Cain's wife. Who was she?

manderson

New member
It's says in Genesis that Cain married his wife. But it says that Adam and Eve had three boys, Abel, Cain and Seth. Where did this other woman come from? Some say that Adam and Eve had more children. So this would mean that Cain would have married his sister or niece. Anybody have a good explanation?
 

Tambora

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But it says that Adam and Eve had three boys, Abel, Cain and Seth.
Those were the 3 specifically named, but there were other children.


Genesis 5:4 KJV
(4) And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
 

jsanford108

New member
Okay, I have a theory.

Adam and Eve were the first man and woman created. Everyone agrees on that. Could God not have made a separate group of people, after the fall of Man? It would make sense, especially when you take into consideration that the Caananites were heathens. Saying Adam and Eve were the "first" naturally implies that there was at minimum a "second." The difference between Adam/Eve and the others is that God revealed Himself to Adam/Eve. Adam/Eve were the cause of the Fall of Man, then God made more people in other lands.

So how can this theory work? First off, the Bible itself is unclear on the origins of the people who Cain went to live with. It doesn't say that God made them. But naturally, He would have had to be their creator. Also, there was a group of people. How could they have gotten to the term "group?" Natural logic would point to God creating these people, after the Fall, to inhabit the earth. Adam's line was God's chosen line, due to his intimate relationship with them (they were first after all). And God knew that one day He would make Himself intimate with all the peoples of the world, who sought Him.

This is just my theory. Feel free to ascribe to it.


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ttruscott

Well-known member
Cain lived a lo-o-ong time.

We are not told how long he wandered alone.

How many distant sisters and nieces could he have after two or three-hundred years?

Scripture says that Eve is the mother of all living thus we know where his wife came from.

I asked some math friends :
I am bothered not knowing how to work out exponent growth patterns. To use a simple population pattern, no twins, no deaths, let’s consider one birth a year by one person for 13 years when the oldest child also starts having children. All children start having children at 13 years old and keep having children every year. How many people are there in 125 years?


The answer :
Yeehaw. Branching processes.


Let’s do the simplest case we can first, which we can arrive at because in the case you have here, everything is deterministic and happens in 13 year increments, so you can take one generation to be 13 years and work only in terms of generations. In generation 0, there is 1 person. Each person in the previous generation produced 13 people in the next generation, plus themselves, so, notating the number of people in generation i as N_i,


N_i = 14 * N_{i-1}


with N_0 = 1, the solution to this is N_i = 14^i.


125 years is between 9 and 10 generations, so there are between 20 billion and 289 billion people in this model.


Genesis 5:3 When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.


If Cain and Abel were 125 years old when they had the first religious war, they had between 20 billion and 289 billion neighbours...not counting death by accident and remembering how long people were living in those days.
 

Tambora

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In generation 0, there is 1 person. Each person in the previous generation produced 13 people in the next generation

Wouldn't there have to be 2 persons in generation 0 - a male and a female?

And if those 2 persons of generation 0 had 13 children, they would not all have 13 more children themselves because only women have children, so you need to cut that in half (or relatively close depending on if the ratio of male/female stayed consistent with the children).

For example:
If generation 0 (Adam & Eve) had 13 children for generation 1, 10 of them could have been male and only 3 females.
Which would mean that only 3 of the 13 children of generation 1 had 13 children each (ie. 3 women had 13 children each making 39 children total for generation 2).


Right?




BTW, this won't matter much, but Josephus says that according to tradition Adam & Eve had 33 sons and 23 daughters.
 

manderson

New member
There seems to be alot of speculation on This subject. After reading many forums and researching, I come to the conclusion that Cain's wife was his sister. And the fact that incest was acceptable then until the day of Moses because of the pure state of man had become corrupted by the fall of man.
 

iamaberean

New member
It's says in Genesis that Cain married his wife. But it says that Adam and Eve had three boys, Abel, Cain and Seth. Where did this other woman come from? Some say that Adam and Eve had more children. So this would mean that Cain would have married his sister or niece. Anybody have a good explanation?

It doesn't say.

What it does say is that there were other people on earth at that time.
Gen 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
Gen 4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
Gen 4:14 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.
Gen 4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
Gen 4:16 And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

Should we think that there would be another child of the wicked one from the garden of Eden that might slay Cain. No, the only logical answer is there were other people on earth.

Later on it does prove this logic.

Gen 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
Gen 6:2 That the sons of God (Adam and Eve's children) saw the daughters of men (those that were created in Gen 1) that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

 
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iamaberean

New member
I hope you are not intending to introduce the false doctrine that GOD created another set of "man".

God created mankind during the sixth day.
LORD God formed Adam in seventh day.

There are four words to look at here.
1. Created - to make from nothing.
2. Formed - to make from some other substance.

3. God - Plural word meaning spirits, many denominations use this to explain trinity.
4. LORD God - Singular word for the God of Israel. Children of Israel only know one God not three.
 

Tambora

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God created mankind during the sixth day.
LORD God formed Adam in seventh day.

Exodus 20:11 KJV
(11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.


Genesis 2:1-2 KJV
(1) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
(2) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
 

iamaberean

New member
Exodus 20:11 KJV
(11) For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.


Genesis 2:1-2 KJV
(1) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
(2) And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Good point!

This I know, Elohim is plural unless used with a qualifier, such as Jehovah (LORD). One Jewish lady put it this way "There are many Gods but only one LORD God.
 
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