Where Did Cain Get His Wife?

The first eleven chapters of Genesis comprise what is perhaps the most contested passage in ancient literature. These chapters provide an overview of the earliest history of planet Earth, according to traditional, evangelical Christianity.

Traditional, evangelical Christianity of course has held the Bible to be divinely inspired and authoritative. And, according to the Bible, the first family of the human race was created directly by God - Adam, the man, from the "dust of the ground" and Eve, the woman, from her husband.

Adam and Eve are declared married by God and become "one flesh." They are told to "be fruitful and multiply." They sin and are driven from the idyllic Garden of Eden. In Genesis 4, Adam and Eve have sexual relations - and along comes Cain. Shortly thereafter, Abel.

The fourth chapter of Genesis then proceeds to tell the story of Cain's jealousy of Abel and his crime of passion - the murder of his brother. God pronounces judgment on Cain, and the story takes an interesting turn.

First, Cain pleads for mercy, saying that his penalty makes him a "fugitive and vagabond," vulnerable to others who may wish to kill him. God brands Cain as a means of protection.

Then, in verse 16 of the fourth chapter, the author of Genesis (likely Moses) tell us that "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." (Genesis 4:16-17, NKJV)

So.....who does Cain marry?

This is all very puzzling, since (if one holds Genesis to be perfectly chronological and complete) there would be no human beings on the face of the earth at this point, except for Adam, Eve, Cain, and very shortly, Seth. Who could possibly harm Cain? And, what's more, what woman could Cain possibly marry?

Critics of the Bible have asked this question for centuries, believing that it alone should be enough to decimate any allegiance to a literal interpretation of Genesis. It goes without saying, of course, that if Cain's mystery wife undermines Genesis, it then is easy to consider the entire book (or at least the particularly controversial Genesis 1-11) as allegorical or fictional.

There are really only a couple possibilities here to satisfy this mystery:

Explanation #1: The Bible is allegorical or fictional

The first is the answer provided by the critics of Christianity and the Bible, namely that Genesis is indeed allegorical. According to these skeptics and critics, the Bible should not be taken literally, and the literary clumsiness of this early history only proves the Genesis story to be a myth.

Related to the view is that, which states that the Creation account in Genesis was an ancient attempt to put in words the very mysterious and extraordinary evolution of the universe and the origins of humanity.

Explanation #2: Cain married a sister

The second answer, and the one favored by evangelical Christians, is that Cain married one of his sisters (or possibly, though not as likely, a niece). The backing for this theory is found in Genesis 5, which tell us that Adam lived for approximately 930 years and fathered "sons and daughters."

Assuming these incredibly long life spans are true (life spans that fade away in the biblical record in the years following the Great Flood), then Adam and Eve could have had a tremendous number of children, grandchildren, great-grand children, and so on. In fact, Seth was born when Adam was 130. Even though the Bible only mentions Abel, Cain, and Seth during Adam's first 130 years, it does not say emphatically that these were his only children. It's very possible that Adam and Eve conceived other children as well during the first 130 years. And, keep in mind, that the Bible strongly indicates that Adam and Eve were created as adults, fully capable of sexual relations and reproduction from Day One.

The bottom line is that there could have been quite a few people alive at the time of Cain's murder of Abel. This question about Cain's wife in no way ruins the credibility of Genesis or undermines the Bible.

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