A´bel, properly Hebel, the second son of Adam, who was slain by Cain, his elder brother (Genesis 4:1-16). The circumstances of that mysterious transaction are considered elsewhere [CAIN]. To the name Abel a twofold interpretation has been given. Its primary signification is weakness or vanity. By another rendering it signifies grief or lamentation, both meanings being justified by the Scripture narrative. Cain (a possession) was so named to indicate both the joy of his mother and his right to the inheritance of the first-born: Abel received a name indicative of his weakness and poverty when compared with the supposed glory of his brother's destiny, and prophetically of the pain and sorrow which were to be inflicted on him and his parents.
Abel, 2
Abel, a name of several villages in Israel, with additions in the case of the more important, to distinguish them from one another. It appears to mean fresh grass; and the places so named may be conceived to have been in peculiarly verdant situations.
Abel, 3
Abel, Abel-beth-Maacah, or Abel-Maim. A city in the north of Palestine, which seems to have been of considerable strength from its history, and of importance from its being called 'a mother in Israel' (2 Samuel 20:19). The identity of the city under these different names will be seen by a comparison of 2 Samuel 20:14-15; 2 Samuel 20:18; 1 Kings 15:20; 2 Chronicles 16:4. The addition of 'Maacah' marks it as belonging to, or being near to, the region Maacah, which lay eastward of the Jordan under Mount Lebanon. This is the town in which Sheba posted himself when he rebelled against David. Eighty years afterwards it was taken and sacked by Benhadad, king of Syria; and 200 years subsequently by Tiglath-pileser, who sent away the inhabitants captives into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29).
This Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature is a 6 volume set in 1 book. It has over 2Read More
John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
Wikipedia