The First Priest
by Patrick Henry Reardon
The Bible's initial reference to sacrifice comes immediately after the Fall and the irruption of death into man's expectation. When Genesis 4 begins, no human being has actually died, as yet,in the physical sense, but the reader already knows that the inevitability of death now marks human existence.
In this context, at this precise point, the Bible introduces the idea of sacrifice—an offering (minchah)—to the Lord: "Now Abel was a shepherd of a flock, but Cain was a tiller of the soil. And in due course it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat."
It seems useful to examine more closely Holy Scripture's opening mention of sacrifice. We observe, first, that God has said, so far, not a single word about sacrifice. There is no injunction; each man, in making an offering to God, simply follows a directive of his heart. It feels right to make a minchah to the Lord, so Cain and Abel do it.
Second, each man's sacrifice is related to his work. In both cases the offering is a dedication of human labor, a consecration of the economy. His minchah costs each man something. The offering cannot be made until it has been humanized through labor. Abel, for instance, does not bring a wild animal, nor does Cain present a plant that grows on its own.
Third, and by implication, only the minchah of Abel involves the death of something "animated" with a "living soul"—a nephesh chayyah. Every animal, the Bible declares, has a living soul (cf. Gen. 1:20,29–30); it is a feature they share with human beings: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the earth and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul"—nephesh chayyah (2:7). Consequently, there is a very deep affinity between man and the other animals. This means there is a quality very special about Abel's sacrifice, for it includes the death of something like himself. His immolation implies a substitution; it represents, in ritual form, an offering of himself.
Abel's sacrifice expresses, in addition, a religious consecration of death. It is the man's godly response to his mortality. This recently-become-mortal human being assumes the very curse of dying and presents it to God in a solemn act of worship. Abel thus takes on the role of our first priest, and his offering represents man's initial endeavor to return to his Creator.
As for the "living soul," the Hebrew nephesh chayyah is not a completely spiritual entity. It is, rather, a thing emphatically physical, because it is embedded in the blood. As the Book of Leviticus later explains, "the soul of the flesh is in the blood" (ki nephesh habasar baddam) (17:11). Blood is what Abel and his lamb have in common. So when Abel immolates his lamb, he literally pours out its soul unto death. In this ritual shedding of lamb's blood, Abel consecrates his life and his death to God.
It is important to see, I believe, that the Bible traces the priesthood back to Abel. Israel's elaborate sacrificial system was rooted in the deep intuition of humanity's first priest. Indeed, very much of the Torah is dedicated to making sure that God's people, when later they elaborate the ritual impulse of Abel (and Noah, Abraham, and the other patriarchs), should get it right. History testifies, after all, that sinful man, left to his own lights, is pretty certain to get it wrong. So a great deal of the Bible is concerned with the correct and proper way to do what Abel had in mind.
Gifts Among Friends
As for Abel himself, we know God was pleased with what he did: "And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering (minchah)." Abel's, after all, was not just any kind of offering. So the third-century rabbis at Alexandria, when they translated this last sentence into Greek, adopted a more discreet expression. They rendered it, "And God regarded Abel and his gifts (dorois)."
In this delicate nuance—this fine shading from "offering" to "gifts"—we perceive a subtler trait in the soul of Abel, a particular quality of his relationship with God. Gifts are exchanged, after all, among friends. Abel is not just complying with a religious injunction. When he renders back a portion of the Lord's gifts, Abel's immolation embodies an intimate and generous act of his heart. In the limited light available to his mind, he endeavors to please the Scrutator alme cordium, the "loving Searcher of hearts."
What shall we call this impulse to please God and strive to be his friend? The Epistle to the Hebrews, maintaining the Septuagint's wording of the same verse, calls it "faith." "By faith," it says, "Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts (dorois)" (11:4).
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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