Abel

5 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Abel
       n 1: Norwegian mathematician (1802-1829) [syn: {Niels Abel}, {Niels
            Henrik Abel}]
       2: (Old Testament) Cain and Abel were the first children of
          Adam and Eve born after the Fall of Man; Abel was killed
          by Cain



From Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms (Version 1.9, June 2002) [vera]:

  ABEL
       Advanced Boolean Expression Language
       
       

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Abel
     (Heb. Hebhel), a breath, or vanity, the second son of Adam and
     Eve. He was put to death by his brother Cain (Gen. 4:1-16).
     Guided by the instruction of their father, the two brothers were
     trained in the duty of worshipping God. "And in process of time"
     (marg. "at the end of days", i.e., on the Sabbath) each of them
     offered up to God of the first-fruits of his labours. Cain, as a
     husbandman, offered the fruits of the field; Abel, as a
     shepherd, of the firstlings of his flock. "The Lord had respect
     unto Abel and his offering; but unto Cain and his offering he
     had not respect" (Gen. 4:3-5). On this account Cain was angry
     with his brother, and formed the design of putting him to death;
     a design which he at length found an opportunity of carrying
     into effect (Gen. 4:8,9. Comp. 1 John 3:12). There are several
     references to Abel in the New Testament. Our Saviour speaks of
     him as "righteous" (Matt. 23:35). "The blood of sprinkling" is
     said to speak "better things than that of Abel" (Heb. 12:24);
     i.e., the blood of Jesus is the reality of which the blood of
     the offering made by Abel was only the type. The comparison here
     is between the sacrifice offered by Christ and that offered by
     Abel, and not between the blood of Christ calling for mercy and
     the blood of the murdered Abel calling for vengeance, as has
     sometimes been supposed. It is also said (Heb. 11:4) that "Abel
     offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." This
     sacrifice was made "by faith;" this faith rested in God, not
     only as the Creator and the God of providence, but especially in
     God as the great Redeemer, whose sacrifice was typified by the
     sacrifices which, no doubt by the divine institution, were
     offered from the days of Adam downward. On account of that
     "faith" which looked forward to the great atoning sacrifice,
     Abel's offering was accepted of God. Cain's offering had no such
     reference, and therefore was rejected. Abel was the first
     martyr, as he was the first of our race to die.
     
       Abel (Heb. 'abhel), lamentation (1 Sam. 6:18), the name given
     to the great stone in Joshua's field whereon the ark was "set
     down." The Revised Version, however, following the Targum and
     the LXX., reads in the Hebrew text _'ebhen_ (= a stone), and
     accordingly translates "unto the great stone, whereon they set
     down the ark." This reading is to be preferred.
     
       Abel (Heb. 'abhel), a grassy place, a meadow. This word enters
     into the composition of the following words:
     

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Abel, vanity; breath; vapor
  

From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:

  Abel, a city; mourning