This page was migrated in August 2022 from my older website, biblicalambiguities.net.
2 August 2022 Navigate 'up to the Genesis index: index-genesis.
KJV: And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and his offering ...
Though firstlings isn't quite contemporary English, the meaning is clear. It refers to the firstborn of animals, in line with the understanding found in the ritual passages of the Bible that firstborns were the property of God, and therefore were to be sacrificed.1
But the fat thereof is a bit less clear. Interpreters have gone in two directions with this. On the one hand, the word can be used for the fatty portions of the innards of the sacrificial animals. On the other hand, it is sometimes taken as referring to the fattest, that is, the best of the animals. Either interpretation is broadly in line with biblical ideas about sacrifice: the fatty portions of the animal were used for sacrifice, and it was considered desirable to give the best unblemished animals for sacrifice.
1 Or redeemed, as the case may be, but that's another story.
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