Who was Cain’s wife? Where did Cain get his wife from?
A common argument presented against the Bible is that the Bible says that Adam and Eve had 2 sons Cain and Abel. Cain killed Abel and was banished by God and went to the land of Nod
Genesis 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
In the very next verse we are told that Cain knew his wife and they had a child together Enoch (not to be confused with the Enoch that God took to heaven)
Genesis 4:17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
Cains wife
If Adam and Eve had 2 sons who was Cain’s wife? And where did she come from?
This has also been used by those who proclaim a pre Adamite race of people.
The pre Adamite race is not biblical.
The Bible would seem, again, to assert that Adam and Eve were the first two people created and that ALL life comes from these two people.
The Bible calls Adam the first man
1 Corinthians 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Eve is called the mother of all living
Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
All nations are said to come from one blood
Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
The Bible also says that sin has passed to all men through Adam
Romans 5:12 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:
It should also be noted that the Bible would say that only those that are under the sin of the first man Adam can be saved through Jesus.
Romans 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
Thus any people that exist outside of Adam and Eve would not be covered by the blood of Jesus.
So what is the answer? It’s actually a lot simpler than people try to make it seem.
The Bible never actually states that at the time of Cain and Abel there were only 4 people on the earth. Only these 4 people, Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel had been mentioned but that does not mean that Adam and Eve didn’t have other children during the time that Cain and Abel were growing up. We do not know how old Cain was when he killed Abel as the Bible never gives their ages. The whole of this narrative regarding Cain and Abel happens in just one single chapter of Genesis. The Genesis narrative is in reality a microscopic narrative of the events of the time. Adam lived a whole 930 years yet is recorded as having died in chapter 5.
What we do know is that at the time Cain killed Abel both were of an age that they were capable of doing the jobs that they did. Abel was a shepherd and Cain a farmer.
Genesis 4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
We know that Cain eventually killed Abel
Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
We are told that in the process of time the 2 offerings were made to the LORD by Cain and Abel
Genesis 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. 4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
But there is NO indication of how much time had processed between the births and the offerings and the offerings and then the ultimate death of Abel.
We are told that Seth was the seed that replaced Abel
Genesis 4: 25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
But this is only in relation to the seed. The text does not state that Seth was the 3rd child born to Adam and Eve, only that this child, Seth, was the replacement of the lineage of Adam and Eve. He was a replacement seed.
Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
Nothing in the text demands that Seth has to be child number 3.
By the time of Rabbi Rashi at least, it was actually understood by Jewish writers that Cain and Abel both were born with twin sisters (Abel with 2 sisters thus being triplets)
Rabbi Rashi wrote:
את קין… את אחיו את הבל —The threefold ‘את’ signify extension of the scope of the text, teaching that a twin sister was born with Cain, and that with Abel two were born; consequently the text states ותוסף “and she bore more’’ than the previous time (Genesis Rabbah 22:3).
Rabbi Rashi on Genesis 4:1
One Midrashic explains the reason Cain killed Abel was actually an argument over who would Marry the extra twin sister born with Abel
Regarding what, then, were they quarreling? Rabbi Huna said: An extra twin sister was born with Abel.34Two sisters were born together with Abel. This one [Cain] said: ‘I will take her, as I am the firstborn.’ That one [Abel] said: ‘I will take her, as she was born with me.’ As a result: “Cain rose up.”
Breishit Rabbah 22:7
The book of Jubilees names the first sister as Awan although it does not say that she was the twin sister of either Cain or Abel
And in the third week in the second jubilee she gave birth to Cain, and in the fourth she gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth she gave birth to her daughter ’Âwân.
Book of Jubilees 4:1
It is this sister that becomes his wife.
And Cain took ’Âwân his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee.
Book of Jubilees 4:11
Of course we must note that this book is not considered scripture but it shows that this is not any kind of new inquiry. While I may not accept this is factual, I would certainly agree that this is the correct idea.
Interestingly Rashi states that Cain (and his sister) was born before Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
(1) והאדם ידע AND THE MAN KNEW already before the events related above took place — before he sinned and was driven out of the Garden of Eden. So, also, the conception and birth of Cain took place before this. Had it been written, וידע אדם it would imply that after he was driven out children were born to him (Genesis Rabbah 22:2).
Rashi on Genesis 4:1
We do know that Seth who replaced Abel as the seed was born when Adam was 130 years old.
Genesis 5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
We can only assume that this means Adam was 130 years old from the time he was created as he was not born and he was not created as a baby.
Adam lived until he was 930 years old, so that’s 800 years after the birth of Seth.
So from the “birth” or “creation” of Adam until Seth there was a 130 year period where the preceding story unfolded.
There was ample time for Adam and Eve to have had other children before Seth. If we go chronologically by Bible verses it would seem that Cain knew his wife before Seth was born, but, the Bible does not mention every person by name that is part of the story. Literally millions of people who would have lived during the biblical times are never named. The Bible never gives us the names of the wives of the sons of Noah for instance who were saved on the Ark, nor Noah’s wifes name. These people are included in the narrative but not named. They are actually rather important members of the story, yet still not named. And obviously the Bible doesn’t mention every person that has lived. The names that are relevant to the narrative are given. There is no specific reason to assume that Seth was the third child of Adam and Eve only that he was the seed that was to replace Abel.
We must also note that the text clearly states that Adam had sons and daughters. The text refers to how old Adam was when Seth was born but there is no such demand for when these other children were born. Before Seth or after. The narrative does not state. It is perfectly plausible that some of these children were born before Seth. The text itself goes back to the creation of Adam and within the context of this we are told he had other sons and daughters. The narrative does not tell us when, who or how many. The only information we get regarding his sons and daughters is that he had others but only 3 are named and their births recorded.
The Bible never mentions the names of these other children nor how many there were, however, Josephus records a Jewish tradition that Adam had 33 sons and 23 daughters.
“The number of Adam’s children, as says the old tradition was thirty-three sons, and twenty-three daughters.”
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, book 1 chapter 2 verse 3 footnote.
Josephus states that to name these children would be “tedious to name”
“He had indeed many other children, but Seth in particular. As for the rest, it would be tedious to name them;”
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, book 1 chapter 2 verse 3
Of course this was just tradition at the time of Josephus, we do not know anything about this tradition such as where it came from or how long it had been the traditional view.
Cain does state after he kills Abel and he is punished that when others find him they will kill him.
Genesis 4:13And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
This does seem to imply that Cain was aware of other people in the earth. However, even this statement does not demand such an understanding.
Cains statement is clearly futuristic. He states it shall come to pass. This is something that will happen. This means that Cain was worried about what would happen. This is clearly something that he was worried about happening but had not happened, which means this is a futuristic statement. This then could mean Cain was referring to people that existed at the time or people that would exist. We cannot rule out either meaning based on the text alone. I wouldn’t argue as fact for either of these interpretations although I would side with the people already existing at the time of Cains statement.
I will point out that Rabbi Rashi argues that this was not in reference to people at all but rather the animals. It was the animals that would kill him as they were no longer in fear of him.
וישם ה’ לקין אות AND THE LORD SET A SIGN FOR CAIN — He inscribed on his forehead a letter of His Divine Name (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 21). Other editions of Rashi add the following: another interpretation of “Whoever will find me will slay me”: this refers to cattle and beasts, since there were then no human beings in the world of whom he might be afraid except his father and mother, and, of course, he did not fear that they would slay him. He, therefore, said, “Until now the fear of me was upon all animals — as it is written”, (Genesis 9:2) “And the fear of you shall be upon all beasts of the field” etc. — now, however, because of my sin the animals will no longer fear me and will kill me. God immediately set a sign for Cain, viz., he again made the animals be in fear of him.
Rabbi Rashi on Genesis 4:15
There is no way of knowing because the Bible does not say, how long it took Cain to get to the land of Nod where he knew his wife.
An important thing to note here is the text doesn’t actually say his wife was from Nod only that he knew his wife there. Knew his wife is a Hebrew Idiom for have sex. He had sex with his wife in Nod and she conceived. He could have gotten his wife from anywhere, including from the land he was living in until he left for Nod.
Neither does it say how old Cain was when he and his wife were married, nor does it say when his first child was born. These details are not given, however, there is no reason to assume this happened very quickly. He may have already had his wife before he left, he may have met her in Nod. This incident may have happened before Seth was born or after we just do not know. There is literally no reason at all to believe that there was a race of people living in Nod that had not come from Adam and Eve.
People seem to equate this all happening in a very short period of time when in reality the time between just Adam and Seth is longer than anyone alive today will live. A whole modern life time and more. And the time until Adam died is nearly 1000 years, a whole century.
It’s very unlikely that Cain left on Monday and was having a child by the Wednesday.
This story actually encompasses a rather long period of time. The Bible very clearly tells us that there were in fact other children. There is no Biblical reason to suppose a pre Adamite race or indeed the need for one. There was ample time for a whole race of people to have come from Adam and Eve as the Bible depicts.
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