Jabal is an individual mentioned in the Hebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible

The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...

, in .

Family

Jabal was a descendant of Cain, the son of Lamech

Lamech

Lamech is a character in the genealogies of Adam in the Book of Genesis. He is the sixth generation descendant of Cain ; his father was named Methusael, and he was responsible for the "Song of the Sword." He is also noted as the first polygamist mentioned in the Bible, taking two wives, Ada and...

 and Adah, and the brother of Jubal

Jubal (Bible)

Jubal is an individual mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in .- Family :Jubal was a descendant of Cain, the son of Lamech and Adah, and the brother of Jabal, and half-brother of Tubal-cain and Naamah...

, half-brother of Tubal-cain

Tubal-cain

Tubal-cain is an individual mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, in . He was a descendant of Cain, the son of Lamech and Zillah, and the brother of Naamah.-Name:...

 and Naamah. He is described as the "ancestor of all who live in tents and raise livestock."

Theories

Francis Nigel Lee interprets Genesis 4:20 to mean that Jabal was both the "father of all cattle ranchers" and the "father of all tent-dwellers", and as such as the "pioneer of all livestock and agricultural technology" as well as the "pioneer of all architecture." Lee notes that Jabal was probably also a weaver, and thus "the pioneer of the clothing industry."

Gordon Wenham

Gordon Wenham

Gordon Wenham is an Old Testament scholar and author of several books about the Bible. Tremper Longman has called him "one of the finest evangelical commentators today."...

, on the other hand, understands the verse to indicate Jabal was the first "dweller with herds." That is, he was the "father of the Bedouin

Bedouin

The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...

 lifestyle." He notes that whereas Abel

Cain and Abel

In the Hebrew Bible, Cain and Abel are two sons of Adam and Eve. The Qur'an mentions the story, calling them the two sons of Adam only....

"merely lived off his flocks," Jabal could "trade with his beasts of burden," and that this "represents cultural advance."