John Henry

Some time ago a person asked me this question: "Where did Cain get his wife or whose daughter did, he marry?" I will do my best to answer this question according to the Scriptures. God tells us that "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7), and that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17).  Herein lies one of man's greatest difficulties, assuming they know the answer, when they should be putting their faith in God! If one trusts in God completely and wholeheartedly, then I believe we will arrive at a correct conclusion, if God wants us to know. If God does not want us to know, then we still must trust in Him (Deut. 29:29) and hope that He will reveal the answer to us in eternity.

In the book of Genesis 4:16-17 we find, "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, and she conceived and bore Enoch, and he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son - Enoch."  This scene occurs right after Cain had murdered his brother Abel and God places a judgment upon him. Anyway, we are enlightened to the fact that Cain had a wife. So, just where did he get his wife?  Let us consider some scriptural facts and let them speak for themselves:

Fact 1

Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born (Gen. 5:3-5) and lived 800 years after that having sons and daughters. Adam lived to be 930 years old when he died. When God placed the first pair here on earth, He COMMANDED them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28). This is where our faith must begin. God told Adam and Eve to multiply and fill the earth. Now, If God would have wanted the earth filled any other way He could have done so. But my point is, He chose not to. Paul declared to the faithless Athenians, "And He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings" (Ac. 17:26). In other words, everyone on the face of this earth is a descendant of Adam and Eve.

Fact 2

There is really no evidence that Cain was the firstborn. He may or may not have been. We really don't know. But we do know that the examples God gives in the Sacred Text are to instruct, teach, encourage and warn us. There may have been several daughters born to Adam and Eve before Cain was born. Remember God made the first pair Adults, full grown, and capable immediately to have offspring. Also, at this time, man was living to be close to one-thousand years old before he died physically. Think of the number of children that Adam and Eve were blessed with in that time frame.

Fact 3

In Genesis 4:3, we find the phrase, "And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering...to the LORD".  "In process of time" means after a certain period of time has passed by. In other words, enough time had passed to where they knew God and what he expected of them. This wasn't the first time they offered a sacrifice. They may have been Adam's sons, but they were grown men at this time. Hence, "Cain knew his wife!" (Gen. 4:17).

Another thing to consider; no death had ever occurred, as far as the record shows, except that of Abel. So, there may have been thousands of Adams off-spring living at the time Cain murdered Abel.

Fact 4

Let us be reminded of the meaning of Eve's name: "Mother of ALL LIVING!" (Gen. 3:20). Adam gave her this name because she was the mother of the entire human race.  Therefore, marriage of brothers and sisters was necessary and unavoidable, if the human race was to descend from a single pair. The sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, in the very beginning, represented more than just one family, they represented the entire human species. This seems to have always been God's plan from the beginning (Ac. 17:26; Matt. 19:4-6).

Conclusion

Moses wrote the book of Genesis some three-thousand years after Adam and Eve. Therefore, God gave Moses the creation account to write down, so that all generations might have it and understand their beginning.  One reason for this was the life expectancy cut from 900 plus years to 70 plus years. When man lived 900 years upon the earth he could give the creation account to many generations. Think of all the Generations that Adam talked with about the beginning of man in the garden of Eden, man's fall, and God's promise to reconcile man.

To me, there is no doubt that the wife of Cain was either his sister or niece!  So, for about three-thousand years, God allowed the intermarrying of brother and sister and other family members. But in the times of Moses, He put a stop to it (see Lev. 18).