4 The first example of faith is Abel, who brought God a more acceptable sacrifice than did his brother Cain (Ge 4:3-7). Scripture never says there was anything inherently superior in Abel's offering. Some passages refer to Abel as being a righteous man (Mt 23:35; 1Jn 3:12), while the author of Hebrews insists on the importance of Abel's faith. Abel was right with God, and his offering was a demonstration of his faith.

The passive voice in "was commended" (lit., "it was testified") implies that God is the subject; he bore witness to Abel's offerings. This indicates the importance that the author attached to Abel's sacrifice offered in faith, for rarely is God said to have borne witness. The meaning may be either that on the basis of Abel's sacrifice God testified to his servant or that God bore witness about the gifts Abel offered. The author then stresses that Abel is not to be thought of as one long-since dead and of no present account. He is dead, but his faith is a living voice.

12 The mention of Cain points back to 3:8 and reminds us that hatred is also from the beginning. The choice between the children of God and the children of the devil, between hatred and love or life and death, stems from the earliest moment of human existence. It also points to Jn 8:37-47, where some Jewish opponents of Jesus had exhibited the same kind of hatred toward Jesus that Cain expressed toward Abel (Jn 8:59). There Jesus labels his enemies as people who "belong to your father, the devil . . . [who was] a murderer from the beginning" (Jn 8:42).

The sequence of thought in this section is significant. It is not that Cain by murdering his brother became the child of the devil; but, being a child of the devil, his actions were evil and culminated in the murder of his brother. The reason why he "murdered" (lit., "butchered") him was that his brother's acts were righteous. Righteousness draws hatred from the devil and hatred from the children of the devil. Darkness cannot tolerate light; immorality, morality; hatred, love; or greed, sacrifice. This is the only direct reference to the OT in this letter.

24 The climax is reached with the reference to Jesus, seen here as "the mediator of a new covenant" (see comment on 8:6). The covenant involves "sprinkled blood" (cf. 9:19-22), which reminds us of the cost of the covenant. The idea of blood speaking is not common, and there is undoubtedly a reference to Ge 4:10, where Abel's blood cried from the ground for vengeance on his killer. But Jesus' blood speaks "a better word" than that. His blood opens up for us a way into the Most Holy Place (10:19), whereas Abel's blood sought to shut out the wicked person.