Who was the first person to die in the Bible?

The first person to die in the Bible is Abel. Genesis 4 describes Abel as Adam and Eve’s second son and says that his brother Cain killed him after God favored Abel’s offering.

Abel worked as a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. Each brought an offering, but the biblical narrative says God regarded Abel’s offering favorably and did not regard Cain’s in the same way. Cain became angry and murdered Abel in the field. The story is therefore both the Bible’s first recorded human death and its first murder.

The text does not describe Abel’s exact cause of death beyond Cain’s attack, and later Jewish and Christian traditions supplied additional details. Abel is also remembered as a model of righteousness and, in Christian interpretation, as the first martyr. Cain was not the first person to die; he was the killer. Seth was born later as another son of Adam and Eve, described as taking Abel’s place in the family line.