Now comes a most instructive phrase in Hebrews’ treatment of Abel. The author clearly alludes in the last clause of Heb 11:4 to Gen 4:10 when he observes that Abel speaks in death. But there is a significant difference. In Gen 4:10 Abel’s blood cries out to God from the earth—surely as a cry for vengeance against his murderer which God duly executes by pronouncing judgment on Cain (Gen 4:11–12; cf. Rev 16:6; 17:6; and 18:24 in connection with Rev 19:2; Jub. 4:1–6). But in Heb 11:4, Abel himself speaks