Genesis 4:17

Where did Cain get his wife?

PROBLEM: There were no women for Cain to marry. There was only Adam, Eve (Genesis 4:1), and his dead brother Abel (Genesis 4:8). Yet the Bible says Cain married and had children.

SOLUTION: Cain married his sister (or possibly a niece). The Bible says Adam “begot sons and daughters’ ’ (Genesis 5:4). In fact, since Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5), he had plenty of time for plenty of children! Cain could have married one of his many sisters, or even a niece, if he married after his brothers or sisters had grown daughters. In that case, of course, one of his brothers would have married a sister.

Genesis 4:17 — How could Cain marry a relative without committing incest?

PROBLEM: If Cain married his sister, this is incest, which the Bible condemns (Leviticus 18:6). Furthermore, incestuous marriages often produce genetically defective children.

SOLUTION: First, there were no genetic imperfections at the beginning of the human race. God created a genetically perfect Adam (Genesis 1:27). Genetic defects resulted from the Fall and only occurred gradually over long periods of time. Further, there was no command in Cain’s day not to marry a close relative. This command (Leviticus 18) came thousands of years later in Moses’ day (c. 1500 B.C.). Finally, since the human race began with a single pair (Adam and Eve), Cain had no one else to marry except a close female relative (sister or niece).