Editing Abel (section)

===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.