did Cain marry his sister
- Thread starter james g
- Start date
Cain
yes, or else a cousin. The verse (Gen 5:1-8) isn't clear whether Adam and Eve had more children or Seth, but then if Adam and Eve did not how did Seth find a wife? The way that the genealogy continues in Genesis Chapter 5 suggests that additional children are not stated but attributed to the father....For instance:
And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
(Gen 5:4)
And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
(Gen 5:7)
And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
(Gen 5:10)
But if the concern is incest, there is no transgression where there is no law. For Abraham did marry his sister.
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
(Gen 20:10-13)
yes, or else a cousin. The verse (Gen 5:1-8) isn't clear whether Adam and Eve had more children or Seth, but then if Adam and Eve did not how did Seth find a wife? The way that the genealogy continues in Genesis Chapter 5 suggests that additional children are not stated but attributed to the father....For instance:
And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
(Gen 5:4)
And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters:
(Gen 5:7)
And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
(Gen 5:10)
But if the concern is incest, there is no transgression where there is no law. For Abraham did marry his sister.
And Abimelech said unto Abraham, What sawest thou, that thou hast done this thing? And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake. And yet indeed she is my sister; she is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said unto her, This is thy kindness which thou shalt shew unto me; at every place whither we shall come, say of me, He is my brother.
(Gen 20:10-13)
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other people
I've heard that myself, but the problem arises of original sin. If God continues to create after the Sabbath, he seems to suggest that His works were not truly finished but needed to be added to (Eve's physical creation coming after but merely manifesting the fullness of God's works in creating man;for "male and female created He them." Much like the testament through Jesus Christ manifesting the ministry of the messiah prophesied within the law.)
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
(Heb 8:7-13)
If there are other lineages created by God, then each of them would have to have sinned. The only other lineage of God is the first begotten Son of God, which is Jesus Christ (as opposed to Adam created by works) creating an opposition to sin, otherwise all born of God (through Adam) would be born of sin and subject to death.
...Likewise, after our example, should we not attempt to serve in the confidence of our works, which are of the letter of the law, but confident in the blessing and righteousness of God; believing in the increase which comes by His grace, even through the spirit of the law, in which we have resurrection from the "dead works" of sin. For the contrast is as the height of heaven, and as much as God is more than man. The peak of what we are and can do is, to say the least, fallen short of God's perfection. Our failure of the law proves our unworth to stand before God in our own merits, even as man could not create Himself nor come into being by His own power; so too our righteousness is not worthy to stand as though an equal with God. If it were otherwise, of what use is the gifts and labors of the LORD toward us, seeing we had no need of it (as if saying that we were all-sufficient and the LORD's works toward us were in vain: though even this is a contradiction, for God is Almighty, all-sufficient, and therefore needs nothing outside of Himself, yet has regard to our affairs, and works, and cares; for which it is written, "what is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit him," and also, "humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you."). If then we be as God, we are perfect; our righteousness infinite, our reign everlasting, our every act is perfect and complete and timeless: all less than this is inefficient, useless, vain and defiled; sin. In regards to perfection, there is no measurement, there is no ratio nor percentage; either it is or it is not: and so it is with eternity, and so it is with God. If we, without repentance, approach unto God in such an insolent attitude as to suggest that we too are God and need nothing of that which God should grant, then surely we are to be judged as we have judged, and endure the same measure of burden and suffering we have placed upon God; and surely we, being God, should survive this test as splendidly as He, lest it is us that are proven imperfect, and thus temporal, and thus finite and limited, and thus vain! Wherefore it is written, "for to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion."
So it is revealed through Martha and Mary, so as in the sons of Adam, Cain and Abel, and as in the sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac; so in the sons of God, Adam and Christ! Trust not in the works, which are as of flesh, but in the blessing, which is of Spirit; first is the seed, sown by the works of man, and after the harvest, by the workings of God! For even as Adam, the son created by God, pales in comparison to Jesus, the Only Begotten (shown again in the sons of Abraham, the friend of God; the first, Ishmael, represents the attempt to fulfill the LORD's promises by works, and afterwards Isaac, representing the submission to God's blessing to the fulfilling of His Word through the Spirit by grace.), so too the written commandments of the law pales to the manifestation of God's grace through the Messiah thereof. So also the works of the sons of man are not perfect in their own right, but by the blessing of God, being judged by intent and spirit; hence the works of Cain, offering the fruits of his own labor, was refused, and Abel's sacrifice toward the grace and blessing of God, commemorating His works and increase was "imputed to him for righteousness;" and also Mary's regard to embrace and trust in the gift of God was more favored the Martha's efforts to honor the Lord through works.
I've heard that myself, but the problem arises of original sin. If God continues to create after the Sabbath, he seems to suggest that His works were not truly finished but needed to be added to (Eve's physical creation coming after but merely manifesting the fullness of God's works in creating man;for "male and female created He them." Much like the testament through Jesus Christ manifesting the ministry of the messiah prophesied within the law.)
For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
(Heb 8:7-13)
If there are other lineages created by God, then each of them would have to have sinned. The only other lineage of God is the first begotten Son of God, which is Jesus Christ (as opposed to Adam created by works) creating an opposition to sin, otherwise all born of God (through Adam) would be born of sin and subject to death.
...Likewise, after our example, should we not attempt to serve in the confidence of our works, which are of the letter of the law, but confident in the blessing and righteousness of God; believing in the increase which comes by His grace, even through the spirit of the law, in which we have resurrection from the "dead works" of sin. For the contrast is as the height of heaven, and as much as God is more than man. The peak of what we are and can do is, to say the least, fallen short of God's perfection. Our failure of the law proves our unworth to stand before God in our own merits, even as man could not create Himself nor come into being by His own power; so too our righteousness is not worthy to stand as though an equal with God. If it were otherwise, of what use is the gifts and labors of the LORD toward us, seeing we had no need of it (as if saying that we were all-sufficient and the LORD's works toward us were in vain: though even this is a contradiction, for God is Almighty, all-sufficient, and therefore needs nothing outside of Himself, yet has regard to our affairs, and works, and cares; for which it is written, "what is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit him," and also, "humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you."). If then we be as God, we are perfect; our righteousness infinite, our reign everlasting, our every act is perfect and complete and timeless: all less than this is inefficient, useless, vain and defiled; sin. In regards to perfection, there is no measurement, there is no ratio nor percentage; either it is or it is not: and so it is with eternity, and so it is with God. If we, without repentance, approach unto God in such an insolent attitude as to suggest that we too are God and need nothing of that which God should grant, then surely we are to be judged as we have judged, and endure the same measure of burden and suffering we have placed upon God; and surely we, being God, should survive this test as splendidly as He, lest it is us that are proven imperfect, and thus temporal, and thus finite and limited, and thus vain! Wherefore it is written, "for to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion."
So it is revealed through Martha and Mary, so as in the sons of Adam, Cain and Abel, and as in the sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac; so in the sons of God, Adam and Christ! Trust not in the works, which are as of flesh, but in the blessing, which is of Spirit; first is the seed, sown by the works of man, and after the harvest, by the workings of God! For even as Adam, the son created by God, pales in comparison to Jesus, the Only Begotten (shown again in the sons of Abraham, the friend of God; the first, Ishmael, represents the attempt to fulfill the LORD's promises by works, and afterwards Isaac, representing the submission to God's blessing to the fulfilling of His Word through the Spirit by grace.), so too the written commandments of the law pales to the manifestation of God's grace through the Messiah thereof. So also the works of the sons of man are not perfect in their own right, but by the blessing of God, being judged by intent and spirit; hence the works of Cain, offering the fruits of his own labor, was refused, and Abel's sacrifice toward the grace and blessing of God, commemorating His works and increase was "imputed to him for righteousness;" and also Mary's regard to embrace and trust in the gift of God was more favored the Martha's efforts to honor the Lord through works.
It is also interesting to note that marriage being forbidden between siblings until the days of Moses.
Not sure what God thought about it before hand (the Bible doesn't say one way or the other). Now Abraham and Sarah would have broken this commandment as they were brother and sister.
Did Cain marry a sister or cousin? I think he did.
The Bible seems to record very clearly who married who and how various people's (ie is tribes) were established on the earth. It seems very important that we know the lineage of various people in the Bible. I would think if God created more people at the time Cain took a wife we would have been told that fact.
Then later in the days Moses God gave the law and it had to be stated for men not to take their sister (from father or mother) as a wife. So it must have been practiced before this time for it to be mentioned by Moses on his list of "do not have sexual relations with close relatives".
We have the example of Abraham and Sarah. God blessed them so I can only imagine He was OK with their situation back then?
We cannot say for sure (not given in the Bible) but it all points to Cain having married a sister or cousin.
Broncos1982
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- Feb 17, 2011
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God had forbidden people marrying family members, but as it is, we are fallen people, and it's actually still a custom practiced in the middle east to this day. Not sure why God was okay with it with adam and eve's children.
I think God was ok with it in the very beginning because of their circumstance.
I will have to dive into this deeper sometime. Another small question
can come from this also. When we are born again Christians, and our fellow
followers of God are then referred to as our 'brothers and sisters', is this because in reality, we actually are all related to each other in some way?
We can all be traced to Adam and Eve, so it makes sense to me why that would probably be the reason. Am I correct? I would love some feedback.
I will have to dive into this deeper sometime. Another small question
can come from this also. When we are born again Christians, and our fellow
followers of God are then referred to as our 'brothers and sisters', is this because in reality, we actually are all related to each other in some way?
We can all be traced to Adam and Eve, so it makes sense to me why that would probably be the reason. Am I correct? I would love some feedback.
