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19 To me belongs every male that opens the womb among all your livestock, whether in the herd or in the flock.(A)

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19 “The first offspring(A) of every womb belongs to me, including all the firstborn males of your livestock, whether from herd or flock.

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[a]By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s. Through this he was attested to be righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and through this, though dead, he still speaks.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 11:4 The “Praise of the Ancestors” in Sir 44:1–50:21 gives a similar list of heroes. The Cain and Abel narrative in Gn 4:1–16 does not mention Abel’s faith. It says, however, that God “looked with favor on Abel and his offering” (Gn 4:4); in view of Hb 11:6 the author probably understood God’s favor to have been activated by Abel’s faith. Though dead, he still speaks: possibly because his blood “cries out to me from the soil” (Gn 4:10), but more probably a way of saying that the repeated story of Abel provides ongoing witness to faith.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended(A) as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.(B) And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.(C)

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