Abel, of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat, &c.— Cain's offering was suitable to his profession, and Abel's was equally so to his: there does not appear to me any reason of preference on this account. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, Abel of the firstlings and fattest of his flock: for this, I apprehend, is clearly meant by what we render, and of the fat thereof. For the text may, with the greatest propriety, be rendered, Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fattest, or choicest of them. The word חלב cheleb, says the learned Stockius, denotes the best and most excellent of any thing: as Genesis 45:18. Ye shall eat the fat of the land, that is, the best and most excellent fruits of the earth. Compare Psalms 147:14.Deuteronomy 32:14. Numbers 18:12 the best of the wine, and the best of the oil, in the original, is cheleb, the fat. These are sufficient to justify my interpretation, which indeed the Syriac and Arabic versions support, each rendering it, the fattest of them.
The Lord had respect unto Abel— There is no difficulty in understanding what is meant by this phrase, which imports, that God gave Abel some evident token of his approbation of him and his gift, which he withheld from Cain: but the great question is, what this token was, and how it was given? Now the stream of interpreters, Jewish and Christian, agree, that it was by "fire consuming the offering." And if what I have observed on Numbers 3:24 be true, that there was a perpetual fire before the cherubim, the mercy-seat or Shechinah, we shall be under no great difficulty of receiving this interpretation, especially when we consider the many similar instances related in the scriptures. Bishop Patrick's note here is very judicious: "The Jews say, God testified his acceptance of Abel's offering by fire coming from heaven; (or rather, I think, by a stream of light, or flame from the Shechinah, or glorious presence of God,) to whom it was offered, which burnt up his sacrifice." Thus Theodotion of old translated these words, He looked upon Abel's sacrifices, and set them on fire.
But there is still another question respecting this matter, namely, why God gave this distinguishing mark of preference to Abel? A question, in my opinion, easily resolved by means of the author to the Hebrews, who tells us plainly, that by FAITH Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Hebrews 11:4. Now as without faith it is impossible to please God, Hebrews 11:6 we have here a clear demonstration in what the superior excellence of Abel's offering consisted. He brought it with a firm persuasion of the being of that God whom he came to worship, as well as with a satisfactory belief that what he was doing was acceptable to him, and would be rewarded by him, which necessarily implies all proper dispositions of mind. Cain was devoid of this faith, and brought his offerings either as a mere matter enjoined, or with a hypocritical pretence to devotion. And do we not discern this difference every day? Has it not been always discernible between the true and the false professors of religion, between those who come to God's holy altar in faith, and those who do not?
Some have observed on this passage, that Cain's offering was only a minchah or gratitude-offering, and that Abel's was a sin-offering in the proper sense of the word. This he offered, crediting the Divine promise of the Great Atonement: whilst his deistical brother contented himself with merely acknowledging the being and temporal bounty of a God. It has been also observed from the Hebrew text, that Abel brought both the minchah and the chatah, the thank-offering and sin-offering: and this the author of the epistle to the Hebrews seems to express, when he says, "God testified of his gifts" (in the plural). Hebrews 11:4.
Opinions have been very different concerning the institution of sacrifices; and we have neither compass here, nor, perhaps, sufficient ability at any time to decide this question. But if the interpretations we have given be just, the probability seems strongly on the side of their institution from the very beginning. The words remarked in Hebrews 11:3 seem to bear strong evidence; the similarity of the circumstances with the Jewish sacrifices, the mention of the first-born and fattest of the flock; St. Paul's calling Abel's offering a Θυσια, Hebrews 11:4 which properly denotes a slain victim, a bloody sacrifice; but, above all, the reason which he gives of God's preferring Abel's to Cain's sacrifice, seem to us to infer that the offerings were not arbitrary, but instituted by God: by faith Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice, &c.
It may further be observed, that upon the footing of original institution, it becomes easy to account for the practice of sacrificing throughout the world; a practice so unnatural in itself, that no tolerable solution of it can, in my judgment, be given, without referring to the great sacrifice of Christ, prefigured by those which God appointed. And it may still farther be urged, that as Noah, Abraham, &c. sacrificed, and no account is given of God's injunction to them, it is most reasonable to believe that the institution commenced from the time it became necessary, that is, from the fall.