Question:
Where did Cain get his wife?
Answer:
Genesis 4:16,17 says, “And 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 bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.” Cain obviously married one of his sisters, of whom none were named that Adam and Eve had.
It is common in the Old Testament to not know the names of many women. Many very well known men in the Bible have “nameless wives,” in that their names were never recorded for us.
What was Noah’s wife’s name? Genesis 6:9-10 says, “These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” It talks about Noah having children, but it never mentions his wife’s name. Then it was time to get on the ark. Genesis 7:6,7 says, “And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and HIS WIFE, and HIS SON’S WIVES with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.” The Bible does not give Noah’s wife’s name there, or the names of the wives of his three sons. Every person since the flood is related to Noah’s wife, and has come through the line of one of the wives of Noah’s sons, but no one knows their names.
What was Lot’s wife’s name? Genesis 19:23-26 says, “The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But HIS WIFE looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” No name is given, just “his wife.” Even in the New Testament a comment is made about her, but her name is still not given. Luke 17:32 says, “Remember Lot’s wife.”
What was Jesus’ sister’s names? Matthew 13:53-56 says, “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these parables, he departed thence. And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And HIS SISTERS, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?” Notice how it gives the names of His brothers, “James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas,” but when it comes to the sisters, it does not. You will have to ask God some day why some names are listed in the Bible, and others are not.
As to the matter of marrying one’s sister, that was the only choice there was, at first. There was only Adam and Eve, and their children had to intermarry, or the human race would have died out right there with the first family. Genesis 4:1,2 says, “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare CAIN, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother ABEL. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.” Then, later, Genesis 4:25 says, “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name SETH: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.” Obviously, Adam and Eve had to have some daughters, but we are not told how many, or their names.
Think of the situation after the flood, too. They all had to marry their sisters or first cousins, until the earth became more populated. Even Abraham had married his half-sister, and it was not held against him, even at that time. Genesis 20:11,12 says, “And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife’s sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.”
It was not until the Lord gave Moses the Law, that the Lord then forbid such marriages. Leviticus 20:17 says, “And if a man shall take his SISTER, his FATHER’S DAUGHTER, or his MOTHER’S DAUGHTER, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.” At that time, there were enough people upon the earth to choose from where it was not necessary to intermarry in the same family, and so God forbid such marriages.
Today, we are told that there can be physical defects in the children, if two people that are related closely have children. If in such close marriages the defective genes or traits of people can be multiplied in the children born to them, then we can understand why God forbid the practice when He did. The reason for “defective parts” in our bodies is obviously the result of sin entering into the world, and our inability to partake of the Tree of Life. Romans 8:21-23 says, “Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from THE BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that THE WHOLE CREATION GROANETH AND TRAVAILETH IN PAIN together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
It is evident from the Bible, that if man could have continued eating from the Tree of Life, then his physical body would not have aged, but would have lived for ever. Genesis 3:22-24 says, “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and NOW, LEST HE PUT FORTH HIS HAND, AND TAKE ALSO OF THE TREE OF LIFE, AND EAT, AND LIVE FOR EVER: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and A FLAMING SWORD WHICH TURNED EVERY WAY, TO KEEP THE WAY OF THE TREE OF LIFE.” A tree from which man could freely eat, now becomes a barred tree to him. God guarded it with a flaming sword which turned every way. None would be so foolish to try and take fruit off of the tree, or he would be slain. Adam and Eve had already died spiritually when they partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, now, they would begin to die physically.
It is evident that evolution is NOT true — things are not tending toward a higher order, but are going downward to more disorder. Take eyesight, for example. Just consider how many people there are that have to wear glasses or contacts. More and more people cannot see clearly without the aid of glasses. It seems to be people’s defects that multiply more and more. You can quickly see why Romans 8 says that we yearn for the redemption of these sin-cursed bodies, and long for our new, glorified ones.