Abel (4)
Abel (הֶבֶל)., Philo, De Sacrif. Ab.et Cain, § 1 (Richter's ed.; p. 64 of Mangey's), explains ῎Αβελ by ἀναφέρων ἐπὶ Θεόν,. "referring to God," and more fully in Quod Det. Pot. Insid. § 10. (ibid. p. 197), ὁ μὲν γὰρ ῎Αβελ ἀναφέρων ἐπὶ Θεὸν πάντα φιλόθεον δόγμα, i.e. "for Abel, who refers everything to God, is, the God-loving opinion." Accordingly, Philo read, אבל, and dividing it into אב and אל, אל =Θεός, and א= ἀναφέρειν, like אבה, יא, "to desire" because he regards Abel as' φιλόθεος in opposition to Cain, whom he calls φιλαυτος, "self-loving." This explanation we also find in Ambrose, De. Cain et A b. i, 1: "Abel (dictus) qui omnnia referret ad Deumi pia devotus mentis attenntione nihil sibi arrogans ut superior frater, sed totum tribuens conditori quod accepisset ab eo." In De Migr. Abr. § 13 (ibid. p. 447), Philo writes: ὄνομα δέ ἐστι τοῦ τὰ θνητὰ πενθοῦντος καὶ ἀθάνατα εὐθαιμονίζοντος., According to this explanation, ςΑβελ — אָבֵל: "the sorrowing" (comp. Josephus, Ant. 1, 2 , ςΑβελσς σημαίνει δὲ πένθος τοῦτο). This second explanation of Philo we find in Theodoret, εἰς τὰ ἄπορ, τῆς θείας γρ; Erot.' ξ; and Euseb. Praep. Ev. (ed. Viger. Col. 1668), 11, 518. Jerome, in De Nom. Hebr, gives two explanations: luctus and "vapor," "vanitas," the latter referring to הבל.' L Between these two explanations Cyprian, Tract. de Sina et Sion, seems to vacillate, for he says, Abel films: — Ade nomen accepit Hebraicum signans fratris interfectionem (הבל) et parentum luctum (אבל)." (B. P.)
