Genesis 4:14-17), and also for the development of the characters of these his two eldest sons.
Probably, therefore, it was only after Abel’s death that his sorrowing relatives called him the Breath that had passed away.Ībel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.-As Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born ( Genesis 5:3), there was a long period for the increase of Adam’s family (comp. Such names too as Esau, Jacob, and most of those borne by Jacob’s children, seem to have been playful titles, given them in the women’s tents by quick-witted nurses, who caught up any chance words of the mother, until at length it became the Jewish rule for women to name their children. Even then Esau was changed to Edom, and Jacob to Israel, while previously such names as Eber and Peleg, and earlier still Jabal and Jubal, must have been given to those who bore them from what they became. Giving names to children would become usual only when population increased and it was not till a religious rite was instituted for their dedication to God that they had names given to them in their infancy. Now, we can scarcely suppose that Eve so called her child from a presentiment of evil or a mere passing depression of spirits more probably it was a title given to him after his untimely death. Hebel means a thing unstable, not abiding, like a breath or vapour. An Accadian derivation would have been important, but Assyrian is only a Semitic dialect, and Abil is the Hebrew ben.
Really it is Hebel and there is no reason why we should prefer an Assyrian to a Hebrew etymology. Oppert imagined that it was the Assyrian Abil, a son. A few years later, after steady correspondence, Louise consents to share his ministry and she and her little son join the "Shepherd.Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) Abel.-Of this name Dr. William breaks the sad news to Tom s wife, but feeling that his life is consecrated to the people who nursed him back to health, he remains at the little pastorate in the western village. The terrible mental torture of the last few months proves too much for Tom's debauched vitality and he goes over the Divide in the house of his friend, requesting that he be laid to rest in the quiet church yard on the hill. Tom searches for him and they become reconciled. Conscience stricken, he rushes from the church to the consternation of all present and hastens back to the scene of his crime, where it is reported to him that William Barstow had only been wounded by the shot, has recovered and was now a pastor in a modest little church in the community. At their son's christening, while gazing abstractedly at a stained glass window back of the altar showing "Christ, the Good Shepherd," the picture suddenly fades away to a vision of the actual Christ with a lamb in his arms and then fades slowly into a vision of his victim, and to his horror the face revealed is that of his old time chum, William Barstow. However, the thought of his crime continually torments Tom and he becomes morose and neglectful and again takes to liquor. He intends to confess his crime to Louise and break their engagement, but hasn't the courage and they are married. The shot tells, however, and Tom returns east to avoid trouble. During a sort of feud between the sheep owners and cattlemen, Tom, in a drunken spree, takes a shot at a lone sheep herder, intending only to frighten him. The wild life of the cowboys appeals to him and he becomes a general favorite. After a quarrel with Louise, Tom goes west to visit a prosperous uncle who owns a ranch. He does not write his friends of his pinched circumstances and correspondence ceases.
William, who is broken in health through overstudy, goes west to regain his health, and takes up sheep herding. Both are in love with Louise Wentworth, who admires and respects William but is fascinated by the reckless Tom. William, on the contrary, is working his way through college and is industrious and sober. Tom Sanford, law student, and William Barstow, student for the ministry, are inseparable chums.