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{{short description|Biblical figure}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2025}}
{{about|the biblical figure|other uses|Abel (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion           = [[Abrahamic religions]]
| image              = Sacrificio de Abel, de Juan Antonio de Frías y Escalante (Museo del Prado).jpg
| caption            = ''Sacrifice of Abel'' by [[Juan Antonio de Frías y Escalante]], {{circa|1667}}
| father             = [[Adam]]
| mother             = [[Eve]]
}}
'''Abel'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|eɪ|b|əl|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-Abel.wav}}; {{Langx|he|הֶבֶל}} ''Héḇel'', in [[pausa]] {{Script/Hebrew|הָבֶל}} ''Hā́ḇel''; {{langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἅβελ}} ''Hábel''; {{langx|ar|هابيل|Hābīl}}}} ({{Langx|he|הֶבֶל}} ''Hébel'', in [[pausa]] {{Script/Hebrew|הָבֶל}} ''Hā́ḇel''; {{langx|grc-x-biblical|Ἅβελ}} ''Hábel''; {{langx|ar|[[wikt:هابيل|هابيل]]}}, ''Hābēl'') is a biblical figure in the [[Book of Genesis]] within the [[Abrahamic religion]]s.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Abel |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abel-biblical-figure |access-date=29 October 2025 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> Born as the second son of [[Adam]] and [[Eve]], the first two humans created by [[God in Judaism|God]], he was a [[shepherd]] who offered his firstborn flock to God as a religious offering (Genesis 4:1–8). God accepted Abel’s offering but not that of his older brother [[Cain]], leading Cain to kill Abel out of jealousy; some later interpretations suggest that Cain may have slain him with a stone.<ref>{{cite web |title=Genesis 4:1–8 — Cain and Abel |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+4%3A1-8&version=NIV |access-date=29 October 2025 |website=Bible Gateway |publisher=Bible Gateway}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Bereshit Rabbah 22:7 (Genesis Rabbah 22:7) |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bereshit_Rabbah.22.7?lang=bi&ven=english%7CThe_Sefaria_Midrash_Rabbah%2C_2022 |access-date=29 October 2025 |website=Sefaria |publisher=Sefaria / Midrash Rabbah}}</ref> This act marked the first death in biblical history, making Abel the first murder victim.<ref name=":0" />

==Life and death==
{{excerpt|Cain and Abel|Genesis narrative}}

==Interpretations==
===Jewish and Christian interpretations===
According to the narrative in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], Abel is Eve's second son. His name in Hebrew is composed of the same three consonants as a [[Semitic root|root]] meaning "the air that remains after you exhale" also synonymous in Hebrew to "nothing", as stated in [[Ecclesiastes]]. [[Julius Wellhausen]] has proposed that the name is independent of the root.<ref>[[Julius Wellhausen]], ''Skizzen und Vorarbeiten'', volume 3, (1887), p. 70.</ref> [[Eberhard Schrader]] had previously put forward the [[Akkadian (language)|Akkadian]] (Old Assyrian dialect) ''ablu'' ("son") as a more likely etymology.<ref>[[Eberhard Schrader]], ''Die Keilinschrift und das Alte Testament'', 1872.</ref>
[[File:William Bouguereau - El primer duelo.jpg|thumb|right| ''[[The First Mourning]]'' (Adam and Eve mourn the death of Abel); oil on canvas 1888 painting by [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]] ]]
In Christianity, comparisons are sometimes made between the death of Abel and that of [[Jesus]], the former thus seen as being the first martyr. In Matthew 23:35 Jesus speaks of Abel as "righteous", and the [[Epistle to the Hebrews]] states that "The blood of sprinkling ... [speaks] better things than that of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24). The blood of Jesus is interpreted as bringing mercy; but that of Abel as demanding vengeance (hence the curse and mark).<ref>For copies of a spectrum of notable translations and commentaries see [http://bible.cc/hebrews/12-24.htm Hebrews 12:24] at the Online Parallel Bible.</ref>

Abel is invoked in the [[litany]] for the dying in the [[Roman Catholic Church]], and his sacrifice is mentioned in the [[Canon of the Mass]] along with those of [[Abraham]] and [[Melchizedek]]. The [[Alexandrian Rite]] commemorates him with a [[feast day]] on December 28.<ref>[[Frederick George Holweck|Holweck, F. G.]], ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co., 1924.</ref>

According to the Coptic [[Book of Adam and Eve]] (at 2:1–15), and the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] [[Cave of Treasures]], Abel's body, after many days of mourning, was placed in the ''Cave of Treasures'', before which Adam and Eve, and descendants, offered their prayers. In addition, the [[Seth]]ite line of the [[Generations of Adam]] swear by Abel's blood to segregate themselves from the ''unrighteous''.

In the [[Book of Enoch]] (22:7), regarded by most Christian and Jewish traditions as extra-biblical, the soul of Abel is described as having been appointed as the chief of martyrs, crying for vengeance, for the destruction of the seed of Cain. A similar view is later shown in the [[Testament of Abraham]] (A:13 / B:11), where Abel has been raised to the position as the judge of the souls.

In [[Bereshit Rabbah]] (22:2), a discussion of Gen. 4:1 ff. has Rabbi [[Joshua ben Karha|Yehoshua ben Korcha]] mentioning that Cain was born with a twin sister, and Abel with two twin sisters.  This is based on the principle that the otherwise superfluous accusative article "et" always conveys some additional teaching ([[Pesachim]] 22b). The "et"'s are parsed slightly differently in [[Yebamot]] 62a where the two "et"'s in Gen. 4:2 indicate Cain and his sister, and Abel and his (one) sister.

===Sethian Gnostic interpretation===
In the [[Apocryphon of John]], a work belonging to [[Sethianism|Sethian]] [[Gnosticism]], Abel is the offspring of [[Demiurge#Yaldaboath|Yaldaboath]] and [[Eve]], who is placed over the elements of water and earth as [[Elohim]], but was only given his name as a form of deception.<ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Marvin Meyer]]|author2=[[Willis Barnstone]]|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]]|chapter=The Secret Book of John|url=http://gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn-meyer.html|date=June 30, 2009|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Gnosticism - Apocryphon of John|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/gnosticism/Apocryphon-of-John|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=2022-01-28}}</ref>

==={{anchor|Hibil}}Mandaean interpretation===
{{main|Hibil}}
According to [[Mandaeism|Mandaean]] beliefs and scriptures including the [[Qulasta]], the [[Draša D-Iahia|Book of John]] and [[Ginza Rba|Genzā Rabbā]], Abel is cognate with the angelic [[Soteriology|soteriological]] figure '''Hibil Ziwa''',<ref>{{Cite book|isbn=978-1931956499|title=The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran|date=1932|author=Drower, E.S.|publisher=Gorgias Press.com|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/mandaeansofiraqi00esdr}}</ref> ({{langx|myz|ࡄࡉࡁࡉࡋ ࡆࡉࡅࡀ}}, sometimes translated "Splendid Hibel"),<ref>{{citation|mode=cs1 |url=http://www.gnosis.org/library/The_Mandaean_Book_of_John_Open_Access_Ve.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.gnosis.org/library/The_Mandaean_Book_of_John_Open_Access_Ve.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |first1=Charles G. |last1=Häberl |author-link=Charles G. Häberl |first2=James F. |last2=McGrath |author-link2=James F. McGrath |date=2019 |title=The Mandaean Book of John: Text and Translation |version=Open Access Version |publisher=De Gruyter |place=Berlin/Boston}}</ref> who is spoken of as a son of [[Hayyi Rabbi|Hayyi]]<ref name="ginza-alsaadi-r5-p78">{{cite book |section=Book Five: The Descent of the Savior |page=78 |quotation=My Father, Hayyi, said to me, "Why are you standing down Yawar? You are Yawar Hibil the messenger![…]" |title=[[Ginza Rabba]] |volume=Right Volume |last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed |edition=2nd |place=Germany |year=2019 |publisher=Drabsha}}</ref> or of [[Manda d-Hayyi]],<ref name="ginza-alsaadi-gloss"/><ref name="ginza-alsaadi-r5-p83">{{cite book |section=Book Five: The Descent of the Savior |page=83 |quotation=In gratitude we give thanks to Manda ʼd Hayyi and to his son Hibil, who established the order of Hayyi. |title=[[Ginza Rabba]] |volume=Right Volume |last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed |edition=2nd |place=Germany |year=2019 |publisher=Drabsha}}</ref> and as a brother to [[Enos (biblical figure)#In Mandaeism|Anush (Enosh)]] and to [[Seth#Mandaeism|Sheetil (Seth)]],<ref name="ginza-alsaadi-r5"/> who is the son of [[Adam]].<ref name="ginza-alsaadi-l1-1">{{cite book |section=Book One, 1st Glorification: The Return of Sheetil, son of Adam to the World of Light |pages=1–9 |title=[[Ginza Rabba]] |volume=Left Volume |last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed |edition=2nd |place=Germany |year=2019 |publisher=Drabsha}}</ref> Elsewhere, Anush is spoken of as the son of Sheetil, and Sheetil as the son of Hibil, where Hibil came to Adam and Eve as a young boy when they were still virgins, but was called their son.<ref name="ginza-alsaadi-r12">{{cite book |section=Book Twelve: The Second Illumination |pages=130–135 |title=[[Ginza Rabba]] |volume=Right Volume |last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed |edition=2nd |place=Germany |year=2019 |publisher=Drabsha}} [Note: this is book 10 in some other editions.]</ref> Hibil is an important [[lightworld]] being ([[uthra]]) who conquered the [[World of Darkness (Mandaeism)|World of Darkness]].<ref name="ginza-alsaadi-gloss">{{cite book |section=Glossary |pages=206–213 |title=[[Ginza Rabba]] |volume=Right Volume |last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed |edition=2nd |place=Germany |year=2019 |publisher=Drabsha}}</ref> As '''Yawar Hibil''', he is one of multiple figures known as '''[[Yawar Ziwa|Yawar]]''' ({{langx|myz|ࡉࡀࡅࡀࡓ|lit=Helper}}), being so named by and after his father.<ref name="ginza-alsaadi-r5">{{cite book |section=Book Five: The Descent of the Savior |pages=70–83 |title=[[Ginza Rabba]] |volume=Right Volume |last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed |edition=2nd |place=Germany |year=2019 |publisher=Drabsha}}</ref>

===Islamic interpretation===
[[File:NabiHabeel02.JPG|thumb|Grave of Abel within the [[Nabi Habeel Mosque]]]]
{{Main|Cain and Abel in Islam|Al-Ma'ida}}
[[File:NabiHabeel01.jpg|thumb|The [[Mausoleum]] of Abel in the [[Nabi Habeel Mosque]]]]
According to [[Shia Islam|Shi'a Muslim]] belief, Abel (''"Habeel"'') is buried in the [[Nabi Habeel Mosque]], located on the west mountains of [[Damascus]], near the [[Zabadani]] Valley, overlooking the villages of the [[Barada]] river (Wadi Barada), in [[Syria]]. Shi'a are frequent visitors of this mosque for [[ziyarat]]. The mosque was built by [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Wali (administrative title)|Wali]] Ahmad Pasha in 1599.

== In modern media ==
* Abel is portrayed by [[Franco Nero]] in the film ''[[The Bible: In the Beginning...]]'' (1966).
* [[Paul Rudd]] played the role of Abel in the 2009 film ''[[Year One (film)|Year One]]''.
* In the [[SCP Foundation|SCP series]], an anomaly named Able (with the codename SCP-076) is based on Abel.
* In ''[[Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor]]'', the main character Kazuya is the reincarnation of Abel. 
* [[Oasis (band)|Oasis]] frontman [[Liam Gallagher]] penned a song titled "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel", which appears on the band's 2005 album ''[[Don't Believe the Truth]]''.
* [[Patrick Stump]], the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the [[Rock music|rock]] band [[Fall Out Boy]], voices Abel in the second season of ''[[Hazbin Hotel]]''.

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Cain and Abel}}
{{Adam and Eve}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Cain and Abel| ]]
[[Category:Biblical murder victims]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Children of Adam and Eve]]
[[Category:Shepherds]]
[[Category:Uthras]]