This is a fantastic question, mainly from a skeptic. Where did Cain get his wife from?
For those of you who do not know the story of Cain and Abel, both were the first children of Adam and Eve. Their life is narrated in Genesis 4 of the Bible. Abel’s sacrificed the firstlings of his flock to God, for he kept the sheep, being a shepherd and Cain offered the fruits from the ground he tilled. Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God, but not that of Cain, because Cain did not do it well, with a clean heart. Nevertheless Cain got angry and jealous of his younger brother Abel, rose against him and killed him off, when no one was around. When God asked him where his brother was, Cain famously answered “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Well, God had to punish the crime of Cain, the very first murder among human beings, and He pronounced Cain to be cursed from the earth, to be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. When Cain cried out that his punishment was severe, saying that anyone who finds him could kill him off, God set a mark on Cain as a sign that no one should kill him. Cain went to stay in a the land of Nod, he got married, had his first son and built a city and called it after his son, Enoch. Thereafter Cain’s genealogy is given.
A few questions arise from this narrative. If Cain was the eldest son of Adam and Eve, whom did he marry? There must have been other people. If Cain was afraid that any one who finds him may kill him off, were there other people other than the descendants of Adam and Eve present in the world? How did such people come about? Did God create those other people on earth? Were they a separate race from Adam and Eve and their children? Cain was said to have built a city, then were there other people in that city, for a city means it must have had a bigger population?
The main question of the doubters seem to be, were there other people on earth besides that of Adam and his descendants at the time of the narrative? If that was not so, how did Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, find his wife? If there were others, how did they come about?
First and foremost question is where there other people on earth other than Adam and Eve? Did God create other people also in general, and create Adam and Eve as His own select people? The proposition here is that there were other people on earth, who were created by God along with all the other animals and birds and that Adam and Eve were created as His special creations, His children. That is why Cain was able to find a wife, from among the other race of human beings.
Let us examine the proposition that there were other people, another race of human beings on earth apart from Adam and Eve and their descendants. If that were to be true, were are they now? If God created Adam and Eve specially for Himself as His special children, that would mean that He would have sent Jesus Christ only to save Adam’s descendants and not others. But Bible teaches that First Adam sinned leading to the Fall and the Last Adam, Christ came to save him (the First Adam) from his sin and get him reconciled to God, so that he can inherit eternal life. If only Adam’s race sinned and had the Fall, then the other race which did not commit the sin of disobedience did not experience the Fall, and would have consisted of perfect men and women, not requiring the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Were on earth are such perfect human beings? Hitler wanted to produce such a race by his euthanasia programme, not only failed miserably in his attempt, but also created havoc among the very human beings he tried to perfect.
Jesus came to save the whole human race. God would not have shown partiality and sent his Son Jesus Christ to die only for Adam’s children and not the other race or races of human beings, if there was another race. Bible says God is not partial and He treats all human beings the same. Of course those who accept His Son, who died for them as their Savior, will become the children of God and not the others. That is the only distinction. Jesus Christ came to save all human beings and hence He would not differentiate between Adam’s children or any other race of human beings. Christ did not make such a differentiation, for all were sons and daughters of the first human pair, Adam and Eve, created by God. There was no other race of human beings.
Some time back the molecular biologists who studied the human genome concluded that the first human pair was from Africa and from there human beings spread all over the world. The simple and basic type of genome was found in Africa and variations were added later and it became more complex as they migrated and spread around the globe.
Secondly Cain, the first human child, as he grew up would have found his wife only from among his own sisters, daughters of Adam and Eve, for there were no others. The laws against incest or marriage between brothers and sisters was given by Moses to Israel, only around 1500 BC, after Israel were delivered from slavery in Egypt under the Pharaoh’s rule. In the beginning this was not a wrong thing to do. Patriarch Abraham was married to Sarah, who was his half-sister. Issac, son of Abraham, married Rebekah, the daughter of Nahor, brother of Abraham. Such marriage is not allowed in most parts of India, even today, as they are brothers and sisters (cousin brothers and sisters).
Marriage between close relatives, siblings of the same parents is prohibited mainly because the closeness of gene pool, there are chances of mistakes happening in the genetic pairing and abnormalities and deformations could occur, which is a scientifically proven fact. However Adam and Eve were the very first human pair and their gene pool was fresh and perfect and chances of mistakes or abnormalities surfacing was almost zero. Hence Cain would have married his sister only. It must have happened that way for quite some time.
Next, the skeptics can be say that Bible talks of only Cain and Adam and not about any other siblings, especially daughters. If everything that was happened since Adam and Eve married had to be recorded, then one Bible will not be enough to cover everything! It is written that Adam lived up to 930 years and that he begot sons and daughters. At the rate of one child per year, they could have easily produced in their life time around 800 to 900 children, both boys and girls! Well, if we presume that Cain married at the age of 100, even then there would have been daughters, who were around 80 to 90 years old, available to marry him. So no problems at all!
Again, it could be pointed out that Cain feared that anyone who found him could kill him off, and so sought the protection of God, which was offered to him in the form of a sign. The skeptics argue that there must have been other people of whom Cain was afraid. Well, Cain murdered his own brother, Abel, number two in the lineage, you think Abel’s other brothers would not have been angry with Cain and wanted to avenge the death of Abel? There would be younger brothers madly angry with Cain wanting to finish him off to avenge the blood of Abel. Cain would have been afraid of this, the revenge from his own younger brothers. There was no need for any other race to do this to him. His own flesh and blood would have done this to him.
It is written that Cain settled in the land of Nod and built himself a city. would there have been a city with only Cain and his wife and their first child? The skeptics say there would have been other people to call that place as a city. Not necessarily. One unit of family is enough to make a city and a dwelling and in due course his won family would abound and make it a growing city. This has happened many times over in the history of mankind. We cannot say that it did not happen in the case of Cain too.
Well, I think all the questions of the skeptics have been answered clearly and the skeptics have to come up with any other doubt they have or clarification they need on the subject! Welcome debate; it is nice to argue and counter argue, giving reasons, without getting at the throat of each other! Agree? Hope my non-Christian friends enjoyed the debate too.
