Who Was the Wife of Cain?
A closer look at one of the most enigmatic women in Genesis
This illustration shows Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where God gave them the command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Photo: From Charles Foster, The Story of the Bible (1897).
While there are many examples of strong and inspiring men and women in Genesis, the book is also packed with stories of dysfunctional families, which is evidenced from the very beginning with the first family—Adam, Eve and their two children, Cain and Abel. In no short amount of time—just 16 verses after announcing the birth of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4—Cain has murdered his younger brother and is consequently exiled from the land. In theory, this would have dropped the world’s population from four down to three. The narrative continues in Genesis 4 with Cain settling in the land of Nod and having children with his wife. Who did Cain marry? Where did she come from? Are there other people outside of Eden? In the November/December 2013 issue of BAR, Mary Joan Winn Leith addresses these questions and explores the identity of the wife of Cain in “Who Did Cain Marry?”
Given that the wife of Cain is only mentioned once in the Old Testament, she would not be counted among the famous women in Genesis. Nevertheless, her identity is still worth investigating. Who did Cain marry? Mary Joan Winn Leith first explores the traditional Jewish and Christian answers that contend that the wife of Cain was another daughter of Adam and Eve. According to this reasoning, Cain would have married his sister—one of Abel’s twin sisters no less, according to the Genesis Rabbah.
FREE ebook: Exploring Genesis: The Bible’s Ancient Traditions in Context Mesopotamian creation myths, Joseph’s relationship with Egyptian temple practices and 3 tales of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham.
Mary Joan Winn Leith explores the identity of the wife of Cain.
A different answer emerges when Leith turns from the traditional responses about the wife of Cain and delves into modern scholarship. Looking at recent work done by sociologists and anthropologists, she notes that when forming a group identity, we tend to define ourselves by how we differ from other groups. In the ancient Near East, sometimes those outside of a particular group or society were considered less “human” by those inside of the group. An important factor that contributes to this mindset is geography. People in the ancient Near East typically stayed close to home, which affected their perception of the world. Surely they knew that other groups of people—potential enemies or allies—existed far away, but if they never came into contact with these groups, what did they matter?
Mary Joan Winn Leith suggests that while the Israelite storyteller knew that other men and women in Genesis existed outside of Eden, they did not matter to him or factor into his account. He was concerned with Adam and Eve and their progeny—not those outside of this group.
Who did Cain marry? There are many answers. For Leith’s explanation of the identity of the wife of Cain—one of the often-overlooked women in Genesis—read her full Biblical Views column “Who Did Cain Marry?”
BAS Library Members: Read the full Biblical Views column “Who Did Cain Marry?” by Mary Joan Winn Leith in the November/December 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
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This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in 2013.
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In my opinion as it is stated God made people on the sixth day. I think Adam was placed in a special place, Eden, and then God gave him a companion, Eve. Cain married his sister. At this time the bloodline was pure enough to intermarry within the family. God focuses on Adam’s bloodline through the Davidic bloodline. I do wonder where this bloodline is today, if it still remains.
Cain could have married a sister as the gene pool, at that time, was strong and uncontaminated. Adam and Eve were physically perfect, so Eve was no doubt in a constant state of pregnancy. If she lived to be eight or nine hundred years old like Adam, she could have had a hundred children. Cain and Able were not teenagers. They were adults, so the population of Adam’s children marrying each other produced many hundreds of possible child brides by the time Cain was expelled from the garden.
There is no doubt that other humanoid like people were on the earth before Adam. Why God created them remains unknow. But these pre adamic races of Neanderthal & Cro-Magnon eventually reached a God ordained genetic dead end and disappeared right at the same time Modern Man appeared on the scene. Anthropologist cannot explain why this happened. But it is clear that Modern Man played a part in the extinction of these prehistoric people.
Genesis picks up with the creation of Adam called by anthropologist Modern Man. The Bible only follows the race of Adam as it was this race that had it zenith in the Birth of Christ. Genesis states that Adam’s race never lived in caves but built cities. The earlier races lived in caves.
It was the remnants of these ancient nomadic races wandering on the outskirts of Eden that sacred Cain. He said if I leave Eden, I will be killed. This is why God marked Cain (Genesis 4:13). So Cain knew of and feared these people so different from the race of Adam. Many anthropologists do not think these ancient races were genetically able to mate with Modern Man. Therefore, Adam took a sister perhaps a hundred years younger than him from a pool of thousands of younger women.
He traveled east into the Land of Nod and built a city named after his son (Genesis 4:17). So Cain was genetically compatible with his wife. It was a relief to him that God had apparently allowed him to reproduce. I could go on with more details but the point is, Cain married a genetically pure sister, had children and started the powerful Tribe of the Caninities. His blood line survived the flood through Naamah a great great granddaughter married to Noah. Ham raped her, and she gave birth to Canaan who Noah cursed (Genesis 9:22-26). Canaan recreated the Tribe of Canaanites. So Cain’s lineage lived on beyond the flood. I guess it hard to keep a bad man down.
God allowed Cain to live 7 generations in the hope he would repent about killing his twin brother Abel. He refused and God used the hand of Cain’s great grandson Lamech to kill cain in a fight to the death (Genesis 4:23). Learn more.
ADAM AND EVE WERE THE FIRST PEOPLE ON EARTH. God did NOT create other people outside of Eden secretly. The Bible is God’s autobiography, we should believe what it says.
The Genesis story is not about the world at age. The Bible is not a complete history book of the world nor does it claim to be one. God only said “Let us create man in our own image.” It does not say Adam was the first nor only man. It is singularly focused on the one off creation of Adam & Eve by God, known by anthropologists as Modern Man. The Bible only relates the adventures of them and their off spring. Other beings on the earth are of no interest to the Bible. They quickly died off with the creation of Modern Man. The Bible only follows Adam because it would be his race that has it zenith with the birth of Jesus. Then the Bible basically ends with the Apostle John and the Book of Revelation. One should not read more into the Bible than it says. Believe me, it says all we need to know.