In Genesis 5:4 we read a statement that sums up the life of Adam and Eve: “After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters.”
During their lives, Adam and Eve had a number of male and female children. In fact, the Jewish historian Josephus wrote, “The number of Adam’s children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters.”
Scripture doesn’t tell us how many children were born to Adam and Eve, but considering their long life spans (Adam lived for 930 years—Genesis 5:5), it would seem logical to suggest there were many. Remember, they were commanded to “be fruitful, and multiply” (Genesis 1:28).
The Wife
If we now work totally from Scripture, without any personal prejudices or other extrabiblical ideas, then back at the beginning, when there was only the first generation, brothers would have had to marry sisters or there wouldn’t have been any more generations!
We’re not told when Cain married or many of the details of other marriages and children, but we can say for certain that Cain’s wife was either his sister or a close relative.
A closer look at the Hebrew word for “wife” in Genesis reveals something readers may miss in translation. It was more obvious to those speaking Hebrew that Cain’s wife was likely his sister. (There is a slim possibility that she was his niece, but either way, a brother and sister would have married in the beginning.) The Hebrew word for “wife” used in Genesis 4:17 (the first mention of Cain’s wife) is ishshah, and it means “woman/wife/female.”
And Cain knew his wife [ishshah], 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 (Genesis 4:17).
The word ishshah is the word for “woman,” and it means “from man.” It is a derivation of the Hebrew words ‘iysh (pronounced: eesh) and enowsh, which both mean “man.” This can be seen in Genesis 2:23 where the name “woman” (ishshah) is given to one who came from Adam.
And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman [ishshah], because she was taken out of Man [iysh]” (Genesis 2:23).
Thus, Cain’s wife is a descendant of Adam/man. Therefore, she had to be his sister (or possibly niece). Hebrew readers should be able to make this connection easier; however, much is lost when translated.
They go on to discuss the obvious objections to the idea of a brother/sister marriage - ie genetic deformities - by reminding us that in these first generations of people there wouldn't have been the multitudes of genetic errors that have developed over several millenia.
And it doesn't say anywhere in scripture that Cain and Abel were the first children. Could well be that they'd already had several children who had grown, moved away and had children of their own before Cain ever came on the scene.
I used to love that show... I think I was 16 or so when it started getting weirder all the time. What I thought was really funny though was when I went to college, came home 6 months later, and really hadn't missed a thing.
You have to remember also.. that there is sooooo much left out of the bible...
All of these questions.. and the ones about how Jesus spent the years between his birth and the time he was an adult could very well have been answered...
the King James version Bible was
Quote:
was translated to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England
Just think of all of the scrolls and such that were discarded and hidden because the powers that be back then didn't want people to know about...
they probably will when they run out of ideas.
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