Full Gospel Church / Wayne Parks Ministries

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Question:

Where did Cain get his wife?

Believe it or not there is a very easy answer to this question. Genesis records the following:

And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.   —Genesis 4:16-17

This is the first mention of any living soul beyond Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. What happened? Did she just pop up out of nowhere? The answer is found outside of the actual event. It is found in the way that ancient historians wrote what happened; that is, how they recorded history

Of course, all history is selective. If you are reading a history of Japan, you would not expect to see anything about Nebraska included in the writing. But still, modern historians will record everything pertinent to the history about which they are writing. For example, a biography about any well known person may include every piece of information surrounding the circumstances of the person's birth, formative years, adult life, the great achievements, and finally the individual's death if deceased.

However, ancient historians were not as interested in all the details. The scope of the ancient historian was more to the great achievements and significant events, while omitting detail which you and I in today's world would want to read.

This method of selection can be seen in secular histories and biographies. There is no complete modern-styled biography of Julius Caesar, a very important individual in the progression of Roman history. Others too, do not have much of the unimportant years of their lives detailed for us to read; just their great accomplishments.

The reason for the depiction of the birth of Cain and Abel is because it suit the author's purpose. However, their formative years were totally ignored. But the incident of Cain killing his brother was significant, and so it was included.

It was the same regarding the birth of the other children by Adam and Eve. The details were not important to the purpose of Genesis, which was written by Moses for Israel's needs while in the Wilderness, not too long after their deliverance from Egypt.

The reasonable conclusion is that Cain married a sister of his, one of the children of Adam and Eve. Today that would be disastrous. There are health issues with possible offspring, and of course it is forbidden in Scripture. However, prior to the Flood there was a completely different environment. In many cases people lived over nine hundred years. Evidently, there were no genetic health issues to be concerned about. And certainly there was no taboo in Scripture prior to the Flood. The only "turn from the path" in those days, so to speak, was when Lamech, a descendant of Cain, married two wives, which was a change from the one-man-one-woman arrangement that God originally designed.

So the final answer to the question is that Cain married a female relative, born from Adam and Eve.

Rev. Pat Reynolds
Wayne Parks Ministries

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