by Cowboy Bob Sorensen
One of the most common questions in biblical creation science apologetics is, "Where did Cain get his wife?" I'll allow that it's a fair question, especially to people who are unfamiliar with having this kind of material presented in more than a cursory manner. On the other hand, we get folks visiting The Question Evolution Project that want to ridicule us and waste our time with insincere questions that they could easily look up themselves on biblical creationary sites. Those people inspired this graphic, and now I have an excuse to show it off:
However, I do not believe that the question that I awakened to this morning was intended to mock or waste time. But if so, it was interesting and I hope my answer will be useful to the enquirer and other readers.
Corey asked,
There are many articles related to the question, "Where did Cain get his wife?", but unfortunately, I could not find any that specifically addressed your concern. Many links would give you bits and pieces, but that's tedious. (I thought I could easily find a link for you, then I realized that I had heard it the subject in a sermon/podcast by someone somewhere maybe in the last month. Not helpful.)
Remember that Cain was a liar and a murderer (Gen. 4:8-9), had been confronted, and punishment was pronounced (Gen. 4:10-12). Scripture does not tell us if he was trying to get sympathy out of God or trying to be manipulative in his complaint (Gen. 4:13-14). Even so, God marked him so that he would not be killed by someone else (Gen. 4:15). I should add that we have no idea about the "mark of Cain", but it was specifically for the man himself and not his descendants (who were probably wiped out in the Genesis Flood). Yes, some sidewinders take that verse out of context to justify white supremacy.
I think the central question, related to the one about where Cain got his wife, is the origin of these other people. Cain took his wife and newborn son, and built a city (Gen. 4:17). It's reasonable to think that there must have been people around to put it to good use. When Cain said, "Whoever sees me..." would have contained a grain of truth. The Bible is not as linear in its narratives as our modern sensibilities may prefer; only four people were named at this point, and we don't learn about others until after Cain lit a shuck out of there.
When we read "the begats", we may tend to neglect certain aspects. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters —
"Wait, Cowboy Bob. You're telling us that Cain married his sister?!? I admit my sis is kind of cute, but I ain't touching her!"
Yes, I'm saying Cain married his sister, or another close relative. God told Adam and Eve, and therefore mankind, to "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28). They were genetically perfect. (Just between us, the perfect people produced the woman that Cain would marry, and since they were perfect, whatcha wanna bet that she was a "hot babe", especially after Adam's apparently joyous outburst at their first meeting in Gen. 1:22-23?) God said, "...for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). Some owlhoots say that the Bible is not true or that God was lying, because when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they did not drop dead on the spot. Sin entered the world through Adam, and death through sin (Rom. 5:12-14); the more precise translation of God's words is, "Dying you shall die". The death process began, and people did eventually die — as we well know.
So, there were people, and they had long life spans. Lots of people appeared from the first couple and their offspring as time went on. They married close relatives until God said, "All right, cut it out" much later, in Exodus (correction, Leviticus 18:6-18 and other verses). In addition to variations in people, genetic degradation was more pronounced, and genetic entropy was increasing.
Ever notice that people complain about close relatives getting hitched up and making babies in early chapters of the Bible, but don't bat an eye when Darwin, Einstein, and others in more recent (and far more degraded times) married close relatives? Just a thought.
So, we don't really know certain things related to Corey's question. Cain may have been using hyperbole in his complaints to God, or his concerns about retribution may have had some merit. The children of the first parents would have, by necessity, married close relatives. Genetic degradation was beginning and increasing, and God put a stop to marrying close relatives later.
For additional reading, and I encourage people who want to know more to search the sites recommended below:
I hope and pray that the materials are helpful to all y'all.
One of the most common questions in biblical creation science apologetics is, "Where did Cain get his wife?" I'll allow that it's a fair question, especially to people who are unfamiliar with having this kind of material presented in more than a cursory manner. On the other hand, we get folks visiting The Question Evolution Project that want to ridicule us and waste our time with insincere questions that they could easily look up themselves on biblical creationary sites. Those people inspired this graphic, and now I have an excuse to show it off:
However, I do not believe that the question that I awakened to this morning was intended to mock or waste time. But if so, it was interesting and I hope my answer will be useful to the enquirer and other readers.
Corey asked,
I'm sure most of us will agree that a 4.5 billion year old Earth or a 70 million year old Tyrannosaurus Rex is such a shot in the dark based on assumptions that you may as well say any figure and believe it. My interest is to ask what people think about this: Cain said, 'I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.' So who were these people that could find him that didn't know who he was?His question was more in depth than the one about Cain's wife, noting that there were other people on Earth as well, and they might be on the prod about Cain slaying Abel. What follows is an expanded version of the reply I gave him.
There are many articles related to the question, "Where did Cain get his wife?", but unfortunately, I could not find any that specifically addressed your concern. Many links would give you bits and pieces, but that's tedious. (I thought I could easily find a link for you, then I realized that I had heard it the subject in a sermon/podcast by someone somewhere maybe in the last month. Not helpful.)
Remember that Cain was a liar and a murderer (Gen. 4:8-9), had been confronted, and punishment was pronounced (Gen. 4:10-12). Scripture does not tell us if he was trying to get sympathy out of God or trying to be manipulative in his complaint (Gen. 4:13-14). Even so, God marked him so that he would not be killed by someone else (Gen. 4:15). I should add that we have no idea about the "mark of Cain", but it was specifically for the man himself and not his descendants (who were probably wiped out in the Genesis Flood). Yes, some sidewinders take that verse out of context to justify white supremacy.
I think the central question, related to the one about where Cain got his wife, is the origin of these other people. Cain took his wife and newborn son, and built a city (Gen. 4:17). It's reasonable to think that there must have been people around to put it to good use. When Cain said, "Whoever sees me..." would have contained a grain of truth. The Bible is not as linear in its narratives as our modern sensibilities may prefer; only four people were named at this point, and we don't learn about others until after Cain lit a shuck out of there.
When we read "the begats", we may tend to neglect certain aspects. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters —
"Wait, Cowboy Bob. You're telling us that Cain married his sister?!? I admit my sis is kind of cute, but I ain't touching her!"
Yes, I'm saying Cain married his sister, or another close relative. God told Adam and Eve, and therefore mankind, to "be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:28). They were genetically perfect. (Just between us, the perfect people produced the woman that Cain would marry, and since they were perfect, whatcha wanna bet that she was a "hot babe", especially after Adam's apparently joyous outburst at their first meeting in Gen. 1:22-23?) God said, "...for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" (Gen. 2:17). Some owlhoots say that the Bible is not true or that God was lying, because when Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they did not drop dead on the spot. Sin entered the world through Adam, and death through sin (Rom. 5:12-14); the more precise translation of God's words is, "Dying you shall die". The death process began, and people did eventually die — as we well know.
So, there were people, and they had long life spans. Lots of people appeared from the first couple and their offspring as time went on. They married close relatives until God said, "All right, cut it out" much later, in Exodus (correction, Leviticus 18:6-18 and other verses). In addition to variations in people, genetic degradation was more pronounced, and genetic entropy was increasing.
Ever notice that people complain about close relatives getting hitched up and making babies in early chapters of the Bible, but don't bat an eye when Darwin, Einstein, and others in more recent (and far more degraded times) married close relatives? Just a thought.
So, we don't really know certain things related to Corey's question. Cain may have been using hyperbole in his complaints to God, or his concerns about retribution may have had some merit. The children of the first parents would have, by necessity, married close relatives. Genetic degradation was beginning and increasing, and God put a stop to marrying close relatives later.
For additional reading, and I encourage people who want to know more to search the sites recommended below:
- What was the mark that God put on Cain (Genesis 4:15)?
- Why did God allow incest in the Bible?
- Genetic Entropy Points to a Young Creation
- List of articles about Cain from Answers in Genesis
- How old was Cain when he killed Abel? (see the related articles listed at the end, also)
- EDIT: A few hours after I wrote and published this article, I found out that CMI had published something that is relevant to the subject earlier the same day: Mutations, and why you shouldn’t marry your cousin
I hope and pray that the materials are helpful to all y'all.