Abel's firstborn and fat portions; God has regard
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καὶ Ἄβελ ἤνεγκεν καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῶν πρωτοτόκων τῶν προβάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν στεάτων αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐπίδεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ Ἄβελ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ·
Abel's offering is doubly marked out — πρωτοτόκων, "of the firstborn," and ἀπὸ τῶν στεάτων, "from the fat portions" — the choicest part of the animal, which the Torah's later sacrificial law (Lev 3:16, 7:23-25) reserves for God alone. ἐπεῖδεν, "had regard," is the same compound Luke later uses of God's favor on Mary (Luke 1:25, ἐπεῖδεν, "he looked upon [me]") and Zechariah's song (Luke 1:68, ἐπεσκέψατο, a related compound) — the LXX and Luke share a vocabulary of divine "looking-upon" that marks favor, not mere observation. δῶρον, "gift," broadens θυσία's cultic register to the language of a gift given.
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