and confidence in, his goodness; but, on the other hand, whosoever regards Godhostile to himself, is compelled to flee from him with very fear and horror. We see then that God, when he takes away the tree of life, in which he had first given the pledge of his grace, proves and declares himself to be propitious to man by other means. Should anyone object, that all nations have had their own sacrifices, and that in these there was no pure and solid religion, the solution is ready: namely, that mention is here made of such sacrifices as are lawful and approved by God; of which nothing but an adulterated imitation afterwards descended to the Gentiles. For although nothing but the word מנחה ( minchah, ²³¹) is here placed, which properly signifies a gift, and therefore is extended generally to every kind of oblation; yet we may infer, for two reasons, that the command respecting sacrifice was given to the fathers from the beginning; first, for the purpose of making the exercise of piety common to all, seeing they professed themselves to be the property of God, and esteemed all they possessed as received from him; and, secondly, for the purpose of admonishing them of the necessity of some expiation in order to their reconciliation with God. When each offers something of his property, there is a solemn giving of thanks, as if he would testify by his present act that he owes to God whatever he possesses. But the sacrifice of cattle and the effusion of blood contains something further, namely, that the offerer should have death before his eyes; and should, nevertheless, believe in God as propitious to him. Concerning the sacrifices of Adam no mention is made.

Defender: Gen 4:2 - Abel

"Abel" means "vapor" or "vanity." By the time Abel was born, Eve was fully aware of the effect of God's curse on the creation, which was made "subject to vanity" (Rom 8:20).

Defender: Gen 4:2 - tiller of the ground

Both Cain and Abel had honorable occupations, Cain provided food for the family, and Abel tended sheep for clothing and sacrifice. As time would pass and populations would multiply, such specializations could provide the basis for trade and optimum implementation of the Edenic mandate."

TSK: Gen 4:2 - Abel // And Abel // a keeper // tiller

Abel : Heb. Hebel

And Abel : Gen 30:29-31, Gen 37:13, Gen 46:32-34, Gen 47:3; Exo 3:1; Psa 78:70-72; Amo 7:15

a keeper : Heb. a feeder, Gen 4:25, Gen 4:26; Psa 127:3; Joh 8:44; 1Jo 3:10, 1Jo 3:12, 1Jo 3:15

tiller : Gen 3:23, Gen 9:20

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Gen 4:2 - Abel

Abel signifies vanity, a vain, mortal, miserable man, whereas she thought Cain to be more than an ordinary man; or this name might prophetically design his miserable life, and untimely and unnatural death. To till the ground was esteemed a more honourable calling than that of a shepherd, and therefore either chosen by the elder brother, or allotted to him by his father.

Gill: Gen 4:2 - And she again bare his brother Abel // and Abel was a keeper of sheep // but Cain was a tiller of the ground

And she again bare his brother Abel,.... Or "added to bare" ^y, not directly or immediately, but perhaps the following year; though some have thought, because no mention is made of her conceiving again, that she brought forth Abel at the same time she did Cain, or that the birth of the one immediately followed upon that of the other: and it is the common opinion of the Jews ^z that with Abel, as with Cain, was born a twin sister, whom the Arabic writers ^a call Lebuda: the name of Abel, or rather Hebel, signifies not "mourning", as Josephus ^b observes, but "vanity", Eve not making that account of him as she did of Cain; or perhaps because by this time she became sensible of her mistake in him, or had met with something which convinced her that all earthly enjoyments were vanity; or by a spirit of prophecy foresaw what would befall this her second son, that he should be very early deprived of his life in a violent manner:

and Abel was a keeper of sheep: a calling which he either chose himself, or his father put him to, and gave him; for though he and his brother were born to a large estate, being the heirs of Adam, the lord of the whole earth, yet they were not brought up in idleness, but in useful and laborious employments:

but Cain was a tiller of the ground: of the same occupation his father was, and he being the first born, was brought up in the same business, and might be a reason why he was put into it.