When Adam and Eve had their sons, Cain and Abel, there were only four people on Earth: Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel. According to the Bible, Cain killed Abel and was subsequently cursed by God, leaving only three people: Adam, Eve, and Cain. However, the Bible also states that Cain travelled to a place called Nod, where he got married and had children. My question is, whom did Cain marry, considering that Adam and Eve were the only people created by God? Was there perhaps another creation that was not mentioned?
Response
While it is true that Adam and Eve were the first creations of God and that all of humankind descended from them, this perspective is not entirely accurate. According to the scriptures, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. However, the book of Genesis does not provide evidence to suggest that only four human beings existed on Earth when Cain killed Abel. Therefore, we cannot definitively conclude that there were only four humans present and that, after Cain killed Abel, only three remained.
Why do I say that Cain and Abel were not just four human beings when Cain killed Abel?
First of all, Abel was not the second child but rather the second son. The phrase “Later she gave birth to a second son and named him Abel” (Genesis 4:2, NLT) suggests that there were other children, possibly including daughters.
Genesis 4:16–17 states that Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore a son. It is important to recognize that human beings marry other human beings. Therefore, at the time Cain killed Abel, there were more than just four humans on Earth. The Bible says, “Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. He built a city and named it after his son — Enoch” (Genesis 4:17).
At that time, Adam and Eve were the only human beings on Earth created by God. Consequently, all other human beings that existed were their descendants. Regardless of gender, they were the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve.
My question is, whom did Cain marry since Adam and Eve were the only humans created by God?
So Cain married his sister. This is because females were not recognized in the Bible as men, and there is no documentation of Adam’s daughters by name in the Bible. This omission does not imply that Adam had no daughters, as Genesis 5:4 indicates that he did.
Was there another creation that we were not informed about?
Now, let’s assume Cain was the firstborn, born in the first or tenth year of Adam. This is plausible because Adam and Eve were created as fully grown human beings.
Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the LORD.” Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel…(Genesis 4:1–2).
After Cain killed Abel, Adam fathered another son named Seth.
How old was Adam when Seth was born? At that time, Adam was 130 years old.
The Bible states, “And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth” (Genesis 5:3).
Between the first and tenth year of Adam’s life and his age of 130, he had not only two children. He had two sons that we know of because they are mentioned in the Bible: Cain and Abel. Adam also had a number of daughters, though their names and numbers are not indicated in the Bible.
For Genesis 5:4 says, “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters”.
So Cain married his sister, though the Bible does not provide her name or elaborate on this.
Deuteronomy 29:29 clarifies this for us. The Bible states, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
Thus, for the Bible to remain the Bible, it encompasses two kinds of things. First, the hidden things belong to God. No matter how hard you try to solve, uncover, or understand them, you cannot, because they are concealed and do not belong to you but to God. The second category is the revealed. The revealed belongs to you and your children so that you may be doers of the word.
In short, there is no other creation that we were not told about. Cain married his sister, the daughter of his father Adam and mother Eve.
Contributor: Pastor Gilbert Magomere Ayieko
