Where Did Cain Get His Wife?: What About Inbreeding? Where Did Cain Get His Wife?: What About Inbreeding? Introduction Cain's Wife? After Cain was sent into exile east of Eden for killing Abel he found a wife and built a city. Even if Cain married one of his sisters, doesn't this produce theological and biological problems? Rich Deem 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. 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. If Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Abel the second, then how could Cain have found a wife and built a city? Creation of humanity The Bible describes the creation of humanity in Genesis, the first book. According to the chapter one account, God created male and female human beings in His image. 1 Chapter two of Genesis goes into more detail about the creation of mankind. According to the narrative, God created Adam, the first man, 2 then, some time later, created Eve. 3 Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from Eden.

4 They produced two sons, Cain and Abel. 5 Both Cain and Abel presented sacrifices to God, but Cain's was rejected, 6 because he expended a half-hearted effort. 7 So, Cain became angry and murdered his brother in a fit of jealousy. 8 Cain is exiled God confronted Cain about the murder of Abel and banished him to the east of Eden. The problem arises in the next verse, where suddenly Cain is married and builds a city: Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Genesis 4:16) Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son. (Genesis 4:17) Mesopotamia The assumption seems to be that Cain and Abel were the first two children of Adam and Eve. Although Cain does seem to be the firstborn, the text is not clear that Abel was the second born, but only that he was the second son.

5 Later, the narrative indicates that Adam and Eve produced "other sons and daughters." 9 So, it is possible that Adam and Eve produced daughters between the births of Cain and Abel. It is also likely that others sons and daughters were produced after the birth of Abel. We don't know how old Cain and Abel were when Cain murdered his brother, but they seem to be at least young adults, since they are both engage in a trade for their living. 5 The second thing one notices is Cain's seeming paranoia about being found and revenge being taken against his for killing Abel. 10 The only way this makes sense is if the brothers and sisters of Abel were upset that Cain had killed their brother. Although the period of time between the birth of Cain and the death of Abel is not given in the Bible, it would seem that this period was probably over 100 years, since the birth of Adam's next son, Seth is said to have occurred when Adam was 130 years old. 11 Adam and Eve could have produced many daughters during that period of time. Cain builds a "city" So, the Genesis narrative suggests that Cain had other brothers and sisters when he was exiled by God.

One of those sisters married Cain (or more likely had already been married to Cain when he killed his brother), became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch somewhere east of Eden. The next problem that arises is the claim that Cain "built a city." To us, in the 21st century, this evokes images of skyscrapers and high density housing. However, the original Hebrew word, translated "city," merely had the meaning of a place that was guarded by a watch or with a wall. 12 At its minimum, the Hebrew root referred to an encampment or post. So, it is entirely possible that Cain could have built such a "city." Theological problems Skeptics have pointed out that the only viable solution to the problem of Cain's wife (Cain marrying his sister) suffers from theological problems, since close relations were not allowed to marry according to Jewish law. 13 However, all of these events happened before the law was given. According to the Apostle Paul, when there is no law, there can be no violation of the law or sin. 14 So, since the law against incest was not given until thousands of years later, there was no theological problem with Cain marrying his sister.

Genetic problems Many skeptics object to the idea that Cain married his sister from a scientific viewpoint, since inbreeding leads to the expression of detrimental recessive mutations. This is why punctuated equilibrium does not represent a viable evolutionary mechanism, since species sorting does not really lead to the formation of new species, but to the extinction of the current species. 15 However, scientists have developed completely inbred strains of mice whose individuals are all genetically identical. The process involves selecting out the defects. The resulting strains of mice are regularly interbred and do not suffer from any defects (although scientists also raise strains of inbred mice that possess a single genetic defect, for study). In the same way, I believe that the first two humans were created without genetic defects. Inbreeding among their offspring did not lead to defects until many generations later as spontaneous mutations accumulated. At that point, God instituted laws against incest to minimize the expression of genetic mutations that had developed within our species. Conclusion Is has been shown that the Bible's claim that Cain, the first offspring of Adam and Eve, could have found a wife is found to be plausible if he had chosen among one of his sisters (and he probably had already done so before he murdered Abel).

Since there seems to have been at least 100 years between the birth of Cain and the death of Abel, Adam and Eve would have had plenty of time to produce daughters for Cain to choose from. Brothers and sisters marrying seems to be a theological problem, since the Bible is quite clear that one should not marry a close relative. However, the Jewish laws were not instituted until thousands of years later, so there would have been no prohibition against such marriages at that time. Skeptics also say that such interbreeding would have produced a genetically crippled population. However, if God had created human beings, as the Bible says, then it would be expected that they would have been created without genetic defects. The accumulation of detrimental mutations would taken many generations, at which time God instituted the laws against incest to protect against the majority of these defects.

Related Pages General Rebuttal to the Theory of Evolution References Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Genesis 1:26-28) Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

(Genesis 2:7-8) Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him." Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

(Genesis 2:18-22) Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24) Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD." Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. (Genesis 4:1-2) So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the LORD of the fruit of the ground.

Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. (Genesis 4:3-5) By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. (Hebrews 11:4) For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous. (1 John 3:11-12) Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:6-7) Cain called Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. (Genesis 4:8) Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters. (Genesis 5:4) "Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me." (Genesis 4:14) 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. (Genesis 5:3) Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions: Who did Cain marry? Where did Cain get his wife?

Most think that there was only Cain and Abel born to Adam and Eve but the Bible actually teaches that by the time Cain took a wife there were many human beings, that came from Adam. Not everything recorded in the Book of Genesis is written in an exact chronological order. The events of Genesis eleven (the Tower of Babel) happened in the middle of chapter 10, chronologically speaking ï¿½Genesis 5:4 states, "Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters." Both Adam and Eve driven out of the garden. Genesis 3:23-24: ï¿½therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.ï¿½ All their offspring were born outside the garden.

Gen 5:4 "After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.ï¿½The male child born to Adam and Eve after Cain killed Abel was Seth, when Adam was 130 years old. Gen 5:6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. Scripture tells us "After (Adam) he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters." (Gen. 5:4). It also says of Seth "After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters (Gen. 5:7). Daughters are not mentioned Gen.5 the phrase had sons and daughters is the key phrase but the first male born in the family is mentioned by name. So either Cain got his wife sometime after from Seth's lineage or from Adam and Eves lineage that produced numerous children after they left the garden. We see by the record that there were a number of people by the time Cain killed his brother Abel.

Genesis 4:15 And the LORD said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.ï¿½ Besides these three sons Adam and Eve had many other unnamed sons and daughters.The Bible does not give the exact time period when Cain took his wife. Depending on how much time there was between Cain being married, he either married a distant sister, or if enough time transpired, he could have married his own niece. Probably the later is true. Marriage to a sister in the early stage of the human race was not considered wrong or unnatural. Even later on Abrahamï¿½s wife was his half-sister (20:12); also 24:4 and 28:2. God did not prohibit such marriages until the time of Moses when is was specifically stated it was against the law of God according to Lev. 18:9, 18:11, 20:17, and Deut. 27:22.

Genesis 4:16-17: ï¿½Then 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.ï¿½ We can see by how it is written it is a summary of a whole period of time. He married, his wife conceived and they even built a city; obviously with other people in the area he lived (Nod). The imperfection from sin accumulated over time and eventually corrupted the gene pool, this made it wrong to marry within the family line. By Mosesï¿½ time it was forbidden. Copyright (c) 2012 No portion of this site is to be copied or used unless kept in its original format in the way it appears. Articles can be reproduced in portions for ones personal use, any other use is to have the permission of the author first. Thank You.

To Support Bible Atrocities: Atrocities in the Bible Bible Vulgarities IMPORTANT: These lists are meant to identify possible problems in the Bible, especially those that are inherent in a literalist or fundamentalist interpretation. Keep in mind, however, that what constitutes a valid problem is to some extent a matter of opinion. You may disagree that these are, in fact, genuine biblical problems, but it is the author's opinion that a perfect and omnipotent God could, should, and would see to it that such problems did not exist in a book which s/he had inspired. Note: In the Bible, words having to do with killing significantly outnumber words having to do with love. GE 3:1-7 , 22-24 God allows Adam and Eve to be deceived by the Serpent (the craftiest of all of God's wild creatures). They eat of the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil," thereby incurring death for themselves and all of mankind for ever after.

God prevents them from regaining eternal life, by placing a guard around the "Tree of Eternal Life." (Note: God could have done the same for the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" in the first place and would thereby have prevented the Fall of man, the necessity for Salvation, the Crucifixion of Jesus, etc.) GE 4:2-8 God's arbitrary preference of Abel's offering to that of Cain's provokes Cain to commit the first biblically recorded murder and kill his brother Abel. GE 34:13-29 The Israelites kill Hamor, his son, and all the men of their village, taking as plunder their wealth, cattle, wives and children. GE 6:11-17 , 7:11-24 God is unhappy with the wickedness of man and decides to do something about it. He kills every living thing on the face of the earth other than Noah's family and thereby makes himself the greatest mass murderer in history. GE 19:26 God personally sees to it that Lot's wife is turned to a pillar of salt (for having looked behind her while fleeing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah).

GE 38:9 "... whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked ..., so the Lord put him to death." EX 2:12 Moses murders an Egyptian. EX 7:1 , 14 , 9:14-16 , 10:1-2 , 11:7 The purpose of the devastation that God brings to the Egyptians is as follows: to show that he is Lord; to show that there is none like him in all the earth; to show his great power; to cause his name to be declared throughout the earth; to give the Israelites something to talk about with their children; to show that he makes a distinction between Israel and Egypt. EX 9:22-25 A plague of hail from the Lord strikes down everything in the fields of Egypt both man and beast except in Goshen where the Israelites reside. EX 12:29 The Lord kills all the first-born in the land of Egypt. EX 17:13 With the Lord's approval, Joshua mows down Amalek and his people.

EX 21:20-21 With the Lord's approval, a slave may be beaten to death with no punishment for the perpetrator as long as the slave doesn't die too quickly. EX 32:27 "Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. EX 32:27-29 With the Lord's approval, the Israelites slay 3000 men. LE 26:7-8 The Lord promises the Israelites that, if they are obedient, their enemies will "fall before your sword." LE 26:22 "I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children." LE 26:29 , DT 28:53 , JE 19:9 , EZ 5:8-10 As a punishment, the Lord will cause people to eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters and fathers and friends. LE 27:29 Human sacrifice is condoned.

(Note: An example is given in JG 11:30-39 ) NU 11:33 The Lord smites the people with a great plague. NU 12:1-10 God makes Miriam a leper for seven days because she and Aaron had spoken against Moses. NU 15:32-36 A Sabbath breaker (who had gathered sticks for a fire) is stoned to death at the Lord's command. NU 16:27-33 The Lord causes the earth to open and swallow up the men and their households (including wives and children) because the men had been rebellious. NU 16:35 A fire from the Lord consumes 250 men. NU 16:49 A plague from the Lord kills 14,700 people. NU 21:3 The Israelites utterly destroy the Canaanites. NU 21:6 Fiery serpents, sent by the Lord, kill many Israelites. NU 21:35 With the Lord's approval, the Israelites slay Og "...

and his sons and all his people, until there was not one survivor left ...." NU 25:4 (KJV) "And the Lord said unto Moses, take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun ...." NU 25:8 "He went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly." NU 25:9 24,000 people die in a plague from the Lord. NU 31:9 The Israelites capture Midianite women and children. NU 31:17-18 Moses, following the Lord's command, orders the Israelites to kill all the Midianite male children and "... every woman who has known man ...." (Note: How would it be determined which women had known men? One can only speculate.) NU 31:31-40 32,000 virgins are taken by the Israelites as booty. Thirty-two are set aside (to be sacrificed?) as a tribute for the Lord.

DT 2:33-34 The Israelites utterly destroy the men, women, and children of Sihon. DT 3:6 The Israelites utterly destroy the men, women, and children of Og. DT 7:2 The Lord commands the Israelites to "utterly destroy" and show "no mercy" to those whom he gives them for defeat. DT 20:13-14 "When the Lord delivers it into your hand, put to the sword all the males .... As for the women, the children, the livestock and everything else in the city, you may take these as plunder for yourselves." DT 20:16 "In the cities of the nations the Lord is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes." DT 21:10-13 With the Lord's approval, the Israelites are allowed to take "beautiful women" from the enemy camp to be their captive wives. If, after sexual relations, the husband has "no delight" in his wife, he can simply let her go.

DT 28:53 "You will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you." JS 1:1-9 , 18 Joshua receives the Lord's blessing for all the bloody endeavors to follow. JS 6:21-27 With the Lord's approval, Joshua destroys the city of Jericho--men, women, and children--with the edge of the sword. JS 7:19-26 Achan, his children and his cattle are stoned to death because Achan had taken a taboo thing. JS 8:22-25 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly smites the people of Ai, killing 12,000 men and women, so that there were none who escaped. JS 10:10-27 With the help of the Lord, Joshua utterly destroys the Gibeonites. JS 10:28 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the people of Makkedah. JS 10:30 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Libnahites.

JS 10:32-33 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the people of Lachish. JS 10:34-35 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Eglonites. JS 10:36-37 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Hebronites. JS 10:38-39 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Debirites. JS 10:40 (A summary statement.) "So Joshua defeated the whole land ...; he left none remaining, but destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded." JS 11:6 The Lord orders horses to be hamstrung.

(Exceedingly cruel.) JS 11:8-15 "And the lord gave them into the hand of Israel, ...utterly destroying them; there was none left that breathed ...." JS 11:20 "For it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be utterly destroyed, and should receive no mercy but be exterminated, as the Lord commanded Moses." JS 11:21-23 Joshua utterly destroys the Anakim. JG 1:4 With the Lord's support, Judah defeats 10,000 Canaanites at Bezek. JG 1:6 With the Lord's approval, Judah pursues Adoni-bezek, catches him, and cuts off his thumbs and big toes. JG 1:8 With the Lord's approval, Judah smites Jerusalem. JG 1:17 With the Lord's approval, Judah and Simeon utterly destroy the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath. JG 3:29 The Israelites kill about 10,000 Moabites.

JG 3:31 (A restatement.) Shamgar killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad. JG 4:21 Jael takes a tent stake and hammers it through the head of Sisera, fastening it to the ground. JG 7:19-25 The Gideons defeat the Midianites, slay their princes, cut off their heads, and bring the heads back to Gideon. JG 8:15-21 The Gideons slaughter the men of Penuel. MT 3:12 , 8:12 , 10:21 , 13:30 , 42 , 22:13 , 24:51 , 25:30 , LK 13:28 , JN 5:24 Some will spend eternity burning in Hell. There will be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. MT 10:21 "... the brother shall deliver up his brother to death, and the father his child, ...

children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death." MT 10:35-36 "For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a man's enemies will be the members of his own family." MT 11:21-24 Jesus curses [the inhabitants of] three cities who were not sufficiently impressed with his great works. AC 13:11 Paul purposefully blinds a man (though not permanently). Links to other articles in this series: Eve - All the Women of the Bible - Bible Gateway Scripture References— Genesis 2 and 3; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:13 Name Meaning—There are three names applied to Adam’s wife. She is called “Woman, because she was taken out of Man” ( Genesis 2:23 ). “Woman” is more of a generic designation than a name, and is associated with Eve’s relation to Adam, a relation she was created to fulfill.

Literally “woman” means “man-ess.” Then both Eve and her husband are called “Adam.” “Male and female created he them ... and called their name Adam” ( Genesis 5:2 ). This inclusive name implies that the divine ideal for man and wife is not merely that of association but an indissoluble unity. God made them “one flesh” and gave them one name. Eve, the name given her after the transgression and its prophesied results, was the choice of Adam “who called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” ( 3:16, 20 ). This was the name describing her function and destiny in spiritual history of which she was the beginning. Eve means “life” or “life-giving,” or “mother of all who have life,” and her life is in us all. In Bible days great significance was attached to a change of name. Why then did Adam change his wife’s name—which was his own, Adam, to Eve?

Donald Davidson says that, “In view of the awful judgment pronounced upon them, the man might have been pardoned if he had reproached her as ‘death,’ for it was her sin that brought death into our world and all our woe. But Adam gives her a name which is expressive of the prophetic life bound up in her. For through the seed of the woman, sin would one day be vanquished, and death would be swallowed up in victory.” We have given our cameo of Eve the caption “The Woman of Unique Distinction” because she is distinct, in so many ways, from all other women who have ever lived. There are a good many “Firsts” to her credit. Eve Was the First Woman to Live Upon the Earth The product of a divine creation, Eve appeared as a complete, perfect woman. She was never a child, or a daughter or a maiden. The first female born into the world was Eve’s first daughter ( Genesis 5:4 ). How many daughters were born to Adam and Eve we are not told. If Eve lived as long as her husband—930 years ( Genesis 5:5 )—there would likely be many sons and daughters in earth’s first family.

Eve, then, was not born. She was created out of Adam. Having existed in God’s thought, she appeared upon the earth. Modernists, evolutionists, and secular writers may mock that “rib of Adam” out of which Eve was made. Adam was directly created by God out of the dust of the earth, but Eve was fashioned out of a bone taken from Adam’s side. George Herbert comments, “The man was dust refined, but the woman was dust double refined.” Says Secker, “The rib was taken from under his arm. As the use of the arm is to keep off blows from the body, so the office of the husband is to ward off blows from his wife.” There is a spiritual application of the bride God created for Adam. It speaks of the sacred mystery, the bride of the Lamb, who owes her existence to His wounded side ( John 19:36 ), and who, even more than Eve, has a place near to the Bridegroom’s heart ( Jeremiah 31:3 ), and who is destined to enjoy His companionship in a sinless paradise ( Revelation 2:7; 21:9 ).

The marriage of the Lamb, like that of Eve’s, is made in heaven. Eve Was the First Woman to Be Called a Wife Fashioned out of man, she became man’s counterpart and companion. God saw that although Adam was in a state of perfect innocency, it was not good for him to be alone. It would be good for him, spiritually, intellectually and socially to have a wife. He needed someone to love and bear his children since the command had gone forth “to multiply and replenish the earth.” And so with Adam— The world was sad, the garden was a wild, And man the hermit sighed till woman smiled. God spoke of the woman He was to provide for Adam as his “helpmeet”—a help meet or adapted to him—a term giving woman her true position in the world. It is only where the Bible exists and Christianity is practiced that she attains to such a position as the helper, or equal of man. In lands where darkness reigns, woman is the slave, the chattel of man. Thus Eve was given to Adam and their two hearts beat as one in love for each other and for God. Eve was formed while Adam slept.

He knew no pain during the operation for as yet there was no sin in the world. How true it is that God is continually working while men sleep! He often imparts real blessings to His own as they sleep ( Psalm 127:2 ). When I wake from sleep, Despair has fled, and hope is near; The sky seems blue, and visions clear Have banished all my dread and fear. Eve Was the Most Beautiful Woman the World Has Known Century after century women have appeared renowned for their beauty of face and form but Eve excelled them all. Created by a perfect God, Eve reflected the divine perfection. Hers was no artificial beauty. Face, features and form were the loveliest women have ever had. While the Bible has no description of Eve’s physical appearance, Adam’s first reaction as he saw the lovely figure before him was to give voice to earth’s first poem— This, then, at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my own flesh: This shall be called Wo-man For from man was she taken. While we have Biblical warrant for the beauty of Sarah, the Talmudist says— All women in comparison with Sarah are like monkeys in respect to men.

But Sarah can no more be compared to Eve than can monkey be compared with man. John Milton expresses a similar commendation in one of his most daring idioms— Adam the goodliest man since born His sons; the fairest of her daughters Eve. The blind poet goes on to say of the loveliness Adam saw &--; So absolute she seems And is herself complete. The Venus of Milo, in marble, or the Venus of Titian in oil, only convey a faint idea of what Eve must have looked like as she came from the creative hand of God. No wonder she has been described as Heaven’s best, last gift. To quote from Milton’s Eve again— O fairest of creation, last and best Of all God’s works, creature in whom excelled Whatever can to sight or thought be formed, Holy, Divine, Good, Amiable or Sweet. Yet again Eve’s original beauty is expressed in these lines &--; That what seemed fair in all the world seemed now Mean, or in her contained or in her looks; Grace was in all her steps, Heaven in her eye, In every gesture dignity and love. Eve Was the First and Only Woman Born Without Sin Being the first woman Eve had no inherited sin.

Coming from the hand of God, Eve had an advantage no other woman has ever had &--;she was pure and holy, with the divine image unimpaired. Created sinless, she yet became the world’s first sinner, and introduced sin to her offspring, and thus, all since her were “born in sin and shapen in iniquity.” The best and holiest born into the race have natures that are prone to evil ( Romans 7:21 ). Fashioned with “innocence and sinless perfection and endowed to all fullness with gifts of body and mind, and rich in external blessing without spot or alloy she yet transgressed in the sin with which she caused Adam to sin.” Fresh from the hand of God with unmatchable grace and beauty of body and mind, sin and ruin followed, and paradise was surrendered for a world of thorns, thistles and tears. Eve Was the First on Earth to Be Assailed by Satan Before her creation, Satan, who like Eve had been created a holy being, led a rebellion against the Creator and was cast from his high estate. Now he begins his rebellion on earth and beings with one who is fascinated by his approach.

Thus we have the Fall and the source of original sin. There was no great daring to sin for the first time on Eve’s part. As sin was unknown to both Adam and Eve when created by God, Eve saw no wrong in the masterpiece of satanic subtle suggestion. Satan did not tell her to sin, but insinuated in the cleverest way that there was nothing to worry about in eating forbidden fruit. As George Matheson puts it, “The temptation was not in itself the wish to transgress, but the will to possess; the transgression is merely a means.... If the tempter had said, ‘Steal,’ he would not have been listened to for a moment. But he did not say, ‘Steal!’; he says, ‘Speculate!’ ... Temptation since the days of Eden has never ceased to clothe itself in a seemly garment.” Satan succeeded in painting the downward way as leading to an upward path issuing in God-likeness or a fall upwards, “Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Eve succumbed to the wiles of Satan and the steps leading to her surrender are illuminating—she saw, she coveted, she took, etc.

“The tree was good for food”—bodily appetite was tempted. It was “a delight to the eyes”—her sensuous nature was tempted. Then, “the tree was to be desired to make one wise”—the most powerful temptation of all, namely, “the spiritual temptation to transcend the normal experience of men and to taste of the wisdom that belongs only to God.” What about her husband? Well, Adam made no effort to restrain Eve from eating of the fruit although the divine prohibition was addressed to him as well as to Eve. If he was not the first to pluck the fruit, he must have been standing under the tree, and when he saw that it was safe to eat, then he took his share of the forbidden fruit. When God faced Adam with that first act of sin, he not only blamed Eve, but God Himself—“The woman Thou gavest me” &--;as if to say, “If You knew that Eve would have tempted me, why did You create her for me?” H. V.

Morton says that “the words of the first Adam are like the words of a rather sneaky little boy caught out by the headmaster and blames another—She gave me of the tree and I did eat.” But thereafter, in Scripture, Adam, the federal head of the human race, is made responsible for adamic sin. (“In Adam we die”; “By one man’s sin”; Romans 5:12; Job 31:33 .) What followed the disobedience of the world’s first sinners is only too well-known—pain in childbearing, the introduction of sin and servitude into the world, the earth cursed, expulsion from paradise, and the introduction of disease and death. Eve Was the World’s First Dressmaker If Adam was earth’s first gardener, Eve was the first to fashion garments out of leaves. “They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons” ( Genesis 3:7 ). Andrew Johnson, who became president of the U.S.A. after the murder of Abraham Lincoln, once was a tailor in Greenville, Tennessee, where he had a shop.

In a speech made at Gallatin in 1874 he said— Adam, our great father and head, the lord of the world, was a tailor by trade. Adam and Eve “sewed fig leaves together, and made them aprons.” That is the first we ever heard of tailors, and I do not see that—without intending to be personal &--;anyone need be ashamed to be called a tailor, nor any young lady need be ashamed to be a seamstress, for her mother Eve, it seems, handled a needle with some skill. Clothing is a reminder of sin, for in their innocency our first parents had no sense of shame because they had no sense of sin. “They were both naked ... and were not ashamed” ( Genesis 2:25 ). Says Matthew Henry, “They need have no shame in their faces, though they had no clothes to their backs.” But after they sinned their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked. Although shame may have a fairer and a gentler face than sin, it is still its twin sister. Shame can be an expression of regret for sin, or the protest of consicence against it.

When Ezra blushed and was ashamed to look up, the pardoning mercy of God came out to meet him ( Ezra 9:6 ). Conscious of their nakedness, why did Adam and Eve seek a covering? Not only because they knew they were without clothing but also because they were exposed to the gaze of Him against whom they had sinned. However the fig leaves they made into a garment were not sufficient to hide them from God’s piercing eyes, so they hid among the trees. Even there they were under His gaze and discovered, and they tried to cover themselves with vain excuses ( Genesis 3:7, 8, 11, 13 ). Those who try to cover their sin never prosper ( Proverbs 28:13, see Job 31:33 ). God rejected the covering the first sinners on the earth made because it represented their own effort. So God provided them with “coats of skins” ( 3:21 ), and placed them on the guilty ones. The wonderful invention of fastening animal pelts together was ascribed by the ancient Hebrews to God. Skins speak of sacrifice. Animals have to be slain ere man can be covered with clothes or shoes.

Surely the divine provision of those sacrificial skins foreshadowed Calvary, where Jesus through the sacrifice of Himself provided a spotless robe of righteousness for all who repent and believe. Naked, come to Thee for dress. Eve Was the First Mother to Have a Son Who Was a Murderer What a trail of sorrow and anguish followed her transgression! When Cain, her first born, came into her life and home how Eve must have loved him. She named him Cain, meaning “to get” or “to possess” or, “acquisition.” He became a tiller of the ground. Her second son was Abel, a name implying, “that which ascends” or “a vapor”—something doomed to fade. The latter was a spiritual man and sacrificed the firstlings of his flocks unto the Lord. The former son brought of the fruit of the ground, that is, that which he had produced, and presented it to the Lord who rejected it and accepted Abel’s offering because of its sacrificial content. Cain lost his temper over this act of divine acceptance and rejection, and slew his brother Abel. Thus Eve’s favorite first born was branded with shame, and spiritual Abel became a martyr.

Behind Cain’s slaughter of his brother was the serpent who had made their mother the world’s first sinner. Jesus said that he was a murderer from the beginning ( John 8:44 ). After the crime and banishment of her first son, and the burial of her second one, God gave her another whom she called Seth. “For God,” she said, “hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, for Cain slew him.” In naming her third son thus she voiced her faith in God’s love, mercy and provision. It was through Seth that the spiritual lineage was maintained and it was after his birth that Eve’s name disappears from the pages of the Old Testament, although it is mentioned twice in the New Testament. While Eve doubtless shared the length of Adam’s life—930 years—and bore an indefinite number of sons and daughters, we have no record of her maternity apart from the three named sons. Eve Was the First to Receive the Divine Prophecy of the Cross Eve was the first sinner and saw the fruit of her sin as she stood at the world’s first grave and buried her dead.

After confessing her sin she heard the Lord say to that old serpent, the devil, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” ( Genesis 3:15 ). With this first promise of the Redeemer there began the scarlet highway ending at the cross where Christ, born of a woman, provided a glorious victory over sin and Satan. Through a woman, God’s fair universe was blighted and became “a world of sinners lost, and ruined by the fall.” Now, through a woman, a perfect salvation has been provided for a sinning race. Through Eve’s sin, death entered the world, but at the cross both sin and death were conquered, for by “dying, death He slew.” When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” He meant that the serpent’s head, representing power and authority, had been bruised. He laid hold of all satanic principalities and powers that Eve’s transgression brought into the world, and put them under His feet. Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

As we leave our reflection upon the world’s first woman, first wife, first sinner, and first mourner, there are one or two lessons to be gleaned from her record. For instance, “many daughters of Eve have discovered that the serpent is never more dangerous than when he professes to be the earnest well-wisher interested in nothing but her advancement and welfare.” What a subtle, cruel deceiver Satan is. How ignorant so many are of his devices! Further, temptation is a universal experience, and each of us should learn from the first person on earth to be tempted, its manner of approach and successive steps, and safeguard ourselves from a fall through the appropriation of Christ’s own victory over the enemy. There is no sin in being tempted. We only sin when we yield to temptation. Refusing to yield to the enticement of sin, our Garden of Eden remains inviolate. At the heart of Eve’s pathetic story, however, is the moral lesson that a woman has the power for bane or blessing over a man’s life. If she falls, man falls with her.

How expressive are the verses John White Chadwick quotes in his chapter on Eve in Women of the Bible— Ah, wasteful woman, that she may On her sweet self set her own price. Knowing we cannot choose but pay, How has she cheapened Paradise; How given for naught her priceless gift, How spoil'd the bread and spill'd the wine Which, spent with due respective thrift, Had made men brutes and men divine. O Queen, awake to thy renown, Require what 'tis our wealth to give, And comprehend and wear the crown Of thy despised prerogative. It will be noticed that we have said nothing about whether the story of Creation, and of the appearance of Adam and Eve should be taken literally and historically, or treated as an allegory of sacred symbolism. We firmly reject the unproven, anti-Christian theory of evolution, just as we protest that the account of the creation of Adam and Eve, and the temptations of the serpent is ancient myth or folklore conveying withal a pertinent truth or message. It is becoming more common for modernistic preachers and writers to speak of the beautiful fables and myths of the Bible. We believe the first three chapters of Genesis contain historic realities.

If Adam is a myth, so is Christ. Luke reminds us that Adam was a son of God ( Luke 3:23-28 ), and the first man from whom Christ was descended. How could a mythical son become one of the ancestors of the actual Christ? The whole of Luke’s genealogy of Jesus is based upon the assumption that Adam was an actual person. Further, in discussing Adam and Christ as the two federal heads of the human race, Paul said, “in Adam we die—in Christ we are made alive.” You cannot die in a myth. By deduction, if Adam is a mythical figure, so is Christ. Then Eve and her association with the serpent is likewise treated as a myth. Paul says that the serpent beguiled Eve ( 2 Corinthians 11:3 ). Paul regarded the tempter of Eve not as a myth, but as a stern and powerful reality. If there has never been a personal devil, then we would like to know who is doing the work that only a denizen of hell could do.

In urging loyalty to Christ, Paul uses Eve to illustrate the ease with which one is corrupted, and to him she was a historical figure whose record should be taken literally (see 1 Timothy 2:12-14 ). The mythical treatment of Old Testament historical figures and events is an evidence of the appalling apostasy of our age. © 1988 Zondervan. All Rights Reserved Bible Gateway scripture scripture View all books of the Bible CHAPTER 4 from the fruit of the ground, 4while Abel, for his part, brought the fatty portion * of the firstlings of his flock. a The L ORD “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my utterance: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. 24If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.” 25 * Adam again had intercourse with his wife, and she gave birth to a son whom she called Seth. “God has granted me another offspring in place of Abel,” she said, “because Cain killed him.” 26To Seth, in turn, a son was born, and he named him Enosh.

At that time people began to invoke the L ORD by name. e * [ 4:1 ] The Hebrew name qayin (“Cain”) and the term qaniti (“I have produced”) present a wordplay that refers to metalworking; such wordplays are frequent in Genesis. * [ 4:2 ] Some suggest the story reflects traditional strife between the farmer (Cain) and the nomad (Abel), with preference for the latter reflecting the alleged nomadic ideal of the Bible. But there is no disparagement of farming here, for Adam was created to till the soil. The story is about two brothers (the word “brother” occurs seven times) and God’s unexplained preference for one, which provokes the first murder. The motif of the preferred younger brother will occur time and again in the Bible, e.g., Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and David ( 1 Sm 16:1 – 13 ). * [ 4:4 ] Fatty portion: it was standard practice to offer the fat portions of animals.

Others render, less satisfactorily, “the choicest of the firstlings.” The point is not that Abel gave a more valuable gift than Cain, but that God, for reasons not given in the text, accepts the offering of Abel and rejects that of Cain. * [ 4:7 ] You will be accepted: the text is extraordinarily condensed and unclear. “You will be accepted” is a paraphrase of one Hebrew word, “lifting.” God gives a friendly warning to Cain that his right conduct will bring “lifting,” which could refer to acceptance (lifting) of his future offerings or of himself (as in the Hebrew idiom “lifting of the face”) or lifting up of his head in honor (cf. note on 40:13 ), whereas wicked conduct will make him vulnerable to sin, which is personified as a force ready to attack. In any case, Cain has the ability to do the right thing. Lies in wait: sin is personified as a power that “lies in wait” (Heb. robes) at a place. In Mesopotamian religion, a related word (rabisu) refers to a malevolent god who attacks human beings in particular places like roofs or canals.

* [ 4:8 ] Let us go out in the field: to avoid detection. The verse presumes a sizeable population which Genesis does not otherwise explain. * [ 4:11 ] Banned from the ground: lit., “cursed.” The verse refers back to 3:17 where the ground was cursed so that it yields its produce only with great effort. Cain has polluted the soil with his brother’s blood and it will no longer yield any of its produce to him. * [ 4:15 ] A mark: probably a tattoo to mark Cain as protected by God. The use of tattooing for tribal marks has always been common among the Bedouin of the Near Eastern deserts. * [ 4:16 ] The land of Nod: a symbolic name (derived from the verb nûd, to wander) rather than a definite geographic region. * [ 4:17 – 24 ] Cain is the first in a seven-member linear genealogy ending in three individuals who initiate action (Jabal, Jubal, and Tubalcain). Other Genesis genealogies also end in three individuals initiating action ( 5:32 and 11:26 ).

The purpose of this genealogy is to explain the origin of culture and crafts among human beings. The names in this genealogy are the same (some with different spellings) as those in the ten-member genealogy (ending with Noah), which has a slightly different function. See note on 5:1 – 32 . * [ 4:23 – 24 ] Lamech’s boast shows that the violence of Cain continues with his son and has actually increased. The question is posed to the reader: how will God’s creation be renewed? * [ 4:25 – 26 ] The third and climactic birth story in the chapter, showing that this birth, unlike the other two, will have good results. The name Seth (from the Hebrew verb shat, “to place, replace”) shows that God has replaced Abel with a worthy successor. From this favored line Enosh (“human being/humankind”), a synonym of Adam, authentic religion began with the worship of Yhwh; this divine name is rendered as “the LORD” in this translation. The Yahwist source employs the name Yhwh long before the time of Moses.

Another ancient source, the Elohist (from its use of the term Elohim, “God,” instead of Yhwh, “LORD,” for the pre-Mosaic period), makes Moses the first to use Yhwh as the proper name of Israel’s God, previously known by other names as well; cf. Ex 3:13 – 15 . Cain, the Immortal Click on each chapter to enter. 13. CAIN, THE IMMORTAL Everybody knows what happened after the "fall" of man, according to Genesis. Adam and Eve were thrown out of paradise and had children. First Cain and then Abel. Everybody knows that "God did not accept the sacrifices which Cain offered him but did accept Abel's". So Cain, consumed by jealousy, threw himself on his brother and killed him. Everybody knows this; we have always thought "how bad Cain was", "he killed his brother, how terrible". Cain was the bad one and Abel the good; this is the interpretation given to us in judaism, christianity and islam. Even Saint Augustine in his interpretation of the myth of Cain and Abel compares Cain with the Jews and Abel with Christ.

He says that the Jews killed Christ in the same way that Cain killed Abel. Saint Augustine then, like everyone else, carried on the tradition that Abel was good and Cain was bad. It is very clear in the bible; Cain is punished by God, banished. This is seen as something logical and normal: Cain is bad and Abel is good. The Gnostic interpretation is completely different as we will now see. First of all, Gnosis maintains that Cain was not the son of Adam and that Eve conceived her first son Cain with the Serpent, Lucifer. The Serpent Lucifer impregnated Eve with his breath. In other words, Cain was not completely human, born from flesh. His Spiritual nature was great because his father was Lucifer, coming from the unknowable world of the Spirit. On the other hand, Abel was the son of Adam and Eve, in other words Abel was indeed born from flesh. We can now see the first difference between the two brothers: Cain is superior to Abel. Cain is the son of Eve and Lucifer, the initiatory Serpent of Eden. Cain is the son of the Spirit and of flesh. Abel, on the contrary, is born only from flesh.

Therefore we can see first of all that Cain is not someone evil but that in fact he is superior, important, and much more so than Abel. Secondly, Cain as much as Abel made sacrifices to the creator god to please him, offering him things that he liked. Cain offered vegetables and Abel animals, lambs for example. According to the bible the creator god preferred the latter: the blood from the dead animals and the smell of burnt flesh of the corpse. The bible says that the creator was pleased by Abel's sacrifices but not by Cain's. It appeared that Cain had little desire to please the creator since he only offered him a few seeds and with little devotion, as if he wasn't entirely convinced of the usefulness of making sacrifices. Naturally then, Abel's sacrifices were accepted by the creator and Cain's weren't. Cain didn't like to offer sacrifices to the creator because of his roots, because he was the son of Lucifer and had the divine spark of the Angel of Light within him. That is why he did not make suitable sacrifices to the creator and why it disgusted him to do so since he did not belong to this created world.

Abel, on the other hand, whose nature was not of the Spirit but of an animal, did make suitable sacrifices and these were the ones which most pleased the creator. An ancient legend relates what Abel said to his brother Cain on one particular occasion: "my sacrifice, my offering, was accepted by God because I love him, your offering was on the other hand rejected because you hate him". Now it is quite clear, Cain hates the creator because he is born from the Spirit, his true nature is Spiritual! Put this way it is quite clear. All these legends and myths surrounding Genesis tell us many things. Through them we realise that much information has been distorted and hidden from us. There are other interesting things which Cain said to his brother. One small sentence sums up his position. These words are key: "There is no law, no judge" Palestinian Targum, Gen., 4:8). Cain is denying the authority of the creator god and the fact of paying homage to and obeying him. Later on we see that Cain murdered his brother Abel. This is something very profound as it signifies that the Spirit rejects, destroys and murders the soul.

Abel, presented as pure love and devotion in the bible, represents the soul of man according to Gnostics. Cain, on the contrary, represents the Spirit, which explains his hostility and hatred. Hostility and hatred typical of the Spirit, since the Spirit really hates this impure world, full of unfair and absurd rules. This explains Cain's resistance to making sacrifices and his disobedience as regards the creator's commandments. Cain and Abel are as opposed and irreconcilable as are the Spirit and the soul. The soul is pure love, not True Love but that which we know as love, that which we believe is love, that which we have been told is love, which in actual fact is hatred. The Spirit is the opposite; It is perceived as pure hatred, hostility and revenge. Due to being shackled in this satanic creation the only thing the Spirit can feel is hostility and hatred, that which ordinary men know as hatred. The Spirit, which is Pure Love, can only feel aversion and disgust before this thing that is, in fact, pure garbage. That is why the Spirit wants to destroy this satanic creation, because for It, creation is a deformed monstrosity which should never have come into existence.

This is what Cain's murder of Abel symbolises. Cain, through his actions, freed himself completely from the creator and from his own body and soul. Through these acts against the creator god and his half-brother Abel he freed himself once and for all from the inferior god and his impure and flawed creation. With these acts he transformed himself into an opponent, an eternal enemy of the demiurge and his work. This whole episode of Cain and Abel, such as it is in Genesis in the bible and in legends such as the jewish midrash amongst others, has been interpreted by Gnostics in a way that totally opposes the generally accepted version. After committing his Supreme Act, the bible says that Cain was cursed by god and banished from that place. "Cursed and banished", the same destiny as the Serpent of paradise. It was logical that this should happen, as Cain had turned himself into an absolute opponent of the creator god, but as well as that, many more interesting things happened which we are going to be highlighting here: First of all, we saw that Cain was cursed and banished by the creator god. This, which could have appeared to be punishment, is just the opposite for a Gnostic.

To be cursed and banished by the creator is an honour for a Gnostic. It is the natural reaction of the demiurge faced with someone who has defied him and slapped him in the face, faced with someone who has made himself equal or superior to him. Cain is in exile because he completely transformed himself, successfully exiled himself and now no longer belongs to this world, although he carries on living in it. The bible says that the creator banished him, but Cain is free, liberated in life and through his acts he cursed the creator and exiled himself from this abominable creation. Secondly, several jewish legends relate that the creator punished Cain forever with insomnia, condemning him never to sleep again, with eternal wakefulness. To a Gnostic, this is not punishment but a triumph. Being condemned to eternal wakefulness is an advantage, a virtue, an important achievement. Cain woke himself up disobeying the creator's commandments and "murdered" his soul. Thirdly, the bible says that the creator protected Cain, not allowing anyone to harm or kill him. This is another interesting fact.

Gnostics say that a man who has transformed himself into pure Spirit, although he continues to inhabit his physical body, is immortal, untouchable. Absolutely no-one can harm or attack him now and he has no fear since he is beyond everything and will never die. He is in this world but outside of it as well. He is outside of matter and time and now does not form part of creation. He exiled himself from this world by his own will. The creator god can't harm him anymore, because Cain is now superior to him. Fourthly, the bible says that the creator put a mark on Cain, a sign, so that everyone would recognise him and would not hurt him. Some ancient jewish legends say that this sign was a horn on his forehead. A horn on the forehead signifies power, power that comes from the Spirit, power that distinguishes him from other men. This callous on his forehead signifies that the Spirit has freed Itself and has taken possession of the body, hardening it, Spiritualising it. No-one put a mark on Cain. Cain put it there himself. When this happens, it is noticed by other men and the whole of creation.

Every Spirit freed from the prison of matter will have this mark for all eternity. Now the Spirit will never be what It was before being shackled to matter. That characteristic mark is the body transformed, as hard as a diamond. The Spirit has transmuted the body and is now immortal and eternal. This will be Its eternal reminder, the everlasting proof of Its path through hell and Its triumph over it. We can find several syntheses in the Gnostic explanation of the myth of Cain in Mgr. Meurin's book on masonry which we quoted earlier. Also in "Le dieu rouge" by Robert Ambelain and also in "Atheism in Christianity", by Ernst Bloch. Likewise, there are also several interesting facts in "The Hebrew Myths" by Graves and Patai. There is also a very profound Gnostic interpretation of this myth in a strange novel I found on the Internet called "El Misterio de Belicena Villca". Cain's Wife: It Really Does Matter! | The Institute for Creation Research Cain's Wife: It Really Does Matter!

by Kenneth Ham Evidence for Creation Over the past fifteen years of full-time involvement in the creation ministry, the question that has been asked more than any other is, "Where did Cain get his wife?" When I'm a guest on Christian radio programs, invariably the host or a caller poses this question. I also am asked this question at seminars, at churches where I am a guest preacher, in homes I visit--it goes on and on. I even have the same thing happen in the secular world (e.g., non-Christian students in public schools and on secular-radio talk shows). I’ve been asked this same question so many times I almost feel like I know Cain and his wife as next-door neighbors! 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.

This also affects their witnessing to non-Christians; Third, for many non-Christians, this is a stumbling block hindering them from believing that they can trust the Bible as being a true record of history, from the first book, Genesis, onwards. But, besides the fact this is an easy question to answer, does it really matter whether or not we can answer it? Should we make an issue of this or not? First of all, it is vitally important for the Christian to be able to answer this question, as it relates to defending the fact that all humans are descendants of Adam and Eve; and, secondly, that it is only their descendants that can be saved. Let me go through these two aspects in some detail. 1. All humans are descendants of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 4:1,2, we read, "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 in Genesis 5:3, we read, "And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image: and called his name Seth." In other words, we are told certain details about three sons born to Adam and Eve. It is recorded in Genesis 3:20, "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." Thus all human beings are descendants of the first woman, Eve. There were no other women—just one woman, Eve. In I Corinthians 15:45, Paul tells us that "the first man Adam was made a living soul." In other words, Adam was the first man—there were no other men at the beginning. And in Acts 17:26, Paul states that the God who made the world "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." All human beings are related, because they are all descendants of the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve.

As marriage in the Bible specifies one man for one woman for life, this means Christians have to be able to explain how Adam and Eve's sons could marry and have children to propagate the human race. Thus we need to be able to answer the question concerning Cain's wife. One can actually answer this question with just a little Bible knowledge. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve "begat sons and daughters." Josephus, the Jewish historian, states that "The number of Adam's children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters." The point, of course, is that Adam and Eve did have many children. Therefore, brothers must have married sisters at the beginning. Remember that the law against close intermarriage was not given until the time of Moses—e.g. "none of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him" ( Leviticus 18:6 ). There was nothing wrong with brother and sister marriages, originally. If you think about it, that is the only way to populate the world, starting with only one pair. Notice that Abraham married his half sister with no condemnation from God, even though this was later forbidden.

Also, as Adam and Eve were created perfect, their genes would have been perfect. As the curse God placed upon creation started to operate only after they sinned, their descendants would not have had many mistakes in their genes. These mistakes (harmful mutations) add up only after a long period of time. So brothers and sisters (Adam and Eve's children) could have married and not had the problems of deformities in their offspring as might well happen today, if such close relatives married and had children. This is because today humans have lots of mistakes—because of the curse—in their genes. This may cause problems when matching pairs are inherited from both parents, as is much more likely with close intermarriage. Some people, though, say that there must have been people other than Adam and Eve, because Cain went to the land of Nod and found his wife. First of all, the Scriptures quoted above make it obvious that there was only one man and one woman from whom came all other human beings. Secondly, the Scripture says that Cain went to the Land of Nod and "knew" (had sexual relations with) his wife.

John Calvin, in his commentary on Genesis, and most other conservative expositors, make the point that Cain was married before he went to the land of Nod. Since men and women lived to be hundreds of years old in the primeval world, populations grew rapidly, and Cain had plenty of time to marry a sister (or possibly a niece), move to Nod, and build a city for his own descendants and others. 2. Only Adam and Eve's descendants can be saved. The most important aspect of the topic is this: if we cannot defend the fact that all humans can trace their ancestry back to Adam and Eve, then the whole gospel message has problems. When the first man, Adam, sinned, he forfeited his right to live with a holy God. God, who is infinitely just, had to judge this rebellion with death. Adam and all of his descendants would have been alienated from God forever. However, God, in his infinite mercy, provided a means of deliverance from sin and its final effect of eternal separation from the Creator God. In Hebrews 9:22, we learn that "without shedding of blood is no remission." God required the shedding of blood for remission of sin.

But, as Adam, the federal (representative) head of the human race brought sin and thus death into the world, another man (another representative, without sin, but also a member of the human race) was required to pay the penalty for sin—the penalty of death. The Bible teaches, of course, that the atoning death of Christ was "for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2). In fact, it was only when "by one man sin entered into the world" that death came into the world and then "passed upon all men" ( Romans 5:12 ). Thus the idea that there were "pre-Adamite men" or other human-like creatures in the world unaffected by Adam's sin is theological nonsense. "As by the offense 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" ( Romans 5:18 ).

Since all men and women are descendants of Adam and Eve and "all the world" has "become guilty before God" ( Romans 3:19 ), and since "the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men" ( Titus 2:11 ), all people—of every age and every place—can be saved, if they simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ ( Acts 16:31 ). This wonderful solution to the problem of sin and death is beyond anything we finite humans could ever imagine. God made another Adam! He, Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, the perfect sinless son of God, came to earth to be a man born of a woman—a perfect man—man as God intended man to be. Paul calls Christ the "last Adam" (I Corinthians 15:45). The "God–man" died on the cross of Calvary and "became sin for us," and then was raised from the dead, so that we might have a living sacrifice—a new representative head. Only as we are united to him do we have the gift of eternal life with our Creator. And just think of what Jesus Christ has done for us.

He became a man (but is also God) and will remain a man, God and man in two distinct natures, but one person, forever, so we will have a Savior. What a wonderful message! What a wonderful Savior! What a blessed redeemer! What a God of grace and mercy! Oh, how we should praise Him—and for those of us who do love and trust and serve Him, we will praise Him forever and ever. This is why we send missionaries to the Australian Aborigines, and the New Guinea natives. This is why we are commanded to preach the gospel to "every creature." This is why we can talk about our brothers and sisters in Christ. And this is why we need to be able to answer questions such as, "Where did Cain get his wife?" without speculating that God created any (non-existent) "other people," or that there were "soul-less humans" at that time.

Question: According to the Bible, which one of Eve's sons killed his brother?
Answer: Cain