Introduction
Jabal is a son of Lamech and Adah, in the line of Cain, credited in Genesis 4:20 as "the ancestor of those who live in tents and have livestock", an early reference to the origin of pastoral, nomadic life in the biblical text's account of the development of human culture.
Family
A cultural founder
Along with his brothers Jubal and Tubal-cain, Jabal is one of three sons of Lamech each credited in a single verse with founding a distinct aspect of early civilisation: in Jabal's case, the pastoral, tent-dwelling way of life associated with herding livestock, one of several such brief "culture hero" notices in the early chapters of Genesis.