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Abduction
/Kidnap, Kidnapping
Abecedary
/Alphabet
Abednego
/Azariah: Abednego; /Shadrach, Meshach,
Abednego
Abeille, Pierre-Csar
Abeille was a French composer (1674after 1733).
He composed settings of all the Psalms of David (in
two volumes) for the use of the convent of St Cyr.
Especially the later part is complex and subtle, with
instrumental accompaniment in a concertante style
featuring expressive declamation.
Bibliography: G. Bourligueux, Abeille, Pierre-Csar,
Grove Music Online (www.oxfordmusiconline.com, accessed
July 3, 2008).
Abel
I.
II.
III.
IV.
II. Christianity
This entry considers the character Abel himself,
and not his relationship to Cain, in ancient and medieval Christianity, especially in the West.
1. Literal Interpretations. Most of the authors
base their exegesis on the interpretatio (translation) of the name Abel. Jerome (Nom. hebr.,
CChr.SL 72, 60) proposed several possible meanings for the name: mourning [Heb. he bel], vanity, breath [Heb. hebel], miserable; these terms
are in the Aaz apprehendens collection of interpretationes (attributed to Stephen Langton), widely diffused
in the 13th century. Josephus had another interpre-
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Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 1 ( Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2009)
59
Abel
matic application, the parable implies a hermeneutical effort. Both aspects are found in the Fathers
and in medieval exegetes.
Almost all the authors make use of the typology
of Abel as a figure of Christ. The typology is built
on a series of analogies which are summarized, for
example, by Richard of St. Victor. Abel was
righteous and innocent in a manner similar to
Christ who committed no sin and whose mouth uttered no meanness. Abel was the first righteous human, chronologically speaking and foreshadowed
Christs supreme righteousness and holiness. Abel
offered to God the flesh of a sheep, pointing to
Christ who offered his own flesh as the Lamb of
God. God had regard for the offering of the righteous Abel, a precursor to Gods regard for the passion and sacrifice of Christ.
Additional analogies between Abel and Christ
appear in other texts. Abel the shepherd portends
the coming of the Good Shepherd (John 10 : 11).
Abel was killed by his brother, as Christ was killed
by his carnal brothers (the Jews). For Gregory the
Great (Moral. xxix.31.69), rather than a figure of
Christ, Abel is the announcement of the coming of
Gods Lamb, foreshadowing the role of John the
Baptist who testified to the coming of Christ (John
1 : 29). As Isaiah predicted the coming of Jesus (Isa
53 : 7), so Abel foretold it by his offering. The
theme of the Good Shepherd appears also in Isidore
of Seville.
Several texts of Saint Augustine expound the
idea that the Church began with Abel (Ecclesia ab
Abel). This theme is linked to the two cities (Augustine, Civ. xv). The conflict between Abel and Cain
foreshadowed the opposition between the Synagogue and the Church and the opposition between
good and evil. Another form of the theme Ecclesia
ab Abel can be found in Gregory the Great: he asserts that the limbs of our Redeemer, i.e., the
righteous saints throughout history, have existed
since the beginning. Abel is one of them, not only
because his sacrifice had been accepted by God, but
also because he died without uttering a word
(Moral. iii.17.32). For Rupert of Deutz, Abel represented all the righteous saints, but he is also the
type for those who perished in internal or civil
wars. Rupert suggests another curious allegory,
equating Abel with the saint Hippolyte, who was
killed by Decius. Rupert called Hippolyte the Abel
of the Nations (De sancto Spiritu vi.19).
A link was often seen between the story of Abel
and the sacrifice of the Mass or Eucharist. However,
there is an ambiguity in some texts, because Abels
offering as well as his own martyrdom were often
considered as a lesser prefiguring of the eucharistic
sacrifice. Abels martyrdom announced Christs future Passion which was the highest of sacrifices,
and the Eucharist was the reiteration of Christs
sacrifice which exceeded all previous sacrifices, in-
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Gilbert Dahan
III. Literature
In western literature Abel, the first murder victim,
is separately a vehicle of Christian typology and the
counter to whatever Cain represents.
Within medieval drama, the Anglo-Norman
Mystre dAdam most fully draws out the significance of Abel as a type of Christ, here offering himself as a willing sacrifice. The Ludus Coventriae was
singular in making Abels lamb the image of the
Christ destined to suffer on the Cross. The Rouen
Shepherds Play has an excursus on great shepherds
which refers to Abel alongside Moses, Jacob and
David.
Typifying the Romantic revolt, Grard de
Nervals Tale of the Queen of Morning and Solomon, the
Prince of Genii (1844) portrays Abel as a lazy shepherd, neglecting his flock. But he is part of the
God-transcending future vision in Leconte de
Lisles Quain (1869). In the more conventionally
moral world of Dickens the descendants of Abel
prevail persistently over those of Cain.
Jewish poetry of the 20th century focuses more
on the intrinsic qualities of Abel, as in Else LaskerSchlers Abel, part of Hebrische Balladen (1913).
Holocaust poetry took this further. In one of Uriel
Birnbaums sonnets Cain visits Abels grave and
discovers that his brother had a much happier life,
dying young.
In Christopher Frys play A Sleep of Prisoners
(1951), Private Peter Able is a Christ-figure, resisting his brothers violent outlook. In Sergeant Musgraves Dance (1960) by John Arden, the skeleton of
Billy Hicks plays the role of Abels blood, crying
out for justice. More recently the poetry of Hans
Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 1 ( Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2009)
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Anthony Swindell
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Ori Z. Soltes
See also /Cain (Person); /Cain and Abel, Story of
Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception 1 ( Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2009)