Genesis 4:2
New International Version
Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.

New Living Translation
Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground.

English Standard Version
And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground.

Berean Standard Bible
Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.

King James Bible
And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

New King James Version
Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

New American Standard Bible
And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground.

NASB 1995
Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

NASB 1977
And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Legacy Standard Bible
And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground.

Amplified Bible
And [later] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground.

Christian Standard Bible
She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground.

American Standard Version
And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And she added to give birth to his brother Habyl, and Habyl was a Shepherd of sheep, and Qayn was a Farmer in the earth.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Contemporary English Version
Later she had another son and named him Abel. Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.

English Revised Version
And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Then she gave birth to another child, Abel, Cain's brother. Abel was a shepherd, and Cain was a farmer.

Good News Translation
Later she gave birth to another son, Abel. Abel became a shepherd, but Cain was a farmer.

International Standard Version
And she did it again, giving birth to his brother Abel. Abel shepherded flocks and Cain became a farmer.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And again she bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Literal Standard Version
and she adds to bear his brother, even Abel. And Abel is feeding a flock, and Cain has been servant of the ground.

Majority Standard Bible
Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil.

New American Bible
Next she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel became a herder of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the ground.

NET Bible
Then she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel took care of the flocks, while Cain cultivated the ground.

New Revised Standard Version
Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.

New Heart English Bible
Again she gave birth, to Cain's brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Webster's Bible Translation
And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

World English Bible
Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Young's Literal Translation
and she addeth to bear his brother, even Abel. And Abel is feeding a flock, and Cain hath been servant of the ground.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Cain and Abel
1And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said. 2Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. 3So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD,…

Cross References
Luke 11:50
As a result, this generation will be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world,

Luke 11:51
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, all of it will be charged to this generation.

Genesis 4:1
And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man," she said.

Genesis 4:3
So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD,

Genesis 46:32
The men are shepherds; they raise livestock, and they have brought their flocks and herds and all that they own.'

Genesis 47:3
"What is your occupation?" Pharaoh asked Joseph's brothers. "Your servants are shepherds," they replied, "both we and our fathers."


Treasury of Scripture

And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

Abel.

Genesis 30:29-31
And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me…

Genesis 37:13
And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.

Genesis 46:32-34
And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle; and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have…

a keeper.

Genesis 4:25,26
And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew…

Psalm 127:3
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

tiller.

Genesis 3:23
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Genesis 9:20
And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:

Jump to Previous
Abel Addeth Bare Bear Birth Bore Cain Cain's Child Farmer Feeding Flock Flocks Further Ground Husbandman Keeper Kept Later Servant Sheep Shepherd Soil Tiller Worked
Jump to Next
Abel Addeth Bare Bear Birth Bore Cain Cain's Child Farmer Feeding Flock Flocks Further Ground Husbandman Keeper Kept Later Servant Sheep Shepherd Soil Tiller Worked
Genesis 4
1. The birth, occupation, and offerings of Cain and Abel.
8. Cain murders his brother Abel.
11. The curse of Cain.
17. Has a son called Enoch, and builds a city, which he calls after his name.
18. His descendants, with Lamech and his two wives.
25. The birth of Seth,
26. and Enos.














(2) Abel.--Of this name Dr. Oppert imagined that it was the Assyrian Abil, a son. Really it is Hebel; and there is no reason why we should prefer an Assyrian to a Hebrew etymology. An Accadian derivation would have been important, but Assyrian is only a Semitic dialect, and Abil is the Hebrew ben. Hebel means a thing unstable, not abiding, like a breath or vapour. Now, we can scarcely suppose that Eve so called her child from a presentiment of evil or a mere passing depression of spirits; more probably it was a title given to him after his untimely death. Giving names to children would become usual only when population increased; and it was not till a religious rite was instituted for their dedication to God that they had names given to them in their infancy. Even then Esau was changed to Edom, and Jacob to Israel, while previously such names as Eber and Peleg, and earlier still Jabal and Jubal, must have been given to those who bore them from what they became. Such names too as Esau, Jacob, and most of those borne by Jacob's children, seem to have been playful titles, given them in the women's tents by quick-witted nurses, who caught up any chance words of the mother, until at length it became the Jewish rule for women to name their children. Probably, therefore, it was only after Abel's death that his sorrowing relatives called him the Breath that had passed away.

Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.--As Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born (Genesis 5:3), there was a long period for the increase of Adam's family (comp. Genesis 4:14-17), and also for the development of the characters of these his two eldest sons. In the one we seem to see a rough, strong nature, who took the hard work as he found it, and subdued the ground with muscular energy; in the other a nature more refined and thoughtful, and making progress upwards. Adam had already tamed animals in Paradise: to these Abel devotes himself, tends them carefully, and gains from them ample and easy means of sustenance, higher in kind even than the fruits of Paradise. Round these two the other sons and daughters of Adam group themselves, and Cain seems already to have had a wife when he murdered his brother (Genesis 4:17).

Verse 2. - And she again bare (literally, added to bear, a Hebraism adopted in the New Testament; vide Luke 20:11) his brother Abel. Habel (vanity), supposed to hint either that a mother's eager hopes had already begun to be disappointed in her eider son, or that, having in her first child's name given expression to her faith, in this she desired to preserve a monument of the miseries of human life, of which, perhaps, she had been forcibly reminded by her own maternal sorrows. Perhaps also, though unconsciously, a melancholy prophecy of his premature removal by the hand of fratricidal rage, to which it has been thought there is an outlook by the historian In the frequent (seven times repeated) and almost pathetic mention of the fact that Abel was Cain s brother. The absence of the usual expression וַתַּהַר, as well as the peculiar phraseology et addidit parere has suggested that Abel was Cain's twin brother (Calvin, Kimchi, Candlish), though this is not necessarily implied in the text. And Abel was a keeper of sheep (ποιμὴν προβάτων, LXX.; the latter term includes goats - Leviticus 1:10), but Cain was a tiller of the ground. These occupations, indirectly suggested by God in the command to till the ground and the gift of the clothes of skin (Keil), were doubtless both practiced by the first man, who would teach them to his sons. It is neither justifiable nor necessary to trace a difference of moral character in the different callings which the young men selected, though probably their choices were determined by their talents and their tastes. Ainsworth sees in Abel a figure of Christ "in shepherd as in sacrificing and martyrdom."

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Later
וַתֹּ֣סֶף (wat·tō·sep̄)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3254: To add, augment

she gave birth
לָלֶ֔דֶת (lā·le·ḏeṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 3205: To bear young, to beget, medically, to act as midwife, to show lineage

to [Cain’s] brother
אָחִ֖יו (’ā·ḥîw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 251: A brother, )

Abel.
הָ֑בֶל (hā·ḇel)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1893: Abel -- the second son of Adam

Now
וַֽיְהִי־ (way·hî-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

Abel
הֶ֙בֶל֙ (he·ḇel)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1893: Abel -- the second son of Adam

was
הָיָ֖ה (hā·yāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

a keeper
רֹ֣עֵה (rō·‘êh)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct
Strong's 7462: To tend a, flock, pasture it, in, to graze, to rule, to associate with

of sheep,
צֹ֔אן (ṣōn)
Noun - common singular
Strong's 6629: Small cattle, sheep and goats, flock

but Cain
וְקַ֕יִן (wə·qa·yin)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 7014: Cain -- a city in southern Judah

was a tiller
עֹבֵ֥ד (‘ō·ḇêḏ)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

of the soil.
אֲדָמָֽה׃ (’ă·ḏā·māh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 127: Ground, land


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OT Law: Genesis 4:2 Again she gave birth to Cain's brother (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 4:1
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