“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 . . .” (Gen 4:16-17).

Without a doubt the most talked about wife in history is the wife of Cain. Her name is not even mentioned in the bible yet she has been discussed for centuries. She even became the focus of attention at the “Scopes Trial” in 1925 Tennessee.

In trying to discredit the Bible the ACLU lawyer Clarence Darrow asked William Jennings Bryan “Did you ever discover where Cain got his wife?”

The reason there is so much interest in her is because of the efforts of skeptics, agnostics, and atheists to discredit the Bible. They claim that for Cain to find a wife there must have been other people on earth who were not descendants of Adam and Eve. Often believers are hard-pressed to give an answer to the question “where did Cain get his wife?”

Did Cain, after he killed his brother Abel go into the land of Nod and find a woman to marry? If he did where did these “Noddians” come from? Where they another race of people with no genetic ties to Adam and Eve? If so, then is the Bible mistaken about its account of creation?

Let us cover some basics; Adam is identified as the “first man” (1 Cor 15:45) and Eve is called “the mother of all living” (Gen 3:20). This eliminates any other race of humans living on the earth. Adam and Eve are the first couple. He is the first man and she is the first woman. Thus all living human beings descended from Adam and Eve.

Before Eve was made from Adam’s rib; God paraded all the animals before Adam. “So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found  a helper  comparable to him,”  (Gen 2:20).  When Adam looked upon the animals he could not find one of his kind – a mate, so God made Eve.

Cain was the first child born to Adam and Eve (Gen 4:1). He and his brothers Abel (Gen 4:2) and Seth (Gen 4:25) were part of the first generation of children born upon the earth.

Even though these are the only three names mentioned as being children of Adam and Eve, these are not the only children they had. “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters,” (Gen 5:4). Adam and his wife Eve had a number of children, male and female. The Bible doesn’t tell us how many but considering their long lifespan (Adam lived 930 years, Gen 5:5), it is logical to conclude they had many. Remember they were told to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth . . .” (Gen 1:28).

The Bible does not say that Cain met his wife in Nod, it said he knew (had relations with) her there (Gen 4:17). We are not told when he married or the details of his marriage. It seems reasonable to conclude that he was already married when he reached the land of Nod. What we can say without fear of contradiction is that Cain’s wife was either his sister or his niece. She was a descendant of Adam and Eve.

It was not until much later that God imposed restrictions upon such marriages (Lev 18-20). It must be remembered that Abraham married his half-sister (Gen 20:12). This thought might tend to repulse modern consciences, but this happened with frequency until God began to forbid it.

Also this becomes even more apparent when we consider the land of Nod. The word Nod is an interesting word. The meaning of Nod is “wandering” or “vagrancy.” It is the same word translated “Vagabond” in Gen 4:12. After murdering his brother Abel, Cain was condemned to be “a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth” (Gen. 4:14). Simply put, Nod is located “out from the presence of the Lord” and “east of Eden” (Gen. 4:16). This word does not discuss a fixed location so much as emphasizing the wandering of Cain.

Cain’s wife was probably a sister or possibly a niece. He did not meet her in some distant city called Nod. Instead after he became a vagabond (Nod) he knew her (had relations with her) and from that intimacy they had a son, Enoch.

Do not let the unbeliever cause you to be unsure. Furthermore, do not let them shame or embarrass you when discussing Cain’s wife. This is because those who focus on her are not often seeking to know truth. Instead they seem only to be interested in attempting to make fun of the Scriptures.

-- jrb

 

Don't Blame Me, It's Not My Fault!

After rebelling against God (and getting caught) Adam and Eve were confronted. When asked about this Adam said, in essence, it’s not my fault, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And, like her husband, Eve suggested her sin wasn’t her fault at all. She said, “The serpent deceived me,