Genesis 4: Where did these other people come from?
For Winston:
Genesis 4:17 says "Cain lay with his wife." Excuse me. Where did Cain get a wife? And where? Was it his sister? Or did God make him another? Or did God create several individuals like Adam and Eve, and we see the offspring of another of these created ones with Cain?
Unfortunately, the Bible does not clarify this issue, and the Hebrew people didn't see much need to clarify it either. Even the Jewish Rabbis seem to avoid the issue. In my research on the subject, the best answer seems to be to accept the existence of the written record and move on.
Either Adam and Eve had many offspring not recorded in the Genesis account. Since their DNA was "undiluted," one could reason that marrying brothers or sisters would not compromise the gene pool.
The other choice seems to be that God created humanity as he saw the need, and the Genesis account is one example of the creating God did throughout the world. The variety of human settlements all over the globe could support this type of theory, although the Bible does not speak to this type of multiple-creation.
Interesting question. Any thoughts?
Genesis 4:17 says "Cain lay with his wife." Excuse me. Where did Cain get a wife? And where? Was it his sister? Or did God make him another? Or did God create several individuals like Adam and Eve, and we see the offspring of another of these created ones with Cain?
Unfortunately, the Bible does not clarify this issue, and the Hebrew people didn't see much need to clarify it either. Even the Jewish Rabbis seem to avoid the issue. In my research on the subject, the best answer seems to be to accept the existence of the written record and move on.
Either Adam and Eve had many offspring not recorded in the Genesis account. Since their DNA was "undiluted," one could reason that marrying brothers or sisters would not compromise the gene pool.
The other choice seems to be that God created humanity as he saw the need, and the Genesis account is one example of the creating God did throughout the world. The variety of human settlements all over the globe could support this type of theory, although the Bible does not speak to this type of multiple-creation.
Interesting question. Any thoughts?
posted by Randy Rogers at
3:20 PM
8 Comments:
Ok. After reading Parashat Be-reshit, 1.54b, I read that several Rabbis felt that Adam and Eve separated after the garden incident, and for 130 years lived separately. In their separation, they enjoyed sexual favors from the "spirits" of Gen. 6:1-4, leading to more human beings and step-children. They think that one of these children would have been Cain's wife.
Don't think I can buy it, but there you go.
Here is the website where I saw Parashat Be-reshit. http://books.google.com/books?id=gHXqB_ITcDoC&pg=PA306&lpg=PA306&dq=Rabbi+Cain+wif&source=web&ots=Gjo5baaW9f&sig=nvMxBT__7myQHfvwrxfqaFG_LrI&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=10&ct=result#PPA305,M1
You can actually scroll down to sample pg. 307 and see the commentary. I don't know how long this link will last.
Those pages get beyond me pretty fast, but it was faxcinating to see all the different takes on what they call Bereshit which seems to be Genesis 1-4 or so followwed by Noach.
RFR
If God selected from the deep which he had created and seemed to teem with life, then perhaps there could have been some other hominids who were not 'selected' for Eden, and thus found when Cain wandered off looking for sustneance and tent material, or maybe they were the children of poltergeists and Adam or Eve, I have had some strange dreams but none seem to have been propagative.
RobeFRe and BFrank
Robfre,
Be careful about posting your dreams on a blog. you never know how that may come back to haunt you. :)
I just do not get that separation and the slime of evil bit when here in Gen 4:1 it says:
1 Adam knew his wife Eve intimately, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.
Ok so I finally looked in Gen 4:17 in the literal and followed the Strong's Hebrew...hmmm!?
17. |3645| And experienced |7014| Cain |0853| - |0862| his wife, |2029| and she conceived |3205| and gave birth to |0853| - |2585| Enoch. |1961| And |1529| he built |5892| a city, |7121| and he called |8034| the name of |5892| the city |2027| according to |3205| his son's name |2585| --Enoch.
to try an transliterzte it backwards and down to up?:
Chanowk yalad hereg iyr shem qara
end here<--------------------
iyr Geyshan hayah .Chanawk eth
<-------------------------
yalad harah ,attuwq eth Qayin
<------------------------
kmowsh
<----- start here
So Cain overpowered the ledge or overhang of his gallery and brought forth a child Enoch. Accomplishing a lumpish(cloddish) encampment and called the encampment after his lineage Enoch.
Maybe he just had some special earth in his studio...
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