Hebrews 11:4

πίστει πλείονα θυσίαν.… “By faith Abel offered to God a more adequate sacrifice than Cain.” πλείονα literally “more,” but frequently used to express “higher in value” “greater in worth,” as in Matthew 12:41-42. πλεῖον Ἰωνᾶ ὧδε, Luke 12:23; Revelation 2:19. Does the writer mean that faith prompted Abel to make a richer sacrifice, or that it was richer because offered in faith? Many interpreters prefer the former alternative; [“Der grössere Wert seines Opfers ruhte auf dem Glauben, der Herzenshingabe, die ihn das Beste der Herde wählen liess” (Kübel).] and the choice of the word πλείονα is certainly in favour of this interpretation. διʼ ἧδ ἐμαρτυρήθη … “through which he was certified [or attested] as righteous”. It is questioned whether ἧς is the relative of θυσίαν or of πίστει. The succeeding clause which states the ground of the attestation, ἐπὶ τ. δώροις, determines that it refers to θυσίαν. God bore witness ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ, which is explained in Genesis 4:4 where it says ἐπεῖδεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ Ἄβελ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ. God looked favourably on Abel and on his gifts. How this favourable reception of his offering was intimated to Abel we are not told; but by this testimony Abel was pronounced δίκαιος, not “justified” in the Pauline sense but in the general sense “a righteous man”; as in Matthew 23:35 ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος Ἄβελ τοῦ δικαίου. But this is not all that faith did for Abel, for καὶ διʼ αὐτῆς ἀποθανὼν ἔτι λαλεῖ, “and through the same he, though dead, yet speaks,” i.e., speaks notwithstanding death. His death was not the end of him as Cain expected it to be. Abel's blood cried for justice. The words of Hebrews 12:24 are at once suggested, αἵματι ῥαντισμοῦ f1κρεῖττον λαλοῦντι παρὰ τὸν Ἄβελ, where the blood of sprinkling is said to speak to better purpose than the blood of Abel. This again takes us back to Genesis 4:10. “The voice of thy brother's blood cries to me from the ground.” The speaking referred to, therefore, is not the continual voice of Abel's example but the voice of his blood crying to God immediately after his death. Cf. Psalms 9:12; Psalms 116:15. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” In the case of Abel, then, the excellence of faith was illustrated in two particulars, it prompted him to offer a richer, more acceptable offering, and it found for him a place in God's regard even after his death.