The First Death

Ερώτησις ΜϚ' Τί δὴ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἡμαρτηκότος Ἄβελ ὁ δίκαιος ἐτελεύτησε πρῶτος; Σαθρὸν ἠβουλήθη ὁ Θεὸς γενέσθαι τὸν τοῦ θανάτου θεμέλιον. Εἰ γὰρ Ἀδὰμ πρότερος ἐτελεύτησεν, ἔσθεν ἂν ἐκεῐνος ἰσχυρὰν τὴν κρηπῖδα, πρῶτον νεκρὸν τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα δεξάμενος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τὸν ἀδικως ἀνῃρημένον ἐδέξατο πρῶτον, σφαλερὸν τὸ θεμέλιον ἔχει. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.145d-148a

Question 46 Why, when Adam was a sinner, was the righteous Abel the first to die? God wished death to have a weak foundation. For if Adam had perished first, death would have rested on a firmer foundation, since it would have received a sinner as the first dead man. Because, however, it first received him who was unjustly slain, it has a doubtful foundation. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis