Genesis 4:2

Abel Heb. Hebel= "breath," or "vapour," a name suggestive of fleeting life, cf. Job 7:16. No better explanation of the name is given. Assyriologists have suggested that the name reproduces the Assyrian aplu= "a son." But it is doubtful whether the resemblance is anything more than accidental. At any rate, no Babylonian version of this narrative has yet come to light. More probable is the suggestion that "Hebel" might represent a form of "Jabal," as the keeper of sheep (cf. Genesis 4:20). As in the case of Cain (see above), the original form and significance of proper names preserved in primitive folk-lore must be extremely uncertain. In the course of the transmission and repetition of the narrative, less known names would continually be altered to forms which would suggest familiar ideas.

keeper of sheep Abel is here mentioned first, as the representative of pastoral life. Cain follows the agricultural life, which was commanded for Adam in Genesis 3:17; Genesis 3:23. The calling of Abel is one for which the Israelites had a special fondness. The metaphors taken from the shepherd and the sheep are among the most frequent and the most striking in Holy Scripture.