A3. Where did Cain get his Wife?
All the children of Adam and Eve are called the "daughters of Man" in the Bible. The Bible does not identify every son and daughter that Adam and Eve had. Instead, It calls attention to specific events that were milestones in the history of the human race. For example, Adam and Eve may have had many children prior to Cain and Abel, and they might have had many more between the banishment of Cain and the birth of Seth. What the Bible tells us is that Cain and Abel were special for several reasons, which merit the recording of their account. The way each offered sacrifices to God was one important distinction that had to be identified. God was pleased with Abel's sacrifice of the animals, where blood was shed. He was not satisfied with Cain's offering of plants, which did not require any shedding of blood. I believe the entire tradition of sacrificing to God was based on the need to shed blood for the atonement of sins, so I can understand why God would need to call attention to this difference.
Nevertheless, if indeed there were other children prior to Cain and Abel, then clearly they could have also produced offspring and thus a wife for Cain to marry eventually. Likewise, the continued propagation of offspring would soon enough produce a large population that would help Cain build his city, Enoch. Just to quantify this mathematical possibility, let's say that a couple has to be 50 years old before they produce one child and then they produce another child every 5 years after that until they exceed their child-bearing years. The Genesis 5 account of lifetimes spanning between Adam and Noah averages 912 years. It also indicates that each of the principle characters mentioned had other sons and daughters than the one who was recorded in the main family line. Now, if their child-bearing years were only half of their average life span, ie 500 years, then watch this: After 100 years the number of children born is 10 and the total population on Earth is 12 If no one dies, then after 900 years, the number of children is almost 3.5 billion and the total population is almost 5 billion.
The following chart was produced by:
REASONS TO BELIEVE
P.O. Box 5978, Pasadena, CA 91117
(626) 335-1480.
Copyright 1989, Reasons To Believe P8901
|
Year |
Repreoducing Couples |
Children Born |
Total Population |
|
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
50 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
100 |
1 |
10 |
12 |
|
150 |
6 |
30 |
42 |
|
200 |
21 |
100 |
142 |
|
250 |
71 |
352 |
494 |
|
300 |
247 |
1210 |
1704 |
|
350 |
852 |
4180 |
5884 |
|
400 |
2941 |
14,450 |
20,334 |
|
450 |
10,167 |
49,892 |
70,226 |
|
500 |
35,113 |
172,358 |
242,584 |
|
550 |
121,292 |
595,378 |
837,962 |
|
600 |
418,980 |
2,056,530 |
2,894,492 |
|
650 |
1,447,245 |
7,103,862 |
9,998,364 |
|
700 |
4,999,176 |
24,538,536 |
34,536,930 |
|
750 |
17,268,444 |
84,762,338 |
119,299,368 |
|
800 |
59,649,613 |
292,790,780 |
412,090,500 |
|
850 |
206,045,003 |
1,011,374,120 |
1,423,465,830 |
|
900 |
711,732,063 |
3,493,544,650 |
4,917,014,660 |
26 July 2001
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