Who Did Cain Marry?

An individual once asked, “The Bible talks about Cain getting married. My question is, who did he marry? If Adam and Eve where the only people in the beginning, where did Cain’s mate come from?”

In Genesis 4:17 NASB, the text reads:

“Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.“

Cain could have married no other than his sister (cf. Genesis 1:28; Genesis 5:4).

What the Scriptures clearly teach is that all human beings are descendants of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:20), therefore there had to be inter-marriage between brothers and sisters in the beginning (cf. Genesis 20:11-12). God did not prohibit such marriages until the time of Moses (cf. Leviticus 18:9).

This really presents no problems genetically, because the first few generations would have inherited perfect or near-perfect genes. It takes time for mutations to occur and accumulate in the human population. Today, we have approximately 1,500 genetic defects in our gene pool.

Additionally, God would have watched over the gene pool in order to accomplish His purpose in filling the earth with humans (Genesis 1:27-28; Genesis 9:1,7).

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

Related Articles:

• Where Did Cain Get His Wife?
• Table of Nations (Genealogy of Mankind/Origin of Races)