Who Was the Wife of Cain?
A closer look at one of the most enigmatic women in Genesis
This illustration shows Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where God gave them the command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Photo: From Charles Foster, The Story of the Bible (1897).
While there are many examples of strong and inspiring men and women in Genesis, the book is also packed with stories of dysfunctional families, which is evidenced from the very beginning with the first family—Adam, Eve and their two children, Cain and Abel. In no short amount of time—just 16 verses after announcing the birth of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4—Cain has murdered his younger brother and is consequently exiled from the land. In theory, this would have dropped the world’s population from four down to three. The narrative continues in Genesis 4 with Cain settling in the land of Nod and having children with his wife. Who did Cain marry? Where did she come from? Are there other people outside of Eden? In the November/December 2013 issue of BAR, Mary Joan Winn Leith addresses these questions and explores the identity of the wife of Cain in “Who Did Cain Marry?”
Given that the wife of Cain is only mentioned once in the Old Testament, she would not be counted among the famous women in Genesis. Nevertheless, her identity is still worth investigating. Who did Cain marry? Mary Joan Winn Leith first explores the traditional Jewish and Christian answers that contend that the wife of Cain was another daughter of Adam and Eve. According to this reasoning, Cain would have married his sister—one of Abel’s twin sisters no less, according to the Genesis Rabbah.
FREE ebook: Exploring Genesis: The Bible’s Ancient Traditions in Context Mesopotamian creation myths, Joseph’s relationship with Egyptian temple practices and 3 tales of Ur, the birthplace of Abraham.
Mary Joan Winn Leith explores the identity of the wife of Cain.
A different answer emerges when Leith turns from the traditional responses about the wife of Cain and delves into modern scholarship. Looking at recent work done by sociologists and anthropologists, she notes that when forming a group identity, we tend to define ourselves by how we differ from other groups. In the ancient Near East, sometimes those outside of a particular group or society were considered less “human” by those inside of the group. An important factor that contributes to this mindset is geography. People in the ancient Near East typically stayed close to home, which affected their perception of the world. Surely they knew that other groups of people—potential enemies or allies—existed far away, but if they never came into contact with these groups, what did they matter?
Mary Joan Winn Leith suggests that while the Israelite storyteller knew that other men and women in Genesis existed outside of Eden, they did not matter to him or factor into his account. He was concerned with Adam and Eve and their progeny—not those outside of this group.
Who did Cain marry? There are many answers. For Leith’s explanation of the identity of the wife of Cain—one of the often-overlooked women in Genesis—read her full Biblical Views column “Who Did Cain Marry?”
BAS Library Members: Read the full Biblical Views column “Who Did Cain Marry?” by Mary Joan Winn Leith in the November/December 2013 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
Not a BAS Library or All-Access Member yet? Join today.
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in 2013.
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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?
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.
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.
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
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.
Greetings Ken. Yeh, the first historical figures in Bible are from 8th century B.C (Before Christ)
Adam, Cain, Abraham, Moses- all nicknames.
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.
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.
Waiting for a reply from Mary Leith.
Mervyn
Why all the speculation when we already have the answer – long before the question?
Mervyn