The Pulpit Commentary — Genesis — Section 156

is not 11ecess:1ril,r implic,l in the toxt, And 1 Kings xv111. 38; Jerome, Chrysostom, Abel was a keeper ofsheep (1ro<f< ,),, 1rpo/3arw,,, Cyril). Theodotion renders lvi1ritp1aw, fa. LXX. ; the lot.tor form indmles goats-Levit. fimninant; nnd Hob. xi. 4, µaprvpoi,vroc i. 10), but Cain we.a a tiller of the ground. ,,.., roic 8wpo,,, is suppose,l to lend considor- These occupations, indirectly suggested by nble wei~ht to the opinion. Unto Abel and God in the command to till the ground and his offerrng. .Accepting first his person nnd the gift of the clothes of skin (Keil), were then his gift (cf. Prov. xii. 2 ; xv. 8; 2 Cor. doubtless both practised by the first man, viii. 12). " 'l'he sncrifico wns nccepted for who would teach them to his sons. It is the mnn, allll not the man for the sacrifice" neither justifiable nor necessary to trace a (Ainsworth); but still "without a doubt tho difference of moral character in the dilfercnt words of Moses imply tlll\t tho matter of callings which ihe young men selected, though Abel's oO'cring wns moro excellent and suit- prohahlr their choices were determined by nblc thnn that of Cain's," and ono can hardly their talents and their tastes . .Ainsworth sees entertain II doubt thnt this was the idea of in Abel n figure of Christ "in shepherdy as the author of tho Epistle to tho Ho brews" in sacrificing and martyrdom." (Prof. Lindsay, 'Lectures . on Hebrews,' Yer. 3.-And in process of time. Liter- Edin. 1867). Abel's sacrifice was 11'>..,iova, • ally, a, the end of the days, i e.-1. Of the fuller than Cain's; it had moro in it; it ~·ear (Aben Ezra, Dathe, De Wctto, Rosen- had faith, which wns ~anting in the other. miillcr, Bohlen), at which season the feast of It was also offered in obedience to Divine the ingathering was afterwards kept-Exod. prescription. The universal prevalence of xxi ii. 1G (Bush). A ristotlc, ' Ethics,' viii 2, sacrifice rather points to Divine prescription notes that anciently sacrifices were offered than to man's invention as its proper source. nftcr the gathering of the fruits of the earth Had Divine worship been of purely human (Ains,rnrth). 2. Of the week (Candlish). 3. origin, it is almost certain that gi·eater Of an indefinite time, years or days (Luther, diversity would have prevailed in its forms Kalisch). 4. Of some set time, as the be- Besides, the fact that the mode of worship ginning of their occupations (Knobel). It was not left to human ingenuity under the co.me to pass (literally, it was) that Cain Jaw, and that will-worship is specifically brought of the fruit of the ground an condemned under the Christian dispensation offering. e,,aia, LXX.; oblatio, Vulgate ; (Col ii .23), favours the presumption that speis-opfer, Luther. The minch-a of Hebrew it was Divinely appointed from the first. worship was a bloodless sacrifice, consisting "Ver. 6.-But unto Cain and to his offering of flour and oil, or flour prepared with frank- he had not respect. Because of the absence incense (Le,it. ii. 1). .All tree fruits and of those qualities which distinguished Abel gnrJen prodnce were excluded; it was limited and his offering ; not because the heart of to foe productions of agriculture and vine Cain was "no more pure," but "imbued growing (cf. Kurtz, 'Sacrificial ·worship,' with a criminal propensity" (Kalisch), which ~ 140). Here it includes both meat offerings it was· not until his offering was rejected. and animal sacrifices (cf. ver. 4 ). Unto the Tho visible sii,'ll, whatever it was, being Lord. Probably to the gate of the garden, awanting in the case of Cain'a oblation, its where the cherubim and flaming sword were absence left the offerer in" no dubiety as tc established e.s the visible monuments of the the Divine displeas1ne with both himself and Divine presence. his offering. In _the rejection of Cnin's Ver. ,{.-And Abel, he alao brought of the offering Bohlen sees the animus of a Levitical firstlinga of his 11.oek. Either the firstborn, narrator, who looks down slightingly on which God afterwards demanded (Exod. xiii. offerings of the fruits and flowers of. earth ; 12), or the choicest and best (Job xvi.ii 13; but, e.s Havernick well remarks, the theo- Jer. :x:xxi. 19; Heb. xii 23). And the fat cracy was essentially based on agriculture, thereof. Literally, the fatness of them, while the Mosaic institute distinctly recog- i c. the fattest of the firstlings, " the best nised the legality and value of bloodle:18 he had, and the best of those best" (Inglis ; offerings. And Cain was very wroth (lit<:r- cf. Gen. yJv. 18; Num. xviii. 2; Pa. clxvii a1ly, it burned with Cain exceedingly), and 14) ; a proof that flesh was eaten before the his countenance fell. In fierce resentm•mt Flood, since "it had been no praise to Abel against his brother, possibly in disappointed to offer tLe fatlings if he used not to eat of rage a,,aainst himself, almost certainly in them" (Willet), and "si antepoauit Abel a.ngeraga.inst God (cf. Neh. vi. 16; Jobxxix, utilit.ate suie Deum, non dubium quia soli- 24; Jer. iii. 12, and contrast Job xi. 16), tus sit ex labore suo utilitatem percipere" There was apparently no sorrow for sin, "no (Jnstin). And the Lord had respect. Liter- spirit of inquiry, self-examinntion, prayer to ally, looked wpon; i1r1,Jw, LXX. (cf. Num. God for light or pardon, clearly showing that xvi. 15); probably consuming it by fire from Cain was far from a right state of mind'· Leav,,n, or from the :flaming sword (cf. Levit. (Murphy). Yet the Lord does not .forthwith ix. 24 ; 1 Chron. xxi 26 ; 2 Chron. vii. 1 ; abandon the contumacious -and· insenllate CEI. JV. 1-16.] TUE ~OOK OF GENESIS. 7'J