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 by Jonathan Blakely                                                        To Jonathan's Home Page     
 
WHERE DID CAIN GET HIS WIFE?

Q: Where did Cain's Wife Come from? (Genesis 4:17)

Ah yes a common question indeed. This question as been asked by thousands of people for years, by believing and unbelieving alike. Some view this area of scripture as a threat to the Word of God. Some have actually referred to it as "evidence" that the Bible is a mere myth since the facts are so vague about where this women came from. Let me first present the text to you along with some background of where we are at in scripture, as well as why this text is such a problem for some people.

The mentioning of Cain's wife is after he had just killed his brother Able (Gen 4:8). God then came to Cain and asked him where his brother was, Cain lied to God and told him he did not know (Gen 4:9). From verse 9 to 15 it is written that God informed Cain that his brothers blood cried out from the ground and that he (Cain) was cursed from the earth for what he had done to his brother. Cain was told he would be a fugitive and a vagabond, meaning he would likely be killed if found by anyone who found him. This made Cain afraid and he tells God that the punishment is more than he can bear because anyone that finds him will kill him. The Lord responds by putting a mark on Cain stating that whoever killed him that vengeance would be taken upon that person sevenfold (seven times as much). After this mark was placed on Cain it says he left the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the Land of NOD which was east of Eden. At this point is where we reach our main text which is verse 17 which says, "And Cain knew his wife; and she concieved, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch." This is where all the confusion begins.

To start off people begin to question this text because according to some Cain and Able were the only children Adam and Eve had up to this point. However let us look to the text where they are born. This is found at the beginning of Genesis 4 which reads, "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." You notice it does NOT say these are the only children they had but rather it just mentions two specific children they had. There is nothing indicating that Cain and Abel where the only children had at that time.

Something else to back this up is the reaction of Cain to his punishment from God. It said that his punishment was "greater than he could bear" and that it would "come to pass that everyone that found him would slay him". Why would he be afraid of getting killed no matter where he went if there was no one else around at the time? Some might get the impression that because he said "it shall come to pass" that it meant that there were no other people around yet. However that meant that when a person found him from that point on that they would kill him. Other translations confirm this.

GOD'S WORD Translation, "Now anyone who finds me will kill me!" Douay-Rheims Bible, "every one therefore that findeth me, shall kill me."

Cain was saying that because he was a fugitive and a vagabond that he would be killed by anyone that saw him from that point on, which indicates there were other people around! THAT was why it was unbearable. It makes it very evident that other people existed around the time when this curse was brought upon him. 

Another reason people have a hard time with this is because after Cain's lineage is listed it says Adam "knew his wife again" and that she had SETH. People say this was Adam and Eve's third Child because of what Eve said in Verse 25 of Genesis 4 which reads. "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." This text does NOT say that this was their third child, rather it is their third child recorded (to be born). Eve confirmed that this child would replace Abel (who was noted for being pleasing to God). It may look as if Seth was born just for the sake of replacing Abel himself. But there is more to it than that. We have took as this through the perspective of God's purpose. Mind you that Abel was the only one killed at this point. So God promises a seed to Eve that would take his place. God gave them another seed (like Abel) for the purpose of the coming Messiah coming from it. Notice it says "appointed me another seed" which means God gave her this seed for a specific purpose (the purpose Abel had). This seed was the seed mentioned in Gen 3:15 which says "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and HER SEED; it (Christ) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his (Christ's) heel.". She's talking about the seed Christ would come from, that seed could not just come from anyone. So with that being said this in no way contradicts the idea of her having other children up to this point. She was merely acknowledging that this particular child was the one that would take the place of Abel. Luke 3:23-38 proves that Jesus came from the lineage of Seth.

Also note Adam's age that he was 130 years old when Seth was born (Genesis 5:3). Does it make sense that Adam lived 130 years and only had 3 children up to that point? We are talking about populating the world here and seeing that Adam and Eve were the first people made we should understand that their bodies were capable of a lot more than our bodies are today. So it makes perfect sense that they could have a lot more than 3 children in a 130 year period.

Next we see that Cain dwelt in the land of Nod and THERE it says he "knew his wife". The problem people bring up here is that Cain went to Nod, found a wife and then had Enoch with her. This is very inaccurate. It says he KNEW his wife in Nod not that he MET his wife in Nod. "Knew" is referring to them having sexual relations. The fact that she is called his "wife" at this point gives us good reason to believe that she was his wife PRIOR to going to Nod. It makes more sense that Cain takes a wife to Nod and starts a civilization then it does that he goes to Nod and a women appears out of nowhere and then he starts one. Some have said when Cain got to Nod that there were already a great multitude of people living there (thats where his wife supposedly came in). However the Bible says a city was built built AFTER he got there not before. Not to mention any people that it says DID live there were only the ones listed in his genealogy. We read of people living there AFTER Cain arrives.

Lastly the last problem people have with this is that it looks like other people were created in the way Adam and Eve were. They reason that if Cain went east of Eden and found a wife there (Life outside of Eden) that God created other people other than Adam and Eve. However the ONLY record we have of God creating man and woman is in the case of Adam and Eve. Also let us look at the meaning of Eve's name which is found in Gen 3:20 which reads "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." It does not make much sense that Eve is called the mother of all living if God created other human beings other than her and Adam.

The Gospel affirms this as well in 1 Corinthians 14:22 which says, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Also In Romans 5:17-19 it says, "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.) Therefore as by the offence of ONE judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of ONE the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by ONE man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of ONE shall many be made righteous." The point is that everyone connected to Adam dies while all connected to Christ lives. If Adam was not the only man created this verse would not make sense seeing that Adam's sin brought sin upon all that were connected to him. If other men were created then there would be some that were not guilty of Adam's sin. Is there anyone who would give thought to such a ridiculous idea? Everyone was defiled by the sin that was brought into the world by Adam therefore everyone that existed after Adam was born into the world. Also mind you mankind is ALWAYS traced back to ADAM, No one else. You'll read of "sons of adam" (Deut 32:8) and How death reigned from ADAM to Moses (Romans 5:14).

So with all these things being said it makes it pretty obvious where Cain's wife came from...ADAM AND EVE! As you can see the scriptures affirm it and at the same time there are no contradictions of any kind. Just mere misunderstandings. I hope this was helpful to all who may have had trouble with this section of scripture.