Such were the charges brought against Cain who made his offering after many days. But Abel brought other offerings and in other manner. His offering was living, Cain’s was lifeless. His was first in age and value, Cain’s but second. His had strength and superior fatness, Cain’s had but weakness. For we are told that Abel offered of the firstlings of the sheep and of their fat (Gen. 4:4). And thus he fulfilled the sacred ordinance, “It shall be when the Lord thy God has brought thee into the land of the Canaanites, as He sware to thy fathers, and shall give it unto thee, thou shalt separate everything that opens the womb that is male unto the Lord; everything that opens the womb from thy herds among thy cattle, all that are born to thee, the males to the Lord. All that opens the womb of an ass, thou shalt exchange for a sheep; but if thou dost not exchange it, thou shalt redeem it”(Exod. 13:11–13). That which opens the womb is the first-born, that is Abel’s gift, and the time and method of this offering is a matter for thy search. The fittest time indeed is when God has brought thee where reason is tossed to and fro, that is to the land of the Canaanites. He brought thee there in no random manner, but according to His own oath. And He brought thee there not to be carried hither and thither, ever passive amid the surge and eddy and swirl, but that quit of the wild sea thou shouldst spend thy days under clear sky and in calm water, and reaching virtue as an anchorage or roadstead, or haven of most sure shelter, mightest there find a stable resting-place.
On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain 27
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