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"Bible Q&A" Where did Cain's Wife come From? (Three answers from the Bible) 1 See this page in: Dutch (Nederlands), French (Français), German (Deutsch), Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia), Japanese, Russian, Spanish (Español) We don't even know her name, yet she was discussed at theScopes trial, mentioned in the play and movie “Inherit the Wind”[1] and the book and movie “Contact,”[2] and has been talked about in countries all over the world. Is she the most-talked-about wife in history? Skeptics have used Cain's wife time and again to try to discredit theBook of Genesis as a true historical record. Sadly, most Christians have not been able to give an adequate answer to this question. As a result, the world thinks Christians cannot defend the authority of Scripture and, thus, the Christian faith. For instance, at the historic Scopes trial in Tennessee in 1925, William Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor who stood for the Christian faith, failed to answer the question about Cain's wife posed by the outspokenly anti-Christian ACLU[3] lawyer Clarence Darrow.[4] The world's press was focused on this trial, and what they heard has affected Christianity to this day—Christians are seen as unable to defend the biblical record. And skeptics then make the logically fallacious jump of concluding that the biblical record is indefensible! The agnostic Carl Sagan used this same question in his book Contact[5](which was on The New York Times best-seller list), and the movie “Contact,” which was based on Sagan's book, also used it. In the book, the fictional character Ellie could not get answers aboutCain's wife, and other questions, from a minister's wife, who was the leader of a church discussion group.[6] Sagan cleverly used common questions—such as “Who was Cain's wife?”—questions that are often directed at Christians in an attempt to prove the Bible cannot be defended. Sadly, most Christians probably could not answer these questions! And yet, there are answers. But, since most churches are lacking in the teaching of apologetics,[7] particularly in regard to the Book of Genesis, most believers in the church are not “ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope in you” (1 Peter 3:15). Many skeptics have claimed that, for Cain to find a wife, there must have been other “races” of people on the earth who were not descendants ofAdam and Eve. To many people, this question is a stumbling block to accepting the creation account in Genesis and its record of only one man and woman at the beginning of history—a record on which many Old andNew Testament doctrines depend. Defenders of the gospel must be able to show that all human beings are descendants of one man and one woman (Adam and Eve)—as only those people who are descendants of Adam and Eve can be saved. Thus, believers need to be able to account for Cain's wife and show clearly that she was a descendant of Adam and Eve. (The relevant Biblepassage is Genesis 4:1-5:5.) Before we answer this question, we will first show how important it is to the meaning of the gospel. Therefore, even as through one mansin entered into the world, and deathby sin, and so death passed on all men inasmuch as all sinned (Romans 5:12). We read in 1 Corinthians 15:45 that Adamwas “the first man.” God did not start by making a whole group of men. The Bible makes it clear that only the descendants of Adam can besaved. Romans 5 teaches that we sin because Adam sinned. The deathpenalty, which Adam received as judgment for his sin of rebellion, also passed on to all his descendants. Since Adam was the head of the human race when he “fell,” we who were in the loins of Adam “fell,” also. Thus, we are all separated from God. The final consequence of sin would be separation from God in our sinful stateforever. However, the good news is that there is a way for us to return to God! Because a man brought sin and death into the world, all the descendants of Adam need a sinless Man to pay the penalty for sin and the resultingjudgment of death. However, the Bible teaches that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). What is the solution? God provided the solution—a way to deliver man from his wretched state. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15that God provided another Adam! The Son of Godtook on a human nature in addition to His full divinity, becoming a perfect God-man—Jesus Christ. In Hishumanity, He was a descendant of Adam (throughNoah, Abraham and David)—He thus became ourrelation! He is called “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45), because he took the place of the first Adam. He became the new head, and, because he was sinless, He was able to pay the penalty for sin: Christ suffered death (the penalty for sin) on the cross, shedding his blood(“without shedding of blood is no remission” Hebrews 9:22) so that those who repent of their sin of rebellion and put their trust in His work on the cross can be reconciled to God. Since the Bible describes all human beings as sinners, except the God-Man Jesus, and we are all related (“And He has made all nations of men of one blood to dwell on all the face of the earth” Acts 17:26), the gospelmakes sense only on the basis that all humans alive and all who have ever lived are descendants of the first man Adam.[9] If this were not so, then the gospel could not be explained or defended. The Book of Hebrews amplifies how Jesus took upon himself the nature of a man to save mankind (Hebrews 2:11-18). Thus, only descendants of the first man Adam can be saved. Thus, there was only one man at the beginning—made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). This also means that Cain's wife was a descendant of Adam. She could not have come from another “race” of people and must be one of Adam's descendants. In Genesis 3:20 we read, “And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.”[10] In other words, all people are descendants of Adam and Eve—she was the first woman. Eve was made from Adam's rib (or side) (Genesis 2:21-24)—this was a unique event. Jesus (Matthew 19:4-6) and Paul (Ephesians 5:31) use this historical and one-time event as the doctrinal foundation for the marriageof one man to one woman. Also, in Genesis 2:20, we are told that when Adam looked at the animals, he could not find a mate—there was no one of his kind. All this makes it obvious that there was only one woman, Adam's wife, at the beginning. There were never any other women around who were notEve's descendants. If Christians cannot defend that all humans (including Cain's wife) can trace their ancestry ultimately to Adam and Eve, then how can they understand and explain the gospel? How can they justify sending missionaries to every tribe and nation? Therefore, one needs to be able to answer the question about Cain's wife, to illustrate that Christians candefend the gospel and all that it teaches. Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve recorded in Scripture (Genesis 4:1). His brothers, Abel (Genesis 4:2) and Seth (Genesis 4:25), were part of the first generation of children ever born on this earth. Even though only these three males are mentioned by name, Adam andEve had other children. In Genesis 5:4 a statement sums up the life ofAdam and Eve—“And the days of Adam after he had fathered Seth were eight hundred years. And he fathered sons and daughters.” This does not say when they were born. Many could have been born in the 130 years (Genesis 5:3) before Seth was born. During their lives, Adam and Eve had a number of male and female children. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that, “The number ofAdam's children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.”[11] The Bible does not tell us how many children were born to Adam and Eve. However, considering their long life spans (Adam lived for 930 years—Genesis 5:5), it would seem reasonable to suggest there were many! Remember, They were commanded to “Be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). If we now work totally from Scripture, without any personal prejudices or other extra-biblical ideas, then back at the beginning, when there was only the first generation, brothers would have had to have married sisters or there would be no more generations! We are not told when Cain married or any of the details of othermarriages and children, but we can say for certain that some brothers had to marry their sisters at the beginning of human history. Many people immediately reject the conclusion that Adam and Eve's sons and daughters married each other by appealing to the law against brother-sister intermarriage. Some say that you cannot marry your relation. Actually, if you don't marry your relation, you don't marry a human! A wife is related to her husband even before they marry because allpeople are descendants of Adam and Eve—all are of “one blood.” The law forbidding marriage between close relatives was not given until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18-20). Provided marriage was one man to one woman for life (based on Genesis 1 and 2), there was no disobedience toGod's law originally when close relatives (even brothers and sisters) married each other. Remember that Abraham married his half-sister (Genesis 20:12). Godblessed this union to produce the Hebrew people through Isaac andJacob. It was not until some 400 years later that God gave Moses lawsthat forbade such marriages. Today, brothers and sisters (and half-brothers and half-sisters, etc.) are not permitted by law to marry because their children have an unacceptably high risk of being deformed. The more closely the parents are related, the more likely it is that any offspring will be deformed. There is a very sound genetic reason for such laws that is easy to understand. Every person has two sets of genes, there being some 130,000 pairs that specify how a person is put together and functions. Each person inherits one gene of each pair from each parent. Unfortunately, genes today contain many mistakes (because of sin and the Curse), and these mistakes show up in a variety of ways. For instance, some people let their hair grow over their ears to hide the fact that one ear is lower than the other—or perhaps someone's nose is not quite in the middle of his or her face, or someone's jaw is a little out of shape—and so on. Let's face it, the main reason we call each other normal is because of our common agreement to do so! The more distantly related parents are, the more likely it is that they will have different mistakes in their genes. Children, inheriting one set of genes from each parent, are likely to end up with pairs of genes containing a maximum of one bad gene in each pair. The good gene tends to override the bad so that a deformity (a serious one, anyway) does not occur. Instead of having totally deformed ears, for instance, a person may only have crooked ones! (Overall, though, the human race is slowly degenerating as mistakes accumulate, generation after generation.) However, the more closely related two people are, the more likely it is that they will have similar mistakes in their genes, since these have been inherited from the same parents. Therefore, a brother and a sister are more likely to have similar mistakes in their genes. A child of a union between such siblings could inherit the same bad gene on the same gene pair from both, resulting in two bad copies of the gene and serious defects. Adam and Eve did not have accumulated genetic mistakes. When the first two people were created, they were physically perfect. EverythingGod made was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), so their genes were perfect—no mistakes! But, when sin entered the world (because ofAdam—Genesis 3:6, Romans 5:12), God cursed the world so that the perfect creation then began to degenerate, that is, suffer death and decay (Romans 8:22). Over thousands of years, this degeneration has produced all sorts of genetic mistakes in living things. Cain was in the first generation of children ever born. He (as well as his brothers and sisters) would have have received virtually no imperfect genes from Adam or Eve, since the effects of sin and the Curse would have been minimal to start with (it takes time for these copying errors to accumulate). In that situation, brother and sister could have married withGod's approval, without any potential to produce deformed offspring. By the time of Moses (a few thousand years later), degenerative mistakes would have built up in the human race to such an extent that it was necessary for God to forbid brother-sister (and close relative) marriage(Leviticus 18-20).[12] (Also, there were plenty of people on the earth by then, and there was no reason for close relations to marry.) Some claim that the passage in Genesis 4:16-17 means that Cain went to the land of Nod and found a wife. Thus, they can conclude there must have been another race of people on the earth, who were not descendants of Adam, who produced Cain's wife. From what has been stated previously, it is clear that all humans, Cain'swife included, are descendants of Adam. However, this passage doesnot say that Cain went to the land of Nod and found a wife. John Calvin, commenting on these verses, states: Cain was married before he went to the land of Nod. He didn't find a wifethere, but “knew” (had sexual relations with) his wife.[14] Others have argued that because Cain built a “city” in the land of Nod, there must have been a lot of people there. However, the Hebrew word translated as “city” need not mean what we might imagine from the connotations of “city” today. The word meant a “walled town” or a protected encampment.[15] Even a hundred people would be plenty for such a “city.” Nevertheless, there could have been many descendants ofAdam on the earth by the time of Abel's death (see below). Some claim that there had to be lots of people on earth other than Adam and Eve's descendants, otherwise Cain would not have been fearful of people wanting to slay him for killing Abel. First of all, in the days before civil government was instituted to punish murderers (Genesis 9:6), someone would want to harm Cain for killingAbel only if they were closely related to Abel! Strangers could hardly have cared. So the people Cain was afraid of could not have been another race of people. Second, Cain and Abel were born quite some time before Abel's death.Genesis 4:3 states: Note the phrase “in the course of time.” We know that Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old (Genesis 5:3), and Eve saw him as a “replacement” for Abel (Genesis 4:25). Therefore, the period from Cain's birth to Abel's death may have been 100 years or more—allowing plenty of time for other children of Adam and Eve to marry and have children and grandchildren. By the time Abel was killed, there could well have been a considerable number of descendants of Adam and Eve, involving several generations. Some claim that for Cain to go to the land of Nod and build a city he would have required a lot of technology that must have already been in that land, presumably developed by other “races.” However, Adam and Eve's descendants were very intelligent people.Jubal made musical instruments such as the harp and organ (Genesis 4:21), and Tubal-Cain worked with brass and iron (Genesis 4:22). Because of intense evolutionary indoctrination, many people today think that our generation is the most intelligent that has ever lived on this planet. But just because we have jet airplanes and computers, it does not mean that we are the most intelligent. Modern technology results from the accumulation of knowledge. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. Our brains have suffered from 6,000 years of the Curse (since Adam). We are greatly degenerated compared with people many generations ago. We may now be nowhere near as intelligent or inventive as Adamand Eve's children. Scripture gives us a glimpse of what appears to be great inventiveness from the beginning.[16] Many Christians cannot answer the question about Cain's wife because they focus on today's world (and the problems associated with close relations marrying), and do not understand the clear historical record Godhas given to us. They try to interpret Genesis from our present situation, rather than understand the true biblical history of the world and the changes that have occurred because of sin. Because they are not building their world view on Scripture, but taking a secular way of thinking to the Bible, they are blinded to the simple answers. Genesis is the record of the God who was there as history happened. It is the word of One who knows everything, and who is a reliable witness from the past. Thus, when we use Genesis as a basis for understanding history, we can make sense of questions that would otherwise be a mystery. We don’t even know her name, yet she was discussed at the Scopes Trial, mentioned in the movies Inherit the Wind1 and Contact,2 and talked about in countries all over the world for hundreds of years. Skeptics of the Bible have used Cain’s wife time and again to try to discredit the book of Genesis as a true historical record. Sadly, most Christians have not given an adequate answer to this question. As a result, the world sees them as not being able to defend the authority of Scripture and thus the Christian faith. For instance, at the historic Scopes Trial in Tennessee in 1925, William Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor who stood for the Christian faith, failed to answer the question about Cain’s wife posed by the ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow. Consider the following excerpt from the trial record as Darrow interrogates Bryan: Q—Did you ever discover where Cain got his wife? A—No, sir; I leave the agnostics to hunt for her. Q—You have never found out? A—I have never tried to find. Q—You have never tried to find? A—No. Q—The Bible says he got one doesn’t it? Were there other people on the earth at that time? A—I cannot say. Q—You cannot say. Did that ever enter your consideration? A—Never bothered me. Q—There were no others recorded, but Cain got a wife. A—That is what the Bible says. Q—Where she came from you do not know.3 The world’s press was focused on this trial, and what they heard has affected Christianity to this day—Christians can’t defend the biblical record! In recent times, this same example was taken up by Carl Sagan in his book Contact2 (which was on the New York Times best-seller list) and used in the movie of the same name based upon this work. In the book, we read the fictional character Ellie’s account of how she could not get answers from a minister’s wife, who was the leader of a church discussion group: Sagan cleverly listed a number of common questions (including Cain’s wife) that are often directed at Christians in an attempt to supposedly prove the Bible is full of contradictions and can’t be defended. The truth is—most Christians probably couldn’t answer these questions. And yet there are answers. But since churches lack in the teaching of apologetics,5 particularly in regard to the book of Genesis, most believers in the church are not able to “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). Many skeptics have claimed that for Cain to find a wife, there must have been other “races” of people on the earth who were not descendants of Adam and Eve. To many people, this question is a stumbling block to accepting the creation account of Genesis and its record of only one man and woman at the beginning of history. Defenders of the gospel must be able to show that all human beings are descendants of one man and one woman (Adam and Eve) because only descendants of Adam and Eve can be saved. Thus, believers need to be able to account for Cain’s wife and show clearly she was a descendant of Adam and Eve. In order to answer this question of where Cain got his wife, we first need to cover some background information concerning the meaning of the gospel. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12). We read in 1 Corinthians 15:45 that Adam was “the first man.” God did not start by making a race of men. The Bible makes it clear that only the descendants of Adam can be saved.Romans 5 teaches that we sin because Adam sinned. The death penalty, which Adam received as judgment for his sin of rebellion, has also been passed on to all his descendants. Since Adam was the head of the human race, when he fell we who were in the loins of Adam fell also. Thus, we are all separated from God. The final consequence of sin would be separation from God in our sinful state forever. However, the good news is that there is a way for us to return to God. Because a man brought sin and death into the world, the human race, who are all descendants of Adam, needed a sinless Man to pay the penalty for sin and the resulting judgment of death. However, the Bible teaches that “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). What was the solution? God provided the solution—a way to deliver man from his wretched state. Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15 that God provided another Adam. The Son of God became a man—a perfect Man—yet still our relation. He is called “the last Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45) because he took the place of the first Adam. He became the new head and, because He was sinless, was able to pay the penalty for sin: Christ suffered death (the penalty for sin) on the Cross, shedding His blood (“and without shedding of blood there is no remission,” Hebrews 9:22) so that those who put their trust in His work on the Cross can come in repentance of their sin of rebellion (in Adam) and be reconciled to God. Thus, only descendants of the first man Adam can be saved. Since the Bible describes all human beings as sinners, and we are all related (“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,” Acts 17:26), the gospel makes sense only on the basis that all humans alive and all that have ever lived (except for the first woman6 ) are descendants of the first man Adam. If this were not so, then the gospel could not be explained or defended. Thus, there was only one man at the beginning—made from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). This also means that Cain’s wife was a descendant of Adam. She couldn’t have come from another race of people and must be accounted for from Adam’s descendants. In Genesis 3:20 we read, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.” In other words, all people other than Adam are descendants of Eve—she was the first woman. Eve was made from Adam’s side (Genesis 2:21–24)—this was a unique event. In the New Testament, Jesus (Matthew 19:4-6) and Paul (Ephesians 5:31) use this historical and onetime event as the foundation for the marriage of one man and one woman. Also, in Genesis 2:20, we are told that when Adam looked at the animals, he couldn’t find a mate—there was no one of his kind. All this makes it obvious that there was only one woman, Adam’s wife, from the beginning. There could not have been a “race” of women. Thus, if Christians cannot defend that all humans, including Cain’s wife, can trace their ancestry ultimately to Adam and Eve, then how can they understand and explain the gospel? How can they justify sending missionaries to every tribe and nation? Therefore, one needs to be able to explain Cain’s wife, to illustrate that Christians can defend the gospel and all that it teaches. Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve recorded in Scripture (Genesis 4:1). He and his brothers, Abel (Genesis 4:2) and Seth (Genesis 4:25), were part of the first generation of children ever born on this earth. Even though these three males are specifically mentioned, Adam and Eve had other children. In Genesis 5:4 we read a statement that sums up the life of Adam and Eve: “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.” During their lives, Adam and Eve had a number of male and female children. In fact, the Jewish historian Josephus wrote, “The number of Adam’s children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.”7 Scripture doesn’t tell us how many children were born to Adam and Eve, but considering their long life spans (Adam lived for 930 years—Genesis 5:5), it would seem logical to suggest there were many. Remember, they were commanded to “be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). If we now work totally from Scripture, without any personal prejudices or other extrabiblical ideas, then back at the beginning, when there was only the first generation, brothers would have had to marry sisters or there wouldn’t have been any more generations! We’re not told when Cain married or many of the details of other marriages and children, but we can say for certain that Cain’s wife was either his sister or a close relative. A closer look at the Hebrew word for “wife” in Genesis reveals something readers may miss in translation. It was more obvious to those speaking Hebrew that Cain’s wife was likely his sister. (There is a slim possibility that she was his niece, but either way, a brother and sister would have married in the beginning.) The Hebrew word for “wife” used in Genesis 4:17 (the first mention of Cain’s wife) is ishshah, and it means “woman/wife/female.” The word ishshah is the word for “woman,” and it means “from man.” It is a derivation of the Hebrew words ‘iysh (pronounced: eesh) and enowsh, which both mean “man.” This can be seen in Genesis 2:23 where the name “woman” (ishshah) is given to one who came from Adam. Thus, Cain’s wife is a descendant of Adam/man. Therefore, she had to be his sister (or possibly niece). Hebrew readers should be able to make this connection easier; however, much is lost when translated. Many people immediately reject the conclusion that Adam and Eve’s sons and daughters married each other by appealing to the law against brother-sister marriage. Some say that you can’t marry your relation. Actually, if you don’t marry your relation, you don’t marry a human! A wife is related to her husband before they are married because all people are descendants of Adam and Eve—all are of one blood. This law forbidding close relatives marrying was not given until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18–20). Provided marriage was one man for one woman for life (based onGenesis 1–2), there was no disobedience to God’s law originally (before the time of Moses) when close relatives (even brothers and sisters) married each other. Remember that Abraham was married to his half-sister (Genesis 20:12).8 God’s law forbade such marriages,9 but that was some four hundred years later at the time of Moses. Today, brothers and sisters (and half-brothers and half-sisters, etc.) are not currently permitted by law to marry and have children. Now it is true that children produced in a union between brother and sister have a greater chance to be deformed. As a matter of fact, the closer the couple are in relationship, the morelikely it is that any offspring will be deformed. It is very easy to understand this without going into all the technical details. Each person inherits a set of genes from his or her mother and father. Unfortunately, genes today contain many mistakes (because of sin and the Curse), and these mistakes show up in a variety of ways. For instance, people let their hair grow over their ears to hide the fact that one ear is lower than the other. Or perhaps someone’s nose is not quite in the middle of his or her face, or someone’s jaw is a little out of shape. Let’s face it, the main reason we call each other normal is because of our common agreement to do so! The more closely related two people are, the more likely it is that they will have similar mistakes in their genes, inherited from the same parents. Therefore, brother and sister are likely to have similar mistakes in their genetic material. If there were to be a union between these two that produces offspring, children would inherit one set of genes from each of their parents. Because the genes probably have similar mistakes, the mistakes pair together and result in deformities in the children. Conversely, the further away the parents are in relationship to each other, the more likely it is that they will have different mistakes in their genes. Children, inheriting one set of genes from each parent, are likely to end up with some of the pairs of genes containing only one bad gene in each pair. The good gene tends to override the bad so that a deformity (a serious one, anyway) does not occur. Instead of having totally deformed ears, for instance, a person may have only crooked ones. (Overall, though, the human race is slowly degenerating as mistakes accumulate generation after generation.) However, this fact of present-day life did not apply to Adam and Eve. When the first two people were created, they were perfect. Everything God made was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). That means their genes were perfect—no mistakes. But when sin entered the world because of Adam (Genesis 3:6), God cursed the world so that the perfect creation then began to degenerate, that is, suffer death and decay (Romans 8:22). Over a long period of time, this degeneration would have resulted in all sorts of mistakes occurring in the genetic material of living things. But Cain was in the first generation of children ever born. He, as well as his brothers and sisters, would have received virtually no imperfect genes from Adam or Eve, since the effects of sin and the Curse would have been minimal to start with. In that situation, brother and sister could have married (provided it was one man for one woman, which is what marriage is all about, Matthew 19:4–6) without any potential to produce deformed offspring. By the time of Moses (about 2,500 years later), degenerative mistakes would have accumulated to such an extent in the human race that it would have been necessary for God to bring in the laws forbidding brother-sister (and close relative) marriage (Leviticus 18–20).10 (Also, there were plenty of people on the earth by now, and there was no reason for close relations to marry.) In all, there appear to be three interrelated reasons for the introduction of laws forbidding close intermarriage: Some claim that the passage in Genesis 4:16–17 means that Cain went to the land of Nod and found a wife. Thus, they conclude there must have been another race of people on the earth who were not descendants of Adam, who produced Cain’s wife. From what has been stated above, it is clear that all humans, Cain’s wife included, are descendants of Adam. However, this passage does not say that Cain went to the land of Nod and found a wife. John Calvin in commenting on these verses states: Cain was married before he went to the land of Nod. He didn’t find a wife there but “knew” (had sexual relations with) his wife.12 This makes sense in light of what Nod is, too. Nod means “wandering” in Hebrew. So when Cain went to the land of Nod, he was literally going to the land of wandering, not a place full of people. Some claim that there had to be lots of people on the earth other than Adam and Eve’s descendants; otherwise Cain wouldn’t have been fearful of people wanting to slay him because he killed Abel. First of all, one reason that someone would want to harm Cain for killing Abel is if that person was a close relation of Abel! Secondly, Cain and Abel were born quite some time before the event of Abel’s death. Genesis 4:3states: Note the phrase “in the process of time.” We know Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old (Genesis 5:3), and Eve saw him as a replacement for Abel (Genesis 4:25). Therefore, the time period from Cain’s birth to Abel’s death may have been 100 years or more—allowing plenty of time for other children of Adam and Eve to marry and have children. By the time Abel was killed, there may have been a considerable number of descendants of Adam and Eve involving several generations. Some claim that for Cain to go to the land of Nod and build a city, he would have required a lot of technology that must have already been in that land, presumably developed by other races. Adam and Eve’s descendants were very intelligent people. We are told that Jubal made musical instruments, such as the harp and organ (Genesis 4:21), and Tubal-cain worked with brass and iron (Genesis 4:22). Because of intense evolutionary indoctrination, many people today have the idea that their generation is the most advanced that has ever been on this planet. Just because we have jet airplanes and computers doesn’t mean we are the most intelligent or advanced. This modern technology is really a result of the accumulation of knowledge. We must remember that our brains have suffered from 6,000 years of the Curse. We have greatly degenerated compared to people many generations ago. We may be nowhere near as intelligent or inventive as Adam and Eve’s children. Scripture gives us a glimpse of what appears to be advanced technology almost from the beginning. Cain had the knowledge and talent to know how to build a city! One of the reasons many Christians cannot answer the question about Cain’s wife is that they tend to look at today’s world and the problems that would be associated with close relations marrying, and they do not look at the clear historical record God has given to us. They try to interpret Genesis from our present situation rather than understand the true biblical history of the world and the changes that have occurred because of sin. Because they are not building their worldview on Scripture but taking a secular way of thinking to the Bible, they are blinded to the simple answers. Genesis is the record of the God who was there as history happened. It is the Word of One who knows everything and who is a reliable Witness from the past. Thus, when we use Genesis as a basis for understanding history, we can make sense of evidence which would otherwise be a real mystery. You see, if evolution is true, science has an even bigger problem than Cain’s wife to explain—namely, how could man ever evolve by mutations (mistakes) in the first place, since that process would have made everyone’s children deformed? The mere fact that people can produce offspring that are not largely deformed is a testimony to creation, not evolution. Help keep these daily articles coming. Support AiG. Question: "Who was Cain's wife? Was Cain's wife his sister?" Q. I have studied over and over about Cain and his wife, and I have questioned where did Cain’s wife come from. What God has showed me that, there were people before Adam and eve, because, and remember Satan and his angels were thrown down from heaven, so they became flesh. Saying that Cain must have married his offspring would be saying that god allowed sin. Now I’m doing a study on Noah’s time. Please respond to my feedback, you might have a better insight. I’m always ready to learn and get close to God. A. Someone might have taught you that, but it wasn’t God. His word indicates that Adam was the first man and Eve the first woman. Cain didn’t marry one of his daughters. He married a sister or a niece. Remember, Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters in addition to Cain, Abel, and Seth. This was not a sin and was his only option. Marrying a close relative was not forbidden until much later. In fact Abraham married his half sister Sarah, Rebekah was Isaac’s niece, and a two of Jacob’s 4 wives were his cousins. All these unions had God’s blessing. Yes! Jesus is Coming! -The Classic Christian Network- -Biblical Prophecy Today Network- -Last Generation News Report- -Christian Issues Network- -Last Call Devotional Network- -Natzsal The Jewish Network- The Biblical Christian Network is composed of Seven Networks. Posts related to Biblical Prophecy appear only in Biblical Prophecy Network; etc.. Click on the Link above; At the top of the page of each Network there is a tab to see "alternative sites" if you cannot view the Home Network Page. Each Home Network Page has a 'specific Network Tab' and a "Biblical Network' tab exlplaining details. Each "Network" has a tab called "Content" to explain when new posts appear and what features are on that Network. Where did Cain get his wife?
E-mail typical message we received: “Hello, I'm a hardcore Evolution believer. I'm always telling my friends who are religious, that perhaps the Bible is just another story like King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table… Even though I make some good points, in my opinion, against creationism, they still do not agree with me. That's OK, but there is always one question that always seems to stump them… ‘If Adam and Eve were the first people on this planet, then how did the population become what it is without incest? Doesn't the Bible state that incest is bad…?’” Sincerely, Yoendry. Why is it important?
The first man
The Last Adam
“For since by a man came death, by a man came also theresurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so inChrist shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).[8]
All related
The first woman
Cain's brothers and sisters
The wife
But what about God's Laws?
Biological deformities
Cain and the Land of Nod
“And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and he called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.”
“From the context we may gather that Cain, before he slew his brother, had married a wife; otherwise Moses would now have related something respecting his marriage.”[13]
Who was Cain fearful of? (Genesis 4:14)
“And in the course of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord.”
Where did the technology come from?
Conclusion
Cain’s Wife—Who Was She?
Defenders of the gospel must be able to show that all human beings are descendants of one man and one woman
Is She the Most-Talked-About Wife in History?
Ellie had never seriously read the Bible before ... . So over the weekend preceding her first class, she read through what seemed to be the important parts of the Old Testament, trying to keep an open mind. She at once recognized that there were two different and mutually contradictory stories of Creation ... and had trouble figuring out exactly who it was that Cain had married.4
Why Is It Important?
The First Man
The Last Adam
For since by [a] man came death, by [a] Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive (1 Corinthians 15:21–22).
All Related
The First Woman
Who Was Cain?
Cain’s Brothers and Sisters
The Wife
And Cain knew his wife [ishshah], and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch (Genesis 4:17).
And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman [ishshah], because she was taken out of Man [iysh]” (Genesis 2:23).
Objections
God’s Laws
Biological Deformities
Cain and the Land of Nod
Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch.
From the context we may gather that Cain, before he slew his brother, had married a wife; otherwise Moses would now have related something respecting his marriage.11
Who Was Cain Fearful of (Genesis 4:14)?
And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.
Where Did the Technology Come From?
Conclusion
Footnotes
Who was Cain's wife? Was Cain's wife his sister?
Answer: The Bible does not specifically say who Cain’s wife was. The only possible answer is that Cain's wife was his sister or niece or great-niece, etc. The Bible does not say how old Cain was when he killed Abel (Genesis 4:8). Since they were both farmers, they were likely both full-grown adults, possibly with families of their own. Adam and Eve surely had given birth to more children than just Cain and Abel at the time Abel was killed. They definitely had many more children later (Genesis 5:4). The fact that Cain was scared for his own life after he killed Abel (Genesis 4:14) indicates that there were likely many other children and perhaps even grandchildren of Adam and Eve already living at that time. Cain's wife (Genesis 4:17) was a daughter or granddaughter of Adam and Eve.
Since Adam and Eve were the first (and only) human beings, their children would have no other choice than to intermarry. God did not forbid inter-family marriage until much later when there were enough people to make intermarriage unnecessary (Leviticus 18:6-18). The reason that incest today often results in genetic abnormalities is that when two people of similar genetics (i.e., a brother and sister) have children together, there is a high risk of their recessive characteristics becoming dominant. When people from different families have children, it is highly unlikely that both parents will carry the same recessive traits. The human genetic code has become increasingly “polluted” over the centuries as genetic defects are multiplied, amplified, and passed down from generation to generation. Adam and Eve did not have any genetic defects, and that enabled them and the first few generations of their descendants to have a far greater quality of health than we do now. Adam and Eve’s children had few, if any, genetic defects. As a result, it was safe for them to intermarry.Who Did Cain Marry?
