Where did Cain get his wife from?

Answer 1

Cain took one of his sisters to be his wife when God banished him from his homeland. I do not think Abel got married before Cain murdered him. This is pure speculation. It make infinitely more sense that Cain took a daughter of Able to wife. Able would have had to have had at least a few very active sons and a bunch of daughters to explain Cains fear of people every where he went. A man can walk a long way in a day, and be safe. There were a lot of people! Remember, Cain built a city and named it Enoch before Seth was born. Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born.

It was some one out side the garden which of course opens a whole new chapter doesnt it?

There are a few scenarios that have been discussed by many people: 1. Adam and Eve had other female children who intermarried. Although female children are not mentioned, this would not be uncommon for the culture of the time. Women did not figure prominently in Middle Eastern culture so their births would not necessarily have been documented. If we are to believe the biblical account that Adam and Eve are the predecessors of the entire human race, then it is the only logical conclusion. Intermarriage would not have carried the same stigma or genetic problems as we encounter today since sin had not yet had a chance to pervert the human body to the extent it has now. Furthermore, there are other biblical examples of related people either intermarrying or procreating which would lead to the assumption that it was more widely accepted at that time. 2. The wife of Cain was actually an angel. I'm not entirely sure where this idea comes from. Probably from people who are generally offended by the idea that Cain would marry his sister. But I don't know of any real scriptural support for that. 3. God provided a wife for Cain. Again, I'm not sure where this idea came from. However, it would not be a totally off the wall idea since God provided Adam with his wife. Later on in The Bible it does talk about how God is upset when men started choosing their own wives. So, it would not be a far stretch to think that up until that time, God provided the wives for the male offspring. There really is no way of knowing for sure. This is one of those issues that you have to say to yourself, "how important is it to my faith that I have a definitive answer on this". I believe it's not that important of a detail to spend a lot of time pondering. It has little impact on the overall believe system of a Christian.

Adam and Chava (Eve) had daughters as well as sons (Genesis ch.5). Cain had no choice but to marry his sister.

Answer 2

The Bible doesn't tell us, but it does say that Adam and Eve had daughters (Genesis ch.5), so we can assume that Cain married one of his sisters. He would have had to, since that's all there would have been at the time. The law of Moses later said not to marry siblings, but that law was given much later than the time of Cain.

Answer 3

The Bible tells us that God created man, Adam and then the woman, Eve. They sinned and were put out of the garden of Eden, then Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. They were not married when Cain killed Abel, so Abel had no wife. Cain after killing Abel moved to the land of Nod. Adam and Even had more children. The only logical answer is that because Adam and Eve and their children lived so long that Cain married one of his sisters, who of coarse would have been much younger than himself. We see frequently in the Bible of people marrying kin, which seemed ok at that time. Abraham married his half sister, Sarah (Genesis 20:11-13).

Answer 4

According to tradition, Abel (Hevel) never married. He was murdered at too young an age. Cain (Qayin) married one of his sisters, a daughter (Genesis ch.5) of Adam and Eve (Chava) (Rashi commentary, Leviticus 20:17).

Answer 5

Many scholars believe that the story of Cain and Abel is a myth. S. H. Hooke (Middle Eastern Mythology) shows a clear parallel between the biblical account and an older Middle Eastern myth in which Tammuz had to choose between the shepherd-god (whom we could liken to Abel) and the farmer-god (whom we could liken to Cain). The stories of Cain and Abel are simply myths that are not meant to be understood literally or rationally, so one should not look for a rational explanation for their wives.

Answer 6

According to the Bible, Cain's wife was not explicitly mentioned by name, but it is assumed that she was one of his sisters. At that time, due to the limited number of people on Earth, it was common for close relatives to intermarry.