He moved to Nod, a land east of Eden. Since at the time life spans covered multiple centuries, this meant that Adam and Eve had many children and these children grew and spread out and had many children of their own. Cain killed Abel, was exiled by God, and then in Genesis 4:17, we read that Cain had relations with his wife. Some may link up harmful genetic traits with this kind of marriage (since it involves close blood – just as our biological knowledge would point out), however, it should be understood that there was no harmful genetic traits emerged at that point. Genesis 4 tells of Cain’s … The Bible record is found in Gen. 4:16,17. According to (Genesis 5:5) Adam lived for nine hundred and thirty years; before he died. And later in the land of Nod, Cain took a wife and she gave birth to a son who was named Enoch. Let us always keep in mind that in Genesis chapters 1 to 11, we are dealing with primeval history … Hence, there was no need for strict laws on marriage partners in the early Patriarchal Epoch. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Rom. Having established the possibility of the source of Cain’s wife, I believe many people would immediately see a problem with this kind of marriage, rendering it incestuous in nature. Am I supposed to intuitively know that God made Cain's wife? It was after many generations, and especially after the Noahic Flood (Genesis 6-9), solar and cosmic radiation, chemical and viral mutagens, and DNA replication errors, that led to the multiplication of genetic disorders. The famous biblical story of Cain, history’s first murderer, includes this old Bible head-scratcher about who his wife could have been. For more on this issue, including why intermarriage among Adam … Would love your thoughts, please comment. Cain and Abel. Apparently, some other biblical scholars believe there were other humans that existed besides Adam and Eve and that when Cain left Eden, he found other humans not related to him. We are told in specific terms that Adam and Eve had three sons—Cain, Abel, and sometime later, Seth. This is a fairly common question. This also means that Cain’s wife was a descendant of Adam. The fact that I am asked about Cain’s wife so often by Christians and non-Christians, tells me three things: First, the church, by and large, either has not given, or cannot give the answer to his question; Second, this question is obviously a problem to many Christians, and the fact that they cannot answer it, causes many, I believe, to doubt that they can defend the book of Genesis. But it should be taken into account that more recent Church documents who have not commented on the issue, have left the door open to other possibilities based on recent developments in science. The Bible indicates that Adam and Eve's first son, Cain, slew his younger brother Abel because of jealousy over the acceptance of his brother's offering over his own. God did not forbid inter-family marriage until much later when there were enough people to make intermarriage unnecessary (Leviticus 18:6-18). The Bible says Adam and Eve were the first two humans and bore Cain and Abel, after which Cain slew Abel. In Genesis 5:4 we see that Adam had other sons and daughters. * 3 In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the ground, 4 … Cain feared that in his exile he could be … For us Catholics, it’s even part of the “Precepts of the Church” – “NOT to marry within certain degrees of kindred” Who Was Cain? This would have served as evidence - or even proof - to the ancients that Jehovah was a merciful god. The Bible does not in any way tell us how Cain found a wife and so it is non-known if he married a sister, or niece or even a grand-niece. The first woman. Having established all these, I believe you have come to understand how and where Cain, the brother of Abel (son of Adam and Eve) got his wife. Cain, in the Bible (Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament), firstborn son of Adam and Eve who murdered his brother Abel (Genesis 4:1–16). Where did Cain’s wife come from in Genesis 4? If Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Abel the second, then how could Cain have found a wife and built a city? Immediately after being banished to the east in the land of Nod, Cain found a wife and raised a family and founded a "city" called Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.” So the obvious question, where in the world did Cain’s Wife come from? But what follows from the narrative of the book is that if Adam and Eve were the first parents of all humanity, then Cain must have married a relative. Cain’s wife (Genesis 4:17) was a daughter or granddaughter of Adam and Eve. Some might replay that such would be wrong, because it would be incest. However, Genesis 5:4 makes us to realize that that Adam was the father of “other sons and daughters”. CHAPTER 4. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son - Enoch (Genesis 4:17). By Betty Miller. –F. The Bible makes it plain in Genesis 3:20 that Eve was the “mother of all living”. In the day when God created man, He made him in the … Remember, however, that incest itself was outlawed ONLY with the coming of the Mosaic covenant (Leviticus 18). This question even came up in the Scopes trial in 1925: Clarence Darrow asked his opponent, William Jennings Bryan, “Did you ever discover where Cain got his wife… God created Adam and Eve, and then they gave birth to Cane who killed his brother Abel, and went to the land of wandering then found a wife. Come to think of it how did Cain find a wife already? Cain married his sister, niece, or great niece. Many Questions Not minding which generation Cain found a wife, someone at some point had to get married to his own sister. Only one conclusion is possible. The first marriages had to be between brothers and sisters in order to get the race started. Pastors Bud & Betty Miller on Cain’s Wife Who Was Cain’s Wife, Where Did She Come From. 17 Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. The most plausible solution is to propose that Cain married a near relative—perhaps his sister. Far from that, many atheists tend to use this particular verse to dismiss the Genesis account of the origin of humans, rendering the biblical story null and void. Cain and Abel are traditional English renderings of the Hebrew names. In light of Scripture, this is not a possibility. In Genesis 3:20 we read, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” “This is the book of the generations of Adam. None of those details are to be found in the text. After Cain had killed Abel, he departed from the land where he and Abel had lived. Chinaka Mbaeri's Reflections Copyright © 2021. It then says Cain went to live among the people in the land of Nod. In addition, as the ancient rabbis attest, Cain would’ve married one of his sisters. Cain had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and born Enoch. While it is true the Bible is not specific on this matter, there is no difficulty in suggesting a reasonable solution that does no violence to Scriptural interpretation. Cain and Abel were Adam and Eve’s first two children but they had many, many more children. A staunch Roman Catholic and an Apologist of the Christian faith. Who did Cain marry? Needless to say, more genetic disorders have erupted in the world population since the time of Moses, and thus it is even more important to avoid marrying a close relative. Cain, a farmer, became enraged when the Lord accepted the offering of his brother, a shepherd, in preference to his own.He murdered Abel and was banished by the Lord from the settled country. Hence, if Adam was the first man (1 Corinthians 15:45) and if Eve was the mother of all, then it is clear that there were no “other people” left for Cain to marry, apart from one of the children of Adam and Eve (his sister). I mean what family does the wife belong to?”. There is a theory known as polygenism which argues that there were different groups of humans that existed independently of each other, and not from an original couple. A better explanation is that the Hebrews were henotheistic, meaning that although they worshipped only one deity (the one who created Eden and years later came to lead them out of Egypt), they believed in the existence of others, who would have created other lands of other … Where, then, did Cain find his wife? After that [when God put a mark on Cain], Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, to the east of Eden. He also built a city which he also named Enoch. Where did Cain's wife come from in Genesis 4:17 if Adam and Eve only had three children? The Bible does not tell us when Cain found a wife and so it is unknown whether he married a sister, or niece or even a grand-niece. In that case, according to some Jewish traditions, Adam had 33 sons and 23 daughters. Genesis 4:17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. Come to think of it how did Cain find a wife already? It has been proposed that the etymology of their names may be a direct pun on the roles they take in the … The Church believes that the Bible contains everything we need for salvation, so the inspired authors necessarily omitted details for reasons that have to do with the last intention the text was written for. That is to assume that Adam and Eve had a great number of children and that Cain married one of them. Cain had intercourse with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Abel became a herder of flocks, and Cain a tiller of the ground. Where did Cain get his wife? And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. Q: I recently ran into a question and wanted to get the Catholic teaching and answer, please. There he and his wife had a son whom he named Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch.”. Josephus, the Jewish historian who lived around the time of Christ, claimed they had thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters. Lastly, as it happens with plenty of this kind of stories, we don’t really know who exactly Cain married. Where Did Cain’s Wife Come From? The testimony of the ancient rabbis is that Cain and Abel married their sisters. Genesis 4 Cain Murders Abel 1 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Let us stumble across the bible passage in reference to what we are discussing: Genesis 4:16-17: “So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain left and went to live in the land of Nod: What the Bible Says about Cain’s Wife. Genesis 4:16-17: “So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Some commentators have opined that Cain could have married someone else not of Adam and Eve’s family—viz., a woman of other people whom God had created. Someone posted on my timeline yesterday, and her question goes thus: “Good day! Origins Etymology. If He had made others, these people would not have been able to be saved from their sins, since only descendants of Adam can be saved—that’s why it was so important for Jesus to be Adam’s descendant. 5:12; cf. Original sin is passed on to all human beings from our first parents, Adam and Eve. Observations about population growth 3 And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Also, the Law of Moses was not in effect at this point in salvation history, and so sexual relationship between close relations was not only not forbidden but moreover necessary for God’s plan to unfold. I guess the Bible writers just forgot to mention all of that, or that Cain and his wife were related. So the obvious question, where in the world did Cain’s Wife come from? Then he became the builder of a city and he called the name of the city like his son's name, Enoch. One important thing we should remember is that in the book of Genesis, humans lived much longer than they do now. In any case, one female offspring could later have become Cain’s wife. Where did the people in the land of Nod come from? As St. Paul says, “[S]in came into the world through one man” (Rom. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. She could not have come from another “race” of people and must be one of Adam’s descendants. Eve had borne Cain and Abel soon after leaving Eden (Genesis 4:1-2), but she could have had other children between their birth and Abel’s death, and between that murder and the birth of Seth. Learn how your comment data is processed. But wait a second. None of those details were found in the Bible. … Since Adam, Eve, and their sons are the only humans the Bible has mentioned so far, the sudden appearance of Cain’s wife has troubled Biblists, Theologians even Readers from ancient times to the present. Not a Neanderthal that was nearly human but had no soul. Now my question is HOW??? This question is often sometimes thought to be among the “hard questions” pertaining to the Bible. The answer is simple: Cain married either his sister or a niece. Where did this woman come from? Clearly if there were only one man and woman created by God, then their children … 3.) Where Cain's wife came from was never factored into the equation because it didn't help prove the point of … (Genesis 4:17) states that Cain got to know his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. This may have also been what happened with Noah’s family after the flood. But what comes from the narrative of the book is that since Adam and Eve were the first parents of all humanity, then Cain may have married a relative. After that, marrying close relatives was forbidden … 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech. Since Adam, Eve, and their sons are the only humans the Bible has mentioned so far, the sudden appearance of Cain’s wife has troubled readers from ancient times to the present. According to (Genesis 4:16), after Cain murdered his brother Abel, he went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Genetically, many biblical scholars agree that Adam and Eve were without defect (asides from original sin), and so the marriage between the two successive generations would not have produced genetically defective children. It was part of God’s initial plan in order to populate the earth. 5:19-20 and In accordance with the logic of the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve had to conceive children in order to “be fruitful and multiply,” as the Bible indicated, otherwise the human race would simply not exist. In conclusion, it is justifiable to affirm that even though by the time the Genesis story reaches chapter 4:17 where there is the mention of Cain’s wife, only four individuals have been mentioned in the story, the sacred author presupposes that other human beings were living at the time. Where did Cains wife come from? RE-TELLING THE STORY One of the most often-asked questions about the Bible is that of Cain's wife. This paraphrased account of Scripture highlights a very common misconception related to where Cain got his wife. THE UNFAILING NOVENA TO OUR LADY UNDOER OF KNOTS, FOR THE YEAR 2021: DAY 9 – UNDOING THE KNOT OF DESPAIR, THE UNFAILING NOVENA TO OUR LADY UNDOER OF KNOTS, FOR THE YEAR 2021: DAY 8 – UNDOING THE KNOT OF OBSTINACY IN SIN, THE UNFAILING NOVENA TO OUR LADY UNDOER OF KNOTS, FOR THE YEAR 2021: DAY 7 – UNDOING THE KNOTS OF FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES AND POVERTY. Please I need clarification on something about the bible. Translation notes. Who was Cain's wife? Because the Bible does not always address certain questions or issues … And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch New King James Version -- The Bible doesn't say. 1 The man had intercourse with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying, “I have produced a male child with the help of the LORD.” * 2 Next she gave birth to his brother Abel. Where did this woman come from? Thank you. The Catholic faithful cannot welcome that opinion which maintains that either after Adam, there were true men that existed on this earth but they did not take their origin through natural generation from Adam. Website by Ananse Online. Christianity thus far has insured that such rules be carried out even in the face of modernity. Some of these had apparently moved away and settled east of Eden, in Nod, where Cain and his wife moved to. There is every indication that by the time Cain was able to take a wife… The fact that Genesis 3:20 says, “Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live,” is proof enough she was ultimately the one responsible for Cain’s wife as well as for Cain himself. 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. One important thing we should remember is that in the book of Genesis, humans lived much longer than they do now. In accordance with the logic of the book of Genesis, Adam and Eve had … Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Many Christians tend to cast their scepticism on the fact that Cain married a woman after killing his brother Abel; bearing in mind that Adam & Eve (their parents) were the first man and woman on earth. This is also logically inferred from the Church’s doctrine on original sin. The Bible says that after he killed his brother Abel, Cain married a wife. The book of Genesis is understood to be symbolic in nature and not scientific, there are varieties of beliefs that can be accepted that do not contradict the spiritual meaning of the text. Hence, the population of the Earth came directly through the lineage of Adam and Eve. Cain’s Brothers and Sisters After Cain murders his brother Abel, “Cain went away from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden” (Genesis … Answer: The Bible does not list all of Adam and Eve’s children. According to (Genesis 5:5) Adam lived for nine hundred and thirty years; before he died. God did not create other people groups from which Cain chose a wife, as we are all made of one blood (Acts 17:26). WHERE AND HOW DID CAIN GET HIS WIFE IN GENESIS? In the Bible, all the people on earth at that time were directly descended from Adam and Eve. This may sound awkward; however, it is the most realistic option. With this, God protected His people by later instituting strict laws against incestuous marriages in the eighteenth chapter of Leviticus. So, Creationism isn't a science with regards to Cain's wife, its an intuition? I have only seen only one reasonable explanation which does not require bending the biblical text. But where did Cain’s wife come from? But where did Cain’s wife come from?” – Anthony (Karonga Diocese – MALAWI) RESPONSE. Since Adam and Eve were the first (and only) human beings, their children would have no other choice than to intermarry. 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