Who Was Cain's Wife?
*There is this question that has been asked over and over concerning the woman Cain married.*
Reverend Abeiku Okai (B.I.C.) of Anathallo Chapel International answers:
*The Question:*
_When Adam and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, as at that time there were only four (4) people on earth i.e (Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel). Bible said, Cain killed Abel n was cursed by God, leaving only 3 people on earth i.e (Adam, Eve, Cain). But according to the Bible, Cain traveled to a town called Nod and married and gave birth to children with her. My question is, *which other human did Cain marry?*_
*BIC ABEIKU OKAI ANSWER:*
First of all it must be noted that the Book of Genesis is a narrative. The writer, Moses, is narrating the story of human life in relation to God, creation, Satan, sin, death, and eventually the divine plan for man's redemption and restoration of the earth. In view of this you will notice that Genesis is written in a pattern that follows a particular line and focus. Any other person or event that may not be relevant to that narrative line of flow is overlooked. For example, God created many animals but only the serpent is mentioned specifically in the beginning. This is because the serpent played a very vital role in the narrative. Again, Cain was a farmer and Abel was a keeper of sheep. What about Adam? Was he a farmer or keeper of sheep? Who took after him? We don't know because it isn't necessary to the narrator or it is implicit in the story because he could obviously be both.
Now, let's dive. The Bible says:
_Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. *AND IN THE PROCESS OF TIME it came to pass* that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD._ (Gen. 4:1-3)
It is important to note that after giving birth to Cain and his brother Abel, the Bible describes the trades of these two young men. This means that after their birth the next we hear of them is their maturity and trade. Thus just after mentioning their birth the Bible leaves a huge time gap and jumps to talk about their engagement as young men. We see the same in the New Testament where Jesus birth is mentioned and then we hear of him only at age 12. After age twelve we never heard of Him again until age 29. We don't also know when and how Mary gave birth to Jesus brothers and sisters.
It is therefore probable that before Cain and Abel became mature to farm and tend sheep their parents might have given birth to sons and daughters. But since the narrator was only focused on the two of them he left the others unmentioned. Note also that Bible doesn't focus on women so much in terms of inheritance and descendants. So Adam may have had daughters after (or between) Cain and Abel but they were not mentioned.
Again, we see this phrase in verse 3: "AND IN THE PROCESS OF TIME". The word "And" is a conjunction. A conjunction does not only link two words but can also link periods and events which may stand apart. So between when they grew and became farmer and shepherd a long period of time passed before they went to carry out this particular sacrifice. They obviously had been sacrificing but this particular one was of great importance so it was mentioned. That makes reason for the Bible to say, "IN PROCESS OF TIME". Whatever happened in process of time is unknown. More children would have still been born in that time.
After Cain killed Abel, Adam and Eve gave birth to Seth. Seth is mentioned because Seth is the one through whom the seed of the woman would come to fulfil prophesy and redeem man from Satan and sin (Gen. 3:15). It is interesting to note that Seth was not their last born. Bible says,
_After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; *AND HE HAD SONS AND DAUGHTERS*._ (Genesis 1:4)
As long as Adam and Eve were concerned giving birth to numerous children was a command that was very relevant and extremely necessary at the time than any other time in human history. They had to fill the earth and they had all the capacity needed to do that without any restrain. And as they gave birth to sons and daughters the human race was spreading quick because they were all out of the Garden and their children were also populating the earth. They were never created to forever live in the Garden but to spread upon the earth. That is why Bible says,
_Then 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._ (Gen. 4:16-17)
Note that *THE BIBLE DOESN'T SAY CAIN FOUND HIS WIFE IN THE LAND OF NOD.* It only says Cain left the presence of the Lord and went to stay in Nod. And then it says Cain knew wife. So the Bible doesn't mention when and where Cain married his wife. It only says Cain had sex with her and that resulted in pregnancy. It is also probable that Cain may have already been married to one of his sisters before Abel died. And then left with her after the incidence. He may have also married her in Nod but as I have already established Adam and Even had more sons and daughters, not only Cain, Abel and Seth.
And the reason Adam's sons and daughters are mentioned in Genesis 5 instead of Genesis 4 is that while Genesis chapter 4 focuses on Cain, Genesis 5 focuses on how Adam and his descendants began to experience death. So the whole issue on not being clear about Cain's wife is just a matter of narrative perspective with respect to persons and events being relevant to the history and future redemption of man. Cain of course married his own sister and it was very legal at the time.
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Abeiku Okai - 0249287855
www.facebook.com/abeiku.bic
Reverend Abeiku Okai (B.I.C.) of Anathallo Chapel International answers:
*The Question:*
_When Adam and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, as at that time there were only four (4) people on earth i.e (Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel). Bible said, Cain killed Abel n was cursed by God, leaving only 3 people on earth i.e (Adam, Eve, Cain). But according to the Bible, Cain traveled to a town called Nod and married and gave birth to children with her. My question is, *which other human did Cain marry?*_
*BIC ABEIKU OKAI ANSWER:*
First of all it must be noted that the Book of Genesis is a narrative. The writer, Moses, is narrating the story of human life in relation to God, creation, Satan, sin, death, and eventually the divine plan for man's redemption and restoration of the earth. In view of this you will notice that Genesis is written in a pattern that follows a particular line and focus. Any other person or event that may not be relevant to that narrative line of flow is overlooked. For example, God created many animals but only the serpent is mentioned specifically in the beginning. This is because the serpent played a very vital role in the narrative. Again, Cain was a farmer and Abel was a keeper of sheep. What about Adam? Was he a farmer or keeper of sheep? Who took after him? We don't know because it isn't necessary to the narrator or it is implicit in the story because he could obviously be both.
Now, let's dive. The Bible says:
_Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. *AND IN THE PROCESS OF TIME it came to pass* that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD._ (Gen. 4:1-3)
It is important to note that after giving birth to Cain and his brother Abel, the Bible describes the trades of these two young men. This means that after their birth the next we hear of them is their maturity and trade. Thus just after mentioning their birth the Bible leaves a huge time gap and jumps to talk about their engagement as young men. We see the same in the New Testament where Jesus birth is mentioned and then we hear of him only at age 12. After age twelve we never heard of Him again until age 29. We don't also know when and how Mary gave birth to Jesus brothers and sisters.
It is therefore probable that before Cain and Abel became mature to farm and tend sheep their parents might have given birth to sons and daughters. But since the narrator was only focused on the two of them he left the others unmentioned. Note also that Bible doesn't focus on women so much in terms of inheritance and descendants. So Adam may have had daughters after (or between) Cain and Abel but they were not mentioned.
Again, we see this phrase in verse 3: "AND IN THE PROCESS OF TIME". The word "And" is a conjunction. A conjunction does not only link two words but can also link periods and events which may stand apart. So between when they grew and became farmer and shepherd a long period of time passed before they went to carry out this particular sacrifice. They obviously had been sacrificing but this particular one was of great importance so it was mentioned. That makes reason for the Bible to say, "IN PROCESS OF TIME". Whatever happened in process of time is unknown. More children would have still been born in that time.
After Cain killed Abel, Adam and Eve gave birth to Seth. Seth is mentioned because Seth is the one through whom the seed of the woman would come to fulfil prophesy and redeem man from Satan and sin (Gen. 3:15). It is interesting to note that Seth was not their last born. Bible says,
_After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; *AND HE HAD SONS AND DAUGHTERS*._ (Genesis 1:4)
As long as Adam and Eve were concerned giving birth to numerous children was a command that was very relevant and extremely necessary at the time than any other time in human history. They had to fill the earth and they had all the capacity needed to do that without any restrain. And as they gave birth to sons and daughters the human race was spreading quick because they were all out of the Garden and their children were also populating the earth. They were never created to forever live in the Garden but to spread upon the earth. That is why Bible says,
_Then 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._ (Gen. 4:16-17)
Note that *THE BIBLE DOESN'T SAY CAIN FOUND HIS WIFE IN THE LAND OF NOD.* It only says Cain left the presence of the Lord and went to stay in Nod. And then it says Cain knew wife. So the Bible doesn't mention when and where Cain married his wife. It only says Cain had sex with her and that resulted in pregnancy. It is also probable that Cain may have already been married to one of his sisters before Abel died. And then left with her after the incidence. He may have also married her in Nod but as I have already established Adam and Even had more sons and daughters, not only Cain, Abel and Seth.
And the reason Adam's sons and daughters are mentioned in Genesis 5 instead of Genesis 4 is that while Genesis chapter 4 focuses on Cain, Genesis 5 focuses on how Adam and his descendants began to experience death. So the whole issue on not being clear about Cain's wife is just a matter of narrative perspective with respect to persons and events being relevant to the history and future redemption of man. Cain of course married his own sister and it was very legal at the time.
Abeiku Okai - 0249287855
www.facebook.com/abeiku.bic
Nice write up
ReplyDeleteSimple and straightforward. All doubts cleared.
ReplyDeleteWe must understand that the Bible was not written in Chronological Order where things were captured according to the dates they happened.