A closer look at one of the most enigmatic women in Genesis
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.
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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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.
Read a study bible or the Amplified version. The wife Cain took was one of Adam’s descendants.
well that was a lot of side stepping for a very clear cut passage. Cain was cast out and he went into the land of nod and there he took a wife… I mean that is so clear in its meaning and inference most people can get it.
The real issue is that the creation story is not original to the Hebrew people. This story was ancient before the Israelites even went into captivity. The Samarians told this story well before, along with the flood story and many others. The issue is that there was things lost in translation from Samarian to the Hebrew, and then even more lost or changed out right from Greek to Latin in the roman style to take control of a religion in a region they have concurred. Why do you think they do not teach anything about Samaria in school when they had developed many of the things we use every day like our calendar, calculus, a two house congress… and the list goes on and on… because it would loosen their control.
First of all, you have to know that the old Testament is the story of the Jews and not Gentiles. This is strictly the history of the Jew. Adam and Eve were the beginning of the Jewish people only. When Cain went into the land of Nod and took a wife, he married a Gentile, of which there were many in the land outside of Eden.
Utterly ridiculous – There were no Jews until Judah was born.
God isn’t a jew, Adam wasn’t a jew, Noah wasn’t a jew,
Abraham wasn’t a jew, etc…etc…The jews are one tribe
out of 12 whom the jews have managed to deceive the entire
world into believing the bible is about them when it isn’t.
Foxtrot Oscar Alpha Delta, John. The Israelite tribes were descendants of Abraham as his 12 Great-Grandsons are the titular founders. The 10 tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel were scattered to the winds by the conquering Assyrians, the tribe of Benjamin was subsumed by the tribe of Judah which ruled the southern kingdom of Judah until its conquest by the Babylonians. However, enough members of the tribe survived to keep their monotheistic religion which took its name from Judah.
How abt his marrying a Neanderthal who also roamed the region.
My thought on this subject is; that God had created men and women but without His God Spirit. When He created Adam and Eve He formed Adam from the ground and Breathed His God breath or His Spirit into Adam, and of course it was automatically transfered into Eve when she took her first breath. They were created for a totally different purpose. God created them to be a legacy He wanted children with His Heart and His thoughts, and His powers (eventually) But they failed the test. So when Adam was banished He married a lesser person one of the people created without God full Breath. the women that the angels cohabited with that became Giants Everything and everyone got out of hand. They had far too much wisdom and far too much power to be in control of God’s Planet. Angels taking on human form and humans was a bad and evil combo. God had to destroy them all!! Except for dear Noah and family. Thank you Lord for Noah
Anyway it’s much more complicated than this, but these are the basics as to what my studies have found, while studying under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Boy am I glad I’m not smart, being 88 years young only makes me feel that I must try harder to learn, however at my age I have a hard time remembering where my shoes are half the time and the other half is spent how to start looking for them, you know the feeling in the question, What am I doing in this room? Just smile a lot and get something to eat. Have a great day.
Keep up the research.
I have questioned this subject for fifty years and have finally concluded that my salvation is not required to know what happened to Cain and his life other than he was the first killer. Now that said, I am more interested in what my creator took from Adam and made Eve his soulmate. I think that may a question that is more interesting.
You see we are quite happy to believe that a rib was taken from Adam and made Eve. It seems to me that it is strange the woman and man have the same number of ribs so GOD must have copied the rib to do that, however, my Bible says a curve was taken from Adam to make Eve..
If Adam was made originally with everything then must have a curved body similar to that of a woman. If we look at shapes of men and women we see a major difference in them. The men’s shoulders and hips are equal in width while the ladies shoulders are more narrow than their hips and their bodies appear more curves. Now I know Adam explained that Eve was bones of my bone and he called name Eve but she was much better looking than all bone.
Also I wonder what really happened between the winged serpent and Eve when she said he beguiled her.
Cain’s wife is a curious subject but the the size of the animals on the ark are also. Lots of animals on such a small ark, also it would be interesting to figure out where out where Eden was located. Such as, could it have been in America and the garden being say around the area on St. Louis.
It is amazing how much mystery develops about the Bible when we decide not to take it at its word. We are given no indication as to how old Cain was when he killed Abel or when he was married. He could have been 100 years old which is the same approximate age the three sons of Noah were when they entered the ark. Without birth control there could have been hundreds of people alive when Abel was murdered. Cain could have married his sister or even his niece.
If we add some other group of people not descended from Adam and Eve, the entire story of the Tree of Knowledge and Tree of Life and the 7 day creation and Adam’s longing for a helpmeet which is then made from his side becomes nonsensical. All of mankind is mortal and doomed to eternal death without the atoning blood of Christ. If Adam and Eve ate the fruit while others didn’t then there would be immortal human beings and they would not have remained on this miserable sin filled planet but God would have taken them elsewhere.
Well Ethane, unfortunately Adam and Eve did sin, by being disobedient, the result being stated in Genesis 3:19 which is read or quoted at most ‘Christian’ funerals when they say: “for out of the dust you are and back to the dust you return,: or words to that effect……..and as the apostle Paul said at Romans 5:12, though just one man (Adam), sin and death spread to all mankind………we have all inherited that imperfection
Romans 3:23, 24 says that we have all sinned, but we have a ‘free’ gift of forgiveness due to the fact that Jesus gave his life for ALL mankind………..BUT we have to take advantage of that ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Could it be that we are only thinking of the physical when it comes to the first family? Consider that the word “Adam” means something other than a physical man and “Eve” also has another meaning past a name.. I can’t apply the literal history of the “first couple” to my life, so why would it matter except to satisfy curiosity. However, if Adam is “the faculty of intellectual wisdom” and Eve is “the emotional nature of love,” something missing in any/all other beings on the planet at the time, we might come to understand the tendencies of man and woman, plus understand what makes us as we are today, complete people, as in a balance of the two. Also, we know that when in harmony and love a new physical child is born, so is the balance between Adam and Eve in the spiritual sense, that means new “birth” for we who already exist. Now, I can apply these meanings to my life and understand the differences. When God “breathed” into Adam, the same meaning is applied to “spirit,” which makes the potential of Adam & Eve being changed into fully-functioning spiritual beings as God would have intended. Cain could have physically married another human being that had not received the “breath” of God. To me, the understanding of the first family is in the connection God had with them, and not whether or not there was another first family somewhere, or physical incest. Fully-functioning beings, now blessed with intellect and wisdom by one, connected via marriage to emotion and love, means we certainly do have the “first family.” Thank you for considering my point of view.
If you read Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26 It says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness & have Dominion over..Etc. This is before Adam & Eve, This is when the races of men were created There were people outside of the Garden, Adam & Eve came after in Chapter 2
Note that beginning in Chapter 2 it talks first of God resting from his creative works, then in verse 4 it says that these are the generations, or history, of the heavens and earth in the day that they were created and then it basically goes on to describe the creation Adam and how Eve was produced from Adam’s rib.
A couple of interesting points are: 1. in verse 5 it points out that the vegetation was watered by a mist – no rain……….that did not come until after the flood…….a lucid canopy of water surrounded the earth on the outer edge of the atmosphere……..that is where the water came from for the flood……the entire earth was tropical back then.
In verses 15-17, we find Adam being told not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.
Notice he was OK with that until Eve came along and in Genesis 3:12 Adam blamed God for giving him the woman………….now, I wonder where have I heard that before!!!!!!!
Geb and Nut in the Hebrew pantheon are Adam and Eve who begot four twin sons, two males Abel and Cain, and two females. Indeed from medieval sources we find that Cain married his sister Calmana and Abel married another sister Delbora (as we are told by several sources very late: Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze, Historia Scholastica in Gen 4: 1 (PL 198, 1076) by Peter Comestor, Seder ha-Dorot) exactly as in the Egyptian myth the two brothers Osiris and Seth marry with his two sisters Isis and Nephthys. Then Cain kills Abel as Seth kills Osiris
https://www.academia.edu/10440502/Cosmogonies_and_Theogonies
Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden after they sinned!
Thanks to a find in Israel just last week, we know that modern or Cro-Magnon man is a full 50,000 years older than we thought. Therefore, instead of coexisting with Homo Neaderthalis for 30,000 years, we now know that was for 80,000 years. There is no way to tell the difference between HN and HHS. They intermarry and even I have some HN in me. So, Cain married a HN woman. Problem solved.
Genesis was basically a ripoff/redaction of earlier Sumer/Babylonian stories. What do the works from Sumer and Babylon have to say about Cain or Ka’in?
God made man and woman. Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel.But also note there were other sons and daughters born to Adam and Eve. So Can married one of his own sisters. There were no other people on earth at that time. The theory based on other people living outside the creation of God is totally false. A figment of imagination.
I don’t believe there were other people. Except for other children of Adam and Eve. We don’t hear about them, except in passing in Genesis 5, because they aren’t part of a story like Cain and Abel were.
Was Cain even the first born? The Bible doesn’t say he was, it just mentions him first
Israelite storyetller? You mean Moses said “gather round the fire kiddies and I will reveal some naughty stories about the first men and women to live after creation?
That she describes Moses, who certainly carried the scrolls of Israelite history with him and redacted the book of Genesis from it as “storyteller” shows that she is basically grasping at straws. She cannot even name the storyteller. Throwing darts at at a map and hoping one will stick.
Genesis 1 says Yahweh created mankind, male and female. In Genesis , Yahweh took ONE man, and put him in the garden, and from his rib, made He a wife. There were other people created BESIDES Adam and Eve. Duh!
This is a very disapointing take on the biblical account.
I think the author has overlooked the main context of the creation story and is simply trying to fit it into our understanding of a modern long geological age earth.(ie man was not created but evolved).
For my part I believe the bible story of creation has scientific and historical support, if you take a critical view of our modern take on long ages.
I just hate how the article tries to weave lies in to truth…..ie there’s no actual evidence the bible supports people outside of creation just because they want to make it look like it does.
I am disappointed that a scholar would use “who” when “whom” should have been used.
There is evidence that Adam and eve lived out of Bible .
There is no evidence that Adam and eve never existed.
I have a Father and I came from him and I know that for sure and he has a name.
If I don’t have a Father I am called otherwise..if don’t know my Father name it more worst.
There were the fallen angels and their species living out side the garden. More evidence are accounted in the Bible. They had physical bodies like humans and can reproduce.(ref: Noahs period).
There were also the creation of God,But,fallen condition.To be specific humanoid.
One of the importance task assigned to Adam was to get rid of this dangerous species. Unfortunately human species also became one among the fallen.
The same task was also assigned to Israelite. They to allowed themselves to mingle with these species ( refer as gentile).
Once for all HE is coming to setup the kingdom made of pure human beings that is created in His own image.The choosen one according to the seed of Abraham by the law of faith.
Miss Weith:
Instead of theorizing regarding who did Cain marry why don’t you humbly pray and ask the Lord to reveal this to you? Be very careful I suggest when it comes to matters concerning the Lord and His written Word. You like the rest of so many theologians, historians, and sociologists who are educated which I will readily admit need to take into account that none of you were there during that time so how do you know for certainty except what has been revealed in the Bible? Case in point: Do I live in your house? The answer of course is no. With that being said how do I know what goes on in your household unless you tell me what goes on there? Understand?
When one looks at Genesis 5:4,5 points out that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters, and Adam lived for 930 years. When you look at those mentioned in the Bible, before the global deluge of Noah’s day, they lived for hundreds of years.
Also interesting is the account in Genesis 2:22-24 where God performed the first marriage between Adam and Eve.
When God created Adam and Eve, they were perfect,, but, because of disobedience they lost perfection and died, (1 Timothy 2:13, 14), (Romans 5:12). and over the years that imperfection has worsened, until now, we average the ‘three score and ten’
At Acts 17:26 Paul made the point that all mankind out of one man and had set his time limit.
Those ‘near perfect’ sons and daughters could have married with no problem, but, it was certainly different when the Law was handed down to Moses. At Leviticus 8:6-17 it clearly showed that close family relatives were not to marry one another.
If God wanted us to know. He would of put it in the Holy Bible. Amen
The answer is in the Book of Jubilees — the sixth most frequent manuscript discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jubilees 4:1 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.
Jubilees 4:9 And Cain took ’Âwân his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of his son Enoch.
Case closed! Next?
In the book of Enoch, Cains wife is referred to as a cow as described in his vision. Eve is referred to as a heifer. So Cains wife was already a mother or he wouldn’t have referred to her as a cow. To me it seems Cains wife was actually Eve. I don’t believe that anywhere in any scripture is Adam and eve referred to as husband and wife. Eve later returns to Adam after she realizes that Cain killed Abel and Adam comforts her and later they give birth to Seth. They at this time are still not referred to as husband and wife.
That is NOT in 1 Enoch, which is the third most frequent manuscript discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Stop spreading mis-/disinformation!
it’s a little tricks on that.
I hope some people history weren’t written in the Bible and Cain haven’t married to his sister. the Bible doesn’t give us the information of it because it’s God minded not to reveal the secret.
it’s a little tricks on that.
I hope some people history weren’t written in the Bible and Cain haven’t his sister. the Bible doesn’t give us the information of it because it’s God minded not to reveal the secret.
The only wife I identified of Cain is written in the banded books Eden, called The First & Second book, or The Testament of Adam & Eve. Which says that Cain married his own twin sister.
The only wife I identified of Cain is written in the banded books Eden, called The First & Second book, or The Testament of Adam & Eve. Which says that Cain married his own twin sister.
Genesis tells us where Cain went – to a city he named Enoch. The Sumerian King List calls it “Unug” and places it next to Uruk (Erech). Easy to find on a map. Today the city is called Warka. The en- prefix in En-och tells us he was a king in that city as that prefix means “king.” in both Akkadian and Sumerian. My book tells you all that, Historical Genesis from Adam to Abraham.
Thats right. When God created the human race (Gen. 1.27), the “Garden” didn’t even exist. At that early date, there were no frontiers at all. AT the earliest, they arised with the passage from the 6. period to the 7.. During Adam’s life, there were both countries/localities (Gen. 2:8-14) and (logically) frontiers.
Reading any supernatural stuff (fallen angels etc.) into the bible won’t save the Christian faith, so let Cains wife descend from a preadamic tribe.
There were def other for the lack of a better term, “people” on the earth then besides Adam eve Cain and Abel. The bible says that God created man and women outside of the garden…. whether they were “human” or not is another question…. the rh factor stuff definitely proves there is an “outsider” element to the human gene pool. Could cain had married the offspring of a fallen angel??? Yeeeaaaahhhh
The Bible gives limited details on the name and character of Cain’s wife. The only mention of Cain’s wife is in Genesis 4:17, where Cain and his wife had a son. They soon named a city after their son. The Bible does say that Adam and Eve had other children besides Cain and Abel (Genesis 5:4). No doubt it was one of these daughters that Cain took for a wife.
God commanded humanity to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28; 9:1) and thus it was necessary to marry one’s own relative. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob married their own relatives so as to avoid intermarrying non-believers. Later however, Moses commanded close intermarriages between members of the same family to be prohibited (see Leviticus 18:6-17).
Mr. Benjamincan u tell me whats the name of the second book
Mr. Benjamin
read the second book of Adam and Eve chapter 1
Did Adam and eve acceptted, to give their daughter to Cain?
Cain marries Luluwa his own sister . read the second book of Adam and Eve chapter 1
Depensa,
Could you elaborate on you intentions for this quote.
http://www.scriptural-truth.com/PDF_Apocrypha/Second Book of Adam and Eve.pdf So Adam said to his son Seth, “I wish, 0 my son, that thou wed thy sister
Aklia, Abel’s sister, that she may bear thee children, who shall replenish the
earth, according to God’s promise to us.
3 “Be not afraid, 0 my son; there is no disgrace in it. I wish thee to marry, from
fear lest the enemy overcome thee.’
4 Seth, however, did not wish to marry; but in obedience to his father and
mother, he said not a word.
5 So Adam married him to Aklia. And he was fifteen years old.
6 But when he was twenty years of age, he begat a son, whom he called Enos;
and then begat other children than him,
7 Then Enos grew up, married, and begat Cainan.
8 Cainan also grew up, married, and begat Mahalaleel.
9 Those fathers were born during Adam’s lifetime, and dwelt by the Cave of
Treasures.
10 Then were the days of Adam nine hundred and thirty years, and those of
Mahalaleel one hundred. But Mahalaleel, when he was grown up, loved
fasting, praying, and with hard labours, until the end of our father Adam’s
days drew near.
Chapter VIII.
Adam’s remarkable last words. He predicts the Flood. He exhorts his offspring
to good.
He reveals certain mysteries of life.
Page | 11
WHEN our father Adam saw that his end was near, he called his son Seth, who
came to him in the Cave of Treasures,
and he said unto him: –
2 “0 Seth, my son bring me thy children and thy children’s children, that I may
shed my blessing on them ere I die.”
3 When Seth heard these words from his father Adam, he went from him, shed
a flood of tears over his face, and gathered together his children and his
children’s children, and brought them to his father Adam.
4 But when our father Adam saw them around him, he wept at having to be
separated from them.
Edit – Genesis 5:4 says nothing about the timing of daughters, and “sons” would include Cain, Abel and Seth. So again, there is nothing in this verse about the timing of the children.
Lilith,
You have simply read that into the text. Genesis 5:4 says nothing about the timing of the daughters, and the sons may simply have been refering to Cain, Abel and Seth. It gives the age at which Adam fathered Seth, how long he lived afterwards and the fact that he had sons and daughters. This is the same for each individual in the genealogy. Your interpretation leads to the absurd idea that each male gave birth to only males first.
Likewise, there are no time indicators in Genesis 4, but you can compare the names and characteristics from each genealogy. When we do this, we find four names from Cain to Mehujael (meaning “smitten by God”) and four names from Seth to Mahalalel (meaning “praise of God”). This can be done for a number of names and personal characteristics. The genealogies in Genesis 4 and 5 were set in opposition to each other in fulfilment of Genesis 3:15 (godly and ungodly seeds). These two seeds are brought out in many verses (Matthew 13:38; 1 John 3:10, etc).
Besides, Dean’s argument seems to be that Adam and Eve had NO daughters. He said that Genesis 5:4 referred to Seth’s daughters.
@ dean,
of course you’re absolutely right. There were no “sons and daughters” of Adam before Seth (Gen. 5.4), as I already said some time ago. When Seth was born, Cain already was the (grand-)father of severel generations. This very example sufficiently shows, how much the proponents of the traditional exegesis have to bend the biblical texts to continue harping on their string. But I’m optimistic that their doctrine will fizzle out gradually.
Dean,
That does not fit the context or the wording. The focus is on the life and actions of Adam in 5:1-5, then on Seth in 5:6-8, etc. The personal pronouns (he, him) point to the main subject. We have the same formula for each. If we follow your interpretaion through, then Noah should have had daughters (Gen. 5:30). Yet, no daughters of Noah were mentioned or saved. Likewise, your sentence structure “There is no where made mentioning of Adam and Eve having any daughters in the generations of Adam,In Genesis 5:1-4, Seth is the one being made mentioning of as having sons and daughters in Verse 4, Not Adam,” shows that you are basing the idea of no daughters, on verses 1-4. From just these verses you could argue that Adam and Eve only had one son, but we know that is not true.
Eve is called the mother of all living 3:20, so there could be no other humans, other than Adam and Eve’s children. If they had no daughters, then humanity would have gone extinct. Cain’s wife was a descendent of Adam and Eve. Like I said, read my earlier comments.
Earlier I showed that the male and female of Genesis 1 were the Adam and Eve of Genesis 2-5. See above for these points.
It is evident in the book of Genesis that Adam and Eve is not the father or the mother of all humanity.There is no where made mentioning of Adam and Eve having any daughters in the generations of Adam’s,In Genesis 5:1-4, Seth is the one being made mentioning of as having sons and daughters in Verse 4, Not Adam.
Lilith,
I misunderstood your reference to the idea of a flat earth. I usually run into those who try to claim that the Bible teaches and the ancient Jews believed in a flat earth.
Yes, you are right that Genesis 2:7 does not technically say “formed FROM the dust,” but that is the overall implied meaning. The most likely translation would include an implied “of,” as found in many English translations (see below). For example “breath of life” is literally “breath life.” OF is implied. If it were to mean “he was dust,” I would expect to see hayah (the verb to be, was).
We can tell what the verse means by comparing these verses:
Gen. 2:7 – “…formed the man OF dust (aphar) from (min) the ground (adamah).”
Gen. 3:19 – “…until you return (shub) to (‘el) the ground (adamah), because from (min) it you were taken (laqach), because dust (aphar) you are and to (‘el) dust (aphar) you will return (shub).
Gen. 3:23 – “So the Lord God sent him from (min) the garden of Eden, to work the ground (adamah) that he had been taken (laqach) from (min).
These verses are quite clear. Adam was formed out of the literal dust from the ground and when he died he would return to that dust/ground, not to a womb. So, God built a body out of dust and had to breathe life into it. You can twist the scriptures all you want, to try to fit in evolution, but it doesn’t work.
By the way, I looked at the “Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,” “Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon” and “Holladay, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT.” These are highly respected sources. They agree with the word definitions which I have been using. What Hebrew lexicon did you find your word meanings in? Also, which Biblical texts clearly indicate that “breath in nostrils” is a reference to “realizing something?”
“To rule” does not mean “to hunt.” It means to have dominion. This is backed up by other passages describing man’s authority over the animal kingdom (Genesis 2:19-20, 4:2; Psalm 8:5-8). Besides, God did not give man the right to eat animals until after the flood (Genesis 9:2-4).
That is the evolutionary interpretation of the “Adam of the Y Chromosome.” It could very well refer to the Biblical Adam. Earlier (comment 17) I referred to attempts to infer the original population size and how they overestimate the original size. This has been directly tested for sheep, horses, etc. Interestingly, even evolutionists have been reducing the original population numbers, very significantly, over the last decade or so. Check out “Who Was Adam?” by Dr. Rana.
Yes, at the end of the last ice age it became much easier to maintain long term agriculture and domestication. Likewise, human population numbers increased, leaving behind more evidence. That is why we find so much evidence after about 12,000 years ago, but that is not when it all started, nor do we know how widespread it was. I listed two research papers which pointed these things out.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that animals were formed, created or made from the sea. The Bible doesn’t say how God made the sea creatures. It does say that land creatures and flying creatures were formed from the ground (Gen. 2:19).
Bara – refers to bringing something new into existence. It does not on its own mean out of nothing.
Asa and banah – refer to the action of building an object, by definition, out of existing material.
Yatsar – refers to the molding and shaping of an object.
God created (bara), made (asa, banah) and formed (yatsar) mankind (Adam and Eve). He built brand new creatures (being both physical and spiritual) of the dust from the earth and a rib, and shaped them into the human form. By the way, this means Eve didn’t come from a womb either.
I know Jewish sources are not the Word of God, but you said that “old Hebrews” would laugh at the idea of humans being made out of dust or mud. I was just answering your challenge.
Edit: …the humans gathered fruits, cabbage, seed and whathaveyou from the open expanse (Gen. 1:29).
It isn’t the point who tought a flat earth. A lie doesn’t become truer by believing in, that’s it. And the majority doesn’t count, as well.
In Gen. 2:7, it isn’t even written that Adam was formed FROM the dust. In Hebrew, it means: “YHWH Elohim formed Adam, (he was) dust from the ground”; in the meaning of “Adam WAS dust from the ground” (Gen. 3.19). “From the dust” refers to Adams material texture, while the verb jatzar refers to the emerging from the womb. Adam wasn’t “created” at all, yatsar ≠ bara. That’s why the traditional exegesis of Adam’s arising is ridiculous. Of course, I meant Eccl. 3:20. 3:19 says that humans ARE animals as well, which fit the formulations in the creation Report. The terrestrial animals weren’t created, too, but emerged (another yatsar) from the sea (where “living souls” were located recently) and were prepared (asah). Domestication arose in the end of the 6. “day” of creation at best. And at that early date, it wasn’t as systematic as since 12,000 years ago. The majority of this period was filled with hunting. That’s the actual meaning of “ruling” over the animals. Analog to this, there were no circumscribed fields, but the humans gathered fruits, cabbage, seed and whathaveyou (Gen. 1.28).
Of course, neschamah means “spirit of knowledge”, but in the meaning of “to realize”, not “to know”. Jewish sources are not the “Word of God”. You should consult preferably neutral sources. The Talmud has no exegetical authority as well.
The “Adam of the y-chromosome” isn’t an individual, but a group of humans and has nothing to do with the biblical Person Adam.
I know plenty of Scientific sources which argue “young” agriculture and even younger advanced civilisations, but they’re mostly in German language, because I’m German.
Hello Lilith,
On the science side:
The male Y-chromosome traces back to a single ancestral sequence, which could be interpreted as Adam or Noah. Likewise, the mtDNA can be traced back to a single ancestral sequence, which can be interpreted as either Eve or the last common ancestor of the wives of Noah’s sons.
Metal Working 10,500 Yrs.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2742674?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Ancient Religious Monuments 12,000 Yrs.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/150120-gobekli-tepe-oldest-monument-turkey-archaeology/
Agriculture 23,000 Yrs. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131422
http://www.pnas.org/content/112/39/12075.full
Domestic Dogs 33,000 and 36,000 Yrs.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0057754#pone-0057754-g004
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0022821
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Loponte/publication/258529165_Complete_Mitochondrial_Genomes_of_Ancient_Canids_Suggest_a_European_Origin_of_Domestic_Dogs/links/0deec52966c4b5229c000000.pdf
Clothes 30,000 Yrs
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910142352.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050821233037.htm
http://www.aggsbach.de/2012/10/eyed-bone-needle/
Carving 30,000 Yrs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_man_of_the_Hohlenstein_Stadel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Hohle_Fels
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2679675.stm
Painting 30,000 Yrs
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/chauvet-cave-paintings.htm
Flute 40,000 And 30,000 Yrs
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090624-bone-flute-oldest-instrument.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8117915.stm
Modern Culture Over 40,000 Yrs.
http://in-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Powell-A-et-al-2009-Science-Late-Pleistocene-demography-and-the-appearance-of-modern-human-behaviour.pdf
Bovid Domestication? 49,000 Yrs.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131273
Disruptions from the ice age and low population size make evidence harder to find meaning that the above data are just the oldest that we have found so far.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0022821
http://in-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Powell-A-et-al-2009-Science-Late-Pleistocene-demography-and-the-appearance-of-modern-human-behaviour.pdf
Lilith,
Who specifically taught a flat earth?
The view of the early church was that the earth was a sphere. Only one church father taught it was flat. The Bible does not teach a flat earth either. There was no Hebrew word for ball/sphere, not even dur. In Isaiah 22:18 dur refers to a bundle, not a ball. You bundled your belongings before being exiled. That is the context. You did not grab a ball on the way.
You use Eccl. 3:19 as evidence that “from the dust” equals the womb. It is 3:20, but hayah (to be) is in the perfect form. In English this is usually translated with the pluperfect “all CAME from the dust.” This is a past action pointing to their origination (Genesis 2:7, 19). Besides, that verse ends with “and all return to the dust.” We don’t return to the womb.
Neshamah does not mean “spirit of knowledge.” The “breath of life” refers to living and breathing. We are discussing the phrase, not just a single word. I have only seen one verse which uses even the word by itself in the context of knowledge.
You mentioned that “old Hebrews” would laugh at the idea of a human actually coming from dust. This seems a strange thing to say given that the Old and New Testaments, as well as ancient Hebrew and Christian commentaries taught that our bodies will rise again from the dust. So, why would they not accept that Adam was originally created from dust? Who specifically denied that Adam came from dust? One guy from the 1500s does not count.
I’m only using Jewish sources. I could go all day with Christian sources.
The Babylonian Talmud teaches that Adam was the man of Genesis one “the first man.” I do not see where it gives a direct teaching on Adam coming out of the dust, but it does say that we will rise from the dust in the resurrection. It is likely easier to use the word search to locate these references.
Volume I, TRACT SABBATH, Ch. VII, GEMARA, pg, 130
Volume III, TRACT ERUBIN, CH. II, MISHNA I, pg. X
http://holybooks.lichtenbergpress.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/Babylonian-Talmud.pdf
Midrash Rabbah, Bereshith, Ch. VIII, pg. 54
https://archive.org/stream/RabbaGenesis/midrashrabbahgen027557mbp#page/n101/mode/2up
It teaches that Adam came from actual dust and that “breath of life” is breathing – Ch. XIV, 1, 7-9
In Rabbi Rashi’s commentary on Genesis, Bk, 1, he says that Adam and Eve are the same people as those in Genesis one. He also says man was made from actual dust.
http://www.mnemotrix.com/metsudah/b01r.html
Rabbi Rashbam’s commentary agrees that Adam was the man of Genesis one.
http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/GenTradRashiRashbam.html
I will also add that on day six, God created animals which are domesticated, wild animals and creeping animals. So, domestication is right there, in Genesis one, with the first man (Adam).
It isn’t a criterium how long a false doctrine is believed in. It doesn’t become truer thereby. As well the earth doesn’t become flat when it’s believed for thousands of years. Even a venerable delusion stays a delusion.
Of course, Gen. 2.7 is in the womb too. There’s no ceramist manner when God forms a human. Jeremiah is “from the dust” as well (Eccl. 3.19) . It’s the same process of conception, precnancy and birth. The idea of directly forming a human out of dust or mud would raise much laughter among old Hebrews. Adam also got “spirit of knowledge” (neschamah), not just “life breath”.
There already has been an exegetical separarion between the preadamites and Adam long before someone mentioned the word “evolution” at all. Isaac del Peyrere many centuries ago.
Yes, the paradise story is about the transition from hunters-gatherers to agriculturalists AND Adam and Eve are the first biblically recorded ones. There is no contradiction. Neolithic Revolution was a long process, extending over centuries. Almost every day some People experienced the events of this story. Adam and Eve were right in the middle of it. All that holds good. It’s the Interface between the 6. and the 7. “day” of creation. The latter began right before Adam’s birth. Your numbers are far beyond Scientific Data (“old-earth-creationistic” Stuff? ). There, as exemple, agriculture began 10,000-12,000 years ago.
None of your many bible verses equals arets and adamah. Arets is i. a. the whole planet earth (on which the preadamites spreaded via reproduction), respectively a country/certain area. Adamah is the ground with the fitting consistency to Farm.
Lilith,
Your claim that ish and ishshah are only used for humans is wrong. I told you that in the flood account it is also used for animals (Genesis 7:2).
You try to reinterpret Genesis 2:7 by using Jeremiah 1:5. Sure they both use yatsar (form), but one is from the dust and one is in the womb. Adam was formed from and therefore made up of dust (elements of the earth), and we are likewise made up of dust (Gen. 2:7, 3:19; Job 10:9, 34:15; Psalm 103:14; Eccl. 3:19-20, 12:7). The Bible reminds us that we return to dust when we die. They clearly saw this in tombs. We do not return to the womb.
There is also the fact God had to breathe life into the newly produced body of Adam (Gen. 2:7). This was not breath after birth, for the Bible refers to humans as alive in the womb (Genesis 25:26; Hosea 12:3). Likewise, Exodus 21:22-23 makes no distinction between death coming to the woman or the prematurely born child. The breath of life, in the nostrils, is found in both man and animals (Genesis 2:7 and 7:22). See also (Genesis 6:17, 7:15, etc.). It refers to physical life (Job 27:3; Ezekiel 37:4-9; Revelation 11:9-11). I say this, because some try to claim it was God giving man a spirit. There are many more verses dealing with the divine breath.
“Him” and “them” in Genesis 1:27 are translations of et. The first is singular form (him) and the second is plural form (them). Him refers to one person, unless you have other Biblical passages which use the singular of et to refer to more than one person. By the way the Greek translation (LXX) agrees and uses a singular personal pronoun for “him” and a plural personal pronoun for “them.”
As far as ha adam (the man or Adam), it is used throughout the first three chapters to refer to a particular individual (Gen. 1:27; 2:7, 8, 15, 16, 18, 19,…; 3:8, 9, 12, 20, 22, 24). Combined with the singular form of et, you have one individual.
To say, as you did earlier, that erets and adamah cannot or do not equate is ridiculous (see Genesis 7:21-23, 8:7-8, 13 and 9:2, etc.).
Did you read the quotes from Jesus (God in the flesh)? He is quoting the two texts as a single unit meaning that He saw no distinction.
The majority understanding for the last 2,000 years has been that Adam was the first man and Eve the first woman, and that God started with just two people (Genesis 1:27, 2:7, 22-24, 3:20; Book of Tobit 8:6; Book of Jubilees 2:14, 23; Antiquities Bk. 1, Ch. 1.2; Acts 17:26; 1 Corinthians 15:45-47; Against Heresies Bk III, Ch. 23.1).
There is no Biblical, exegetical, case for separating the male and female in Genesis one from Adam and Eve in Genesis two.
Evolution is the reason you try to reinterpret the scriptures. You can hold to old-earth creationism without evolution. Evolution has not presented anything which cannot be explained by old-earth creation. Maybe you would like to check out Reasons to Believe (Hugh Ross’ organization).
P.S. Of course Adam was the first Biblically recorded agriculturalist, he’s the first man. You originally claimed that the expulsion from Paradise referred to the transition from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists, not that this was its first recording of agriculture in the Bible. Agriculture has been going on for at least 20,000 years.
What exactly do you see as different between your “preadamites” and “Adamites?” Homo sapiens sapiens (we humans) have been around for about 100,000 years. We have DNA for humans (not referring to Neanderthals, homo erectus, etc.) going back over 30,000 years and they are us. Direct evidence for agriculture is over 20,000 years old, domestication of animals over 40,000 years, art (statues, musical instruments, paintings) around 40,000 years and stitched clothing and needles for making it are over 30,000 years, metallurgy is at least 12,000 years and large stone structures were being built at least 10,000 years ago. Modern humans prior to 5,000 years ago are no different from those afterwards.
It’s easy to understand, after all. The preadamites descend from the terrestrial animal by being prepared from them (yes, we call this evolution nowadays) and via his parents Adam is connected with both the (non-human) animals and the preadamites. Natural reproduction is both a coefficient and a product of evolution.
Isch & ischah are used for humans only, while zakar & neqebah are used for humans AND non-human animals. That’s another meaningful evidence for the animalistic origin of the first humans. In the Flood Report, it’s pointed out, that It’s about two individuals of each kind. In the creation Report, that is not the case. Him and them are both plural, him is just a formal singular. In many languages they talk about “the man”, the mankind understood, no special individual. In Hebrew, ādām is even more often understood as mankind than as a male name. Gen. 1:27 and 2:7 both content “ha”, but 2:7 uses it immediately, which implies that it isn’t the ultimate arising of an new kind.
Jesus notabene never had insisted or confirmed, that Adam and Eve were the first two humans.
Agriculture even began before Adam and Eve, 10,000 ago. The point isn’t that Adam and Eve are the ultimate first agriculturalists ever, but the first biblically recorded ones. They are examples, models, typical Exemplars of Their day.
You “do not hold to an evolutionary model”?
Ok, that explains everything…
Lilith,
What does an appellative form verses a proper name have to do with what I have said?
I have written a longer response to what you said in your last post, but here I want to stick to the single pair discussion. In Genesis 1:26 we have man without the article which virtually everyone agrees, here, refers to mankind/humanity. But, in verse 27 we find “God created THE MAN” and then it says “He created HIM, male and female He created THEM.” In Genesis 1-5 “ha adam” always refers to either “the man” (the individual named Adam) or the proper name Adam, in other words a single individual. The “HIM” always refers to an individual. So, just like Genesis two, we have a single man created first, and then a single pair of individuals (one male and one female).
Genesis 5:1-3 and Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-8 agree that Genesis one and two are referring to the same two individuals.
Lastly, we find zakar and neqebah and ish and ishsha are used interchangeably for the individual mating pairs which entered the ark. Both refer to single pairs, not groups of male and female animals. Therefore, there is no reason to assume they the words refer to different humans in chapters one and two.
Lilith,
First a couple of internal contradictions in what you wrote:
“Adam and Eve arise in a completely different way than the humans of the 6. “day” of creation. The preadamites descend from the terrestrial animals…”
“Adam grew out of natural reproduction.”
In the first statement you propose evolution which, like the last statement uses natural reproduction. So, Adam would have come from the animals as well. So, where is the difference in your model?
Later you say:
“PS: The expulsion from Paradise refers to the Neolithic passage from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists.” But, earlier you said:
“The preadamic rulership over the earth isn’t agriculture like in Gen. 2:15…”
So, which is it? Did agriculture begin in Paradise (Gen. 2:15) or after the expulsion?
I do not hold to an evolutionary model.
PS: The expulsion from Paradise refers to the Neolithic passage from hunters-gatherers to agriculturalists.
Adam and Eve arise in a completely different way than the humans of the 6. “day” of creation. The preadamites descend from the terrestrial animals, as the verb asah in Gen. 1.26 proves. Their creation in God’s image in Gen. 1.27 refers to the typical human Features like intelligence. The appellative Form is also used for the other creatures and plants, without any creationist ever demanded only two individuals at the beginning of each kind.
Adam grew out of natural reproduction. The same verb in Gen. 2.7 is also used in Jer. 1:5, where it descripts the arising of Jeremia.
Not only that zakar & neqebah have different meanings as isch & ischah, the preadamic way of life is also different from the adamic. The preadamic rulership over the earth isn’t agriculture like in Gen. 2.15 (arets ≠ adamah). The preadamites were transient hunters-gatherers.
The gaps in the genealogies are already limited by elongating the life ages. A human can’t live over 900 years, that’s obviously impossible. The beginning of Gen. 5 is just a summary from the preadamites (Verse 1-2) to Adam (verse 3) and so on. Once again the Focus is on the naming of the entire mankind, in the first two verses. No woman got the male name Adam.
The Garden of Eden was in South Mesopotamia, at the end of the last glacial period, that’s right.
According to Genesis 6, sons of God married to human girls. They have the same body. But their souls were different. Cain was the son of God. His wife was human. Afterall, Cain went to hell and appeared within the body of Anneliese Michel.
Lilith,
I would also add that the descrptions of the land of Eden, its garden and the surrounding lands only make sense during the last ice age.
Hi Lilith,
I see we agree on a lot, but adam is singular in verses 26 and 27. It is understood as plural, because the verb “to rule,” in verse 26, is plural “let them rule.” Why would it be plural? Because, two people are more than one. Two people equals mankind. Like I said earlier, male and female are each singular as well.
Genesis 5:1-3 links the male of chapter one with Adam of chapter two. So, yes, Adam and Eve are Biblically linked to the origin of humanity.
As far as dating Adam, there is no way to limit gaps in the genealogies. We find genealogies where father and son are literal father and son. Others, including in Moses’ line, where they are 6-9, even 13 generations apart. Here we must rely on general revelation.
In Gen. 1.26-27, “ādām” is mentioned in singular AND plural. It’s an appellative name for the entire mankind, as already explained repeatedly. The preadamites have nothing to do with a “gap theory”. They’re just the human beings from the first chapter. The gap theory is unnecessary, because the creation “days” are already long periods, so it don’t need another one in Gen. 1.2.
The genealogy numbers reveal a rough timeframe, but you can’t elongate that to 100,000 years. Especially since Adam and Eve don’t belong to the ultimative beginning of mankind.
Of course, Noah’s flood was local. It restricted to the Near East, like almost everything from Gen. 2:5 on. So it couldn’t harm the rest of the World (population).
@Steve
It’s easy to verify, who’s right and who’s wrong. Every dictionary can be Testament to it
WOW, I don’y know who is right or wrong on this stream, bit it is wonderful to read so many knowledgable people discussing this important issue. My hat’s off to all of you for this informative reading.
Lilith,
In Genesis one both male and female are singular in Hebrew. That’s two people. Again, Genesis 5:1-3 shows us that Adam of Genesis two is the male of Genesis one. I also pointed out why you can not just add the numbers to get to a date for Adam. For example, Moses skips generations in his own genealogy. Only by comparing other Biblical genealogies from the same time period do we figure it out. Luke 3:36 tells us of a Cainan which Genesis 11 leaves out. There is no way to tell how much time is involved in Genesis 5 and 11. Humans have been around for about 100,000 years. You said preadamites, are you a gap-theorist? If so, you might want to check out Genesis 1:2 which uses a waw disjunctive. This means that verse two is further explaining what earth looked like at its creation. It rules out a gap between verses one and two. Lastly, there was no global flood. The flood of Genesis could not be global, because God said that on day three He set a boundary for the waters, so that the earth would not return to Genesis 1:2 (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 104:5-9; Proverbs 8:27-29). Each of these are talking about the creation week. They establish that earth was covered by water at its creation and that God set a boundary, the land masses, which the water could never again cover over. This is also referred to in Jeremiah 5:22. Not until after the Tower of Babel did humans migrate outside of the Arabian peninsula.
To answer this question isn’t difficult at all. Holy Spirit or no Holy Spirit, Gen. 1 isn’t telling about ONE male and ONE female. Zakar & neqebah are generic terms. Numbers aren’t called until Gen. 2-3, which tells from one man (isch) and one woman (ischah). Please note that isch & ischah have different meanings as zakar & neqebah.
100,000 years ago, there were only preadamites. With the help of the biblical Genealogie, Adam and Eve can be dated 5500 b. C., the middle of Neolithic period. The Persian Gulf were created by Noah’s flood, an aftermath of the last glacial period.
It’s so difficult to answer this question,but let’s be honest that the Bible was written by God’s own prophets whom were filled with the Holy Spirit to pass a short, brief but concise massage. By this I believe that God wanted us to know that for every innocent blood shed, you must not
go unpunished. Cain really got married from the descendants of Adam and Eve but not Immediately he was sent on exile, although he knew that Adam must fulfill the rule to born and fill the world so he went wandering waiting for her soul mate who the spirit of God never cared about as He was not pleased with his devilish act. Note, marriage can go irrespective of age difference, a man can marry a girl young enough to be their daughter.
As far as population genetics ruling out just two original humans, there have been a number of studies on sheep, horses, etc. which started with a known population and then many generations later, their genetic diversity was evaluated. Consistently, the calculations overestimated the size of the founding population. Over the years the estimates of the founding human population has been falling, from millions to just hundreds. We also have no Biblical date for Adam. Moses skips 6-9 generations between Kohath and Amram. There are about 13 generations missing between Obed and Jesse, even though Obed begat Jesse. If we compare the description of the land of Eden with recent research of the middle east, during the last ice age, we find a match. The Persian Gulf did not exist, because of lower sea levels. This left the area as a lush oasis surrounded by dryer regions. There are radar images of two massive river systems that met in the gulf area along with the Tigris and Euphrates. One flowed out of the mountains of western Arabia where there is gold and trees which produce a myrrh like resin. This matches the descriptions of the land of Havilah. The other flowed from Oman and Yemen. This fits Cush, originally populated by dark skinned people. So, Adam and Eve date back about 100,000 years.
There is nothing in Genesis to indicate that Cain married some unknown female. The ending of Genesis 5:4 does not indicate the timing of the birth of sisters anymore than “and was evening and was morning” at the end of each creation day, means that they occurred after the events of the day. All Genesis 4:17 says is that after leaving the land of Eden, Cain and his wife had children. It says nothing about when or where they met. The best answer is he married a female relative.
Cain is worried about someone finding and killing him, so God gives him a protective mark. Who would and why would someone look for Cain to do him harm? Who would know the meaning of the sign? The context indicates that someone who knew Cain and what what he had done would seek him out. To know the meaning of the mark indicates someone familiar with Cain and what God had done for him. This seems to foreshadow the blood avenger, who was usually a family member. So, there is no indication of people beyond his family.
I’ll want to respond to some comments. First, both Genesis one and two have one male and one female. In Gen. 1 man is told to subdue and rule over the earth and that he plants and that animals also ate plants. So, he was to take care of plant life for he and the animals. In Genesis 2 God puts Adam to work with plants. In Gen. 1 God tells man to rule over the animal life and in Gen. 2 God puts him in charge of naming animals (an act of dominion). Genesis 5:1-3 combines the name Adam (Gen. 2) with the creation language of Genesis 1. Lastly, Jesus in Mark 10:6-8 combines the language of Genesis 1 and 2. Thus, these are the same two humans in both chapters of Genesis.
My Chinese friend, a civil engineer there who was raised atheist & became an ardent follower of Jesus & Bible student after her wakening experience with Him followed by a vivid dream of Him summoning her to faith, had no problem with this question. She looked rather nonchalant & answered, obviously Cain’s wife came from the people God created in His image in Genesis 1.
Why can we not accept and understand that our Jewish-Hebrew Creation Myths are no less sacred, nor more sacred, no less historical, nor more so, than the Creation Myths of Native American Indians or African Tribes.
Why does BAR continually post heretical articles? Suggesting there were other people groups implies the reason for the suffering and death is not mans sin. Jesus appears to believe Genesis literally since He quoted from the book nearly 30 times. Please be fearful of adding to the Bible, especially when your opinion arrogantly dismisses the Bible in error.
Remenber thatgod cursed cain by putting a mark on his face ,no one could kill him ,no one else ,had more people edens surroundings
In the Islamic tradition that comes from prophet’s sons , Shia , there is another view regarding Cane’s wife . She is Nymph . And it is not only Cane who got married but also other sons of Adam ,peace be upon him , like Sheeth and Yafeth who also got to another nymphs .
Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze, Historia Scholastica in Gen 4:1 (PL 198, 1076) by Peter Comestor, Seder ha-Dorot: Cain married his sister Calmana and Abel married another sister Delbora
https://www.academia.edu/10440502/Cosmogonies_and_Theogonies
Hello i want to know what language used by adam and eve? Im very curious about it.thank you.
I’m a follower of Christ and love God. I’m definitely an advocate in the “case for God.” In His wisdom, there are some things a bit difficult to reconcile. So, I’m not sure I completely follow your logic, in all due respect. Seth and the host of Adam & Eve’s children were subsequent to Cain’s marriage–as in it couldn’t be possible that Cain married a sister. But I must add, “The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man”–it would take us entering the raw presence of God to seek His counsel. Sounds too spiritual I know, but there is a greater reality in God we haven’t entered into yet.
Thats right, so forget about all the creationistic crap about “kosher” genes and sibling incest and make friends with “unholy” preadamites, coadamites and “wicked” evolution (Gen. 2:4)!
Mwahahaha 😉
Consider the FACT that today’s genetic diversity DID NOT begin with only Two individuals.
You MUST either accept the existence of other Humans outside of Eden or abandon your faith and reason.
There is no other option.
PS: There have already been named countries even in Adams times (Gen. 2.10-14). Pretty much every name has a meaning, including country names.
Big letters don’t lend credence to obsolete tenets. Daughters before Seth are phoney, just as the rest of the traditional exegesis.
GENESIS2 WAS AN ELABORATION OF GENESIS1VS26&28. WHEN SONS AND DAUGHTERS WERE BORNE, EMPHASIS WAS ALWAYS EXCEPT IN RARE SITUATIONS, ON SONS. EVE WOULD HAVE DAUGHTERS FROM WHOM CAIN AND SETH MARRIED. SO THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE PREADAMIC. GET KNOWLEDGE..
DO NOT COMPLICATE THINGS FOR YOURSELVES, THE WORD NOD IN HEBREWS MEANS WANDERER AND CAIN WAS PRONOUNCED A WANDERER FOR HIS ACT. WHERE HE DWELT AFTER LEAVING GOD’S PRESENCE WAS NAMED AFTER HIM, THE LAND OF WANDERER.
Abraham married his HALF SISTER Sarah ( Genesis 20:12) and GOD agreed it. So its a clear evidence that GOD promoted that kind of marriage in the early times.
So in other words, you dont know. That’s because there is no logical answer. There’s a whole book a dedicated to this one begot that one. So to sa y, awe, they just didn’t mention thise people is rediculous. The answer is its impossible. It didn’t happen. Come on. That’s what gets me the most about talking to people about this stuff. If they don’t have an answer they make one up. That’s jusy stupid man. Wake up.
If you want more credible answers for Bible stories, look to the Ancient Pagan texts… The Holy Bible is kind of the Jewish knock off. The Bible is constantly changed and reworded and updated one word at a time so that it’s not obviously noticeable. It’s social control. Language is man made and therefore anything ever said, written, or read is based solely on interpretation. That voice that tells you right from wrong is your conscience and morality, not Jesus Christ. Also, why are Christians the only people that call their god GOD… That’s like saying “Praise Doctor, for he has found a cure.” or “All Hale Teacher, for exposing us to such plentiful knowledge.” Every other religion calls their god by their NAME. There is so much spiritual disrespect in Christianity. Encouraging slavery, incest, rape, and so many other things. People are required to tithe even though the Holy Bible came out thousands of years before paper currency. Wake up people… God would want us to live in perfect harmony, eating the fruits and vegetables that grow from the earth, keeping our children protected and raising them to make the world a better place. God does not condone murder (or war), God does not condone utilizing money or giving other humans power or authority. If you truly believe God made all then you should believe that we as humans have no place trying to improve his creations or trying to make a profit from creating things he cannot. Pretend everything you have ever been told from anyone… the media, your parents, your church, history books, the bible… pretend EVERYTHING is all a lie and then research the truth on your own and come to a conclusion based on what YOU YOURSELF conclude. DO NOT FOLLOW… Free your mind. Do not be controlled by words that confine your mind. Understand what’s going on in the world around you and how we are controlled by 3 things: Our Governments, Our Currencies, and Our Religions.
The very first creation was the cosmic space (Gen. 1.1). Next up, the animal souls (Gen. 1.21) and last but not least the human intelligence (NOT the human by itself (Gen. 1.26; asah means the preparation from preexisting material) and other human characteristics (image if God; Gen. 1.27). When Adam and Eve finally come into being, the whole world already is populated with human beings (Gen. 1.28). Adam and Eve aren’t creations (bara) at all!
The “sons and daughters” of Adam and Eve come AFTER Seth. So the wives of Cain, Henoch, Noah etc. came from beyond Eden.
interestingly, we must know that Adam and Eve was the very first creation of God. there was never any preadamic creations!. some of us are referring to Gen.1:26 yes that place shows God intentions to create man and what he wished to accomplish through man. but chapter 2 shows us of how God accomplished His intentions. The Bible said that Cain went to Nod. where and what is Nod. Nod means land of wandering so Cain went to land of wandering that means he left God’s presence and was wandering about east of the garden. and during this wandering he knew his wife and not married. We have to understand the account of people in the Bible. Gen.4 gave a random summary of Cain’s life. It was not accordingly to as the events unfolds or do you think Lamech Cains son is older than Seth Adams third son? No! So Adam must have given birth to so many children and had many other grandchildren before Cain even got married. So Cains story was just rounded off in Gen. 4. So he is got got married to one of his sister. And remember names of many wife in Genesis are mentioned e.g who did Noah got married to? They are only having babies which concludes that they could be getting married to their sisters and even their mother’s. Because they were very sinful and out of God’s regulations. That’s why God have regulate this actions when he redeemed man.
I think it is obvious, that there were humans (so-called preadamites) before Adam and Eve. And of course it’s possible, that both of them had had brothers and sisters (and (grand-)parents, aunts, uncles and cousins as well). Not only possible, but highly propable, because only children were unusually in those days (5500 years b. C.).
It’s about time to review our view of Adam’s and Eve’s reality of life!
Gen 1 vs 26 down has made it knwn that humans were there before adam jst that he (God) wanted to point out that he want the best out of adams family wch is us, and he created adam after seventh days people should read their bible well before commenting.
some of the things written in the bible can be understood just like that. if u feel u want to know more go learn bible histories
People dont even understand this bible at all. How can u say there is no human beings apart from Adams family? yes there are other people living on this earth. Ok who was Cain referring to when he told God that anyone who sees him will kill him? God has to put a mark on his forehead, so that anyone who finds him, will not kill him. This is a sign that they were other people living on earth. Cain didn’t marry his sister, he got his wife from the land of Nod.
What about Genesis 1 chapter 26 …. Then God said, ” and now we will make humans beings, they will be like us ……He blessed them and said, “have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth.”
It is only in Genesis 2 chapter 7 ” Then God took some soil from the ground and formed a man….”
Cy
People please STOP. You’re adding and detracting from the Bible. Our God doesn’t agree with incest.
we are say elot of things but never knew the right truth. So i think we all should just stop deffrents story and live as we are living just followe the commandment of all mighty God
I personally think Cain married one of the sons of God…can you remember when God said He will stop that and I also think Can might have given birth to giants.
The answer to the question of where Cains wife came from is very simple. Cain got his wife the same way Adam did, God caused a deep sleep to come upon him and took one of his ribs and made him a wife. Adam and Eve were one flesh, and Cain and his wife were one flesh.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are missing the big picture. The story is a recording of an event that has significance to the life of the believer. The fact that Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden is recorded because that story shows us what happens when we desire to have the things God has forbidden. The story of Cain and Abel shows us how pride, envy, jealousy, rage, and even vanity cause us to commit unthinkable acts that destroy Gods creation of love. The story said nothing of Cain repenting for the murder of his brother, only that he felt his punishment was unjust. The remainder of this story is, in fact, in keeping with what God told Adam and Eve, “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28), and the fact that God IS the same TODAY, YESTERDAY, AND TOMORROW. He still had commanded them to fill the earth and subdue it, no matter how He felt over Abel’s demise. The story shows us that no matter how far we have fallen, how great our sin, God is still Jehovah Jireah.. The provider. Things may have turned out differently should Cain have repented, accepted his punishment without complaint, and moved when The Lord said “Move.”(i.e. Abraham in Gen 22:2). Take the KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, and LAWS of the Old Testament, and run them through the love of Jesus and the cross. Read the teachings of Jesus in how they relate to fulfill the prophecies, make a new covenant (law) and ask “did Jesus die for this to change?” OT law was eye for an eye, God smite my enemies, crucify the thief! Run those old covenant teachings through the blood of Jesus and they read very differently.. Forgive.. Seven times seventy times. Love your enemy, and Pray for those who have enmity towards you. If a man steals your jacket, give him your shirt, too. Just some thoughts.
Cain married her sister .Also the place called Nod was named after Cain lived there.
Marriage between brother and sister was not made taboo until Moses. That being said, I think Cain probably married a Neanderthal or Denisovan. I fully believe that Christ was God in the flesh and was the atonement for my sins to reconcile me with a holy God, my Father in heaven. I also believe there were dinosaurs and other hominids that God also created. The missing link scientists are looking for I believe would be in reverse. There were what we call homosapiens, us, and other hominids, who’s DNA has been found in homosapien. Which means interbreeding. I believe that interbreeding took place initially when Cain was sent out into the world, met the wild people he met, took a wife, and had children. I believe that we are very arrogant to say other hominids or dinosaurs did not exist. That would imply that there was something God couldn’t do, wrong. If we could understand all that God has done, and still does, then he would not be worth our worship. We worship him because he is “set apart”, Holy and righteous. He is a creator, and I’m sure has created many things that we have no idea aboof or even a concept of. Now we see dimmly, but when we as believers in Christ Jesus are welcomed home as good and faithful servants we will see clearly.
What other people? It is clearly denoted Adam and Eve were the first humans, Hence Eve being called the mother of all living. And for the point about incest being ok back than, yes it might have been but the whole pure blood negating any genetic defects associated with incest, doesn’t add up. We all are all direct decedent’s of Adam and Eve which would mean there is absolutely 0% genetic variation between us and them because every person came from the same mother and father, so if they had no ill effects from incest why would we with the same blood? It doesn’t matter if it’s been a few thousand years if we all came from the same dna there will be no alteration no matter how long the time period, you know hence why people can trace their family lineages using dna.
He took his sister along with him certainly. Thanks for bringing up this matter… It has bn given me sleepless night… Just trying to understand it but all proved abortive.
I strongly believe Cain already had a wife with him before getting into Nod. From the bibles explanation, Cain knew his wife and had a son means that Cain slept with his wife and had a son. So its certain he took along one his sister with him. Only God knows the truth…
I quite agree that Cain married his sister as a wife since there is no human on earth before God created Adam and Eve. so more argument we take it as it stated in the Bible.
Anyone ever thought that Cain’s wife was created the same way Eve was created. Men have less ribs than females. Cain’s blood line ever completely ended
Cain married his own sister at nod because the bible was not mention woman name at that time it was not prohibiter to marry your sister.
God is love..and God loves Cain so much (even after he murdered his brother) enough to provide him a wife. The words of God (bible) not necessary for us to know the details of cain s wife.God wants us to understand that He still love and blessed the sinners.
Hello Fatima, the bible did not states ‘his wife came from the land of Nod’ The bible say that Cain went to the land of Nod and knew his wife and not that he marry his wife. ‘knew his wife’ means that he slept with his wife there. he might go along with his wife while leaving his people.
With Adam and Eve out of the garden, all activities were outside the garden. Now how old was cain and Able at the time of the incidence? Its obvious that Adam and Eve might have other children. The Bible was önly giving account od the incidence and not the geneology of Adam’s family.
Also, Bible made no connection of the incidence with Adam and Eve. This tells that the brothers were not living together with their parents n likewise other siblings
It’s a pity you didn’t read Genesis 1 v 26. There were already humans on the earth.
“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.”
As the Holy Spirit is the “story teller” (1 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21) to suggest that He did other than tell the truth is a violation of the direct Word of God (John 16:13).
Adam and Ever are the progenitors of all mankind (Gen 3:20; Acts 17:26). By the time they gave birth to Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-2), Seth (whose lineage we follow through Noah and beyond) and other sons and daughters (Gen 5) they had already disobeyed God and been cast out of the garden of Eden. Therefore, technically ALL of Adam’s progeny was always outside the garden – only Adam and Eve had ever been in the garden of Eden.
So, since all humans on the planet earth came from Adam and Eve, and Cain had a human wife, and all humans were already outside the garden of Eden, therefore the proper conclusion, one borne by the revelation of the God the Holy Spirit, is that Cain’s wife, whom he took from the people outside the garden, was also a descendant of Adam and Eve.
What abt Neanderthal genes among our own Sapien Sapien genes? Perhaps this is where these genes came into ours.
i actually have this as an assessment based assignment …so please any more useful findings are very appreciated
Really people. What difference does it matter who Cain married? His bloodline ended with the flood.
the Cain wife is an Abel twins sister,because if you look at the book of Old Testament there allows mention males name not female name that is why the don’t mention her name and because man are the head of family
The cain wife is Abel twin sister, Because if you look at the books of Old Testament, there allows mention male but not female that is why Bible don’t mention har name because man are the head of the family
Then let us try to find the real name of Cain wife and where he get her, we are learning
CHILDREN OF THIS TIME ARE TOO CURIOUSE. THEY ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS.
IF YOU SAY”CAIN GOT HIS WIFE FROM NOD TOWN OR VILLAGE”REMEMBER-GOD CREATED ADAM IN HIS LIKNESS & IMAGE THEN FROM SAME ADAM GOD MADE EVE. BOTH MET AND STARTED HAVING CHILDREN.The Question is WHO ELSE DID JEHOVA OUTSIDE THIS FSMILY?????
If every account were to be written, the Bible could be so big the world couldn’t contain it. JUST ASK THE spirit if you may happen to have, He will reveal God’s secrets. NO NEED TO BOTHER YOUR HEAD.
We as humans can never understand God completely but going by the book of Genesis, Cain did not marry his one of his sisters. Why do we want to create or write our own bible?The bible clearly states his wife came from the land of Nod. We should concern ourselves with finding out more about the land of Nod rather than rewriting the book of Genesis.
The Bible states emphatically that God is the same today, as yesterday, as forever in the future you wish to query. IF marriage among siblings is prohibited once it is always against God’s laws and rules. Thus what say you now?
mmmh that’s interesting.never thought closely the story of Cain.thanks for revelation
According to the book of Jubilees there was a sister born, Awan, after Abel.
Chapter 4: 1 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 Awan. And in the first (year) of the third jubilee, Cain slew Abel because (God) accepted the sacrifice of Abel…
Chapter 4:9 …And Cain took Awan his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of his son Enoch.)
Adam had many children, so marriage was not a problem as mutations only appeared in the time of Leviticus 18:6 (2500 year later) where God prohibited inter-family relations.
Very simple: Gen. 5.4 says that the other sons and daughters of Adam have been born after seth. Cain hadn’t had any sisters at the time of his marriage. Cains wife only could come from the land of Nod (I remind Gen. 1.26-31).
Why don’t people read Genesis 5:4 which reveals that Adam begat sons and daughters. Case closed. Cain married a sister or niece.
The story was about Cain and Abel, and it is only said they were children of Adam and Eve. It is obvious that there were other children. The pre-flood earth atmosphere shielded better against cosmic radiation permitting less genetic erosion and much longer lives. Original near-perfect genetics permitted intermarriage of siblings. It is so easy to understand that it is beyond me why people want to complicate things. Making themselves look interesting, maybe?
There isn’t an only passage in the entire bible that calls Adam and Eve the first humans. In the first chapter, “adam” is just an appellative name for the entire mankind. Personal names don’t appear until the second chapter. Also the used verbs of the first chapter (asah, bara) have completely different meanings as those (jatzar, banah) of the second one. Let’s just compare Gen. 2.7 to Jer. 1.5, and it becomes obvious, what I try to explain. Adam and Eve are just descendants of the preadamites, and the “God’s image” of those prehistoric man can’t hide fact that they descend from the terrestrial animals, with them they have been created as the same “day” (actually a VERY long Periode, like the others.
Cain sisters appear AFTER Set, Cain couldn’t have married one of them, that would be an anachronism.
Eve is the wife of Cain .Why Bible was not mentioned her name?
The only alternative to Cain marrying one of his sisters would be if he married a niece: there was plenty of time for one to mature. How could Cain have married an aunt when there were no women of Eve’s generation: neither Adam or Eve had a sister.
There are two versions of Man’s origin but they could well be just a different slant on the same event They do not contradict each other.. Read Genesis 1:26/7 and 2:7 again.
Perhaps many of Cain’s siblings had moved to Lod when Cain moved there. The residents (his own brothers and sisters and their children) might have avenged their brother/uncle/cousin
Abel.
The fact that there are similar (not exactly the same) stories/versions of Man’s origins around the world among primitive tribes today and before Christian missionaries arrived to teach them the Jewish one, shows that man had one origin.
I hate it when people try and think they know better than the Bible. The Bible tells us quite plainly that Adam was the first man made from the dust of the earth and Eve was the first woman made from Adam’s rib (not his penis). The Bible then goes on to tell us about their offspring and the famous murder of Abel. Genesis 5:4 “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.” Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters besides Cain, Abel and Seth. The logical conclusion is that Cain married one of his sisters and until a prophet of God comes along and tells us otherwise that is what we should accept.
I don’t know if it has already been mentioned here, but Gen. 1:26/27 and 2:7 are two different events. While Gen. 1:26/27-31 encounters from the origin and reproduction of the entire human race during the sixth day in its two sexes (hebr. zakar & neqebah), which come about at the same time and in unknown number, the paradise story means the arising of two individuals, one man and one woman (isch & ischah). This happens at the beginning of the seventh day.
Like Adam, Eve and all other humans, Cains wife descends from the “preadamites” of the sixth day. She was already resident in the land of Nod when Cain arrived there.
We are all literally the same blood,dna, relatives plain and simple n noone seems to want to acknowledge this admit this etc it’s right there in the bible who else was there besides Adam n eve n their children nobody
I think a lot of things were ommited from the bible to satisfy some peoples theories the truths out there
To look logically (which many people will not or cannot do) and read sequentially, this task was impossible. The logical answer would be that it must be a sister or an aunt. However, no one else was around at this time. We see Cain leaving to go to Nod (Genesis 4:16) and knowing his wife (Genesis 4:17). Some argue that the women were not mentioned in the Old Testament so it is very possible. But if we look further we see through biblical evidence that Adam did not begat anymore sons or daughters until Seth. Genesis 5:3 and 5:4 state “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years; and he begat sons and daughters.” Notice that this is AFTER the departure of Cain. Is it possible that Cain went to Nod and waited for nearly a hundred years by himself until on of Adam’s daughters happened to stroll into Nod all by herself as well? Sure, but chronologically it does not make sense. We need to stop taking the bible literally and look at it more metaphorically. Science has disproved dozens and dozens of biblical mythology and yet people continue to cling to it more than the reality they face every day.
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.
Hi, for starters, this verse is incorrect. This seems to be a reference to the Jehova’s Witness’ Bible.
Kurt says:
Gen. 3:20: “Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living.”
The KJV says it correctly: Gen 3:20, And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
No future tense here, she was the Mother of all living at the time.
Mrs Cain was a pre-historic woman…Oh evolution is not incorrect, but, Adam and Eve were special creations, with a living soul…pre-historic man, not at all.
People need to understand that the so called “Sons of God” are not fallen Angels!
Adam and Eve were procreating long befor the fall(“be fruitful and multiply”)
For the non-believers, JESUS is the truth, if u do not believe that, u have work to do.
Acts 4:12
If we believe that Genesis depicts a true account of creation, then we must believe the very first man and woman created were Adam and Eve. Any other human beings would have had to come from the sexual relation of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel we know. We can only wonder how many female children they had. For Cain to get a wife, he would have to had chosen one of his sisters for a wife. To go outside these parameters is confessing you do not believe the account of creation as stated in Genesis.
Truth, you defend literalism, then quoted a verse then ignored its obvious literal meaning.”all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine”. The verse says nothing about cosmology or science or human origins but the verse does say it is profitable for what the bible indeed is profitable for which is in understanding the nature of God and our relationship to Him, our moral duties to one another and our means of obtaining right relationship to God. The verse actually by omission gives no implication that it is a proof text for what you claim it means.
The cosmology of the bible is babylonian and the bible does not endorse it but merely reflects it as the backdrop of the stories it tells. The bible cosmology also clearly teaches a flat earth and any reading of scripture that is the least bit consistent and attempts to keep to a literal biblical cosmology in the early chapters of Genesis must surely keep to a flat earth which is present from Genesis to Revelation. The selectivity with which fundamentalist choose what they take literally from the babylonian cosmology is not based on sound exegesis but on what is defensible based on having limited knowledge of science and what is not defensible even with the sketchiest knowledge of science
Recent archaeological and genetic evidence reveals that interbreeding between genetic humans and neanderthals probably began to occur as recently as 50,000BC.
Something to consider.
I firmly believe that there were no actual individuals named Adam or Eve that were the beginnings of the human or Hebrew race. All ancient tribes have their own origin or creation myths. It’s highly presumptuous to say that the Hebrew story is any more real than the Greek, Egyptian or Sumerian.
This one is easy, “Adam called his wife Eve, as she is the mother of all the living”. The Bible is clear there is but one, the human race. The Bible is clear and states explicitly that”all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine” therefore infallible, that is all scripture is to be interpreted literary. Third, the Bible says man is not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That sums it up, God said it, He is in authority not any human who denies the truth of scripture by inturpteting scripture through the lens of their own philosophy.
What happened to the other created couples in the garden after the original Adam and Eve, and are they recognizable characters or prophets in the bible? Are they without sin and were they taken out of the garden?
Genesis has at least one vague reference to other hominids which I assumed to be Neanderthals. However, I agree that Genesis tells the story of Hebrew history rather than of all humans. It is folly to be too literal, perhaps the reason Jesus spoke in parables. What matters is Love. “To love one another is to fulfill all of the commandments”.
When reading and studying the scripture I kept asking that at the time of creation Bible Genesis writer said God created them “men and women”, so where were this other people? I believe that Adam and Eve were the first people of God’s creation he went on to create other people.
The Bible is a spiritual book. If your spirit is not ready to receive the message you will not receive. That’s why it’s important to read the Bible over and over, as you and your spirit mature, you will understand more.
As long as Adam and Eve were alive, does anyone really believe that Cain, Abel and Seth were their only children? There were no other people outside the first family. Cain took a sister for a wife. He would have had to.
the events recorded in d Bible are done so as to teach us something, the reason the origin of Cain’s wife was not stated is because God did not have any lesson for us there. Stop majoring on the minor. Cain had other siblings and could have been married before the curse, it doesn’t matter. What matters most is that the blood of Abel cried for judgement but the blood of Christ plead for mercy, learn that and move on.
Protestant pastor here…Parts of the Old Testament are not meant to be read as literal history. Some/much of Genesis falls into this category…You guys that want to read it ALL as a literal history/science book, more power to you. I won’t call you names or run down your faith.
As for me, I’ll see the God’s message and truth behind the text whether it literally happened or not.
Scientists look everywhere but up or where they should. Here is the answer, Cain and Abel were not the first children of our first parents, that is Adam and Eve. Cain married of of his elder brother’s daughter. PLEASE Read the.book of Moses in the pearl of great price. We, the Mormons have known this since the.restoration over 180 years ago. See for yourselves.:
” And it came to pass that Cain took one of his brothers’ daughters to wife, and they loved Satan more than God.”
There are other books that were not included by Constantine in the modern bible. If you want to resesrch you cannot exclude all other ancient texts.
That doesn’t make much sense because male DNA is a mutation of female DNA. Facts before speculation.
Watch youtube.com/theoldpath or go to http://www.esorianoblogspot.com
To continue, this is why the Adamic blood line, through Seth, had to remain unmixed all the way down to Jesus who was the Christ. In that the failure of the son of God, Adam, all fell, through Jesus, the unfallen son of God we are redeemed.
This goes to the heart of some of the misunderstandings about who Adam and his line was.
Adam was the son of God, Eve the flesh of his flesh and his wife.
Adam and his offspring was a new creation….
אדם
’âdam
aw-dam’
While man and mankind
איׁש
’ı̂ysh
eesh
Could have already been here and that is where Cain’s wife came from….
It requires no mystery nor does it require incest…
Yes, I do believe Adam and Eve had more children. We have no way of knowing the number of years had passed when they were removed from the Garden. We have no way of knowing if Cain was the first child. There could have been several children before or even after Cain and after Able even. The story is only concerned with these two and then with Seth later. Look at how long everyone lived. Cain and Able probably were not young boys, especially since they labored and knew what God required with sacrifice. And we do know that girls/ daughter/sisters are rarely named. There was a city in Nod, people had to build it, it didn’t just happen and Cain was concerned that someone would kill him, so there were more people around. The Bible only concerns it’s self with God’s people and the line through which Christ is brought into the world.
Cain married his sister because Adam & eve had more children .
After they disobeyed God he told eve you shall have great pain giving birth this tells me she had given birth before without the curse of pain since they lived so much longer I believe they married each other in some way
Its easy Cain married one of his sisters, just because they are not mentioned in the Bible doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Adam and Eve lived 900 years and only had three children, your a fool if you believe that. the reason Cain and Abel are written in there is because of the sin Cain committed, before the event of Cain killing his brother Abel, no man had ever taken a life. this is a truth that shows just how far man can fall into sin…. o and if you are going to believe in God and the Bible you cannot go and find your white-out and remove the bits you don’t like.., it is in there for a reason and it is all true, not just bits and peices
Adam& Eve Only Once. I do not find on Amazon. Fascinated by idea!
Were Adam and Eve the only couple who were created in the manner described in the Book of Genesis? Apparently not if you read Adam & Eve Only Once – available on Amazon – based on biblical evidence it now seems there is completely new way of looking at the Book Of Genesis:
It is proposed in the series of pamphlets that make up this book (there are eight in all) that the special manner in which God created Eve from the side of Adam (as described in chapter two of the Book of Genesis) continued for a number of other blessed couples up to the time of Abraham, at which time it ended. In other words, the unique nuptial blessing granted the first couple in the Garden of Eden did not end there but was also gifted to others. The pamphlets will examine the biblical evidence for this. For this chosen group, the husband did not choose his bride or the bride her husband. They, like the first couple, were also formed together as one body and then became two. In some real, but mysterious, manner the bride was formed from the side of her husband. Many, if not all of us, will find this proposition as almost beyond belief. “How”, we might respond, “could this be?” It overturns our way of thinking. “Could this be possible?” If, on the other hand, God had created the first couple (Adam and Eve) in this manner could he not have repeated his masterpiece? Are we to restrict what God can do? Of greater significance, however, is that the biblical evidence for this ‘nuptial state’ “in the beginning” (Gn. 1:1; Jn. 1:1) is compelling. It is this evidence (largely found in a series of events and dialogues recorded in the Book of Genesis which, it is proposed, has been somewhat neglected or overlooked in biblical scholarship) that is examined in this book. In this early state of marriage, as indicated above, the female bride was not born from her mother’s womb but, rather, was formed at some providential time from the side of her husband. This unique marital state once graced the world and, as proposed above, continued to the time of Abraham, after which it ended. This state might be described as a partial legacy of the Garden of Eden, pointing to the first love which God had originally intended for the first couple he created in Paradise. It was this form of love that Christ not only restored but elevated on Calvary in the blood and water that flowed from his side, which the Early Church Fathers (see commentaries by St. John Chrysostom 347-407 A.D. and St Augustine 354-430 A.D.), described as the New Eve flowing from the side of the New Adam. For, by his death on the cross, Jesus not only restored this fallen state outside the Garden of Eden but elevated this state of love to that which God had originally intended for the first couple (and for every couple) for all eternity within Paradise. Speaking to all of us from the cross through the repentant thief Jesus promised, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise”.
If you would like to leasrn more about this fascinating new book – check it out on Amazon – Adam and Eve Only Once?
P. S. As for the death of Cain, The Book of Jubilees, chapter 4, verses 29-31 tells us of Adam’s and Cain’s death, “And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year [930 A.M.] thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth.
And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: ‘On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.’ For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.
At the close of this jubilee Cain was killed after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in righteous judgment.
The Books of Adam & Eve,(VITA ADAE ET EVAE) From “The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament”, R.H. Charles – Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913 says: that Seth had 30 brothers & 30 sisters alive, at the burial of Adam (6)…And the angels Michael and Uriel buried Adam and Abel in the parts of Paradise, before the eyes of Seth and his mother (7) [and no one else], and Michael and Uriel said: ‘Just as ye have seen, in like manner, bury your dead.’ xlix (1) Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she would die, (so) she assembled all her sons (2) and daughters, Seth with thirty brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all, ‘Hear me, my children, and I will tell you what the archangel Michael said to us when I and your father transgressed the command of God (3) On account of your transgression, Our Lord will bring upon your race the anger of his judgement, first by water, the second time by fire; by these two, will the Lord judge the whole human race.xlix (1) Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she would die, (so) she assembled all her sons (2) and daughters, Seth with thirty brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all, ‘Hear me, my children, and I will tell you what the archangel Michael said to us when I and your father transgressed the command of God (3) On account of your transgression, Our Lord will bring upon your race the anger of his judgement, first by water, the second time by fire; by these two, will the Lord judge the whole human race.
In the book of Jubilees, chapter4, verse 1 & 9, (it tells us that Cain married his sister, Âwân bint Adam); verse 1 says “And in the third week in the second jubilee [64-70 A.M.] she gave birth to Cain, and in the fourth [71-77 A.M.] she gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth [78-84 A.M.] she gave birth to her daughter Âwân. ” & verse 9 says, “And Cain took Âwân his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. [190-196 A.M.] And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, [197 A.M.] houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of his son Enoch. “
Asking about Cain’s wife is like asking about Cinderella’s hairdresser. This is the 21st century.
Reading carefully the Genesis in Hebrew, we have to point out that God says to the earth (aretz) to produce all the living creatures (1:24) which has to include mankind. Then God created Adam in His resemblance (1:26) from the ground (adama) which is quite a different raw material than aretz. Moreover, the Hebrew grammar shows that all the living creatures represent categories, while Adam is one only of his kind, evidently because he is the only one to receive God’ breath (2:7).
When Cain hears of his punishment, after the murder of Abel, he protests the severity, because “God has moved him from the adama and anybody meeting him in the aretz will kill him (4:14).” Therefore, Cain had no problem in finding a wife among the daughters of the aretz. Dr. Edoardo Shmuel Recanati
The bible says that Adam & Eve had other sons and daughters. All of them are not recorded. Cain had to have married either a sister or a cousin. And, since the offspring was only the 2nd to 3rd generation of man then the DNA was much closer to perfect than it is today so “incest” was not a concern then. The same scenario was repeated after the flood since there were only 4 couples to repopulate the earth.
TDH writes, “The Bible was not meant to be taken literally.” Sez who? Also, By whom was it not “meant to be taken literally?”
Adam and Eve weren’t the only ‘people’ existing in the Genesis story but they were the first parents of mankind, in my own understanding of the OT, there are others who weren’t mentioned in the narrative of the Genesis. For one reason, the author of the Genesis sought to trace the history of the ancestors of Israel; it is just that the Genesis stories were highlight on the lives of Adam and Eve as to the reference of the order and ancestors of Israel.
Some points to consider on “CAIN’S WIFE”. How do we know that Cain was not already married when he murdered Abel? It did not say they [Cain & Abel] emerged from the womb and immediately went out and offered their sacrifices. And It could be by that time because life was still quite pristine Adam & Even could have had several other children, daughters, perhaps, or even granddaughters that Cain might have married.
Also, concerning who could possibly be those who would confront Cain to kill him, Humans lived on for centuries and centuries at that time so eventually there would be relatives and relations and shirt tail relatives who having moved to other regions might for some reason or other plot to kill Cain in the decades, centuries to come and not necessarily have to be another ” people” or “race” outside of the one the Bible describes.
Man didn’t write the bible, God did, cain married one of his sisters, dont yall understand anything!
TDH, another thing. How can a story teach faith if it did not actually happen? Does the figurative god that you serve think people are stupid? Do what I say, don’t do what I do…which is nothing but tell false stories? Believe the story, no matter if it is true or not. How is that building faith? How powerless is your god? You know that you are sweeping the whole OT off the table and you are making God and/or all is servants and prophets in the OT out to be liars?
Not sure why you mention your “Masters” in Pastoral Theology. It is meaningless and typical of people that think they are educated and now think they can question the Bible. As Jesus told the Pharisees. You don’t know the scriptures nor do you know the power of God. Again, why bother becoming a Pastor…
TDH. If the Bible is not meant to be taken literally then I assume you also don’t believe in a literal God… Not sure why you bother becoming a Pastor if you start of with not believing the foundation of the Bible. Stop wasting your time and the time of others. You start off with being a false teacher. Stay away from pastoring.
The Bible was not meant to be taken literally. The stories of the OT were meant to teach the faith, they didn’t have to actually have happened or happened that way. As one who is finishing a Masters in Pastoral Theology, I find Leith’s question and possible answer, interesting and worth considering, but I would not lose sleep over the “right” answer.
I agree with Lee, Read Answers in Genesis, book 1 and 2, facinating truly Bible based teaching!!
Well … Always a hot bed of controversy on this site! I do understand that there is a Mitochondrial Eve and a Y-DNA Adam lurking back there in the distance. There also is some evidence of two additional — but now dry — riverbeds in the Near East which lends more credibility to the original Adam and Eve story with the four named rivers. Only two of the four now exist. Also: a very good question is that if the Adam and Eve story was entirely fictional, how did the person composing the original — or at least the biblical — version know that snakes used to walk on four legs?
Aside from those details, I see no harm in wondering whom Cain married. There were likely other beings around — maybe not descendants of Mito Eve & Y Adam — whose dynasties long ago died out. The biblical story just gives the bare-bones story — the parts relevant to the point being made by the biblical author — and does not elaborate. Anything could be true with regard to this question. I just think her ideas are interesting. And Lamech murdering Cain? Wild!! Maybe. But the fact that Cain’s ultimate fate is not described means only that it was irrelevant to the basic story and thus omitted. The speculation, however, is interesting and should be regarded as that. As for Deano — he has another version. I have seen various dates for M Eve and Y Adam — with him coming after her. As for the ability of generations to pass stories along — by mouth and accurately — this has in fact been demonstrated by anthropologists studying other cultures — not Near Eastern ones. If something was important to people, they were capable of preserving a story and/or history — even by oral tradition — with word for word accuracy. This has been debated elsewhere. So the Adam and Eve story probably happened. But not recently enough to support the Young Earth Theory — which evidently was developed to support some “visions” reported by Seventh Day Adventist founder Ellen G. White — and is not necessarily in line with how Genesis has been traditionally interpreted.
I believe science and God can exists together. That being said, Noah and Adam can be, but do not have to be all. Adam may have been the first to know God. Noah the person God choose to save man on earth. But there is most possible, Adam was not the first humanoid, or that all the diversities of animals fit into one small place not very long ago. These are interesting theories to text. All written by man. Only two or three times has God wrote to man. So it is faith we must go by. Science is able to help support these things. As in the order of earth being as it is now, and the Sun and Moon.
I would follow the Biblical account , that would make the most sense. Cain married his sister. Who else would he have married ? THERE IS NO other conclusion one can come to. If you don’t believe the biblical narrative,as another replier has mention ‘ it is open to any assumption or presupposition’. Sometime in the beginning someone had to have sexual relations with his sister for pedigree sake. The normal literal sense of scripture is always the best way to understand scripture unless the text in question otherwise demands .
The lack of respect in evidence-based science in favor of stories passed along generations trying to figure out the origin of all things is incredible. How would anyone know and be able to pass on an accurate description of what happened so many generations before there was a written word? Our oldest mitochondrial relatives go back a minimum of 100,000 years and that is only the female. The male line could predate that number. Open your minds to the evidence that is all around you. Your holy book is filled with stories that are just that: stories. Paul Bunyan is just as real.
I think Adam lived about 2000 BC among other humans in Southern Mesopotamia. Gen 2:4-11:32 is the origins of Adam’s tribe, not the whole humankind. The Giants and the Sons-of-God were simply neighboring tribes. Gen 2:21-3:24 is a prophetic dream, where Adam saw who is a suitable wife for him, and also received a promise about the Messiah in the same prophecy
Our Readers Ask . . .
Where Did Cain Find His Wife?
▪ “If Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel, where did Cain’s wife come from?” Although this is often asked as a trick question by Bible skeptics, the Bible does provide sufficient detail to give a satisfactory answer.
Genesis chapters 3 and 4 present the following information: (1) Eve was “the mother of everyone living.” (2) Time elapsed between the birth of Cain and his offering the sacrifice that was rejected by God. (3) Following his banishment to become “a wanderer and a fugitive,” Cain worried that ‘anyone finding him’ might try to kill him. (4) God set up a sign to protect Cain, indicating that either his siblings or other relatives might try to kill him. (5) “Afterward,” Cain had intercourse with his wife in “the land of Fugitiveness.”—Genesis 3:20; 4:3, 12, 14-17.
From the above, we can rightly conclude that Cain’s wife was a descendant of Eve born on an unknown date. Genesis 5:4 acknowledges that during his 930 years of life, Adam “became father to sons and daughters.” Of course, the Bible does not specify that Cain’s wife was Eve’s daughter. Indeed, the fact that she is mentioned after Cain’s banishment indicates that enough time had passed that she could even have been one of Adam and Eve’s granddaughters. Hence, The Amplified Old Testament describes Cain’s wife simply as “one of Adam’s offspring.”
Nineteenth-century Bible commentator Adam Clarke speculated that God’s establishing a sign as a result of Cain’s fear came about because several generations of Adam’s descendants already existed—enough “to found several villages.”
That Cain married his sister or a later female descendant of Adam through the marriage of any of Adam’s sons or daughters is viewed by some societies today as unthinkable. This is usually because of societal taboos or fear of genetic defects. Nevertheless, F. LaGard Smith comments in The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order: “It is altogether likely that these first brothers and sisters enter into marriages with each other, despite the sense of inappropriateness which would be felt should that occur in following generations.” Also, it is noteworthy that it was not until Moses received God’s laws for the nation of Israel in 1513 B.C.E. that intercourse between such close relatives was specifically forbidden.—Leviticus 18:9, 17, 24.
Today, we are millenniums away from the perfection once possessed by our original parents. The effect that genetics and heredity have on us might not have been a factor for them. Furthermore, recent studies, such as one published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling, show that unions between first cousins face lower risks of having children with birth defects than is widely perceived. Reasonably, such issues would not have been a serious concern during Adam’s life span or even prior to Noah’s day. Thus, we can conclude that Cain’s wife was one of his female relatives.
http://m.wol.jw.org/es/wol/dsync/r4/lp-s/r1/lp-e/2010649#h=0-1&selpar=0
also
http://m.wol.jw.org/es/wol/dsync/r4/lp-s/r1/lp-e/1101989257#h=0-1&selpar=0
Mrs Leith is on to something. If you look up Gen 4 you’ll see that Cain, as some of you have found out, after Abels death feared that other men would kill him. But if Adam and Eve – his parents – were the only ones left besides Cain (Abel was dead, remember), did he fear his parents then?
Nope, he feared the descendants of the ones in Gen 1 v.26. The old text uses the word “adam” about these people, too. Not as a spesific person, but as a lot – as men and women in plural. These were “bara” (created/produced), while Adam – the single man – was “yatsar” (formed). The men and women as a part of the creation, but Adam the man, as a part of the great divine plan of salavation.
As a man with a mission – as the first son of God. Made from dust, not inside Eden, but outside and before Eden (yep, that’s right. Read your Bible again). In 2 Cor 15:22/45 Paul makes it clear that Jesus came as no.2 – as the second Adam. Why? Because the first one failed his task. Failed to stand up against the serpents temptation.
So sin – and death, ‘cos death is a reaction to action, a consequence of sin – must be older than Adam, because the serpent must have fallen first. Not according to the law in Eden, but according the law God made for the heavens. He created heavens – “shamayim” – first, remember. And then the created “erets” – translated as “Earth”. So the serpent came crawling because the angels free will was tested first. And because some of them, including the devil in shape of the serpent, failed.
And suddenly it all makes sense, right? Including Cains marriage in a nearby town etc. Btw: The 6000 years often referred to as the time since creation, is in fact the age of Adams bloodline. The Bible says nothing about the age of the creation as a whole. Regards.
Getting back to the original article, the tradition is that Cain married Abel’s twin sister, as commanded by Adam. Abel was commanded also, to marry Cain’s twin sister. The early 19th century commentator, Adam Clarke reasoned that both Cain and Abel raised families well before the birth of Seth. The interpretation is that after Cain killed Abel, Cain took Abel’s widow as his wife which is recorded possibly in Gen 4:17. The Jewish commentary suggests that Cain was the author of the genocide of Abel’s “potential” family although I believe that Adam Clarke was correct.
The idea that Cain married his sister flies in the face of modern practice plus the Mosaic law. But traditions still vary from society to society. For example in the northern US it is considered immoral to marry a first cousin but it is not in British society and in some places in the southern US (there are many jokes about this). However, my grandparents, from well respected English families, were married in 1917 in England and they were first cousins.
Many like to look beyond the truth of the bible, and peer into “artfully contrived stories” of Jewish mystics and story tellers. This is not in line with the scriptural thought of “keeping hold to the healthful pattern of words”. (2Tim. 1:13) Paul in fact warned the congregation in Crete of such stories (Titus 1:14) he told the Cretans to avoid the Jewish Fables. Why? Because these stories were the stories of “old women” (1Tim 4:7) and had no place being taught in the first century congregation. Consider one such story that Paul, being a student of Jewish oral and scriptural tradition would have been familiar with.
The apocryphal story of Tobit written over two hundred years prior to Paul tells of a pious Jew named Tobit who had the dung of a bird land in his eye and blind him. He sends his son Tobias to collect a debt. On the way Tobias is directed by an angel to collect the Heart, Liver, and Gall of a fish. He then encounters a widow who is still a virgin because , although being married seven times her husbands were all killed by an evil spirit on the wedding night. Tobias is prompted by the angel to marry the widow and uses the heart and liver to drive off the wicked spirit and later uses the gall to restore Tobit’s sight. This tale is truly not truthful but a Jewish fable. It is steeped in occultic practices that the Israelites were warned against practicing, and is full of superstitious teachings. Further at Tobit 1:4,11, 14:1 we see the historical inaccuracies. Tobit is said to have been witness to both the revolt of the ten tribe kingdoms of Israel and the deportation to Nineveh. These events are separated by 257 years according to biblical and secular historians such as Josephus. This is just one of the examples of Jewish fables that were prevalent in Paul’s day.
It is no wonder then that those who search for the truth of the bible are warned repeatedly in the scriptures not to fall prey to the empty deceptions of human thinking. These artfully contrived stories do nothing but pull people away from the true teachings of Jesus. So we should heed Paul’s counsel to Timothy (1 Tim 6:3-5) do not be teachers of things contrary to the Christ.
The ancient peoples would have understood the antagonisms that would have at times occured between settled farmers dwelling in cities and semi-nomadic herdsmen dwelling in camps; since prehistoric times. The fact that Cain was religious like his brother Abel reminds us that this tale is still revelant due to the fratricide occuring presently between people of the same race adhering to diverse religious beliefs. The Lord counsels Cain and warns him, ” but if you don’t do right, sin is crouching at the door; its urge is toward you, yet you can be its master” (Genesis 4:7). Indeed, it is in some people’s interests to emphasize the differences of other religions or sects rather than the similarities between them. Often neglected are the mystical traditions of medieval times that linked together Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which arose from the revival of philosophical thought developed from the schools of Plato and Aristotle
The 13th century work of Jewish mysticism, the Book of Zohar, contains theories based on the philosophical doctrine of the soul that often contradict one another. The modern commentator, Isaiah Tishby, in his “The Wisdom of the Zohar, vol. 2”, attempts to streamline this reservoir that combines philosophy with scripture. In the earliest part of the Zohar, humans have an animal soul (nephesh) whose desires are the source of sin, and and intellectual soul (neshamah) that functions to serve as a stimulus to religious activity.
“The nephesh hayyah (soul of the living), the lesser of the two, was formed from the earth when Adam was created, and it has a terrestrial, physical origin in every man” (p.708). This is also called the vital soul, since the Hebrew word for vitality is “hiyyut” is akin to the word for beasts, “hayyot”.
“In contrast to the lowly and coarse nature of the vital soul we have the neshamah (breath), a holy force, whose principle function is to guide man along the right path and to draw him near to God. By following its instructions man will acquire life in the future world.” (p. 709). It is this future world that is the source of the breath of life, existing beyond the limitations of this world, and comprises of both past and future.
“Rabbi Isaac said: In respect to the soul (neshamah) that He provides, for [the wicked man] goes and clings to the power of the beasts. This is the meaning of ‘But man does not remain in honor. He is like the beasts that perish’ (Psalm 49:13)” (p.780). This statement was extracted from the section of the Zohar Hadash, Bereshith, 16a-16c, also known as the Midrash ha-Ne’elam. Since Tishby’s book is an anthology, he was careful to omit one detail of which I have been unable to find an English translation of: “the intriguing reference to cannabis in the context of a fleeting comprehension of the knowledge of God” (Zohar; The Book of Enlightenment, by Daniel Matt. 226). In other words, this is something one might briefly comprehend while high, but quickly forget.
In the Sumerian poem “Lugalbanda and the Mountain cave,” the hero, Lugalbanda, is acompanying his seven brothers on a military comapain against “Aratta ,the mountain of the holy divine powers.” While his brothers are noblemen who command troops, Lugalbanda is a virtual nobody who is introduced only as “their eighth one.” But like David in 1 Samuel 17, he would prevail over his brothers and become king of Unug (Uruk). Along the way he becomes ill and his brothers leave him in a cave supplied with provisions until he should recouperate. Upon recovery he leaves the cave and embarks on a kind of vision quest: “The rolling rivers, mothers of the hills, brought life-saving water. He bit on the life-saving plants, he sipped from the life-saving water … Like a lone wild ass of Sakkan he darted over the mountains .Like a large powerful donkey he raced; a slim donkey, eager to run, he bounded along.” This recalls Ishmael as being “a wild donkey of a man” (Genesis 16:12), and when his mother Hagar left Ishmael under one of the shrubs (Genesis 21:15), this calls to mind the fact that the word for shrub, (siyach, Genesis 2:5), is related to meditation, as in “May my meditation (siyach) be pleasing to Him (Psalm 104:33,34). It has been suggested that the vicinity of Beer Lachai Roi (Well of the Seeing One) where the angel appeared to Hagar, had become a shrine to which Isaac visited when he was “meditating (suach) in the field” in Genesis 24:62 (Meditation and the Bible, by Aryeh Kaplan, p.101).
Like Lugalbanda, Ishmael had revived his vitality, with the Sumerian god Sakkan being responsible for the fertility of “all the beasts on land” (Genesis 1:30). Lugalbanda may have also discovered the foretelling of future events through dreams, as the poem describes him making a bed out of “the pure herb of the mountains,” where he “lay down not to sleep, he lay down to dream – not turning back at the door of the dream, not turning back at the door-pivot. To the liar it talks in lies, to the truthful it speaks truth. iT can make one man happy, it can make another man sing, but it is the closed tablet-basket of the gods.” A waking dream, like the kind mentioned in “The Matrix.”
“I dot not know of dust to dust
I live from breath to breath
I live to climb that mountain
to the fountain of Lamneth.
Yet my eyes are drawn toward
the mountain in the east
fascinates and captivates
gives my heart no peace.”
“Fountain of Lamneth”, by Rush
Why do people who don’t even believe that there was a literal person name Cain care about who he married? These same people mock the Faith of billions of people by pretending to be open minded.
The great majority of “open questions” that we have from ancient Biblical history were not open questions when they were written. Oral tradition was critical to honoring a family legacy. Written text was like gold. If we are incapable of understanding cultural and historical context, then its better to remain silent.
If the Bible is silent on a topic it was either know by everyone and was insignificant to pass on or God deemed it unimportant to reveal to His prophets. I for one do not take lightly mocking God.
It’s fascinating how opposing views collide, producing sparks like atoms smashing together in a particle accelerator, putting an end to darkness (Job 28:3). Of particular interest is the debate between Ra’ah #14 and Kenny #16 over whether the Adam of Genesis 2:7 (Jehovah tradition, first temple period) and Adam of Genesis 1:26 and 5:1 (Priestly tradition, second temple period) are the same species of humanity.
Genesis 1 mentions the emergence of the mammals on the 6th day following the demise of the dinosaurs (who are none other than the dragons of the 5th day mentioned in Genesis 1:21). “God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth every kind of living soul (nephesh)…'” (Genesis 1:24). The human race also evolved with this soul, or nephesh, like the animals.
According to Isaiah Tishby in his “Wisdom of the Zohar”, the “nephesh is attached to the body, preserving it and satisfying its needs. It is the instinctive power of feeling and action needed to sustain the body” (“Essential Papers on Kabbalah”, by Lawrence Fine, p.120). This sounds like the genetic code inherent in each creature from birth, enabling its survival through instinct. Tishby points out the view of the kabbalists that the ultimate goal for humanity is to attain to the Adam in the Garden of Eden and comprehend God’s mysteries through the agency of the neshamah, which is the breath of life that God blew into Adam’s nostrils in Genesis 2:7. It is this neshamah/breath that is “a spiritual-religious force that draws man near to God and preserves the bonds between them,”
These terms for soul and breath are used interchangably in the Old Testament, and in the Canaanite “Tale of Aquat” , Aquat’s murder at the hands of a drunken soldier is described in similar terms as Genesis 2:7: “His breath escaped like wind, his soul like vapor, like smoke from his nostrils.” The Adam of Genesis 2 represents our human potential before the fall, of which Jesus refered to when he said, “He that excersizes faith in me, that one also will do the works that I do; and he will do works greater than these, because I am going my way to the Father” (John 14:12). .
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As for religions being blood guilty, I fully agree. Far too many wars have been fought in the name of religious intolerance. But we would be ignorant to think that wars are fought only on the backs of religous thinkers. Consider the post Darwinian age. By enhancing Socialism with Darwinism, Communism emerged as a powerful movement led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party, later wrenching control of Russia in the Revolution of 1917. All land, materials, and biological (including human) resources became property of the state. Lenin implemented social programs and began starving and slaughtering whole societies whom he regarded as herds of animals. He was encouraged by the deaths of millions and believed people would lose faith in God and turn more to socialism. To survive the famine, many turned to cannibalism. Lenin’s ideology was inspired by Darwin’s Origin of Species: “Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of higher animals, directly follows” (Darwin 1886). As Darwinism spread throughout Europe, violence was legitimized under the “struggle for existence” theory. As Austro-Hungarian chief of staff, Franz Baron Conrad von Hoetzendorff wrote in his post-war memoirs: “It is in accordance with this great principle that the catastrophe of the World War came about as the result of the motive forces in the lives of states and peoples
@robert The Bible, at Job 26:7, speaks of God as “hanging the earth upon nothing.” Science says that the earth remains in its orbit in space primarily because of the interaction of gravity and centrifugal force. These forces, of course, are invisible. Therefore the earth, like other heavenly bodies, is suspended in space as if hanging on nothing.
The prophet Isaiah wrote under inspiration: “There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth, the dwellers in which are as grasshoppers.” (Isa 40:22)
The Bible says: “He [God] has described a circle upon the face of the waters.” (Job 26:10) The waters are limited by his decree to their proper place. They do not come up and inundate the land; neither do they fly off into space. (Job 38:8-11)
The Flat Earth model is an archaic belief that the Earth’s shape is a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD) and China until the 17th century. It was also typically held in the aboriginal cultures of the Americas, and a flat Earth domed by the firmament in the shape of an inverted bowl is common in pre-scientific societies.
The modern misconception that educated Europeans at the time of Columbus believed in a flat Earth, and that his voyages refuted that belief, has been referred to as the Myth of the Flat Earth.[6] In 1945, the misconception was listed by the Historical Association (of Britain) as the second of 20 in a pamphlet on common errors in history.
The Bible describes many other scientific areas such as, the water cycle, the classifying of animal life into kinds, the complexity of the universe. Although the Bible is not a scientific book, it is scientifically accurate.
Where did Cain get his wife? Simple, accounting for the Biblical record that Eve is the mother of all the living, Cain (prior to the ban of marrying a close relative which is due to our mutating DNA) married his sister. When the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense (most of the time).
Hello Robert,
I agree that false teaching has lead to some murder and hate.
I agree that we can learn from Genetic studies and radiometric dating.
Neither the Bible nor the church has not taught that the earth was flat. There were a very few individuals in history that did. Neither the Bible nor the church taught that you would fall off the edge of the world.
The church did not change the orbit of the solar system, science did. The Bible did not say how the orbits worked. It only gave the motions from an earth bound point of view. This is exactly what your local weatherman does every day. Greek scientists like Aristotle gave us the wrong motions. These were later corrected by Christians like Copernicus and Galileo.
I have not heard of Christianity stating that no one could clone animals, geneticly modify genes or make an atomic bomb. Where did you get this information?
Christians started most of the sciences. Even the Big Bang theory was fathered by a preist.
By the way, the fundamentals of the Big Bang are taught in the Bible: constant laws of physics, a beginning of space and time and an expanding universe.
I find it amazing that people get so caught up in religious teachings that they don’t even want to hear what someone else has to say or accept solid scientific facts. DNA and genes can tell alot about living and dead organisms. Radio carbon studies can tell alot also. Organized religion can make millions of people believe the earth is flat and kill those who disagree. Organized religion can change the orbit of the earth,sun and other planets. Organized religion was 100% sure man couldn’t clone animals,geneticly modify genes and make an atomic bomb. They also had boats falling off the edge of the earth if you sailed too close the the edge, when their world was flat. And don’t forget all those ghosts,and other scary creatures.Depending on where and when you lived things can be very different .Humans have been commiting mass murder of those who have different beliefs and are still murdering to this day.Tens of Millions of people have been murdered in the name of Christainity based on the hate they learned from clergy. Some of the people making comments are pissed off at the author and even this web site because they hate a different perspective. I think the mentally ill need to stay away from religion if it makes them hostile .
Assuming that Adrian and Menashe are still talking about Genesis 1 and 2, there are no “glitches.”
George,
I’m sorry, but I do not understand most of what you wrote.
The land of Eden had four major rivers converging into one which then flowed into the garden.
Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden into greater Eden. The garden was localized within the Land of Eden. Then Cain was kicked out of Eden.
Cain was a farmer, but Abel was a rancher.
Cain was told that when he farmed, nothing would be produced.
Where do you find a Lake in the text?
What did you mean by a land sounding like the Angel (cherub).
What are you saying about the relationship of Adam and Cain. Please show me in the text where you are getting your ideas.
Has anyone considered that when it is said that Adam sought for a help meet among the animals, he may have gone into animals. When you say Adam, if Cain was indeed first or he may have been Cain who is considered as the Father.
If Abel was Cursed, then if this meant when you say curse, then perhaps he was cursed.
If Cain was told to leave the garden, this in some cultures can mean family.
They were tree gatherers at first and if this cursing of Cain meant that all things hanging from a tree is why Jesus had to be crucified, in order to save us from that curse on all tree fruit.
Has anyone considered that the Story, a source of Legend saying that the land between Lake. Urmia & the alleged plain of Edin, right before a land seeming to sound like the Angel guarding the opening from Edin on the East could have been The Garden
If that was where the Garden of Eden was, then there is a place sounding much like Nod after that narrow exit from that area.
If so, it’s remarkably near to A section. Near China.
If so, the Chinese do Nod when they greet you, could that be the source of the name, the Land of Nod.
Further, Cain was told to leave the family, after being told, he’d be no longer able to take the fruit of the earth from the ground nor the strength of the earth from the Earth.
He had cursed everyone and all sources of food, now I suspect Adam took his privelege of cursing the people in the family she they ate food. So he was himself cursed for cursing his brethren and family.
If you look at the naming of men, with different names, you may find a different way of she among men and women so that you can find. Cains wife’s name in a more sure manner. The names Cain and Cainan indicate a possible system for surnaminv children or wives.
Menashe hit the nail on the head.
“Like today’s Torah service in a traditional Jewish Shabbat service the text was read aloud at an auience. The audience understood the cultural cues and were unconcerned about narrative contradictions and inconsistencies as they had an entirely different way of thinking than us moderns do. Only when later generations inherited these material did they think that they need the glitches to be explained or interpreted.”
Though I dislike people in enagged in Jewish worship being thought of as “audience.”
Oh George my heart breaks for you, that your eye are so blinded to the truth that God breathed the words of the Bible for us to have to encourage us until He returns so we will not be in darkness.
Poor Mervyn,
Insults will get you nothing but return in kind. Are your uppercase letters supposed to lend credence to your intoxication and cultism brought on by your deep gulping of ancient Judaic mythology? The Kool-aid always works, doesn’t it? Consult professional and neutral Biblical historians and consider their views on the subject.
Your claim that the “history” of Adam, Cain, and … etc” are replicated throughout the world is nothing more than complete “BS.” It is Genesis creation and accompanying myths, written in the 6th century BCE, that were inspired by earlier similar creation myths, for example, the Sumerian creation and flood myths.
You have drunk deeply of the Kool-aid laced with literalism, and unfortunately reason cannot penetrate your cult-colored worldview.
I feel very sorry for you, for you live in darkness and will likely do so until the day you die.
The history (not stories) of Adam, Cain and other early characters is replicated THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND WERE KNOW LONG BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN MISIONARIES TAUGHT IN THOSE COUNTRIES. THAT ALL BUT PROVES DISSEMINATION FROM ONE ORIGINAL SOURCE. POOR GEORGE BELIEVES THAT GENESIS IS “CREATION MYTHS”. WITHOUT ANY SUPPORTING EVIDENCE HWATSOEVER, YET DEBUNKS ANYONE WHO BELIEVES THE SPARCE EVIDENCE AVAILABLE. SCIENCE IS BELIEVING WHAT EVIDENCE IS AVAILABLE RATHER THAN THE PERCEIVED ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE. DOUBTING IS PERMISSIBLE BUT DENIAL IS FOOLISHNESS.
Mervyn
First of all, there was no Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, or Cain and Abel, so the question is mute. The two Genesis creation stories are simply tribal creation myths. Why do people, even scholars, try to make them more than that?
Would we be asking these kinds of questions about the thousands of other creation myths that are just as fantastical as those in Genesis?
By the time of Abraham, his birthplace, the advanced city of Ur in Chaldea, was a river port. The Gulf has receded since then leaving Ur well inland.
After Adam and Eve left Eden, Cain wandered and his progeny scattered throughout the world, thereby populating it, but Cain still took to wife one of his sisters or perhaps a neice or daughter, because there were no other women at the time.
There is a saying that ” if it ain’t broke. don’t fix it.” Why question something we know?
Mervyn
Why all the speculation when we already have the answer – long before the question?
Mervyn
Waiting for a reply from Mary Leith.
Mervyn
Genesis 1:1 introduces the creation of the universe and 1:2 focuses in on the earth in its initial state. Genesis 1:3-31 gives us an overview of some important steps in the formation of earth and its atmosphere.
Genesis 2 focuses in on day six and the creation of humans. It centers on the Land of Eden. This land seems to have been where the Persian Gulf is now. Between 20,000 and 120,000 years ago there was no Persian Gulf. The sea levels were too low. This was a lush oasis. Radar shows that it was fed by four large river systems: The Tigris and Euphrates from the North, a large river system “Pishon” from the west (Arabia) and another large system “Gihon” from the South, which flowed from Cush (Yemen and Oman) . All four came together in what is now the middle of the Persian Gulf. Guess what we find in the area of the Arabian river system: gold, bdellium and onyx. Somehow Moses knew what the land looked like at least 16,000 years before he was born. This is history, not myth.
ra’ah,
It is clear from Genesis 1:26-27 that used adam to mean mankind.
26 …”Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let THEM rule….”
27 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created THEM.”
Singular male and singulare female, just like Genesis 2.
Genesis 5:1-3 shows that Genesis 1 and 2 are talking about the same two people.
Nowhere does the Bible say that a day IS a thousand years. It says it is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day or even a watch in the night (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8). The creation days are long periods of time and we are still in the 7th day (Hebrews 4; John 5:16-17). The eigth day or beginning of the new week is when God creates the New Heavens and the New Earth.
Greetings Ken. Yeh, the first historical figures in Bible are from 8th century B.C (Before Christ)
Adam, Cain, Abraham, Moses- all nicknames.
Take off your denominational glasses and reread this section of Genesis with eyes wide open instead of wide-shut. In the Hebrew, Man, “Adam” with no Hebrew article before the name, was created on the 6th day and was given dominion. (It was from this line that Cain took his wife from the land of Nod. After all, a day is as a thousand years in G-d’s sight.) G-d rested on the 7th Day–the first Sabbath. On the NEXT day G-d created Eth HA Adam who was THE Man/Adam from which the line of Christ comes. (The number 8 always means “New Beginnings.) THIS man and his wife Chavah “Eve” were LIVING souls. Eve became the mother of all living souls. Man without Christ is not a living soul. That’s why he must be born again/born from above.
WHY DID MARY LEITH ASK SUCH A POINTLESS QUESTION WHEN THE ANSWER IS CLEARLY IN GENESIS 5; 3-4?
HAS SHE NEVER READ THE hEBREW BIBLE?
MERVYN
CB,
You nailed it. Everyone seems to ignore Genesis 5:3-4 (more sons and daughters) and the fact that no time scale is given. We do not know how old Cain was when he murdered Abel or his age at marriage.
Genesis 4:14 presupposes that someone, knowing what had happened, would be looking for Cain, “whoever finds me.” Why would anyone outside the land of Eden (his family) know about him killing his brother? His family quickly figured it out (Genesis 4:25), so he was likely afraid of what other siblings may try to do.
Genesis 4:16-17 does not say that Cain married his wife after leaving Eden. It seems to suggest they were already married and that they began having children after settling in Nod. It is likely that Cain married a sister.
The fundamentalists commenting here complain about “theologically liberal materials” and that people are not taking the bible literally and that they are denigrating it. This is utter nonsense. People like myself love and are fascinated by T’Na’Kh and that is why we want to truly understand it using the best of modern science, literary analysis, history and of course archaeology. We don’t blind ourselves to indisputable facts. I study T’Na’Kh with enthusiasm and wonder as I engage the text not with fear and limitation.In my opinion to look at the text like a fundamentalist does actually denigrates the Bible and makes this wonderful and complex source seem simply stupid. If you don’t want your precious closed minded, preconceived and superstitious notions and beliefs challenged only read publications put out by your own church.
This is an absurd question – to whom did a mythical character in a mythical story get married? Who cares? It’s all fiction/myth (the creation story), so the answer, if there is one, doesn’t even matter. Why is anybody studying questions like this?
One of the factors, in addition to the total disregard for the Biblical narrative as a whole, that appears to have been omitted is the time scale. My understanding is that, since Adam and Eve had “other sons and daughters” (Gen.5:3) after their first three sons. Cain ‘married’ his own (younger) sister!
Of course, there was no formal marriage ceremony; there was no law against ‘incest’; the gene pool was still so pure that there was no requirement for any incest regulation.
As others of Adam’s and Eve’s siblings would have, similarly, ‘married’, the population would undoubtedly have expanded in exponential terms. It was these near relatives of whom Cain was afraid. After all, why, at such an early stage in the history of mankind, would some alleged tribe, with no direct connection, have the slightest interest in the murder of an unknown person?! The name “Nod” was not necessarily used by Cain and his contemporaries, but may simply have been the name of the area as known to the original readers of ha Torah.
As someone else has commented, it would be good if this site stuck to its title. There is no problem with bringing in a sceptical argument – but to throw such theologically liberal material at us as the ‘main diet’ is not going to encourage me to remain with the site!
This is an obvious question to anyone who looks at the Bible with non-fundamentalist open eyes. Any inquisitive child asks the same question. Where did all these people in Nod come from if Adam and Eve are the original people created? The answer is however very simple. Just as the editor/compilers of the Bible had no problem weaving two separate creation stories together they had many other traditions and legends to work with, They wove a story explaining the origin of homicide into the narrative of creation myth, to flood/destruction myth, to renewal and the story of Abraham and his descendents, the Israelites, whose destiny is of course is the primary purpose for the narrative being composed.
One should also understand that what we see as written scripture to be read and studied was in ancient times often oral traditions that were recited to the main population who were most often illiterate in early ancient times. These oral traditions were blended with well know stories and written material borrowed from the region’s dominant Mesopotamian culture. Like today’s Torah service in a traditional Jewish Shabbat service the text was read aloud at an auience. The audience understood the cultural cues and were unconcerned about narrative contradictions and inconsistencies as they had an entirely different way of thinking than us moderns do. Only when later generations inherited these material did they think that they need the glitches to be explained or interpreted.
Cain married his wife. That was the key relationship between them, not their kinship. And why not—only some of us are married, but we’re all related.
It’s a real shame that the writer chose to ignore several items in the Bible.
1. Gen 2:20 No suitable helper was found
2. The Fall
3. Gen 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all who live
4. The worldwide flood
1. God brought all creatures to Adam to name, but none of them were a suitable helper for him, so God created the first woman.
2. The fall is important in this argument because if death and suffering existed before Adam’s sin, then why did Christ have to come and die? All descendants not of Adam’s line would not have been eligible for forgiveness, but they would have still been subject to the condemnation of creation. They would not have been blood relatives.
3. The Bible is pretty explicit in saying that Eve is the mother of all humanity. Modern mitochondrial eve experiments confirm the timeframe of the biblical Eve.
4. The worldwide flood destroyed everyone as confirmed in 2 Peter 2 and 3, so comparing the pre-flood civilizations to modern near east cultures that ignore distant settlements is in either disingenuous or ignorant.
It is important that Cain married a sister for the biblical narrative to make sense.
I can’t get worked up over this question. When I’m in Heaven I’ll know the answer to all the things I don’t know here. I can wait. Revelation 22:20 Even so Lord Jesus, come quickly.
“Whom did Cain marry” that is not the important part of this question. The important part is that BAS seems to be quite liberal in what they print. If this is a biblical question then use biblical answers. There is no where in the bible that says there were other groups of people on earth in the beginning with Adam and Eve, but it was common to marry brother and sister before and after the flood. If you would study the bible and not some sci fi novel then you would understand that for times sake you can’t fit every detail of creation into the bible. But the writer of the bible did assume that we could figure out that there were more children born to Adam and Eve, that is why when the lifespan verse of the Christ lineage male’s always say (and they begat son’s and daughters; and they died). So the real problem is that too few people want to read the bible and believe it literally.
I hope that BAS will stop printing science fiction and start using people that read and believe the bible, not obscure theologians.
In Genesis 1:24, God orders the earth (in Hebrew Aretz) to produce “living creatures of all kind” and with a careful reading we can understand that it includes also human being. These are the people that Cain was afraid to meet, after having killed Abel and as a consequence of his act.
How could we imagine that animals could punish Cain? (Gen. 4:14) Only human being are capable of inflicting a punishment! Then God creates Adam from as totally different raw materiale, from earth (in Hebrew adama) which is the soil of Gan Eden. Therefore it is right to say that God was interested in Adam made in His own image with a different material. Whomever Cain marries becomes much less important
Sounds like a lot of assumptions in her article which denigrate the Biblical record into a biased account of one of, in the author’s eyes, just many people on the earth. This article implies, perhaps states, that Adam and Eve were not the first or only people created by a special act of God. The assumption is that the genealogical record of the births of Cain and Abel is complete and that there were no other children born at that time. However, it appears that Ms. Leith’s article dovetails nicely with current evolutionary ideology.
People make great jumps from assumption to conclusion, perhaps we can start with the grammar in the question. What is being asked in, “Who did Cain marry”? That is a convoluted question if you follow the grammar. If I get what you are after the question you are actually asking is,” Whom did Cain marry?”
Where did Cain get his wife if there was just one family?
Gen. 3:20: “Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living.” (So all humans were to be the offspring of Adam and Eve.)
Gen. 5:3, 4: “Adam lived on for a hundred and thirty years. Then he became father to a son in his likeness, in his image, and called his name Seth. And the days of Adam after his fathering Seth came to be eight hundred years. Meanwhile he became father to sons and daughters.” (One of Adam’s sons was Cain, and one of Adam’s daughters must have become Cain’s wife. At that time in human history when humans still had outstanding physical health and vitality, as indicated by the length of their lives, the likelihood of passing on defects as a result of marrying a close relative was not great. After some 2,500 years of human history, however, when mankind’s physical condition had greatly deteriorated, Jehovah gave to Israel laws forbidding incest.)
Gen. 4:16, 17: “Cain went away from the face of Jehovah and took up residence in the land of Fugitiveness [or, Nod] to the east of Eden. Afterward Cain had intercourse with his wife [“knew his wife,” that is, intimately so, KJ, RS; “lay with his wife,” NE] and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.” (Notice that Cain did not first meet his wife in the land to which he fled, as if she were from another family. Rather, it was there that he had sexual relations with her to produce a son.)
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989257?q=Cain&p=par
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=Cain&p=par
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.
Read a study bible or the Amplified version. The wife Cain took was one of Adam’s descendants.
well that was a lot of side stepping for a very clear cut passage. Cain was cast out and he went into the land of nod and there he took a wife… I mean that is so clear in its meaning and inference most people can get it.
The real issue is that the creation story is not original to the Hebrew people. This story was ancient before the Israelites even went into captivity. The Samarians told this story well before, along with the flood story and many others. The issue is that there was things lost in translation from Samarian to the Hebrew, and then even more lost or changed out right from Greek to Latin in the roman style to take control of a religion in a region they have concurred. Why do you think they do not teach anything about Samaria in school when they had developed many of the things we use every day like our calendar, calculus, a two house congress… and the list goes on and on… because it would loosen their control.
Who gave birth to the wife of cain ?
Who created the wife of cain ?
First of all, you have to know that the old Testament is the story of the Jews and not Gentiles. This is strictly the history of the Jew. Adam and Eve were the beginning of the Jewish people only. When Cain went into the land of Nod and took a wife, he married a Gentile, of which there were many in the land outside of Eden.
Except that nobody from Adam to Abram was a Jew.
Utterly ridiculous – There were no Jews until Judah was born.
God isn’t a jew, Adam wasn’t a jew, Noah wasn’t a jew,
Abraham wasn’t a jew, etc…etc…The jews are one tribe
out of 12 whom the jews have managed to deceive the entire
world into believing the bible is about them when it isn’t.
Foxtrot Oscar Alpha Delta, John. The Israelite tribes were descendants of Abraham as his 12 Great-Grandsons are the titular founders. The 10 tribes of the northern kingdom of Israel were scattered to the winds by the conquering Assyrians, the tribe of Benjamin was subsumed by the tribe of Judah which ruled the southern kingdom of Judah until its conquest by the Babylonians. However, enough members of the tribe survived to keep their monotheistic religion which took its name from Judah.
How abt his marrying a Neanderthal who also roamed the region.
The Book of Enoch has the answer.
My thought on this subject is; that God had created men and women but without His God Spirit. When He created Adam and Eve He formed Adam from the ground and Breathed His God breath or His Spirit into Adam, and of course it was automatically transfered into Eve when she took her first breath. They were created for a totally different purpose. God created them to be a legacy He wanted children with His Heart and His thoughts, and His powers (eventually) But they failed the test. So when Adam was banished He married a lesser person one of the people created without God full Breath. the women that the angels cohabited with that became Giants Everything and everyone got out of hand. They had far too much wisdom and far too much power to be in control of God’s Planet. Angels taking on human form and humans was a bad and evil combo. God had to destroy them all!! Except for dear Noah and family. Thank you Lord for Noah
Anyway it’s much more complicated than this, but these are the basics as to what my studies have found, while studying under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Boy am I glad I’m not smart, being 88 years young only makes me feel that I must try harder to learn, however at my age I have a hard time remembering where my shoes are half the time and the other half is spent how to start looking for them, you know the feeling in the question, What am I doing in this room? Just smile a lot and get something to eat. Have a great day.
Keep up the research.
I have questioned this subject for fifty years and have finally concluded that my salvation is not required to know what happened to Cain and his life other than he was the first killer. Now that said, I am more interested in what my creator took from Adam and made Eve his soulmate. I think that may a question that is more interesting.
You see we are quite happy to believe that a rib was taken from Adam and made Eve. It seems to me that it is strange the woman and man have the same number of ribs so GOD must have copied the rib to do that, however, my Bible says a curve was taken from Adam to make Eve..
If Adam was made originally with everything then must have a curved body similar to that of a woman. If we look at shapes of men and women we see a major difference in them. The men’s shoulders and hips are equal in width while the ladies shoulders are more narrow than their hips and their bodies appear more curves. Now I know Adam explained that Eve was bones of my bone and he called name Eve but she was much better looking than all bone.
Also I wonder what really happened between the winged serpent and Eve when she said he beguiled her.
Cain’s wife is a curious subject but the the size of the animals on the ark are also. Lots of animals on such a small ark, also it would be interesting to figure out where out where Eden was located. Such as, could it have been in America and the garden being say around the area on St. Louis.
It is amazing how much mystery develops about the Bible when we decide not to take it at its word. We are given no indication as to how old Cain was when he killed Abel or when he was married. He could have been 100 years old which is the same approximate age the three sons of Noah were when they entered the ark. Without birth control there could have been hundreds of people alive when Abel was murdered. Cain could have married his sister or even his niece.
If we add some other group of people not descended from Adam and Eve, the entire story of the Tree of Knowledge and Tree of Life and the 7 day creation and Adam’s longing for a helpmeet which is then made from his side becomes nonsensical. All of mankind is mortal and doomed to eternal death without the atoning blood of Christ. If Adam and Eve ate the fruit while others didn’t then there would be immortal human beings and they would not have remained on this miserable sin filled planet but God would have taken them elsewhere.
Well Ethane, unfortunately Adam and Eve did sin, by being disobedient, the result being stated in Genesis 3:19 which is read or quoted at most ‘Christian’ funerals when they say: “for out of the dust you are and back to the dust you return,: or words to that effect……..and as the apostle Paul said at Romans 5:12, though just one man (Adam), sin and death spread to all mankind………we have all inherited that imperfection
Romans 3:23, 24 says that we have all sinned, but we have a ‘free’ gift of forgiveness due to the fact that Jesus gave his life for ALL mankind………..BUT we have to take advantage of that ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Could it be that we are only thinking of the physical when it comes to the first family? Consider that the word “Adam” means something other than a physical man and “Eve” also has another meaning past a name.. I can’t apply the literal history of the “first couple” to my life, so why would it matter except to satisfy curiosity. However, if Adam is “the faculty of intellectual wisdom” and Eve is “the emotional nature of love,” something missing in any/all other beings on the planet at the time, we might come to understand the tendencies of man and woman, plus understand what makes us as we are today, complete people, as in a balance of the two. Also, we know that when in harmony and love a new physical child is born, so is the balance between Adam and Eve in the spiritual sense, that means new “birth” for we who already exist. Now, I can apply these meanings to my life and understand the differences. When God “breathed” into Adam, the same meaning is applied to “spirit,” which makes the potential of Adam & Eve being changed into fully-functioning spiritual beings as God would have intended. Cain could have physically married another human being that had not received the “breath” of God. To me, the understanding of the first family is in the connection God had with them, and not whether or not there was another first family somewhere, or physical incest. Fully-functioning beings, now blessed with intellect and wisdom by one, connected via marriage to emotion and love, means we certainly do have the “first family.” Thank you for considering my point of view.
If you read Genesis Chapter 1 verse 26 It says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness & have Dominion over..Etc. This is before Adam & Eve, This is when the races of men were created There were people outside of the Garden, Adam & Eve came after in Chapter 2
Note that beginning in Chapter 2 it talks first of God resting from his creative works, then in verse 4 it says that these are the generations, or history, of the heavens and earth in the day that they were created and then it basically goes on to describe the creation Adam and how Eve was produced from Adam’s rib.
A couple of interesting points are: 1. in verse 5 it points out that the vegetation was watered by a mist – no rain……….that did not come until after the flood…….a lucid canopy of water surrounded the earth on the outer edge of the atmosphere……..that is where the water came from for the flood……the entire earth was tropical back then.
In verses 15-17, we find Adam being told not to eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.
Notice he was OK with that until Eve came along and in Genesis 3:12 Adam blamed God for giving him the woman………….now, I wonder where have I heard that before!!!!!!!
Geb and Nut in the Hebrew pantheon are Adam and Eve who begot four twin sons, two males Abel and Cain, and two females. Indeed from medieval sources we find that Cain married his sister Calmana and Abel married another sister Delbora (as we are told by several sources very late: Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze, Historia Scholastica in Gen 4: 1 (PL 198, 1076) by Peter Comestor, Seder ha-Dorot) exactly as in the Egyptian myth the two brothers Osiris and Seth marry with his two sisters Isis and Nephthys. Then Cain kills Abel as Seth kills Osiris
https://www.academia.edu/10440502/Cosmogonies_and_Theogonies
Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden after they sinned!
Thanks to a find in Israel just last week, we know that modern or Cro-Magnon man is a full 50,000 years older than we thought. Therefore, instead of coexisting with Homo Neaderthalis for 30,000 years, we now know that was for 80,000 years. There is no way to tell the difference between HN and HHS. They intermarry and even I have some HN in me. So, Cain married a HN woman. Problem solved.
Genesis was basically a ripoff/redaction of earlier Sumer/Babylonian stories. What do the works from Sumer and Babylon have to say about Cain or Ka’in?
God made man and woman. Adam and Eve. Cain and Abel.But also note there were other sons and daughters born to Adam and Eve. So Can married one of his own sisters. There were no other people on earth at that time. The theory based on other people living outside the creation of God is totally false. A figment of imagination.
I don’t believe there were other people. Except for other children of Adam and Eve. We don’t hear about them, except in passing in Genesis 5, because they aren’t part of a story like Cain and Abel were.
Was Cain even the first born? The Bible doesn’t say he was, it just mentions him first
Israelite storyetller? You mean Moses said “gather round the fire kiddies and I will reveal some naughty stories about the first men and women to live after creation?
That she describes Moses, who certainly carried the scrolls of Israelite history with him and redacted the book of Genesis from it as “storyteller” shows that she is basically grasping at straws. She cannot even name the storyteller. Throwing darts at at a map and hoping one will stick.
Genesis 1 says Yahweh created mankind, male and female. In Genesis , Yahweh took ONE man, and put him in the garden, and from his rib, made He a wife. There were other people created BESIDES Adam and Eve. Duh!
I meant Genesis 1 & 2
This is a very disapointing take on the biblical account.
I think the author has overlooked the main context of the creation story and is simply trying to fit it into our understanding of a modern long geological age earth.(ie man was not created but evolved).
For my part I believe the bible story of creation has scientific and historical support, if you take a critical view of our modern take on long ages.
I just hate how the article tries to weave lies in to truth…..ie there’s no actual evidence the bible supports people outside of creation just because they want to make it look like it does.
I am disappointed that a scholar would use “who” when “whom” should have been used.
There is evidence that Adam and eve lived out of Bible .
There is no evidence that Adam and eve never existed.
I have a Father and I came from him and I know that for sure and he has a name.
If I don’t have a Father I am called otherwise..if don’t know my Father name it more worst.
There were the fallen angels and their species living out side the garden. More evidence are accounted in the Bible. They had physical bodies like humans and can reproduce.(ref: Noahs period).
There were also the creation of God,But,fallen condition.To be specific humanoid.
One of the importance task assigned to Adam was to get rid of this dangerous species. Unfortunately human species also became one among the fallen.
The same task was also assigned to Israelite. They to allowed themselves to mingle with these species ( refer as gentile).
Once for all HE is coming to setup the kingdom made of pure human beings that is created in His own image.The choosen one according to the seed of Abraham by the law of faith.
It is all myth. Adam and Eve never existed
Miss Weith:
Instead of theorizing regarding who did Cain marry why don’t you humbly pray and ask the Lord to reveal this to you? Be very careful I suggest when it comes to matters concerning the Lord and His written Word. You like the rest of so many theologians, historians, and sociologists who are educated which I will readily admit need to take into account that none of you were there during that time so how do you know for certainty except what has been revealed in the Bible? Case in point: Do I live in your house? The answer of course is no. With that being said how do I know what goes on in your household unless you tell me what goes on there? Understand?
senseless talk from a religitard
When one looks at Genesis 5:4,5 points out that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters, and Adam lived for 930 years. When you look at those mentioned in the Bible, before the global deluge of Noah’s day, they lived for hundreds of years.
Also interesting is the account in Genesis 2:22-24 where God performed the first marriage between Adam and Eve.
When God created Adam and Eve, they were perfect,, but, because of disobedience they lost perfection and died, (1 Timothy 2:13, 14), (Romans 5:12). and over the years that imperfection has worsened, until now, we average the ‘three score and ten’
At Acts 17:26 Paul made the point that all mankind out of one man and had set his time limit.
Those ‘near perfect’ sons and daughters could have married with no problem, but, it was certainly different when the Law was handed down to Moses. At Leviticus 8:6-17 it clearly showed that close family relatives were not to marry one another.
incest
If God wanted us to know. He would of put it in the Holy Bible. Amen
The answer is in the Book of Jubilees — the sixth most frequent manuscript discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Jubilees 4:1 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.
Jubilees 4:9 And Cain took ’Âwân his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of his son Enoch.
Case closed! Next?
In the book of Enoch, Cains wife is referred to as a cow as described in his vision. Eve is referred to as a heifer. So Cains wife was already a mother or he wouldn’t have referred to her as a cow. To me it seems Cains wife was actually Eve. I don’t believe that anywhere in any scripture is Adam and eve referred to as husband and wife. Eve later returns to Adam after she realizes that Cain killed Abel and Adam comforts her and later they give birth to Seth. They at this time are still not referred to as husband and wife.
That is NOT in 1 Enoch, which is the third most frequent manuscript discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Stop spreading mis-/disinformation!
it’s a little tricks on that.
I hope some people history weren’t written in the Bible and Cain haven’t married to his sister. the Bible doesn’t give us the information of it because it’s God minded not to reveal the secret.
it’s a little tricks on that.
I hope some people history weren’t written in the Bible and Cain haven’t his sister. the Bible doesn’t give us the information of it because it’s God minded not to reveal the secret.
The only wife I identified of Cain is written in the banded books Eden, called The First & Second book, or The Testament of Adam & Eve. Which says that Cain married his own twin sister.
The only wife I identified of Cain is written in the banded books Eden, called The First & Second book, or The Testament of Adam & Eve. Which says that Cain married his own twin sister.
Genesis tells us where Cain went – to a city he named Enoch. The Sumerian King List calls it “Unug” and places it next to Uruk (Erech). Easy to find on a map. Today the city is called Warka. The en- prefix in En-och tells us he was a king in that city as that prefix means “king.” in both Akkadian and Sumerian. My book tells you all that, Historical Genesis from Adam to Abraham.
Thats right. When God created the human race (Gen. 1.27), the “Garden” didn’t even exist. At that early date, there were no frontiers at all. AT the earliest, they arised with the passage from the 6. period to the 7.. During Adam’s life, there were both countries/localities (Gen. 2:8-14) and (logically) frontiers.
Reading any supernatural stuff (fallen angels etc.) into the bible won’t save the Christian faith, so let Cains wife descend from a preadamic tribe.
There were def other for the lack of a better term, “people” on the earth then besides Adam eve Cain and Abel. The bible says that God created man and women outside of the garden…. whether they were “human” or not is another question…. the rh factor stuff definitely proves there is an “outsider” element to the human gene pool. Could cain had married the offspring of a fallen angel??? Yeeeaaaahhhh
The Bible gives limited details on the name and character of Cain’s wife. The only mention of Cain’s wife is in Genesis 4:17, where Cain and his wife had a son. They soon named a city after their son. The Bible does say that Adam and Eve had other children besides Cain and Abel (Genesis 5:4). No doubt it was one of these daughters that Cain took for a wife.
God commanded humanity to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28; 9:1) and thus it was necessary to marry one’s own relative. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob married their own relatives so as to avoid intermarrying non-believers. Later however, Moses commanded close intermarriages between members of the same family to be prohibited (see Leviticus 18:6-17).
Mr. Benjamincan u tell me whats the name of the second book
Mr. Benjamin
read the second book of Adam and Eve chapter 1
Did Adam and eve acceptted, to give their daughter to Cain?
Cain marries Luluwa his own sister . read the second book of Adam and Eve chapter 1
Depensa,
Could you elaborate on you intentions for this quote.
http://www.scriptural-truth.com/PDF_Apocrypha/Second Book of Adam and Eve.pdf So Adam said to his son Seth, “I wish, 0 my son, that thou wed thy sister
Aklia, Abel’s sister, that she may bear thee children, who shall replenish the
earth, according to God’s promise to us.
3 “Be not afraid, 0 my son; there is no disgrace in it. I wish thee to marry, from
fear lest the enemy overcome thee.’
4 Seth, however, did not wish to marry; but in obedience to his father and
mother, he said not a word.
5 So Adam married him to Aklia. And he was fifteen years old.
6 But when he was twenty years of age, he begat a son, whom he called Enos;
and then begat other children than him,
7 Then Enos grew up, married, and begat Cainan.
8 Cainan also grew up, married, and begat Mahalaleel.
9 Those fathers were born during Adam’s lifetime, and dwelt by the Cave of
Treasures.
10 Then were the days of Adam nine hundred and thirty years, and those of
Mahalaleel one hundred. But Mahalaleel, when he was grown up, loved
fasting, praying, and with hard labours, until the end of our father Adam’s
days drew near.
Chapter VIII.
Adam’s remarkable last words. He predicts the Flood. He exhorts his offspring
to good.
He reveals certain mysteries of life.
Page | 11
WHEN our father Adam saw that his end was near, he called his son Seth, who
came to him in the Cave of Treasures,
and he said unto him: –
2 “0 Seth, my son bring me thy children and thy children’s children, that I may
shed my blessing on them ere I die.”
3 When Seth heard these words from his father Adam, he went from him, shed
a flood of tears over his face, and gathered together his children and his
children’s children, and brought them to his father Adam.
4 But when our father Adam saw them around him, he wept at having to be
separated from them.
Edit – Genesis 5:4 says nothing about the timing of daughters, and “sons” would include Cain, Abel and Seth. So again, there is nothing in this verse about the timing of the children.
Lilith,
You have simply read that into the text. Genesis 5:4 says nothing about the timing of the daughters, and the sons may simply have been refering to Cain, Abel and Seth. It gives the age at which Adam fathered Seth, how long he lived afterwards and the fact that he had sons and daughters. This is the same for each individual in the genealogy. Your interpretation leads to the absurd idea that each male gave birth to only males first.
Likewise, there are no time indicators in Genesis 4, but you can compare the names and characteristics from each genealogy. When we do this, we find four names from Cain to Mehujael (meaning “smitten by God”) and four names from Seth to Mahalalel (meaning “praise of God”). This can be done for a number of names and personal characteristics. The genealogies in Genesis 4 and 5 were set in opposition to each other in fulfilment of Genesis 3:15 (godly and ungodly seeds). These two seeds are brought out in many verses (Matthew 13:38; 1 John 3:10, etc).
Besides, Dean’s argument seems to be that Adam and Eve had NO daughters. He said that Genesis 5:4 referred to Seth’s daughters.
@ dean,
of course you’re absolutely right. There were no “sons and daughters” of Adam before Seth (Gen. 5.4), as I already said some time ago. When Seth was born, Cain already was the (grand-)father of severel generations. This very example sufficiently shows, how much the proponents of the traditional exegesis have to bend the biblical texts to continue harping on their string. But I’m optimistic that their doctrine will fizzle out gradually.
Dean,
That does not fit the context or the wording. The focus is on the life and actions of Adam in 5:1-5, then on Seth in 5:6-8, etc. The personal pronouns (he, him) point to the main subject. We have the same formula for each. If we follow your interpretaion through, then Noah should have had daughters (Gen. 5:30). Yet, no daughters of Noah were mentioned or saved. Likewise, your sentence structure “There is no where made mentioning of Adam and Eve having any daughters in the generations of Adam,In Genesis 5:1-4, Seth is the one being made mentioning of as having sons and daughters in Verse 4, Not Adam,” shows that you are basing the idea of no daughters, on verses 1-4. From just these verses you could argue that Adam and Eve only had one son, but we know that is not true.
Eve is called the mother of all living 3:20, so there could be no other humans, other than Adam and Eve’s children. If they had no daughters, then humanity would have gone extinct. Cain’s wife was a descendent of Adam and Eve. Like I said, read my earlier comments.
Earlier I showed that the male and female of Genesis 1 were the Adam and Eve of Genesis 2-5. See above for these points.
It is evident in the book of Genesis that Adam and Eve is not the father or the mother of all humanity.There is no where made mentioning of Adam and Eve having any daughters in the generations of Adam’s,In Genesis 5:1-4, Seth is the one being made mentioning of as having sons and daughters in Verse 4, Not Adam.
Lilith,
I misunderstood your reference to the idea of a flat earth. I usually run into those who try to claim that the Bible teaches and the ancient Jews believed in a flat earth.
Yes, you are right that Genesis 2:7 does not technically say “formed FROM the dust,” but that is the overall implied meaning. The most likely translation would include an implied “of,” as found in many English translations (see below). For example “breath of life” is literally “breath life.” OF is implied. If it were to mean “he was dust,” I would expect to see hayah (the verb to be, was).
We can tell what the verse means by comparing these verses:
Gen. 2:7 – “…formed the man OF dust (aphar) from (min) the ground (adamah).”
Gen. 3:19 – “…until you return (shub) to (‘el) the ground (adamah), because from (min) it you were taken (laqach), because dust (aphar) you are and to (‘el) dust (aphar) you will return (shub).
Gen. 3:23 – “So the Lord God sent him from (min) the garden of Eden, to work the ground (adamah) that he had been taken (laqach) from (min).
These verses are quite clear. Adam was formed out of the literal dust from the ground and when he died he would return to that dust/ground, not to a womb. So, God built a body out of dust and had to breathe life into it. You can twist the scriptures all you want, to try to fit in evolution, but it doesn’t work.
By the way, I looked at the “Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament,” “Brown, Driver, Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon” and “Holladay, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT.” These are highly respected sources. They agree with the word definitions which I have been using. What Hebrew lexicon did you find your word meanings in? Also, which Biblical texts clearly indicate that “breath in nostrils” is a reference to “realizing something?”
“To rule” does not mean “to hunt.” It means to have dominion. This is backed up by other passages describing man’s authority over the animal kingdom (Genesis 2:19-20, 4:2; Psalm 8:5-8). Besides, God did not give man the right to eat animals until after the flood (Genesis 9:2-4).
That is the evolutionary interpretation of the “Adam of the Y Chromosome.” It could very well refer to the Biblical Adam. Earlier (comment 17) I referred to attempts to infer the original population size and how they overestimate the original size. This has been directly tested for sheep, horses, etc. Interestingly, even evolutionists have been reducing the original population numbers, very significantly, over the last decade or so. Check out “Who Was Adam?” by Dr. Rana.
Yes, at the end of the last ice age it became much easier to maintain long term agriculture and domestication. Likewise, human population numbers increased, leaving behind more evidence. That is why we find so much evidence after about 12,000 years ago, but that is not when it all started, nor do we know how widespread it was. I listed two research papers which pointed these things out.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that animals were formed, created or made from the sea. The Bible doesn’t say how God made the sea creatures. It does say that land creatures and flying creatures were formed from the ground (Gen. 2:19).
Bara – refers to bringing something new into existence. It does not on its own mean out of nothing.
Asa and banah – refer to the action of building an object, by definition, out of existing material.
Yatsar – refers to the molding and shaping of an object.
God created (bara), made (asa, banah) and formed (yatsar) mankind (Adam and Eve). He built brand new creatures (being both physical and spiritual) of the dust from the earth and a rib, and shaped them into the human form. By the way, this means Eve didn’t come from a womb either.
I know Jewish sources are not the Word of God, but you said that “old Hebrews” would laugh at the idea of humans being made out of dust or mud. I was just answering your challenge.
Edit: …the humans gathered fruits, cabbage, seed and whathaveyou from the open expanse (Gen. 1:29).
It isn’t the point who tought a flat earth. A lie doesn’t become truer by believing in, that’s it. And the majority doesn’t count, as well.
In Gen. 2:7, it isn’t even written that Adam was formed FROM the dust. In Hebrew, it means: “YHWH Elohim formed Adam, (he was) dust from the ground”; in the meaning of “Adam WAS dust from the ground” (Gen. 3.19). “From the dust” refers to Adams material texture, while the verb jatzar refers to the emerging from the womb. Adam wasn’t “created” at all, yatsar ≠ bara. That’s why the traditional exegesis of Adam’s arising is ridiculous. Of course, I meant Eccl. 3:20. 3:19 says that humans ARE animals as well, which fit the formulations in the creation Report. The terrestrial animals weren’t created, too, but emerged (another yatsar) from the sea (where “living souls” were located recently) and were prepared (asah). Domestication arose in the end of the 6. “day” of creation at best. And at that early date, it wasn’t as systematic as since 12,000 years ago. The majority of this period was filled with hunting. That’s the actual meaning of “ruling” over the animals. Analog to this, there were no circumscribed fields, but the humans gathered fruits, cabbage, seed and whathaveyou (Gen. 1.28).
Of course, neschamah means “spirit of knowledge”, but in the meaning of “to realize”, not “to know”. Jewish sources are not the “Word of God”. You should consult preferably neutral sources. The Talmud has no exegetical authority as well.
The “Adam of the y-chromosome” isn’t an individual, but a group of humans and has nothing to do with the biblical Person Adam.
I know plenty of Scientific sources which argue “young” agriculture and even younger advanced civilisations, but they’re mostly in German language, because I’m German.
Hello Lilith,
On the science side:
The male Y-chromosome traces back to a single ancestral sequence, which could be interpreted as Adam or Noah. Likewise, the mtDNA can be traced back to a single ancestral sequence, which can be interpreted as either Eve or the last common ancestor of the wives of Noah’s sons.
Metal Working 10,500 Yrs.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2742674?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
Ancient Religious Monuments 12,000 Yrs.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/01/150120-gobekli-tepe-oldest-monument-turkey-archaeology/
Agriculture 23,000 Yrs. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131422
http://www.pnas.org/content/112/39/12075.full
Domestic Dogs 33,000 and 36,000 Yrs.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0057754#pone-0057754-g004
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0022821
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Loponte/publication/258529165_Complete_Mitochondrial_Genomes_of_Ancient_Canids_Suggest_a_European_Origin_of_Domestic_Dogs/links/0deec52966c4b5229c000000.pdf
Clothes 30,000 Yrs
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090910142352.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050821233037.htm
http://www.aggsbach.de/2012/10/eyed-bone-needle/
Carving 30,000 Yrs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_man_of_the_Hohlenstein_Stadel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_of_Hohle_Fels
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2679675.stm
Painting 30,000 Yrs
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/prehistoric/chauvet-cave-paintings.htm
Flute 40,000 And 30,000 Yrs
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/06/090624-bone-flute-oldest-instrument.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8117915.stm
Modern Culture Over 40,000 Yrs.
http://in-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Powell-A-et-al-2009-Science-Late-Pleistocene-demography-and-the-appearance-of-modern-human-behaviour.pdf
Bovid Domestication? 49,000 Yrs.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0131273
Disruptions from the ice age and low population size make evidence harder to find meaning that the above data are just the oldest that we have found so far.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0022821
http://in-africa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Powell-A-et-al-2009-Science-Late-Pleistocene-demography-and-the-appearance-of-modern-human-behaviour.pdf
Lilith,
Who specifically taught a flat earth?
The view of the early church was that the earth was a sphere. Only one church father taught it was flat. The Bible does not teach a flat earth either. There was no Hebrew word for ball/sphere, not even dur. In Isaiah 22:18 dur refers to a bundle, not a ball. You bundled your belongings before being exiled. That is the context. You did not grab a ball on the way.
You use Eccl. 3:19 as evidence that “from the dust” equals the womb. It is 3:20, but hayah (to be) is in the perfect form. In English this is usually translated with the pluperfect “all CAME from the dust.” This is a past action pointing to their origination (Genesis 2:7, 19). Besides, that verse ends with “and all return to the dust.” We don’t return to the womb.
Neshamah does not mean “spirit of knowledge.” The “breath of life” refers to living and breathing. We are discussing the phrase, not just a single word. I have only seen one verse which uses even the word by itself in the context of knowledge.
You mentioned that “old Hebrews” would laugh at the idea of a human actually coming from dust. This seems a strange thing to say given that the Old and New Testaments, as well as ancient Hebrew and Christian commentaries taught that our bodies will rise again from the dust. So, why would they not accept that Adam was originally created from dust? Who specifically denied that Adam came from dust? One guy from the 1500s does not count.
I’m only using Jewish sources. I could go all day with Christian sources.
The Babylonian Talmud teaches that Adam was the man of Genesis one “the first man.” I do not see where it gives a direct teaching on Adam coming out of the dust, but it does say that we will rise from the dust in the resurrection. It is likely easier to use the word search to locate these references.
Volume I, TRACT SABBATH, Ch. VII, GEMARA, pg, 130
Volume III, TRACT ERUBIN, CH. II, MISHNA I, pg. X
http://holybooks.lichtenbergpress.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/Babylonian-Talmud.pdf
Midrash Rabbah, Bereshith, Ch. VIII, pg. 54
https://archive.org/stream/RabbaGenesis/midrashrabbahgen027557mbp#page/n101/mode/2up
It teaches that Adam came from actual dust and that “breath of life” is breathing – Ch. XIV, 1, 7-9
In Rabbi Rashi’s commentary on Genesis, Bk, 1, he says that Adam and Eve are the same people as those in Genesis one. He also says man was made from actual dust.
http://www.mnemotrix.com/metsudah/b01r.html
Rabbi Rashbam’s commentary agrees that Adam was the man of Genesis one.
http://www.js.emory.edu/BLUMENTHAL/GenTradRashiRashbam.html
I will also add that on day six, God created animals which are domesticated, wild animals and creeping animals. So, domestication is right there, in Genesis one, with the first man (Adam).
It isn’t a criterium how long a false doctrine is believed in. It doesn’t become truer thereby. As well the earth doesn’t become flat when it’s believed for thousands of years. Even a venerable delusion stays a delusion.
Of course, Gen. 2.7 is in the womb too. There’s no ceramist manner when God forms a human. Jeremiah is “from the dust” as well (Eccl. 3.19) . It’s the same process of conception, precnancy and birth. The idea of directly forming a human out of dust or mud would raise much laughter among old Hebrews. Adam also got “spirit of knowledge” (neschamah), not just “life breath”.
There already has been an exegetical separarion between the preadamites and Adam long before someone mentioned the word “evolution” at all. Isaac del Peyrere many centuries ago.
Yes, the paradise story is about the transition from hunters-gatherers to agriculturalists AND Adam and Eve are the first biblically recorded ones. There is no contradiction. Neolithic Revolution was a long process, extending over centuries. Almost every day some People experienced the events of this story. Adam and Eve were right in the middle of it. All that holds good. It’s the Interface between the 6. and the 7. “day” of creation. The latter began right before Adam’s birth. Your numbers are far beyond Scientific Data (“old-earth-creationistic” Stuff? ). There, as exemple, agriculture began 10,000-12,000 years ago.
None of your many bible verses equals arets and adamah. Arets is i. a. the whole planet earth (on which the preadamites spreaded via reproduction), respectively a country/certain area. Adamah is the ground with the fitting consistency to Farm.
Lilith,
Your claim that ish and ishshah are only used for humans is wrong. I told you that in the flood account it is also used for animals (Genesis 7:2).
You try to reinterpret Genesis 2:7 by using Jeremiah 1:5. Sure they both use yatsar (form), but one is from the dust and one is in the womb. Adam was formed from and therefore made up of dust (elements of the earth), and we are likewise made up of dust (Gen. 2:7, 3:19; Job 10:9, 34:15; Psalm 103:14; Eccl. 3:19-20, 12:7). The Bible reminds us that we return to dust when we die. They clearly saw this in tombs. We do not return to the womb.
There is also the fact God had to breathe life into the newly produced body of Adam (Gen. 2:7). This was not breath after birth, for the Bible refers to humans as alive in the womb (Genesis 25:26; Hosea 12:3). Likewise, Exodus 21:22-23 makes no distinction between death coming to the woman or the prematurely born child. The breath of life, in the nostrils, is found in both man and animals (Genesis 2:7 and 7:22). See also (Genesis 6:17, 7:15, etc.). It refers to physical life (Job 27:3; Ezekiel 37:4-9; Revelation 11:9-11). I say this, because some try to claim it was God giving man a spirit. There are many more verses dealing with the divine breath.
“Him” and “them” in Genesis 1:27 are translations of et. The first is singular form (him) and the second is plural form (them). Him refers to one person, unless you have other Biblical passages which use the singular of et to refer to more than one person. By the way the Greek translation (LXX) agrees and uses a singular personal pronoun for “him” and a plural personal pronoun for “them.”
As far as ha adam (the man or Adam), it is used throughout the first three chapters to refer to a particular individual (Gen. 1:27; 2:7, 8, 15, 16, 18, 19,…; 3:8, 9, 12, 20, 22, 24). Combined with the singular form of et, you have one individual.
To say, as you did earlier, that erets and adamah cannot or do not equate is ridiculous (see Genesis 7:21-23, 8:7-8, 13 and 9:2, etc.).
Did you read the quotes from Jesus (God in the flesh)? He is quoting the two texts as a single unit meaning that He saw no distinction.
The majority understanding for the last 2,000 years has been that Adam was the first man and Eve the first woman, and that God started with just two people (Genesis 1:27, 2:7, 22-24, 3:20; Book of Tobit 8:6; Book of Jubilees 2:14, 23; Antiquities Bk. 1, Ch. 1.2; Acts 17:26; 1 Corinthians 15:45-47; Against Heresies Bk III, Ch. 23.1).
There is no Biblical, exegetical, case for separating the male and female in Genesis one from Adam and Eve in Genesis two.
Evolution is the reason you try to reinterpret the scriptures. You can hold to old-earth creationism without evolution. Evolution has not presented anything which cannot be explained by old-earth creation. Maybe you would like to check out Reasons to Believe (Hugh Ross’ organization).
P.S. Of course Adam was the first Biblically recorded agriculturalist, he’s the first man. You originally claimed that the expulsion from Paradise referred to the transition from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists, not that this was its first recording of agriculture in the Bible. Agriculture has been going on for at least 20,000 years.
What exactly do you see as different between your “preadamites” and “Adamites?” Homo sapiens sapiens (we humans) have been around for about 100,000 years. We have DNA for humans (not referring to Neanderthals, homo erectus, etc.) going back over 30,000 years and they are us. Direct evidence for agriculture is over 20,000 years old, domestication of animals over 40,000 years, art (statues, musical instruments, paintings) around 40,000 years and stitched clothing and needles for making it are over 30,000 years, metallurgy is at least 12,000 years and large stone structures were being built at least 10,000 years ago. Modern humans prior to 5,000 years ago are no different from those afterwards.
Edit: contain, not content
It’s easy to understand, after all. The preadamites descend from the terrestrial animal by being prepared from them (yes, we call this evolution nowadays) and via his parents Adam is connected with both the (non-human) animals and the preadamites. Natural reproduction is both a coefficient and a product of evolution.
Isch & ischah are used for humans only, while zakar & neqebah are used for humans AND non-human animals. That’s another meaningful evidence for the animalistic origin of the first humans. In the Flood Report, it’s pointed out, that It’s about two individuals of each kind. In the creation Report, that is not the case. Him and them are both plural, him is just a formal singular. In many languages they talk about “the man”, the mankind understood, no special individual. In Hebrew, ādām is even more often understood as mankind than as a male name. Gen. 1:27 and 2:7 both content “ha”, but 2:7 uses it immediately, which implies that it isn’t the ultimate arising of an new kind.
Jesus notabene never had insisted or confirmed, that Adam and Eve were the first two humans.
Agriculture even began before Adam and Eve, 10,000 ago. The point isn’t that Adam and Eve are the ultimate first agriculturalists ever, but the first biblically recorded ones. They are examples, models, typical Exemplars of Their day.
You “do not hold to an evolutionary model”?
Ok, that explains everything…
Lilith,
What does an appellative form verses a proper name have to do with what I have said?
I have written a longer response to what you said in your last post, but here I want to stick to the single pair discussion. In Genesis 1:26 we have man without the article which virtually everyone agrees, here, refers to mankind/humanity. But, in verse 27 we find “God created THE MAN” and then it says “He created HIM, male and female He created THEM.” In Genesis 1-5 “ha adam” always refers to either “the man” (the individual named Adam) or the proper name Adam, in other words a single individual. The “HIM” always refers to an individual. So, just like Genesis two, we have a single man created first, and then a single pair of individuals (one male and one female).
Genesis 5:1-3 and Jesus in Matthew 19:4-6 and Mark 10:6-8 agree that Genesis one and two are referring to the same two individuals.
Lastly, we find zakar and neqebah and ish and ishsha are used interchangeably for the individual mating pairs which entered the ark. Both refer to single pairs, not groups of male and female animals. Therefore, there is no reason to assume they the words refer to different humans in chapters one and two.
Lilith,
First a couple of internal contradictions in what you wrote:
“Adam and Eve arise in a completely different way than the humans of the 6. “day” of creation. The preadamites descend from the terrestrial animals…”
“Adam grew out of natural reproduction.”
In the first statement you propose evolution which, like the last statement uses natural reproduction. So, Adam would have come from the animals as well. So, where is the difference in your model?
Later you say:
“PS: The expulsion from Paradise refers to the Neolithic passage from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists.” But, earlier you said:
“The preadamic rulership over the earth isn’t agriculture like in Gen. 2:15…”
So, which is it? Did agriculture begin in Paradise (Gen. 2:15) or after the expulsion?
I do not hold to an evolutionary model.
PS: The expulsion from Paradise refers to the Neolithic passage from hunters-gatherers to agriculturalists.
Adam and Eve arise in a completely different way than the humans of the 6. “day” of creation. The preadamites descend from the terrestrial animals, as the verb asah in Gen. 1.26 proves. Their creation in God’s image in Gen. 1.27 refers to the typical human Features like intelligence. The appellative Form is also used for the other creatures and plants, without any creationist ever demanded only two individuals at the beginning of each kind.
Adam grew out of natural reproduction. The same verb in Gen. 2.7 is also used in Jer. 1:5, where it descripts the arising of Jeremia.
Not only that zakar & neqebah have different meanings as isch & ischah, the preadamic way of life is also different from the adamic. The preadamic rulership over the earth isn’t agriculture like in Gen. 2.15 (arets ≠ adamah). The preadamites were transient hunters-gatherers.
The gaps in the genealogies are already limited by elongating the life ages. A human can’t live over 900 years, that’s obviously impossible. The beginning of Gen. 5 is just a summary from the preadamites (Verse 1-2) to Adam (verse 3) and so on. Once again the Focus is on the naming of the entire mankind, in the first two verses. No woman got the male name Adam.
The Garden of Eden was in South Mesopotamia, at the end of the last glacial period, that’s right.
According to Genesis 6, sons of God married to human girls. They have the same body. But their souls were different. Cain was the son of God. His wife was human. Afterall, Cain went to hell and appeared within the body of Anneliese Michel.
Lilith,
I would also add that the descrptions of the land of Eden, its garden and the surrounding lands only make sense during the last ice age.
Hi Lilith,
I see we agree on a lot, but adam is singular in verses 26 and 27. It is understood as plural, because the verb “to rule,” in verse 26, is plural “let them rule.” Why would it be plural? Because, two people are more than one. Two people equals mankind. Like I said earlier, male and female are each singular as well.
Genesis 5:1-3 links the male of chapter one with Adam of chapter two. So, yes, Adam and Eve are Biblically linked to the origin of humanity.
As far as dating Adam, there is no way to limit gaps in the genealogies. We find genealogies where father and son are literal father and son. Others, including in Moses’ line, where they are 6-9, even 13 generations apart. Here we must rely on general revelation.
In Gen. 1.26-27, “ādām” is mentioned in singular AND plural. It’s an appellative name for the entire mankind, as already explained repeatedly. The preadamites have nothing to do with a “gap theory”. They’re just the human beings from the first chapter. The gap theory is unnecessary, because the creation “days” are already long periods, so it don’t need another one in Gen. 1.2.
The genealogy numbers reveal a rough timeframe, but you can’t elongate that to 100,000 years. Especially since Adam and Eve don’t belong to the ultimative beginning of mankind.
Of course, Noah’s flood was local. It restricted to the Near East, like almost everything from Gen. 2:5 on. So it couldn’t harm the rest of the World (population).
@Steve
It’s easy to verify, who’s right and who’s wrong. Every dictionary can be Testament to it
WOW, I don’y know who is right or wrong on this stream, bit it is wonderful to read so many knowledgable people discussing this important issue. My hat’s off to all of you for this informative reading.
Lilith,
In Genesis one both male and female are singular in Hebrew. That’s two people. Again, Genesis 5:1-3 shows us that Adam of Genesis two is the male of Genesis one. I also pointed out why you can not just add the numbers to get to a date for Adam. For example, Moses skips generations in his own genealogy. Only by comparing other Biblical genealogies from the same time period do we figure it out. Luke 3:36 tells us of a Cainan which Genesis 11 leaves out. There is no way to tell how much time is involved in Genesis 5 and 11. Humans have been around for about 100,000 years. You said preadamites, are you a gap-theorist? If so, you might want to check out Genesis 1:2 which uses a waw disjunctive. This means that verse two is further explaining what earth looked like at its creation. It rules out a gap between verses one and two. Lastly, there was no global flood. The flood of Genesis could not be global, because God said that on day three He set a boundary for the waters, so that the earth would not return to Genesis 1:2 (Job 38:8-11; Psalm 104:5-9; Proverbs 8:27-29). Each of these are talking about the creation week. They establish that earth was covered by water at its creation and that God set a boundary, the land masses, which the water could never again cover over. This is also referred to in Jeremiah 5:22. Not until after the Tower of Babel did humans migrate outside of the Arabian peninsula.
To answer this question isn’t difficult at all. Holy Spirit or no Holy Spirit, Gen. 1 isn’t telling about ONE male and ONE female. Zakar & neqebah are generic terms. Numbers aren’t called until Gen. 2-3, which tells from one man (isch) and one woman (ischah). Please note that isch & ischah have different meanings as zakar & neqebah.
100,000 years ago, there were only preadamites. With the help of the biblical Genealogie, Adam and Eve can be dated 5500 b. C., the middle of Neolithic period. The Persian Gulf were created by Noah’s flood, an aftermath of the last glacial period.
It’s so difficult to answer this question,but let’s be honest that the Bible was written by God’s own prophets whom were filled with the Holy Spirit to pass a short, brief but concise massage. By this I believe that God wanted us to know that for every innocent blood shed, you must not
go unpunished. Cain really got married from the descendants of Adam and Eve but not Immediately he was sent on exile, although he knew that Adam must fulfill the rule to born and fill the world so he went wandering waiting for her soul mate who the spirit of God never cared about as He was not pleased with his devilish act. Note, marriage can go irrespective of age difference, a man can marry a girl young enough to be their daughter.
As far as population genetics ruling out just two original humans, there have been a number of studies on sheep, horses, etc. which started with a known population and then many generations later, their genetic diversity was evaluated. Consistently, the calculations overestimated the size of the founding population. Over the years the estimates of the founding human population has been falling, from millions to just hundreds. We also have no Biblical date for Adam. Moses skips 6-9 generations between Kohath and Amram. There are about 13 generations missing between Obed and Jesse, even though Obed begat Jesse. If we compare the description of the land of Eden with recent research of the middle east, during the last ice age, we find a match. The Persian Gulf did not exist, because of lower sea levels. This left the area as a lush oasis surrounded by dryer regions. There are radar images of two massive river systems that met in the gulf area along with the Tigris and Euphrates. One flowed out of the mountains of western Arabia where there is gold and trees which produce a myrrh like resin. This matches the descriptions of the land of Havilah. The other flowed from Oman and Yemen. This fits Cush, originally populated by dark skinned people. So, Adam and Eve date back about 100,000 years.
There is nothing in Genesis to indicate that Cain married some unknown female. The ending of Genesis 5:4 does not indicate the timing of the birth of sisters anymore than “and was evening and was morning” at the end of each creation day, means that they occurred after the events of the day. All Genesis 4:17 says is that after leaving the land of Eden, Cain and his wife had children. It says nothing about when or where they met. The best answer is he married a female relative.
Cain is worried about someone finding and killing him, so God gives him a protective mark. Who would and why would someone look for Cain to do him harm? Who would know the meaning of the sign? The context indicates that someone who knew Cain and what what he had done would seek him out. To know the meaning of the mark indicates someone familiar with Cain and what God had done for him. This seems to foreshadow the blood avenger, who was usually a family member. So, there is no indication of people beyond his family.
I’ll want to respond to some comments. First, both Genesis one and two have one male and one female. In Gen. 1 man is told to subdue and rule over the earth and that he plants and that animals also ate plants. So, he was to take care of plant life for he and the animals. In Genesis 2 God puts Adam to work with plants. In Gen. 1 God tells man to rule over the animal life and in Gen. 2 God puts him in charge of naming animals (an act of dominion). Genesis 5:1-3 combines the name Adam (Gen. 2) with the creation language of Genesis 1. Lastly, Jesus in Mark 10:6-8 combines the language of Genesis 1 and 2. Thus, these are the same two humans in both chapters of Genesis.
My Chinese friend, a civil engineer there who was raised atheist & became an ardent follower of Jesus & Bible student after her wakening experience with Him followed by a vivid dream of Him summoning her to faith, had no problem with this question. She looked rather nonchalant & answered, obviously Cain’s wife came from the people God created in His image in Genesis 1.
Why can we not accept and understand that our Jewish-Hebrew Creation Myths are no less sacred, nor more sacred, no less historical, nor more so, than the Creation Myths of Native American Indians or African Tribes.
Why does BAR continually post heretical articles? Suggesting there were other people groups implies the reason for the suffering and death is not mans sin. Jesus appears to believe Genesis literally since He quoted from the book nearly 30 times. Please be fearful of adding to the Bible, especially when your opinion arrogantly dismisses the Bible in error.
Remenber thatgod cursed cain by putting a mark on his face ,no one could kill him ,no one else ,had more people edens surroundings
In the Islamic tradition that comes from prophet’s sons , Shia , there is another view regarding Cane’s wife . She is Nymph . And it is not only Cane who got married but also other sons of Adam ,peace be upon him , like Sheeth and Yafeth who also got to another nymphs .
Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius, Golden Legend by Jacopo da Varazze, Historia Scholastica in Gen 4:1 (PL 198, 1076) by Peter Comestor, Seder ha-Dorot: Cain married his sister Calmana and Abel married another sister Delbora
https://www.academia.edu/10440502/Cosmogonies_and_Theogonies
Hello i want to know what language used by adam and eve? Im very curious about it.thank you.
I’m a follower of Christ and love God. I’m definitely an advocate in the “case for God.” In His wisdom, there are some things a bit difficult to reconcile. So, I’m not sure I completely follow your logic, in all due respect. Seth and the host of Adam & Eve’s children were subsequent to Cain’s marriage–as in it couldn’t be possible that Cain married a sister. But I must add, “The foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of man”–it would take us entering the raw presence of God to seek His counsel. Sounds too spiritual I know, but there is a greater reality in God we haven’t entered into yet.
Cains wife was and ape…
Thats right, so forget about all the creationistic crap about “kosher” genes and sibling incest and make friends with “unholy” preadamites, coadamites and “wicked” evolution (Gen. 2:4)!
Mwahahaha 😉
Consider the FACT that today’s genetic diversity DID NOT begin with only Two individuals.
You MUST either accept the existence of other Humans outside of Eden or abandon your faith and reason.
There is no other option.
PS: There have already been named countries even in Adams times (Gen. 2.10-14). Pretty much every name has a meaning, including country names.
Big letters don’t lend credence to obsolete tenets. Daughters before Seth are phoney, just as the rest of the traditional exegesis.
GENESIS2 WAS AN ELABORATION OF GENESIS1VS26&28. WHEN SONS AND DAUGHTERS WERE BORNE, EMPHASIS WAS ALWAYS EXCEPT IN RARE SITUATIONS, ON SONS. EVE WOULD HAVE DAUGHTERS FROM WHOM CAIN AND SETH MARRIED. SO THERE WAS NOTHING LIKE PREADAMIC. GET KNOWLEDGE..
DO NOT COMPLICATE THINGS FOR YOURSELVES, THE WORD NOD IN HEBREWS MEANS WANDERER AND CAIN WAS PRONOUNCED A WANDERER FOR HIS ACT. WHERE HE DWELT AFTER LEAVING GOD’S PRESENCE WAS NAMED AFTER HIM, THE LAND OF WANDERER.
Abraham married his HALF SISTER Sarah ( Genesis 20:12) and GOD agreed it. So its a clear evidence that GOD promoted that kind of marriage in the early times.
So in other words, you dont know. That’s because there is no logical answer. There’s a whole book a dedicated to this one begot that one. So to sa y, awe, they just didn’t mention thise people is rediculous. The answer is its impossible. It didn’t happen. Come on. That’s what gets me the most about talking to people about this stuff. If they don’t have an answer they make one up. That’s jusy stupid man. Wake up.
If you want more credible answers for Bible stories, look to the Ancient Pagan texts… The Holy Bible is kind of the Jewish knock off. The Bible is constantly changed and reworded and updated one word at a time so that it’s not obviously noticeable. It’s social control. Language is man made and therefore anything ever said, written, or read is based solely on interpretation. That voice that tells you right from wrong is your conscience and morality, not Jesus Christ. Also, why are Christians the only people that call their god GOD… That’s like saying “Praise Doctor, for he has found a cure.” or “All Hale Teacher, for exposing us to such plentiful knowledge.” Every other religion calls their god by their NAME. There is so much spiritual disrespect in Christianity. Encouraging slavery, incest, rape, and so many other things. People are required to tithe even though the Holy Bible came out thousands of years before paper currency. Wake up people… God would want us to live in perfect harmony, eating the fruits and vegetables that grow from the earth, keeping our children protected and raising them to make the world a better place. God does not condone murder (or war), God does not condone utilizing money or giving other humans power or authority. If you truly believe God made all then you should believe that we as humans have no place trying to improve his creations or trying to make a profit from creating things he cannot. Pretend everything you have ever been told from anyone… the media, your parents, your church, history books, the bible… pretend EVERYTHING is all a lie and then research the truth on your own and come to a conclusion based on what YOU YOURSELF conclude. DO NOT FOLLOW… Free your mind. Do not be controlled by words that confine your mind. Understand what’s going on in the world around you and how we are controlled by 3 things: Our Governments, Our Currencies, and Our Religions.
The very first creation was the cosmic space (Gen. 1.1). Next up, the animal souls (Gen. 1.21) and last but not least the human intelligence (NOT the human by itself (Gen. 1.26; asah means the preparation from preexisting material) and other human characteristics (image if God; Gen. 1.27). When Adam and Eve finally come into being, the whole world already is populated with human beings (Gen. 1.28). Adam and Eve aren’t creations (bara) at all!
The “sons and daughters” of Adam and Eve come AFTER Seth. So the wives of Cain, Henoch, Noah etc. came from beyond Eden.
interestingly, we must know that Adam and Eve was the very first creation of God. there was never any preadamic creations!. some of us are referring to Gen.1:26 yes that place shows God intentions to create man and what he wished to accomplish through man. but chapter 2 shows us of how God accomplished His intentions. The Bible said that Cain went to Nod. where and what is Nod. Nod means land of wandering so Cain went to land of wandering that means he left God’s presence and was wandering about east of the garden. and during this wandering he knew his wife and not married. We have to understand the account of people in the Bible. Gen.4 gave a random summary of Cain’s life. It was not accordingly to as the events unfolds or do you think Lamech Cains son is older than Seth Adams third son? No! So Adam must have given birth to so many children and had many other grandchildren before Cain even got married. So Cains story was just rounded off in Gen. 4. So he is got got married to one of his sister. And remember names of many wife in Genesis are mentioned e.g who did Noah got married to? They are only having babies which concludes that they could be getting married to their sisters and even their mother’s. Because they were very sinful and out of God’s regulations. That’s why God have regulate this actions when he redeemed man.
I think it is obvious, that there were humans (so-called preadamites) before Adam and Eve. And of course it’s possible, that both of them had had brothers and sisters (and (grand-)parents, aunts, uncles and cousins as well). Not only possible, but highly propable, because only children were unusually in those days (5500 years b. C.).
It’s about time to review our view of Adam’s and Eve’s reality of life!
Gen 1 vs 26 down has made it knwn that humans were there before adam jst that he (God) wanted to point out that he want the best out of adams family wch is us, and he created adam after seventh days people should read their bible well before commenting.
some of the things written in the bible can be understood just like that. if u feel u want to know more go learn bible histories
People dont even understand this bible at all. How can u say there is no human beings apart from Adams family? yes there are other people living on this earth. Ok who was Cain referring to when he told God that anyone who sees him will kill him? God has to put a mark on his forehead, so that anyone who finds him, will not kill him. This is a sign that they were other people living on earth. Cain didn’t marry his sister, he got his wife from the land of Nod.
What about Genesis 1 chapter 26 …. Then God said, ” and now we will make humans beings, they will be like us ……He blessed them and said, “have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth.”
It is only in Genesis 2 chapter 7 ” Then God took some soil from the ground and formed a man….”
Cy
People please STOP. You’re adding and detracting from the Bible. Our God doesn’t agree with incest.
we are say elot of things but never knew the right truth. So i think we all should just stop deffrents story and live as we are living just followe the commandment of all mighty God
I personally think Cain married one of the sons of God…can you remember when God said He will stop that and I also think Can might have given birth to giants.
The answer to the question of where Cains wife came from is very simple. Cain got his wife the same way Adam did, God caused a deep sleep to come upon him and took one of his ribs and made him a wife. Adam and Eve were one flesh, and Cain and his wife were one flesh.
Ladies and gentlemen, you are missing the big picture. The story is a recording of an event that has significance to the life of the believer. The fact that Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden is recorded because that story shows us what happens when we desire to have the things God has forbidden. The story of Cain and Abel shows us how pride, envy, jealousy, rage, and even vanity cause us to commit unthinkable acts that destroy Gods creation of love. The story said nothing of Cain repenting for the murder of his brother, only that he felt his punishment was unjust. The remainder of this story is, in fact, in keeping with what God told Adam and Eve, “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:28), and the fact that God IS the same TODAY, YESTERDAY, AND TOMORROW. He still had commanded them to fill the earth and subdue it, no matter how He felt over Abel’s demise. The story shows us that no matter how far we have fallen, how great our sin, God is still Jehovah Jireah.. The provider. Things may have turned out differently should Cain have repented, accepted his punishment without complaint, and moved when The Lord said “Move.”(i.e. Abraham in Gen 22:2). Take the KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, and LAWS of the Old Testament, and run them through the love of Jesus and the cross. Read the teachings of Jesus in how they relate to fulfill the prophecies, make a new covenant (law) and ask “did Jesus die for this to change?” OT law was eye for an eye, God smite my enemies, crucify the thief! Run those old covenant teachings through the blood of Jesus and they read very differently.. Forgive.. Seven times seventy times. Love your enemy, and Pray for those who have enmity towards you. If a man steals your jacket, give him your shirt, too. Just some thoughts.
Cain married her sister .Also the place called Nod was named after Cain lived there.
Marriage between brother and sister was not made taboo until Moses. That being said, I think Cain probably married a Neanderthal or Denisovan. I fully believe that Christ was God in the flesh and was the atonement for my sins to reconcile me with a holy God, my Father in heaven. I also believe there were dinosaurs and other hominids that God also created. The missing link scientists are looking for I believe would be in reverse. There were what we call homosapiens, us, and other hominids, who’s DNA has been found in homosapien. Which means interbreeding. I believe that interbreeding took place initially when Cain was sent out into the world, met the wild people he met, took a wife, and had children. I believe that we are very arrogant to say other hominids or dinosaurs did not exist. That would imply that there was something God couldn’t do, wrong. If we could understand all that God has done, and still does, then he would not be worth our worship. We worship him because he is “set apart”, Holy and righteous. He is a creator, and I’m sure has created many things that we have no idea aboof or even a concept of. Now we see dimmly, but when we as believers in Christ Jesus are welcomed home as good and faithful servants we will see clearly.
What other people? It is clearly denoted Adam and Eve were the first humans, Hence Eve being called the mother of all living. And for the point about incest being ok back than, yes it might have been but the whole pure blood negating any genetic defects associated with incest, doesn’t add up. We all are all direct decedent’s of Adam and Eve which would mean there is absolutely 0% genetic variation between us and them because every person came from the same mother and father, so if they had no ill effects from incest why would we with the same blood? It doesn’t matter if it’s been a few thousand years if we all came from the same dna there will be no alteration no matter how long the time period, you know hence why people can trace their family lineages using dna.
He took his sister along with him certainly. Thanks for bringing up this matter… It has bn given me sleepless night… Just trying to understand it but all proved abortive.
I strongly believe Cain already had a wife with him before getting into Nod. From the bibles explanation, Cain knew his wife and had a son means that Cain slept with his wife and had a son. So its certain he took along one his sister with him. Only God knows the truth…
I quite agree that Cain married his sister as a wife since there is no human on earth before God created Adam and Eve. so more argument we take it as it stated in the Bible.
Anyone ever thought that Cain’s wife was created the same way Eve was created. Men have less ribs than females. Cain’s blood line ever completely ended
Cain married his own sister at nod because the bible was not mention woman name at that time it was not prohibiter to marry your sister.
not all sinners love by God…
God is love..and God loves Cain so much (even after he murdered his brother) enough to provide him a wife. The words of God (bible) not necessary for us to know the details of cain s wife.God wants us to understand that He still love and blessed the sinners.
Hello Fatima, the bible did not states ‘his wife came from the land of Nod’ The bible say that Cain went to the land of Nod and knew his wife and not that he marry his wife. ‘knew his wife’ means that he slept with his wife there. he might go along with his wife while leaving his people.
With Adam and Eve out of the garden, all activities were outside the garden. Now how old was cain and Able at the time of the incidence? Its obvious that Adam and Eve might have other children. The Bible was önly giving account od the incidence and not the geneology of Adam’s family.
Also, Bible made no connection of the incidence with Adam and Eve. This tells that the brothers were not living together with their parents n likewise other siblings
It’s a pity you didn’t read Genesis 1 v 26. There were already humans on the earth.
“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.”
As the Holy Spirit is the “story teller” (1 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:21) to suggest that He did other than tell the truth is a violation of the direct Word of God (John 16:13).
Adam and Ever are the progenitors of all mankind (Gen 3:20; Acts 17:26). By the time they gave birth to Cain and Abel (Gen 4:1-2), Seth (whose lineage we follow through Noah and beyond) and other sons and daughters (Gen 5) they had already disobeyed God and been cast out of the garden of Eden. Therefore, technically ALL of Adam’s progeny was always outside the garden – only Adam and Eve had ever been in the garden of Eden.
So, since all humans on the planet earth came from Adam and Eve, and Cain had a human wife, and all humans were already outside the garden of Eden, therefore the proper conclusion, one borne by the revelation of the God the Holy Spirit, is that Cain’s wife, whom he took from the people outside the garden, was also a descendant of Adam and Eve.
What abt Neanderthal genes among our own Sapien Sapien genes? Perhaps this is where these genes came into ours.
i actually have this as an assessment based assignment …so please any more useful findings are very appreciated
Really people. What difference does it matter who Cain married? His bloodline ended with the flood.
the Cain wife is an Abel twins sister,because if you look at the book of Old Testament there allows mention males name not female name that is why the don’t mention her name and because man are the head of family
The cain wife is Abel twin sister, Because if you look at the books of Old Testament, there allows mention male but not female that is why Bible don’t mention har name because man are the head of the family
Read the urantia book
The urànti as book
☺
Then let us try to find the real name of Cain wife and where he get her, we are learning
CAN ANY HUMAN IMAGEN JEHOVAH GOD TO CONCLUSSION?
CHILDREN OF THIS TIME ARE TOO CURIOUSE. THEY ASK TOO MANY QUESTIONS.
IF YOU SAY”CAIN GOT HIS WIFE FROM NOD TOWN OR VILLAGE”REMEMBER-GOD CREATED ADAM IN HIS LIKNESS & IMAGE THEN FROM SAME ADAM GOD MADE EVE. BOTH MET AND STARTED HAVING CHILDREN.The Question is WHO ELSE DID JEHOVA OUTSIDE THIS FSMILY?????
If every account were to be written, the Bible could be so big the world couldn’t contain it. JUST ASK THE spirit if you may happen to have, He will reveal God’s secrets. NO NEED TO BOTHER YOUR HEAD.
We as humans can never understand God completely but going by the book of Genesis, Cain did not marry his one of his sisters. Why do we want to create or write our own bible?The bible clearly states his wife came from the land of Nod. We should concern ourselves with finding out more about the land of Nod rather than rewriting the book of Genesis.
The Bible states emphatically that God is the same today, as yesterday, as forever in the future you wish to query. IF marriage among siblings is prohibited once it is always against God’s laws and rules. Thus what say you now?
mmmh that’s interesting.never thought closely the story of Cain.thanks for revelation
According to the book of Jubilees there was a sister born, Awan, after Abel.
Chapter 4: 1 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 Awan. And in the first (year) of the third jubilee, Cain slew Abel because (God) accepted the sacrifice of Abel…
Chapter 4:9 …And Cain took Awan his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of his son Enoch.)
Adam had many children, so marriage was not a problem as mutations only appeared in the time of Leviticus 18:6 (2500 year later) where God prohibited inter-family relations.
Very simple: Gen. 5.4 says that the other sons and daughters of Adam have been born after seth. Cain hadn’t had any sisters at the time of his marriage. Cains wife only could come from the land of Nod (I remind Gen. 1.26-31).
Why don’t people read Genesis 5:4 which reveals that Adam begat sons and daughters. Case closed. Cain married a sister or niece.
The story was about Cain and Abel, and it is only said they were children of Adam and Eve. It is obvious that there were other children. The pre-flood earth atmosphere shielded better against cosmic radiation permitting less genetic erosion and much longer lives. Original near-perfect genetics permitted intermarriage of siblings. It is so easy to understand that it is beyond me why people want to complicate things. Making themselves look interesting, maybe?
There isn’t an only passage in the entire bible that calls Adam and Eve the first humans. In the first chapter, “adam” is just an appellative name for the entire mankind. Personal names don’t appear until the second chapter. Also the used verbs of the first chapter (asah, bara) have completely different meanings as those (jatzar, banah) of the second one. Let’s just compare Gen. 2.7 to Jer. 1.5, and it becomes obvious, what I try to explain. Adam and Eve are just descendants of the preadamites, and the “God’s image” of those prehistoric man can’t hide fact that they descend from the terrestrial animals, with them they have been created as the same “day” (actually a VERY long Periode, like the others.
Cain sisters appear AFTER Set, Cain couldn’t have married one of them, that would be an anachronism.
Eve is the wife of Cain .Why Bible was not mentioned her name?
The only alternative to Cain marrying one of his sisters would be if he married a niece: there was plenty of time for one to mature. How could Cain have married an aunt when there were no women of Eve’s generation: neither Adam or Eve had a sister.
There are two versions of Man’s origin but they could well be just a different slant on the same event They do not contradict each other.. Read Genesis 1:26/7 and 2:7 again.
Perhaps many of Cain’s siblings had moved to Lod when Cain moved there. The residents (his own brothers and sisters and their children) might have avenged their brother/uncle/cousin
Abel.
The fact that there are similar (not exactly the same) stories/versions of Man’s origins around the world among primitive tribes today and before Christian missionaries arrived to teach them the Jewish one, shows that man had one origin.
I hate it when people try and think they know better than the Bible. The Bible tells us quite plainly that Adam was the first man made from the dust of the earth and Eve was the first woman made from Adam’s rib (not his penis). The Bible then goes on to tell us about their offspring and the famous murder of Abel. Genesis 5:4 “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.” Genesis tells us that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters besides Cain, Abel and Seth. The logical conclusion is that Cain married one of his sisters and until a prophet of God comes along and tells us otherwise that is what we should accept.
PS: I mean account instead of encounter.
I don’t know if it has already been mentioned here, but Gen. 1:26/27 and 2:7 are two different events. While Gen. 1:26/27-31 encounters from the origin and reproduction of the entire human race during the sixth day in its two sexes (hebr. zakar & neqebah), which come about at the same time and in unknown number, the paradise story means the arising of two individuals, one man and one woman (isch & ischah). This happens at the beginning of the seventh day.
Like Adam, Eve and all other humans, Cains wife descends from the “preadamites” of the sixth day. She was already resident in the land of Nod when Cain arrived there.
We are all literally the same blood,dna, relatives plain and simple n noone seems to want to acknowledge this admit this etc it’s right there in the bible who else was there besides Adam n eve n their children nobody
I think a lot of things were ommited from the bible to satisfy some peoples theories the truths out there
To look logically (which many people will not or cannot do) and read sequentially, this task was impossible. The logical answer would be that it must be a sister or an aunt. However, no one else was around at this time. We see Cain leaving to go to Nod (Genesis 4:16) and knowing his wife (Genesis 4:17). Some argue that the women were not mentioned in the Old Testament so it is very possible. But if we look further we see through biblical evidence that Adam did not begat anymore sons or daughters until Seth. Genesis 5:3 and 5:4 state “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years; and he begat sons and daughters.” Notice that this is AFTER the departure of Cain. Is it possible that Cain went to Nod and waited for nearly a hundred years by himself until on of Adam’s daughters happened to stroll into Nod all by herself as well? Sure, but chronologically it does not make sense. We need to stop taking the bible literally and look at it more metaphorically. Science has disproved dozens and dozens of biblical mythology and yet people continue to cling to it more than the reality they face every day.
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.
Hi, for starters, this verse is incorrect. This seems to be a reference to the Jehova’s Witness’ Bible.
Kurt says:
Gen. 3:20: “Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living.”
The KJV says it correctly: Gen 3:20, And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
No future tense here, she was the Mother of all living at the time.
Mrs Cain was a pre-historic woman…Oh evolution is not incorrect, but, Adam and Eve were special creations, with a living soul…pre-historic man, not at all.
People need to understand that the so called “Sons of God” are not fallen Angels!
Adam and Eve were procreating long befor the fall(“be fruitful and multiply”)
For the non-believers, JESUS is the truth, if u do not believe that, u have work to do.
Acts 4:12
If we believe that Genesis depicts a true account of creation, then we must believe the very first man and woman created were Adam and Eve. Any other human beings would have had to come from the sexual relation of Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve had Cain and Abel we know. We can only wonder how many female children they had. For Cain to get a wife, he would have to had chosen one of his sisters for a wife. To go outside these parameters is confessing you do not believe the account of creation as stated in Genesis.
Truth, you defend literalism, then quoted a verse then ignored its obvious literal meaning.”all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine”. The verse says nothing about cosmology or science or human origins but the verse does say it is profitable for what the bible indeed is profitable for which is in understanding the nature of God and our relationship to Him, our moral duties to one another and our means of obtaining right relationship to God. The verse actually by omission gives no implication that it is a proof text for what you claim it means.
The cosmology of the bible is babylonian and the bible does not endorse it but merely reflects it as the backdrop of the stories it tells. The bible cosmology also clearly teaches a flat earth and any reading of scripture that is the least bit consistent and attempts to keep to a literal biblical cosmology in the early chapters of Genesis must surely keep to a flat earth which is present from Genesis to Revelation. The selectivity with which fundamentalist choose what they take literally from the babylonian cosmology is not based on sound exegesis but on what is defensible based on having limited knowledge of science and what is not defensible even with the sketchiest knowledge of science
Recent archaeological and genetic evidence reveals that interbreeding between genetic humans and neanderthals probably began to occur as recently as 50,000BC.
Something to consider.
I firmly believe that there were no actual individuals named Adam or Eve that were the beginnings of the human or Hebrew race. All ancient tribes have their own origin or creation myths. It’s highly presumptuous to say that the Hebrew story is any more real than the Greek, Egyptian or Sumerian.
This one is easy, “Adam called his wife Eve, as she is the mother of all the living”. The Bible is clear there is but one, the human race. The Bible is clear and states explicitly that”all scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine” therefore infallible, that is all scripture is to be interpreted literary. Third, the Bible says man is not to live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That sums it up, God said it, He is in authority not any human who denies the truth of scripture by inturpteting scripture through the lens of their own philosophy.
Luluwa (Awan)
What happened to the other created couples in the garden after the original Adam and Eve, and are they recognizable characters or prophets in the bible? Are they without sin and were they taken out of the garden?
Genesis has at least one vague reference to other hominids which I assumed to be Neanderthals. However, I agree that Genesis tells the story of Hebrew history rather than of all humans. It is folly to be too literal, perhaps the reason Jesus spoke in parables. What matters is Love. “To love one another is to fulfill all of the commandments”.
When reading and studying the scripture I kept asking that at the time of creation Bible Genesis writer said God created them “men and women”, so where were this other people? I believe that Adam and Eve were the first people of God’s creation he went on to create other people.
The Bible is a spiritual book. If your spirit is not ready to receive the message you will not receive. That’s why it’s important to read the Bible over and over, as you and your spirit mature, you will understand more.
As long as Adam and Eve were alive, does anyone really believe that Cain, Abel and Seth were their only children? There were no other people outside the first family. Cain took a sister for a wife. He would have had to.
the events recorded in d Bible are done so as to teach us something, the reason the origin of Cain’s wife was not stated is because God did not have any lesson for us there. Stop majoring on the minor. Cain had other siblings and could have been married before the curse, it doesn’t matter. What matters most is that the blood of Abel cried for judgement but the blood of Christ plead for mercy, learn that and move on.
Protestant pastor here…Parts of the Old Testament are not meant to be read as literal history. Some/much of Genesis falls into this category…You guys that want to read it ALL as a literal history/science book, more power to you. I won’t call you names or run down your faith.
As for me, I’ll see the God’s message and truth behind the text whether it literally happened or not.
Scientists look everywhere but up or where they should. Here is the answer, Cain and Abel were not the first children of our first parents, that is Adam and Eve. Cain married of of his elder brother’s daughter. PLEASE Read the.book of Moses in the pearl of great price. We, the Mormons have known this since the.restoration over 180 years ago. See for yourselves.:
” And it came to pass that Cain took one of his brothers’ daughters to wife, and they loved Satan more than God.”
http://lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/5.28?lang=eng
There are other books that were not included by Constantine in the modern bible. If you want to resesrch you cannot exclude all other ancient texts.
That doesn’t make much sense because male DNA is a mutation of female DNA. Facts before speculation.
Watch youtube.com/theoldpath or go to http://www.esorianoblogspot.com
To continue, this is why the Adamic blood line, through Seth, had to remain unmixed all the way down to Jesus who was the Christ. In that the failure of the son of God, Adam, all fell, through Jesus, the unfallen son of God we are redeemed.
This goes to the heart of some of the misunderstandings about who Adam and his line was.
Adam was the son of God, Eve the flesh of his flesh and his wife.
Adam and his offspring was a new creation….
אדם
’âdam
aw-dam’
While man and mankind
איׁש
’ı̂ysh
eesh
Could have already been here and that is where Cain’s wife came from….
It requires no mystery nor does it require incest…
Yes, I do believe Adam and Eve had more children. We have no way of knowing the number of years had passed when they were removed from the Garden. We have no way of knowing if Cain was the first child. There could have been several children before or even after Cain and after Able even. The story is only concerned with these two and then with Seth later. Look at how long everyone lived. Cain and Able probably were not young boys, especially since they labored and knew what God required with sacrifice. And we do know that girls/ daughter/sisters are rarely named. There was a city in Nod, people had to build it, it didn’t just happen and Cain was concerned that someone would kill him, so there were more people around. The Bible only concerns it’s self with God’s people and the line through which Christ is brought into the world.
Cain married his sister because Adam & eve had more children .
After they disobeyed God he told eve you shall have great pain giving birth this tells me she had given birth before without the curse of pain since they lived so much longer I believe they married each other in some way
Its easy Cain married one of his sisters, just because they are not mentioned in the Bible doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Adam and Eve lived 900 years and only had three children, your a fool if you believe that. the reason Cain and Abel are written in there is because of the sin Cain committed, before the event of Cain killing his brother Abel, no man had ever taken a life. this is a truth that shows just how far man can fall into sin…. o and if you are going to believe in God and the Bible you cannot go and find your white-out and remove the bits you don’t like.., it is in there for a reason and it is all true, not just bits and peices
Adam& Eve Only Once. I do not find on Amazon. Fascinated by idea!
Were Adam and Eve the only couple who were created in the manner described in the Book of Genesis? Apparently not if you read Adam & Eve Only Once – available on Amazon – based on biblical evidence it now seems there is completely new way of looking at the Book Of Genesis:
It is proposed in the series of pamphlets that make up this book (there are eight in all) that the special manner in which God created Eve from the side of Adam (as described in chapter two of the Book of Genesis) continued for a number of other blessed couples up to the time of Abraham, at which time it ended. In other words, the unique nuptial blessing granted the first couple in the Garden of Eden did not end there but was also gifted to others. The pamphlets will examine the biblical evidence for this. For this chosen group, the husband did not choose his bride or the bride her husband. They, like the first couple, were also formed together as one body and then became two. In some real, but mysterious, manner the bride was formed from the side of her husband. Many, if not all of us, will find this proposition as almost beyond belief. “How”, we might respond, “could this be?” It overturns our way of thinking. “Could this be possible?” If, on the other hand, God had created the first couple (Adam and Eve) in this manner could he not have repeated his masterpiece? Are we to restrict what God can do? Of greater significance, however, is that the biblical evidence for this ‘nuptial state’ “in the beginning” (Gn. 1:1; Jn. 1:1) is compelling. It is this evidence (largely found in a series of events and dialogues recorded in the Book of Genesis which, it is proposed, has been somewhat neglected or overlooked in biblical scholarship) that is examined in this book. In this early state of marriage, as indicated above, the female bride was not born from her mother’s womb but, rather, was formed at some providential time from the side of her husband. This unique marital state once graced the world and, as proposed above, continued to the time of Abraham, after which it ended. This state might be described as a partial legacy of the Garden of Eden, pointing to the first love which God had originally intended for the first couple he created in Paradise. It was this form of love that Christ not only restored but elevated on Calvary in the blood and water that flowed from his side, which the Early Church Fathers (see commentaries by St. John Chrysostom 347-407 A.D. and St Augustine 354-430 A.D.), described as the New Eve flowing from the side of the New Adam. For, by his death on the cross, Jesus not only restored this fallen state outside the Garden of Eden but elevated this state of love to that which God had originally intended for the first couple (and for every couple) for all eternity within Paradise. Speaking to all of us from the cross through the repentant thief Jesus promised, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise”.
If you would like to leasrn more about this fascinating new book – check it out on Amazon – Adam and Eve Only Once?
P. S. As for the death of Cain, The Book of Jubilees, chapter 4, verses 29-31 tells us of Adam’s and Cain’s death, “And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year [930 A.M.] thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth.
And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: ‘On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.’ For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.
At the close of this jubilee Cain was killed after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones; for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in righteous judgment.
The Books of Adam & Eve,(VITA ADAE ET EVAE) From “The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament”, R.H. Charles – Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913 says: that Seth had 30 brothers & 30 sisters alive, at the burial of Adam (6)…And the angels Michael and Uriel buried Adam and Abel in the parts of Paradise, before the eyes of Seth and his mother (7) [and no one else], and Michael and Uriel said: ‘Just as ye have seen, in like manner, bury your dead.’ xlix (1) Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she would die, (so) she assembled all her sons (2) and daughters, Seth with thirty brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all, ‘Hear me, my children, and I will tell you what the archangel Michael said to us when I and your father transgressed the command of God (3) On account of your transgression, Our Lord will bring upon your race the anger of his judgement, first by water, the second time by fire; by these two, will the Lord judge the whole human race.xlix (1) Six days after, Adam died; and Eve perceived that she would die, (so) she assembled all her sons (2) and daughters, Seth with thirty brothers and thirty sisters, and Eve said to all, ‘Hear me, my children, and I will tell you what the archangel Michael said to us when I and your father transgressed the command of God (3) On account of your transgression, Our Lord will bring upon your race the anger of his judgement, first by water, the second time by fire; by these two, will the Lord judge the whole human race.
In the book of Jubilees, chapter4, verse 1 & 9, (it tells us that Cain married his sister, Âwân bint Adam); verse 1 says “And in the third week in the second jubilee [64-70 A.M.] she gave birth to Cain, and in the fourth [71-77 A.M.] she gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth [78-84 A.M.] she gave birth to her daughter Âwân. ” & verse 9 says, “And Cain took Âwân his sister to be his wife and she bare him Enoch at the close of the fourth jubilee. [190-196 A.M.] And in the first year of the first week of the fifth jubilee, [197 A.M.] houses were built on the earth, and Cain built a city, and called its name after the name of his son Enoch. “
Asking about Cain’s wife is like asking about Cinderella’s hairdresser. This is the 21st century.
Reading carefully the Genesis in Hebrew, we have to point out that God says to the earth (aretz) to produce all the living creatures (1:24) which has to include mankind. Then God created Adam in His resemblance (1:26) from the ground (adama) which is quite a different raw material than aretz. Moreover, the Hebrew grammar shows that all the living creatures represent categories, while Adam is one only of his kind, evidently because he is the only one to receive God’ breath (2:7).
When Cain hears of his punishment, after the murder of Abel, he protests the severity, because “God has moved him from the adama and anybody meeting him in the aretz will kill him (4:14).” Therefore, Cain had no problem in finding a wife among the daughters of the aretz. Dr. Edoardo Shmuel Recanati
The bible says that Adam & Eve had other sons and daughters. All of them are not recorded. Cain had to have married either a sister or a cousin. And, since the offspring was only the 2nd to 3rd generation of man then the DNA was much closer to perfect than it is today so “incest” was not a concern then. The same scenario was repeated after the flood since there were only 4 couples to repopulate the earth.
TDH writes, “The Bible was not meant to be taken literally.” Sez who? Also, By whom was it not “meant to be taken literally?”
Adam and Eve weren’t the only ‘people’ existing in the Genesis story but they were the first parents of mankind, in my own understanding of the OT, there are others who weren’t mentioned in the narrative of the Genesis. For one reason, the author of the Genesis sought to trace the history of the ancestors of Israel; it is just that the Genesis stories were highlight on the lives of Adam and Eve as to the reference of the order and ancestors of Israel.
Some points to consider on “CAIN’S WIFE”. How do we know that Cain was not already married when he murdered Abel? It did not say they [Cain & Abel] emerged from the womb and immediately went out and offered their sacrifices. And It could be by that time because life was still quite pristine Adam & Even could have had several other children, daughters, perhaps, or even granddaughters that Cain might have married.
Also, concerning who could possibly be those who would confront Cain to kill him, Humans lived on for centuries and centuries at that time so eventually there would be relatives and relations and shirt tail relatives who having moved to other regions might for some reason or other plot to kill Cain in the decades, centuries to come and not necessarily have to be another ” people” or “race” outside of the one the Bible describes.
Man didn’t write the bible, God did, cain married one of his sisters, dont yall understand anything!
TDH, another thing. How can a story teach faith if it did not actually happen? Does the figurative god that you serve think people are stupid? Do what I say, don’t do what I do…which is nothing but tell false stories? Believe the story, no matter if it is true or not. How is that building faith? How powerless is your god? You know that you are sweeping the whole OT off the table and you are making God and/or all is servants and prophets in the OT out to be liars?
Not sure why you mention your “Masters” in Pastoral Theology. It is meaningless and typical of people that think they are educated and now think they can question the Bible. As Jesus told the Pharisees. You don’t know the scriptures nor do you know the power of God. Again, why bother becoming a Pastor…
TDH. If the Bible is not meant to be taken literally then I assume you also don’t believe in a literal God… Not sure why you bother becoming a Pastor if you start of with not believing the foundation of the Bible. Stop wasting your time and the time of others. You start off with being a false teacher. Stay away from pastoring.
The Bible was not meant to be taken literally. The stories of the OT were meant to teach the faith, they didn’t have to actually have happened or happened that way. As one who is finishing a Masters in Pastoral Theology, I find Leith’s question and possible answer, interesting and worth considering, but I would not lose sleep over the “right” answer.
I agree with Lee, Read Answers in Genesis, book 1 and 2, facinating truly Bible based teaching!!
Well … Always a hot bed of controversy on this site! I do understand that there is a Mitochondrial Eve and a Y-DNA Adam lurking back there in the distance. There also is some evidence of two additional — but now dry — riverbeds in the Near East which lends more credibility to the original Adam and Eve story with the four named rivers. Only two of the four now exist. Also: a very good question is that if the Adam and Eve story was entirely fictional, how did the person composing the original — or at least the biblical — version know that snakes used to walk on four legs?
Aside from those details, I see no harm in wondering whom Cain married. There were likely other beings around — maybe not descendants of Mito Eve & Y Adam — whose dynasties long ago died out. The biblical story just gives the bare-bones story — the parts relevant to the point being made by the biblical author — and does not elaborate. Anything could be true with regard to this question. I just think her ideas are interesting. And Lamech murdering Cain? Wild!! Maybe. But the fact that Cain’s ultimate fate is not described means only that it was irrelevant to the basic story and thus omitted. The speculation, however, is interesting and should be regarded as that. As for Deano — he has another version. I have seen various dates for M Eve and Y Adam — with him coming after her. As for the ability of generations to pass stories along — by mouth and accurately — this has in fact been demonstrated by anthropologists studying other cultures — not Near Eastern ones. If something was important to people, they were capable of preserving a story and/or history — even by oral tradition — with word for word accuracy. This has been debated elsewhere. So the Adam and Eve story probably happened. But not recently enough to support the Young Earth Theory — which evidently was developed to support some “visions” reported by Seventh Day Adventist founder Ellen G. White — and is not necessarily in line with how Genesis has been traditionally interpreted.
I believe science and God can exists together. That being said, Noah and Adam can be, but do not have to be all. Adam may have been the first to know God. Noah the person God choose to save man on earth. But there is most possible, Adam was not the first humanoid, or that all the diversities of animals fit into one small place not very long ago. These are interesting theories to text. All written by man. Only two or three times has God wrote to man. So it is faith we must go by. Science is able to help support these things. As in the order of earth being as it is now, and the Sun and Moon.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/who-was-cains-wife
I would follow the Biblical account , that would make the most sense. Cain married his sister. Who else would he have married ? THERE IS NO other conclusion one can come to. If you don’t believe the biblical narrative,as another replier has mention ‘ it is open to any assumption or presupposition’. Sometime in the beginning someone had to have sexual relations with his sister for pedigree sake. The normal literal sense of scripture is always the best way to understand scripture unless the text in question otherwise demands .
Mrs. Cain
The lack of respect in evidence-based science in favor of stories passed along generations trying to figure out the origin of all things is incredible. How would anyone know and be able to pass on an accurate description of what happened so many generations before there was a written word? Our oldest mitochondrial relatives go back a minimum of 100,000 years and that is only the female. The male line could predate that number. Open your minds to the evidence that is all around you. Your holy book is filled with stories that are just that: stories. Paul Bunyan is just as real.
This Is Great! Glory Be To Our GOD!
Cain is a mythical figure. He did not exist.
I think Adam lived about 2000 BC among other humans in Southern Mesopotamia. Gen 2:4-11:32 is the origins of Adam’s tribe, not the whole humankind. The Giants and the Sons-of-God were simply neighboring tribes. Gen 2:21-3:24 is a prophetic dream, where Adam saw who is a suitable wife for him, and also received a promise about the Messiah in the same prophecy
Our Readers Ask . . .
Where Did Cain Find His Wife?
▪ “If Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel, where did Cain’s wife come from?” Although this is often asked as a trick question by Bible skeptics, the Bible does provide sufficient detail to give a satisfactory answer.
Genesis chapters 3 and 4 present the following information: (1) Eve was “the mother of everyone living.” (2) Time elapsed between the birth of Cain and his offering the sacrifice that was rejected by God. (3) Following his banishment to become “a wanderer and a fugitive,” Cain worried that ‘anyone finding him’ might try to kill him. (4) God set up a sign to protect Cain, indicating that either his siblings or other relatives might try to kill him. (5) “Afterward,” Cain had intercourse with his wife in “the land of Fugitiveness.”—Genesis 3:20; 4:3, 12, 14-17.
From the above, we can rightly conclude that Cain’s wife was a descendant of Eve born on an unknown date. Genesis 5:4 acknowledges that during his 930 years of life, Adam “became father to sons and daughters.” Of course, the Bible does not specify that Cain’s wife was Eve’s daughter. Indeed, the fact that she is mentioned after Cain’s banishment indicates that enough time had passed that she could even have been one of Adam and Eve’s granddaughters. Hence, The Amplified Old Testament describes Cain’s wife simply as “one of Adam’s offspring.”
Nineteenth-century Bible commentator Adam Clarke speculated that God’s establishing a sign as a result of Cain’s fear came about because several generations of Adam’s descendants already existed—enough “to found several villages.”
That Cain married his sister or a later female descendant of Adam through the marriage of any of Adam’s sons or daughters is viewed by some societies today as unthinkable. This is usually because of societal taboos or fear of genetic defects. Nevertheless, F. LaGard Smith comments in The Narrated Bible in Chronological Order: “It is altogether likely that these first brothers and sisters enter into marriages with each other, despite the sense of inappropriateness which would be felt should that occur in following generations.” Also, it is noteworthy that it was not until Moses received God’s laws for the nation of Israel in 1513 B.C.E. that intercourse between such close relatives was specifically forbidden.—Leviticus 18:9, 17, 24.
Today, we are millenniums away from the perfection once possessed by our original parents. The effect that genetics and heredity have on us might not have been a factor for them. Furthermore, recent studies, such as one published in the Journal of Genetic Counseling, show that unions between first cousins face lower risks of having children with birth defects than is widely perceived. Reasonably, such issues would not have been a serious concern during Adam’s life span or even prior to Noah’s day. Thus, we can conclude that Cain’s wife was one of his female relatives.
http://m.wol.jw.org/es/wol/dsync/r4/lp-s/r1/lp-e/2010649#h=0-1&selpar=0
also
http://m.wol.jw.org/es/wol/dsync/r4/lp-s/r1/lp-e/1101989257#h=0-1&selpar=0
Mrs Leith is on to something. If you look up Gen 4 you’ll see that Cain, as some of you have found out, after Abels death feared that other men would kill him. But if Adam and Eve – his parents – were the only ones left besides Cain (Abel was dead, remember), did he fear his parents then?
Nope, he feared the descendants of the ones in Gen 1 v.26. The old text uses the word “adam” about these people, too. Not as a spesific person, but as a lot – as men and women in plural. These were “bara” (created/produced), while Adam – the single man – was “yatsar” (formed). The men and women as a part of the creation, but Adam the man, as a part of the great divine plan of salavation.
As a man with a mission – as the first son of God. Made from dust, not inside Eden, but outside and before Eden (yep, that’s right. Read your Bible again). In 2 Cor 15:22/45 Paul makes it clear that Jesus came as no.2 – as the second Adam. Why? Because the first one failed his task. Failed to stand up against the serpents temptation.
So sin – and death, ‘cos death is a reaction to action, a consequence of sin – must be older than Adam, because the serpent must have fallen first. Not according to the law in Eden, but according the law God made for the heavens. He created heavens – “shamayim” – first, remember. And then the created “erets” – translated as “Earth”. So the serpent came crawling because the angels free will was tested first. And because some of them, including the devil in shape of the serpent, failed.
And suddenly it all makes sense, right? Including Cains marriage in a nearby town etc. Btw: The 6000 years often referred to as the time since creation, is in fact the age of Adams bloodline. The Bible says nothing about the age of the creation as a whole. Regards.
Getting back to the original article, the tradition is that Cain married Abel’s twin sister, as commanded by Adam. Abel was commanded also, to marry Cain’s twin sister. The early 19th century commentator, Adam Clarke reasoned that both Cain and Abel raised families well before the birth of Seth. The interpretation is that after Cain killed Abel, Cain took Abel’s widow as his wife which is recorded possibly in Gen 4:17. The Jewish commentary suggests that Cain was the author of the genocide of Abel’s “potential” family although I believe that Adam Clarke was correct.
The idea that Cain married his sister flies in the face of modern practice plus the Mosaic law. But traditions still vary from society to society. For example in the northern US it is considered immoral to marry a first cousin but it is not in British society and in some places in the southern US (there are many jokes about this). However, my grandparents, from well respected English families, were married in 1917 in England and they were first cousins.
Many like to look beyond the truth of the bible, and peer into “artfully contrived stories” of Jewish mystics and story tellers. This is not in line with the scriptural thought of “keeping hold to the healthful pattern of words”. (2Tim. 1:13) Paul in fact warned the congregation in Crete of such stories (Titus 1:14) he told the Cretans to avoid the Jewish Fables. Why? Because these stories were the stories of “old women” (1Tim 4:7) and had no place being taught in the first century congregation. Consider one such story that Paul, being a student of Jewish oral and scriptural tradition would have been familiar with.
The apocryphal story of Tobit written over two hundred years prior to Paul tells of a pious Jew named Tobit who had the dung of a bird land in his eye and blind him. He sends his son Tobias to collect a debt. On the way Tobias is directed by an angel to collect the Heart, Liver, and Gall of a fish. He then encounters a widow who is still a virgin because , although being married seven times her husbands were all killed by an evil spirit on the wedding night. Tobias is prompted by the angel to marry the widow and uses the heart and liver to drive off the wicked spirit and later uses the gall to restore Tobit’s sight. This tale is truly not truthful but a Jewish fable. It is steeped in occultic practices that the Israelites were warned against practicing, and is full of superstitious teachings. Further at Tobit 1:4,11, 14:1 we see the historical inaccuracies. Tobit is said to have been witness to both the revolt of the ten tribe kingdoms of Israel and the deportation to Nineveh. These events are separated by 257 years according to biblical and secular historians such as Josephus. This is just one of the examples of Jewish fables that were prevalent in Paul’s day.
It is no wonder then that those who search for the truth of the bible are warned repeatedly in the scriptures not to fall prey to the empty deceptions of human thinking. These artfully contrived stories do nothing but pull people away from the true teachings of Jesus. So we should heed Paul’s counsel to Timothy (1 Tim 6:3-5) do not be teachers of things contrary to the Christ.
The ancient peoples would have understood the antagonisms that would have at times occured between settled farmers dwelling in cities and semi-nomadic herdsmen dwelling in camps; since prehistoric times. The fact that Cain was religious like his brother Abel reminds us that this tale is still revelant due to the fratricide occuring presently between people of the same race adhering to diverse religious beliefs. The Lord counsels Cain and warns him, ” but if you don’t do right, sin is crouching at the door; its urge is toward you, yet you can be its master” (Genesis 4:7). Indeed, it is in some people’s interests to emphasize the differences of other religions or sects rather than the similarities between them. Often neglected are the mystical traditions of medieval times that linked together Judaism, Christianity and Islam, which arose from the revival of philosophical thought developed from the schools of Plato and Aristotle
The 13th century work of Jewish mysticism, the Book of Zohar, contains theories based on the philosophical doctrine of the soul that often contradict one another. The modern commentator, Isaiah Tishby, in his “The Wisdom of the Zohar, vol. 2”, attempts to streamline this reservoir that combines philosophy with scripture. In the earliest part of the Zohar, humans have an animal soul (nephesh) whose desires are the source of sin, and and intellectual soul (neshamah) that functions to serve as a stimulus to religious activity.
“The nephesh hayyah (soul of the living), the lesser of the two, was formed from the earth when Adam was created, and it has a terrestrial, physical origin in every man” (p.708). This is also called the vital soul, since the Hebrew word for vitality is “hiyyut” is akin to the word for beasts, “hayyot”.
“In contrast to the lowly and coarse nature of the vital soul we have the neshamah (breath), a holy force, whose principle function is to guide man along the right path and to draw him near to God. By following its instructions man will acquire life in the future world.” (p. 709). It is this future world that is the source of the breath of life, existing beyond the limitations of this world, and comprises of both past and future.
“Rabbi Isaac said: In respect to the soul (neshamah) that He provides, for [the wicked man] goes and clings to the power of the beasts. This is the meaning of ‘But man does not remain in honor. He is like the beasts that perish’ (Psalm 49:13)” (p.780). This statement was extracted from the section of the Zohar Hadash, Bereshith, 16a-16c, also known as the Midrash ha-Ne’elam. Since Tishby’s book is an anthology, he was careful to omit one detail of which I have been unable to find an English translation of: “the intriguing reference to cannabis in the context of a fleeting comprehension of the knowledge of God” (Zohar; The Book of Enlightenment, by Daniel Matt. 226). In other words, this is something one might briefly comprehend while high, but quickly forget.
In the Sumerian poem “Lugalbanda and the Mountain cave,” the hero, Lugalbanda, is acompanying his seven brothers on a military comapain against “Aratta ,the mountain of the holy divine powers.” While his brothers are noblemen who command troops, Lugalbanda is a virtual nobody who is introduced only as “their eighth one.” But like David in 1 Samuel 17, he would prevail over his brothers and become king of Unug (Uruk). Along the way he becomes ill and his brothers leave him in a cave supplied with provisions until he should recouperate. Upon recovery he leaves the cave and embarks on a kind of vision quest: “The rolling rivers, mothers of the hills, brought life-saving water. He bit on the life-saving plants, he sipped from the life-saving water … Like a lone wild ass of Sakkan he darted over the mountains .Like a large powerful donkey he raced; a slim donkey, eager to run, he bounded along.” This recalls Ishmael as being “a wild donkey of a man” (Genesis 16:12), and when his mother Hagar left Ishmael under one of the shrubs (Genesis 21:15), this calls to mind the fact that the word for shrub, (siyach, Genesis 2:5), is related to meditation, as in “May my meditation (siyach) be pleasing to Him (Psalm 104:33,34). It has been suggested that the vicinity of Beer Lachai Roi (Well of the Seeing One) where the angel appeared to Hagar, had become a shrine to which Isaac visited when he was “meditating (suach) in the field” in Genesis 24:62 (Meditation and the Bible, by Aryeh Kaplan, p.101).
Like Lugalbanda, Ishmael had revived his vitality, with the Sumerian god Sakkan being responsible for the fertility of “all the beasts on land” (Genesis 1:30). Lugalbanda may have also discovered the foretelling of future events through dreams, as the poem describes him making a bed out of “the pure herb of the mountains,” where he “lay down not to sleep, he lay down to dream – not turning back at the door of the dream, not turning back at the door-pivot. To the liar it talks in lies, to the truthful it speaks truth. iT can make one man happy, it can make another man sing, but it is the closed tablet-basket of the gods.” A waking dream, like the kind mentioned in “The Matrix.”
“I dot not know of dust to dust
I live from breath to breath
I live to climb that mountain
to the fountain of Lamneth.
Yet my eyes are drawn toward
the mountain in the east
fascinates and captivates
gives my heart no peace.”
“Fountain of Lamneth”, by Rush
Why do people who don’t even believe that there was a literal person name Cain care about who he married? These same people mock the Faith of billions of people by pretending to be open minded.
The great majority of “open questions” that we have from ancient Biblical history were not open questions when they were written. Oral tradition was critical to honoring a family legacy. Written text was like gold. If we are incapable of understanding cultural and historical context, then its better to remain silent.
If the Bible is silent on a topic it was either know by everyone and was insignificant to pass on or God deemed it unimportant to reveal to His prophets. I for one do not take lightly mocking God.
It’s fascinating how opposing views collide, producing sparks like atoms smashing together in a particle accelerator, putting an end to darkness (Job 28:3). Of particular interest is the debate between Ra’ah #14 and Kenny #16 over whether the Adam of Genesis 2:7 (Jehovah tradition, first temple period) and Adam of Genesis 1:26 and 5:1 (Priestly tradition, second temple period) are the same species of humanity.
Genesis 1 mentions the emergence of the mammals on the 6th day following the demise of the dinosaurs (who are none other than the dragons of the 5th day mentioned in Genesis 1:21). “God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth every kind of living soul (nephesh)…'” (Genesis 1:24). The human race also evolved with this soul, or nephesh, like the animals.
According to Isaiah Tishby in his “Wisdom of the Zohar”, the “nephesh is attached to the body, preserving it and satisfying its needs. It is the instinctive power of feeling and action needed to sustain the body” (“Essential Papers on Kabbalah”, by Lawrence Fine, p.120). This sounds like the genetic code inherent in each creature from birth, enabling its survival through instinct. Tishby points out the view of the kabbalists that the ultimate goal for humanity is to attain to the Adam in the Garden of Eden and comprehend God’s mysteries through the agency of the neshamah, which is the breath of life that God blew into Adam’s nostrils in Genesis 2:7. It is this neshamah/breath that is “a spiritual-religious force that draws man near to God and preserves the bonds between them,”
These terms for soul and breath are used interchangably in the Old Testament, and in the Canaanite “Tale of Aquat” , Aquat’s murder at the hands of a drunken soldier is described in similar terms as Genesis 2:7: “His breath escaped like wind, his soul like vapor, like smoke from his nostrils.” The Adam of Genesis 2 represents our human potential before the fall, of which Jesus refered to when he said, “He that excersizes faith in me, that one also will do the works that I do; and he will do works greater than these, because I am going my way to the Father” (John 14:12). .
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As for religions being blood guilty, I fully agree. Far too many wars have been fought in the name of religious intolerance. But we would be ignorant to think that wars are fought only on the backs of religous thinkers. Consider the post Darwinian age. By enhancing Socialism with Darwinism, Communism emerged as a powerful movement led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Party, later wrenching control of Russia in the Revolution of 1917. All land, materials, and biological (including human) resources became property of the state. Lenin implemented social programs and began starving and slaughtering whole societies whom he regarded as herds of animals. He was encouraged by the deaths of millions and believed people would lose faith in God and turn more to socialism. To survive the famine, many turned to cannibalism. Lenin’s ideology was inspired by Darwin’s Origin of Species: “Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of higher animals, directly follows” (Darwin 1886). As Darwinism spread throughout Europe, violence was legitimized under the “struggle for existence” theory. As Austro-Hungarian chief of staff, Franz Baron Conrad von Hoetzendorff wrote in his post-war memoirs: “It is in accordance with this great principle that the catastrophe of the World War came about as the result of the motive forces in the lives of states and peoples
@robert The Bible, at Job 26:7, speaks of God as “hanging the earth upon nothing.” Science says that the earth remains in its orbit in space primarily because of the interaction of gravity and centrifugal force. These forces, of course, are invisible. Therefore the earth, like other heavenly bodies, is suspended in space as if hanging on nothing.
The prophet Isaiah wrote under inspiration: “There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth, the dwellers in which are as grasshoppers.” (Isa 40:22)
The Bible says: “He [God] has described a circle upon the face of the waters.” (Job 26:10) The waters are limited by his decree to their proper place. They do not come up and inundate the land; neither do they fly off into space. (Job 38:8-11)
The Flat Earth model is an archaic belief that the Earth’s shape is a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures have had conceptions of a flat Earth, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD) and China until the 17th century. It was also typically held in the aboriginal cultures of the Americas, and a flat Earth domed by the firmament in the shape of an inverted bowl is common in pre-scientific societies.
The modern misconception that educated Europeans at the time of Columbus believed in a flat Earth, and that his voyages refuted that belief, has been referred to as the Myth of the Flat Earth.[6] In 1945, the misconception was listed by the Historical Association (of Britain) as the second of 20 in a pamphlet on common errors in history.
The Bible describes many other scientific areas such as, the water cycle, the classifying of animal life into kinds, the complexity of the universe. Although the Bible is not a scientific book, it is scientifically accurate.
Where did Cain get his wife? Simple, accounting for the Biblical record that Eve is the mother of all the living, Cain (prior to the ban of marrying a close relative which is due to our mutating DNA) married his sister. When the plain sense makes sense, seek no other sense (most of the time).
Hello Robert,
I agree that false teaching has lead to some murder and hate.
I agree that we can learn from Genetic studies and radiometric dating.
Neither the Bible nor the church has not taught that the earth was flat. There were a very few individuals in history that did. Neither the Bible nor the church taught that you would fall off the edge of the world.
The church did not change the orbit of the solar system, science did. The Bible did not say how the orbits worked. It only gave the motions from an earth bound point of view. This is exactly what your local weatherman does every day. Greek scientists like Aristotle gave us the wrong motions. These were later corrected by Christians like Copernicus and Galileo.
I have not heard of Christianity stating that no one could clone animals, geneticly modify genes or make an atomic bomb. Where did you get this information?
Christians started most of the sciences. Even the Big Bang theory was fathered by a preist.
By the way, the fundamentals of the Big Bang are taught in the Bible: constant laws of physics, a beginning of space and time and an expanding universe.
I find it amazing that people get so caught up in religious teachings that they don’t even want to hear what someone else has to say or accept solid scientific facts. DNA and genes can tell alot about living and dead organisms. Radio carbon studies can tell alot also. Organized religion can make millions of people believe the earth is flat and kill those who disagree. Organized religion can change the orbit of the earth,sun and other planets. Organized religion was 100% sure man couldn’t clone animals,geneticly modify genes and make an atomic bomb. They also had boats falling off the edge of the earth if you sailed too close the the edge, when their world was flat. And don’t forget all those ghosts,and other scary creatures.Depending on where and when you lived things can be very different .Humans have been commiting mass murder of those who have different beliefs and are still murdering to this day.Tens of Millions of people have been murdered in the name of Christainity based on the hate they learned from clergy. Some of the people making comments are pissed off at the author and even this web site because they hate a different perspective. I think the mentally ill need to stay away from religion if it makes them hostile .
Assuming that Adrian and Menashe are still talking about Genesis 1 and 2, there are no “glitches.”
George,
I’m sorry, but I do not understand most of what you wrote.
The land of Eden had four major rivers converging into one which then flowed into the garden.
Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden into greater Eden. The garden was localized within the Land of Eden. Then Cain was kicked out of Eden.
Cain was a farmer, but Abel was a rancher.
Cain was told that when he farmed, nothing would be produced.
Where do you find a Lake in the text?
What did you mean by a land sounding like the Angel (cherub).
What are you saying about the relationship of Adam and Cain. Please show me in the text where you are getting your ideas.
Has anyone considered that when it is said that Adam sought for a help meet among the animals, he may have gone into animals. When you say Adam, if Cain was indeed first or he may have been Cain who is considered as the Father.
If Abel was Cursed, then if this meant when you say curse, then perhaps he was cursed.
If Cain was told to leave the garden, this in some cultures can mean family.
They were tree gatherers at first and if this cursing of Cain meant that all things hanging from a tree is why Jesus had to be crucified, in order to save us from that curse on all tree fruit.
Has anyone considered that the Story, a source of Legend saying that the land between Lake. Urmia & the alleged plain of Edin, right before a land seeming to sound like the Angel guarding the opening from Edin on the East could have been The Garden
If that was where the Garden of Eden was, then there is a place sounding much like Nod after that narrow exit from that area.
If so, it’s remarkably near to A section. Near China.
If so, the Chinese do Nod when they greet you, could that be the source of the name, the Land of Nod.
Further, Cain was told to leave the family, after being told, he’d be no longer able to take the fruit of the earth from the ground nor the strength of the earth from the Earth.
He had cursed everyone and all sources of food, now I suspect Adam took his privelege of cursing the people in the family she they ate food. So he was himself cursed for cursing his brethren and family.
If you look at the naming of men, with different names, you may find a different way of she among men and women so that you can find. Cains wife’s name in a more sure manner. The names Cain and Cainan indicate a possible system for surnaminv children or wives.
Menashe hit the nail on the head.
“Like today’s Torah service in a traditional Jewish Shabbat service the text was read aloud at an auience. The audience understood the cultural cues and were unconcerned about narrative contradictions and inconsistencies as they had an entirely different way of thinking than us moderns do. Only when later generations inherited these material did they think that they need the glitches to be explained or interpreted.”
Though I dislike people in enagged in Jewish worship being thought of as “audience.”
Oh George my heart breaks for you, that your eye are so blinded to the truth that God breathed the words of the Bible for us to have to encourage us until He returns so we will not be in darkness.
Poor Mervyn,
Insults will get you nothing but return in kind. Are your uppercase letters supposed to lend credence to your intoxication and cultism brought on by your deep gulping of ancient Judaic mythology? The Kool-aid always works, doesn’t it? Consult professional and neutral Biblical historians and consider their views on the subject.
Your claim that the “history” of Adam, Cain, and … etc” are replicated throughout the world is nothing more than complete “BS.” It is Genesis creation and accompanying myths, written in the 6th century BCE, that were inspired by earlier similar creation myths, for example, the Sumerian creation and flood myths.
You have drunk deeply of the Kool-aid laced with literalism, and unfortunately reason cannot penetrate your cult-colored worldview.
I feel very sorry for you, for you live in darkness and will likely do so until the day you die.
The history (not stories) of Adam, Cain and other early characters is replicated THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND WERE KNOW LONG BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN MISIONARIES TAUGHT IN THOSE COUNTRIES. THAT ALL BUT PROVES DISSEMINATION FROM ONE ORIGINAL SOURCE. POOR GEORGE BELIEVES THAT GENESIS IS “CREATION MYTHS”. WITHOUT ANY SUPPORTING EVIDENCE HWATSOEVER, YET DEBUNKS ANYONE WHO BELIEVES THE SPARCE EVIDENCE AVAILABLE. SCIENCE IS BELIEVING WHAT EVIDENCE IS AVAILABLE RATHER THAN THE PERCEIVED ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE. DOUBTING IS PERMISSIBLE BUT DENIAL IS FOOLISHNESS.
Mervyn
First of all, there was no Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, or Cain and Abel, so the question is mute. The two Genesis creation stories are simply tribal creation myths. Why do people, even scholars, try to make them more than that?
Would we be asking these kinds of questions about the thousands of other creation myths that are just as fantastical as those in Genesis?
By the time of Abraham, his birthplace, the advanced city of Ur in Chaldea, was a river port. The Gulf has receded since then leaving Ur well inland.
After Adam and Eve left Eden, Cain wandered and his progeny scattered throughout the world, thereby populating it, but Cain still took to wife one of his sisters or perhaps a neice or daughter, because there were no other women at the time.
There is a saying that ” if it ain’t broke. don’t fix it.” Why question something we know?
Mervyn
Why all the speculation when we already have the answer – long before the question?
Mervyn
Waiting for a reply from Mary Leith.
Mervyn
Genesis 1:1 introduces the creation of the universe and 1:2 focuses in on the earth in its initial state. Genesis 1:3-31 gives us an overview of some important steps in the formation of earth and its atmosphere.
Genesis 2 focuses in on day six and the creation of humans. It centers on the Land of Eden. This land seems to have been where the Persian Gulf is now. Between 20,000 and 120,000 years ago there was no Persian Gulf. The sea levels were too low. This was a lush oasis. Radar shows that it was fed by four large river systems: The Tigris and Euphrates from the North, a large river system “Pishon” from the west (Arabia) and another large system “Gihon” from the South, which flowed from Cush (Yemen and Oman) . All four came together in what is now the middle of the Persian Gulf. Guess what we find in the area of the Arabian river system: gold, bdellium and onyx. Somehow Moses knew what the land looked like at least 16,000 years before he was born. This is history, not myth.
ra’ah,
It is clear from Genesis 1:26-27 that used adam to mean mankind.
26 …”Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let THEM rule….”
27 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created THEM.”
Singular male and singulare female, just like Genesis 2.
Genesis 5:1-3 shows that Genesis 1 and 2 are talking about the same two people.
Nowhere does the Bible say that a day IS a thousand years. It says it is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day or even a watch in the night (Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8). The creation days are long periods of time and we are still in the 7th day (Hebrews 4; John 5:16-17). The eigth day or beginning of the new week is when God creates the New Heavens and the New Earth.
Greetings Ken. Yeh, the first historical figures in Bible are from 8th century B.C (Before Christ)
Adam, Cain, Abraham, Moses- all nicknames.
Take off your denominational glasses and reread this section of Genesis with eyes wide open instead of wide-shut. In the Hebrew, Man, “Adam” with no Hebrew article before the name, was created on the 6th day and was given dominion. (It was from this line that Cain took his wife from the land of Nod. After all, a day is as a thousand years in G-d’s sight.) G-d rested on the 7th Day–the first Sabbath. On the NEXT day G-d created Eth HA Adam who was THE Man/Adam from which the line of Christ comes. (The number 8 always means “New Beginnings.) THIS man and his wife Chavah “Eve” were LIVING souls. Eve became the mother of all living souls. Man without Christ is not a living soul. That’s why he must be born again/born from above.
WHY DID MARY LEITH ASK SUCH A POINTLESS QUESTION WHEN THE ANSWER IS CLEARLY IN GENESIS 5; 3-4?
HAS SHE NEVER READ THE hEBREW BIBLE?
MERVYN
CB,
You nailed it. Everyone seems to ignore Genesis 5:3-4 (more sons and daughters) and the fact that no time scale is given. We do not know how old Cain was when he murdered Abel or his age at marriage.
Genesis 4:14 presupposes that someone, knowing what had happened, would be looking for Cain, “whoever finds me.” Why would anyone outside the land of Eden (his family) know about him killing his brother? His family quickly figured it out (Genesis 4:25), so he was likely afraid of what other siblings may try to do.
Genesis 4:16-17 does not say that Cain married his wife after leaving Eden. It seems to suggest they were already married and that they began having children after settling in Nod. It is likely that Cain married a sister.
The fundamentalists commenting here complain about “theologically liberal materials” and that people are not taking the bible literally and that they are denigrating it. This is utter nonsense. People like myself love and are fascinated by T’Na’Kh and that is why we want to truly understand it using the best of modern science, literary analysis, history and of course archaeology. We don’t blind ourselves to indisputable facts. I study T’Na’Kh with enthusiasm and wonder as I engage the text not with fear and limitation.In my opinion to look at the text like a fundamentalist does actually denigrates the Bible and makes this wonderful and complex source seem simply stupid. If you don’t want your precious closed minded, preconceived and superstitious notions and beliefs challenged only read publications put out by your own church.
This is an absurd question – to whom did a mythical character in a mythical story get married? Who cares? It’s all fiction/myth (the creation story), so the answer, if there is one, doesn’t even matter. Why is anybody studying questions like this?
One of the factors, in addition to the total disregard for the Biblical narrative as a whole, that appears to have been omitted is the time scale. My understanding is that, since Adam and Eve had “other sons and daughters” (Gen.5:3) after their first three sons. Cain ‘married’ his own (younger) sister!
Of course, there was no formal marriage ceremony; there was no law against ‘incest’; the gene pool was still so pure that there was no requirement for any incest regulation.
As others of Adam’s and Eve’s siblings would have, similarly, ‘married’, the population would undoubtedly have expanded in exponential terms. It was these near relatives of whom Cain was afraid. After all, why, at such an early stage in the history of mankind, would some alleged tribe, with no direct connection, have the slightest interest in the murder of an unknown person?! The name “Nod” was not necessarily used by Cain and his contemporaries, but may simply have been the name of the area as known to the original readers of ha Torah.
As someone else has commented, it would be good if this site stuck to its title. There is no problem with bringing in a sceptical argument – but to throw such theologically liberal material at us as the ‘main diet’ is not going to encourage me to remain with the site!
This is an obvious question to anyone who looks at the Bible with non-fundamentalist open eyes. Any inquisitive child asks the same question. Where did all these people in Nod come from if Adam and Eve are the original people created? The answer is however very simple. Just as the editor/compilers of the Bible had no problem weaving two separate creation stories together they had many other traditions and legends to work with, They wove a story explaining the origin of homicide into the narrative of creation myth, to flood/destruction myth, to renewal and the story of Abraham and his descendents, the Israelites, whose destiny is of course is the primary purpose for the narrative being composed.
One should also understand that what we see as written scripture to be read and studied was in ancient times often oral traditions that were recited to the main population who were most often illiterate in early ancient times. These oral traditions were blended with well know stories and written material borrowed from the region’s dominant Mesopotamian culture. Like today’s Torah service in a traditional Jewish Shabbat service the text was read aloud at an auience. The audience understood the cultural cues and were unconcerned about narrative contradictions and inconsistencies as they had an entirely different way of thinking than us moderns do. Only when later generations inherited these material did they think that they need the glitches to be explained or interpreted.
Cain married his wife. That was the key relationship between them, not their kinship. And why not—only some of us are married, but we’re all related.
It’s a real shame that the writer chose to ignore several items in the Bible.
1. Gen 2:20 No suitable helper was found
2. The Fall
3. Gen 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all who live
4. The worldwide flood
1. God brought all creatures to Adam to name, but none of them were a suitable helper for him, so God created the first woman.
2. The fall is important in this argument because if death and suffering existed before Adam’s sin, then why did Christ have to come and die? All descendants not of Adam’s line would not have been eligible for forgiveness, but they would have still been subject to the condemnation of creation. They would not have been blood relatives.
3. The Bible is pretty explicit in saying that Eve is the mother of all humanity. Modern mitochondrial eve experiments confirm the timeframe of the biblical Eve.
4. The worldwide flood destroyed everyone as confirmed in 2 Peter 2 and 3, so comparing the pre-flood civilizations to modern near east cultures that ignore distant settlements is in either disingenuous or ignorant.
It is important that Cain married a sister for the biblical narrative to make sense.
I can’t get worked up over this question. When I’m in Heaven I’ll know the answer to all the things I don’t know here. I can wait. Revelation 22:20 Even so Lord Jesus, come quickly.
“Whom did Cain marry” that is not the important part of this question. The important part is that BAS seems to be quite liberal in what they print. If this is a biblical question then use biblical answers. There is no where in the bible that says there were other groups of people on earth in the beginning with Adam and Eve, but it was common to marry brother and sister before and after the flood. If you would study the bible and not some sci fi novel then you would understand that for times sake you can’t fit every detail of creation into the bible. But the writer of the bible did assume that we could figure out that there were more children born to Adam and Eve, that is why when the lifespan verse of the Christ lineage male’s always say (and they begat son’s and daughters; and they died). So the real problem is that too few people want to read the bible and believe it literally.
I hope that BAS will stop printing science fiction and start using people that read and believe the bible, not obscure theologians.
In Genesis 1:24, God orders the earth (in Hebrew Aretz) to produce “living creatures of all kind” and with a careful reading we can understand that it includes also human being. These are the people that Cain was afraid to meet, after having killed Abel and as a consequence of his act.
How could we imagine that animals could punish Cain? (Gen. 4:14) Only human being are capable of inflicting a punishment! Then God creates Adam from as totally different raw materiale, from earth (in Hebrew adama) which is the soil of Gan Eden. Therefore it is right to say that God was interested in Adam made in His own image with a different material. Whomever Cain marries becomes much less important
Sounds like a lot of assumptions in her article which denigrate the Biblical record into a biased account of one of, in the author’s eyes, just many people on the earth. This article implies, perhaps states, that Adam and Eve were not the first or only people created by a special act of God. The assumption is that the genealogical record of the births of Cain and Abel is complete and that there were no other children born at that time. However, it appears that Ms. Leith’s article dovetails nicely with current evolutionary ideology.
People make great jumps from assumption to conclusion, perhaps we can start with the grammar in the question. What is being asked in, “Who did Cain marry”? That is a convoluted question if you follow the grammar. If I get what you are after the question you are actually asking is,” Whom did Cain marry?”
Where did Cain get his wife if there was just one family?
Gen. 3:20: “Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living.” (So all humans were to be the offspring of Adam and Eve.)
Gen. 5:3, 4: “Adam lived on for a hundred and thirty years. Then he became father to a son in his likeness, in his image, and called his name Seth. And the days of Adam after his fathering Seth came to be eight hundred years. Meanwhile he became father to sons and daughters.” (One of Adam’s sons was Cain, and one of Adam’s daughters must have become Cain’s wife. At that time in human history when humans still had outstanding physical health and vitality, as indicated by the length of their lives, the likelihood of passing on defects as a result of marrying a close relative was not great. After some 2,500 years of human history, however, when mankind’s physical condition had greatly deteriorated, Jehovah gave to Israel laws forbidding incest.)
Gen. 4:16, 17: “Cain went away from the face of Jehovah and took up residence in the land of Fugitiveness [or, Nod] to the east of Eden. Afterward Cain had intercourse with his wife [“knew his wife,” that is, intimately so, KJ, RS; “lay with his wife,” NE] and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch.” (Notice that Cain did not first meet his wife in the land to which he fled, as if she were from another family. Rather, it was there that he had sexual relations with her to produce a son.)
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1101989257?q=Cain&p=par
http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/s/r1/lp-e?q=Cain&p=par