Cain's wife and descendants

[tango]

Something I found interesting at the beginning of Genesis.

First there was Adam, and then Eve.

Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel (4:1-2).

Cain killed Abel (4:8) and was driven away for his crime. But he had a mark placed on him, lest anyone who found him should kill him (4:15)

Since there are no people recorded at this point except Adam, Eve and Cain (since Abel is recently deceased at this point), there is the question of who would find Cain. But reading on...

Cain took a wife (who isn't named) and she bore him Enoch (4:17). Then we see Enoch having children and grandchildren (4:18)

Then we see Lamech taking two wives named Adah and Zillah (4:19).


I found it interesting to note that there's no indication of where Cain's wife came from, who the other people who might have killed Cain might be, and no indication of who married Enoch and his children and grandchildren. But then we suddenly see that Lamech's wives are named.

 

[Josiah]

1. The usual "take" is that Adam and Eve had unnamed daughters.

2. I have no idea who would have killed Cain.... but since people lived for CENTURIES, that provision MAY have been for some time in the future when there would be hundreds of people.

3. PERSONALLY, all that stuff in Genesis 1-11 leaves me with a LOT of question marks. Some (including my sister) take all this as more spiritual than historical. I just accept that there are question marks on the details. The POINT seems clear and obvious, however.


Sorry to be of no help. Never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.


A blessed Lenten season to you and yours.....


- Josiah

 

[Brighten04]

Something I found interesting at the beginning of Genesis.

First there was Adam, and then Eve.

Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel (4:1-2).

Cain killed Abel (4:8) and was driven away for his crime. But he had a mark placed on him, lest anyone who found him should kill him (4:15)

Since there are no people recorded at this point except Adam, Eve and Cain (since Abel is recently deceased at this point), there is the question of who would find Cain. But reading on...

Cain took a wife (who isn't named) and she bore him Enoch (4:17). Then we see Enoch having children and grandchildren (4:18)

Then we see Lamech taking two wives named Adah and Zillah (4:19).


I found it interesting to note that there's no indication of where Cain's wife came from, who the other people who might have killed Cain might be, and no indication of who married Enoch and his children and grandchildren. But then we suddenly see that Lamech's wives are named.

Try this. http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/1.htm

 

[tango]

1. The usual "take" is that Adam and Eve had unnamed daughters.

2. I have no idea who would have killed Cain.... but since people lived for CENTURIES, that provision MAY have been for some time in the future when there would be hundreds of people.

3. PERSONALLY, all that stuff in Genesis 1-11 leaves me with a LOT of question marks. Some (including my sister) take all this as more spiritual than historical. I just accept that there are question marks on the details. The POINT seems clear and obvious, however.


Sorry to be of no help. Never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.


A blessed Lenten season to you and yours.....


- Josiah

I figure that either Adam and Eve had daughters who weren't named, or there were other people besides Adam and Eve in the beginning.

If there were other people then the concept of original sin breaks. If Adam and Eve had daughters who weren't named I wonder why women were suddenly named beginning with Adah and Zillah. Unless the details were lost in the sands of time between the events occurring and being compiled into a book, and it was better to leave names out than to try and translate "Old whatshername" into Hebrew

 

[Alithis]

1. The usual "take" is that Adam and Eve had unnamed daughters.

2. I have no idea who would have killed Cain.... but since people lived for CENTURIES, that provision MAY have been for some time in the future when there would be hundreds of people.

3. PERSONALLY, all that stuff in Genesis 1-11 leaves me with a LOT of question marks. Some (including my sister) take all this as more spiritual than historical. I just accept that there are question marks on the details. The POINT seems clear and obvious, however.


Sorry to be of no help. Never claimed to be the sharpest tool in the shed.


A blessed Lenten season to you and yours.....


- Josiah

in the absence of any way to know any more (at present ) i would say thats a good take to have on it . there are so many theories and they are all- only theories

 

[Alithis]

Try this. http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/jasher/1.htm

sadly that book is an 18th century forgery .the actual book of jasher as mentioned By Joshua, was lost to us and there has never been a copy to translate from .

 

[Pedrito]

The matter is quite simple, I would suggest.

The early chapters of Genesis contain highly summarised information.

God purposed that the information given would be sufficient to let us know that He was the origin of all physical things that we see and experience, explain the origin of sinful human nature, and show that He had some kind of plan to rescue mankind. The plan seemed rather amorphous at that time, but that His purpose would be fulfilled by the seed of a woman (as opposed to the seed of a man – an oxymoron) was stated, referring forward to the virgin birth of Jesus.

God also embedded in that information a number of things that would relate to scientific discoveries made by modern mankind, and thus provide evidence of Divine authorship. Of necessity, they had to be expressed in non-technical terms that were easily and reliably transmitted by word of mouth until finally committed to writing.

As well as that, He provided sufficient information to answer questions like that posed as the subject of this thread, and to nullify at least one interpretation that is often imposed on one portion of the text.

Now to the original question.

Genesis 5:4 states:

And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

It does not tell us when the daughters were born, nor name them. Nor does it name the other sons. Only the important players are mentioned, like in film credits. Also, the order of names in the credits does not necessarily relate to the sequence in which the actors first appeared in the film.

We know the other sons were born after Seth, but daughters could have been born any time after Cain.

Thus the question of where Cain got his wife is explained. She was one of his sisters.

There was no need for any other people (people other than the descendants of Adam and Eve) to have been inhabiting the Earth.


The Bible is a wonderful book. If apparent inconsistencies are observed, or troubling questions pop up, it simply means that a couple of steps back, and one or two to the side, to obtain a different perspective, are in order.

 

[Alithis]

The matter is quite simple, I would suggest.

The early chapters of Genesis contain highly summarised information.

God purposed that the information given would be sufficient to let us know that He was the origin of all physical things that we see and experience, explain the origin of sinful human nature, and show that He had some kind of plan to rescue mankind. The plan seemed rather amorphous at that time, but that His purpose would be fulfilled by the seed of a woman (as opposed to the seed of a man – an oxymoron) was stated, referring forward to the virgin birth of Jesus.

God also embedded in that information a number of things that would relate to scientific discoveries made by modern mankind, and thus provide evidence of Divine authorship. Of necessity, they had to be expressed in non-technical terms that were easily and reliably transmitted by word of mouth until finally committed to writing.

As well as that, He provided sufficient information to answer questions like that posed as the subject of this thread, and to nullify at least one interpretation that is often imposed on one portion of the text.

Now to the original question.

Genesis 5:4 states:


It does not tell us when the daughters were born, nor name them. Nor does it name the other sons. Only the important players are mentioned, like in film credits. Also, the order of names in the credits does not necessarily relate to the sequence in which the actors first appeared in the film.

We know the other sons were born after Seth, but daughters could have been born any time after Cain.

Thus the question of where Cain got his wife is explained. She was one of his sisters.

There was no need for any other people (people other than the descendants of Adam and Eve) to have been inhabiting the Earth.


The Bible is a wonderful book. If apparent inconsistencies are observed, or troubling questions pop up, it simply means that a couple of steps back, and one or two to the side, to obtain a different perspective, are in order.

sometimes the most simple approach is best .

i dont give to much thought to be honest -but ..its says cain took a wife after he was marked and sent away .. but it does not say it was soon after that he did so ..or way after ..it could have been long enough after that it was a 1st or 2nd generation niece for instance ..

 

[Lamb]

Scripture doesn't tell us where the people came from so it's indicative that the details are not important. Of course we want to know but that most likely won't happen until we die and get to ask God Himself

 

[Brighten04]

Scripture doesn't tell us where the people came from so it's indicative that the details are not important. Of course we want to know but that most likely won't happen until we die and get to ask God Himself

:amen: Amen! But we do believe that Adam was the first man and Eve was the first woman and they were given the ability to reproduce after their kind. I noticed that Genesis does not tell us how old Adam was when Cain and Abel were born. There is no telling how many daughters were born before Seth was born.

Genesis 5:3
And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth:

 

[Lamb]

Poor Seth. He had no PR

 

[Brighten04]

:rotfl: Well, maybe a tad.

Genesis 5:6
And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos:

Genesis 5:7
And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:

Genesis 5:8
And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years: and he died.

 

[tango]

The matter is quite simple, I would suggest.

The early chapters of Genesis contain highly summarised information.

God purposed that the information given would be sufficient to let us know that He was the origin of all physical things that we see and experience, explain the origin of sinful human nature, and show that He had some kind of plan to rescue mankind. The plan seemed rather amorphous at that time, but that His purpose would be fulfilled by the seed of a woman (as opposed to the seed of a man – an oxymoron) was stated, referring forward to the virgin birth of Jesus.

God also embedded in that information a number of things that would relate to scientific discoveries made by modern mankind, and thus provide evidence of Divine authorship. Of necessity, they had to be expressed in non-technical terms that were easily and reliably transmitted by word of mouth until finally committed to writing.

As well as that, He provided sufficient information to answer questions like that posed as the subject of this thread, and to nullify at least one interpretation that is often imposed on one portion of the text.

Now to the original question.

Genesis 5:4 states:


It does not tell us when the daughters were born, nor name them. Nor does it name the other sons. Only the important players are mentioned, like in film credits. Also, the order of names in the credits does not necessarily relate to the sequence in which the actors first appeared in the film.

We know the other sons were born after Seth, but daughters could have been born any time after Cain.

Thus the question of where Cain got his wife is explained. She was one of his sisters.

There was no need for any other people (people other than the descendants of Adam and Eve) to have been inhabiting the Earth.


The Bible is a wonderful book. If apparent inconsistencies are observed, or troubling questions pop up, it simply means that a couple of steps back, and one or two to the side, to obtain a different perspective, are in order.

That makes a lot of sense, I just find it interesting to see when the order of things looks like it got a bit disjointed.

When Eve is named, other women are not named, and then Adah and Zillah are named, I can't help but wonder why some are relevant and others are not. Especially when we move forward to Gen 4:26 and see Seth bearing a son with no mention of who his wife might have been or where she came from. It's interesting to see how some are named explicitly, some have their particular skills named explicitly (e.g. Tubal-Cain was an instructor of craftsmen), and then unknown numbers of others are just lumped together in the generic term "he had sons and daughters".

 

[Alithis]

That makes a lot of sense, I just find it interesting to see when the order of things looks like it got a bit disjointed.

When Eve is named, other women are not named, and then Adah and Zillah are named, I can't help but wonder why some are relevant and others are not. Especially when we move forward to Gen 4:26 and see Seth bearing a son with no mention of who his wife might have been or where she came from. It's interesting to see how some are named explicitly, some have their particular skills named explicitly (e.g. Tubal-Cain was an instructor of craftsmen), and then unknown numbers of others are just lumped together in the generic term "he had sons and daughters".

is a fun topic though -im enjoying the honest nature of it ,the- I dont know .hey maybe be .. or .what about this or that !.. but no one imposing ..its refreshing .
--
just reading your post now i had this thought had not occurred to me before .

eve was not formed from Adam .. (we assume ) as a baby . which means she could bare children immediately ... every year! (she was after all a perfect person of perfect health in a near perfect environment ,with the lord himself as an ever present help . and adam is 130 yera old when he has his 3rd son SETH ..
so it is possible ,i guess ,that by this time -these two near perfect man and woman who had been blessed to "be fruitful and multiply " could have easily had a minimum of 50 daughters by the time seth was born and more by the time he was old enough to take a wife .. just a thought

 

[Brighten04]

is a fun topic though -im enjoying the honest nature of it ,the- I dont know .hey maybe be .. or .what about this or that !.. but no one imposing ..its refreshing .
--
just reading your post now i had this thought had not occurred to me before .

eve was not formed from Adam .. (we assume ) as a baby . which means she could bare children immediately ... every year! (she was after all a perfect person of perfect health in a near perfect environment ,with the lord himself as an ever present help . and adam is 130 yera old when he has his 3rd son SETH ..
so it is possible ,i guess ,that by this time -these two near perfect man and woman who had been blessed to "be fruitful and multiply " could have easily had a minimum of 50 daughters by the time seth was born and more by the time he was old enough to take a wife .. just a thought

Yep! I agree.

 

[TurtleHare]

The historian Josephus wrote that Adam and Eve had 33 sons and 23 daughters but I have no idea where he got those figures from but it is known that Adam and Eve had sons and daughters in Genesis 5:4. We also know that the intermarriage law didn't come until Leviticus when Moses was around so it was cool for brothers to marry sisters even though today that's just gross to the rest of us!

 

[psalms 91]

There really wasnt any choice as that were all the women and men there were

 

[tango]

is a fun topic though -im enjoying the honest nature of it ,the- I dont know .hey maybe be .. or .what about this or that !.. but no one imposing ..its refreshing .
--
just reading your post now i had this thought had not occurred to me before .

eve was not formed from Adam .. (we assume ) as a baby . which means she could bare children immediately ... every year! (she was after all a perfect person of perfect health in a near perfect environment ,with the lord himself as an ever present help . and adam is 130 yera old when he has his 3rd son SETH ..
so it is possible ,i guess ,that by this time -these two near perfect man and woman who had been blessed to "be fruitful and multiply " could have easily had a minimum of 50 daughters by the time seth was born and more by the time he was old enough to take a wife .. just a thought

All sorts of possibilities are out there. I think the part I find most interesting is that Eve is named and then no women are named until Adah and Zillah, and there's no obvious reason for their names to be included - the only reason I can see for it is to differentiate between the different mothers of Jubal and Jabal, and Tubal-Cain and Naamah.

The text doesn't say whether Eve was formed as a baby or not. It seems reasonable to assume that "be fruitful and multiply" implies that Eve was of child-bearing age, but you never know just how events fit into the timeline.

 

[Alithis]

All sorts of possibilities are out there. I think the part I find most interesting is that Eve is named and then no women are named until Adah and Zillah, and there's no obvious reason for their names to be included - the only reason I can see for it is to differentiate between the different mothers of Jubal and Jabal, and Tubal-Cain and Naamah.

The text doesn't say whether Eve was formed as a baby or not. It seems reasonable to assume that "be fruitful and multiply" implies that Eve was of child-bearing age, but you never know just how events fit into the timeline.

yup .. that's why i was careful to state "assumption". And the lord "presented " her to Adam