LatineEnglish
And it came to pass, after many days, that Cain offered of the fruits of the earth gifts to the Lord: Abel also offered of the firstborn of his flock, and of their fat.1
Factum est autem post multos dies, ut offerret Cain de fructibus terrae munera Domino: Abel quoque obtulit de primogenitis gregis sui, & de adipibus eorum.
Cur Abel obtulit primogenita gregis & adipem? An quia meliora esse solent primogenita, & dominis cariora, ob idque magis Deo grata & accepta: quod ipse Deus postea declaravit, lege per Mosem lata, praecipiens offerri sibi primogenita. Illud autem De adipe eorum, duplicem sententiam habere potest: vel quod Abel adipem animalium cremaverit, & adoleverit Deo, eo nempe modo, quo postea per Mosem fieri praecepit Deus: Vel significat obtulisse Abel Deo ex pecoribus maxime adipatis & pinguibus, ut ex hoc loco intelligere liceat, quae multis post saeculis per legem Mosis praescripta & praecepta sunt Hebraeis, ea iam inde ab exordio mundi in usu fuisse apud viros pios. Ex hac igitur narratione, apparet, oblationem Abel tribus de causis meliorem ac laudabiliorem fuisse, quam oblationem Cain. Fuit enim illa uberior & copiosior: fuit item electior & excellentior, id est, lectissimarum & optimarum rerum: fuit denique magna fide & eximia pietate animi Deo facta.
Why did Abel offer the firstborn of the flock and the fat? Was it because the firstborn are wont to be better and dearer to their masters, and on that account more pleasing and acceptable to God — which God himself afterward declared, in the law given through Moses, commanding the firstborn to be offered to him? But that phrase, 'Of their fat,' can have a twofold meaning: either that Abel burned the fat of the animals and consumed it to God (in that manner in which God afterward commanded to be done through Moses); or it signifies that Abel offered to God from the fattest and most fleshy of the cattle — so that from this passage one may understand that the things which many centuries later were prescribed and commanded to the Hebrews through the law of Moses, were already in use from the beginning of the world among pious men. From this narration, therefore, it appears that Abel's oblation was better and more praiseworthy than Cain's for three reasons. For it was richer and more copious; it was likewise more choice and more excellent, that is, of the choicest and best things; and it was finally made to God with great faith and singular piety of mind.2
Quamobrem merito eam oblationem laudavit Paulus cap. 11. epistolae ad Hebraeos ita scribens, Fide, plurimam hostiam Abel, quam Cain obtulit Deo: per quam testimonium consecutus est esse iustus, testimonium perhibente muneribus eius Deo, & per illam defunctus adhuc loquitur. Quem locum Pauli luculente tractans Rupertus libro quarto Commentariorum in Genesim capite secundo, ad hunc modum ait, Recte Paulus, inquit, fide Abel plurimam hostiam obtulisse: nam cultu vel religione potiorem uterque obtulit hostiam, siquidem uterque cui debuit obtulit, sed non recte uterque divisit. Nam Cain cum Deo offerret sua, seipsum sibi retinuerat, repositum habens in cupiditate terrena. Huiusmodi portionem Deus non accipit, Sed Praebe, inquit, fili cor tuum mihi: at Cain cor suum retinuit sibi, & fructus terrae obtulit Deo. Abel autem primo cor suum, deinde rem suam offerendo, plurimam hostiam per fidem obtulit: credendo scilicet futurum esse, ut versaretur, seu removeretur gladius ille, quem collocaverat Dominus ante Paradisum ad custodiendam viam ligni vitae, credendo, inquam, futurum esse illud semen mulieris, quod contereret caput antiqui serpentis. Hac fide emeritum, non dubitandum est prophetiae quoque spiritum accepisse, ut illud semen mulieris, inter quod audierat Deum posuisse inimicitias & inter semen serpentis, sciret non tantum fore semen mulieris sed & Fi...
Wherefore Paul rightly praised that oblation, writing thus in chapter 11 of the epistle to the Hebrews: 'By faith Abel offered to God a fuller sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained testimony that he was just, God bearing testimony to his gifts; and by it, being dead, he yet speaks.' Which passage of Paul, Rupert luminously treating in book four of his Commentaries on Genesis, chapter two, says in this manner: 'Rightly [says] Paul that by faith Abel offered a fuller sacrifice: for by worship or religion each offered the more excellent sacrifice — since each offered to him to whom he ought, but not rightly did each divide. For Cain, when he offered his things to God, had retained himself for himself, keeping [it] laid up in earthly desire. Such a portion God does not accept, but, "Give," he says, "my son, your heart to me": but Cain retained his heart for himself, and offered the fruits of the earth to God. But Abel, offering first his heart, then his thing, offered a fuller sacrifice by faith — namely, believing that it would come to pass that that sword should be turned aside, or removed, which the Lord had placed before Paradise to guard the way of the tree of life; believing, I say, that there would be that seed of the woman which should crush the head of the ancient serpent. Having merited by this faith, it must not be doubted that he also received the spirit of prophecy, so that he might know that that seed of the woman — between which and the seed of the serpent he had heard that God placed enmities — would be not only the seed of the woman but also the Son...'3
'...the Son of God, who, the true Lamb of God, by his innocence should trample the serpent's malice, and by his blood extinguish the flaming sword.' Thus Rupert.4
lium Dei, qui verus agnus Dei per suam innocentiam, serpentis conculcaret malitiam, & per suum sanguinem, flammeum gladium restingueret. Haec Rupertus.
Translator’s notes
- New lemma: Genesis 4:3-4a (marginal 'VERS. 3.'). ↩
- Commentary on Gen 4:3-4a. Why Abel offered firstborn and fat: the firstborn are better and dearer (God later commanded them, Exod 13); 'of their fat' = either burning the fat to God (as Moses later commanded, Exod 29, Lev 3), or offering the fattest — showing the Mosaic law was already in use among pious men. Abel's oblation was better than Cain's for THREE reasons: richer/more copious; choicer/more excellent; made with great faith and piety. Marginal glosses: 'Cur Abel obtulerit primogenita & adipem'; 'Exod. 13.'; 'Exod. 29.'; 'Levit. 3.'; 'Abelis oblatio melior oblatione Cain tribus de causis.' ↩
- Paul praises Abel's oblation (Heb 11:4, 'By faith Abel offered a fuller sacrifice... being dead, he yet speaks'). Rupert (Comm. in Gen. 4.2): each offered to the right one, but Cain 'divided' wrongly — retaining his heart in earthly desire (Prov 23:26, 'Give, my son, your heart to me'); Abel offered his heart first, then his thing, by faith — believing the flaming sword would be removed and the seed of the woman would come to crush the serpent; and, by that faith, receiving the spirit of prophecy to know that seed would be the Son [of God]. Marginal glosses: 'Explicatur locus Pauli qui est 11. cap. epistolae ad Hebraeos'; 'Egregia Ruperti sententia'; 'Proverb. 23.' Catchword: 'lium' (Filium; continues on the next page). Page footer signature 'ZZZ 2.' ↩
- End of the Rupert quote (Comm. in Gen. 4.2): Abel by faith foresaw that the seed of the woman would be the Son of God, the true Lamb, who by his innocence would crush the serpent and by his blood quench the flaming sword. Running head '722'; true printed page 732. ↩