The Mysterious Wives of Genesis Four

quote:

---

Gen 4:16 -- Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. (17) And Cain knew his wife, 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. (18) To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech. (19) Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. (20) And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. (21) His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. (22) And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

---

Did God create these other women? If so, why is it not mentioned? Genesis 2 only mentions the creation of Eve from Adam, which is the very reason she's a woman (from man). Was Adam put into more deep sleeps? Were these men each put into deep sleeps for God to create their wives? Did God simply create them? If He can do that, why all the bother creating Adam from mud and Eve from Adam; does God know naught of efficiency?It seems as though these gals simply appear out of nowhere. Perhaps more evidence that these are nothing more than stories not meant to be taken as anything of an historical account of the world and its species?My question is this: how do Literalists explain the origins of these women?Maybe they are from Eve, but since they are women were not important enough to mention? It seems like whenever there's need for another male, he need be born and logged. Yet, whenever there's need for another woman, *ding* she just appears. Each man wanted a wife, and one appeared. Lamech wanted two, and he got them. If Jon wants four, will God bless him too? So, again...My question is this: how do Literalists explain the origins of these women?JonEdited by Jon, : Removed message to Admins.

---

In considering the Origin of Species, it is quite conceivable that a naturalist... might come to the conclusion that each species had not been independently created, but had descended, like varieties, from other species. - Charles Darwin On the Origin of Species
_ _ _ _ _ ____________ _ _ _ _ _En el mundo hay multitud de idiomas, y cada uno tiene su propio significado. - I Corintios 14:10

Thread moved here from the Proposed New Topics forum.

I've asked this question before somewhere. The best explanation I've heard from literalists is that Adam and Eve were the first people with souls. There were other people that god created (but apparently never cared to mention), like the people in the land of Nod, but none of these people had souls. Therefore, they weren't really people... or something like that.

---

Disclaimer:

​

Occasionally, owing to the deficiency of the English language, I have used he/him/his meaning he or she/him or her/his or her in order to avoid awkwardness of style.

​

He, him, and his are not intended as exclusively masculine pronouns. They may refer to either sex or to both sexes!

I haven't heard this theory. I always thought the literalist answer was that Adam and Eve had many children. The females are not mentioned in the genesis account, since th ey are not that important, so Adam's sons and grandsons married their sisters! This is not a genetic problem, or so I have been told, since their genetic makeup did not carry any defects being so close to the "fall".

Gen. 5:4 Then the days of Adam after he became the father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters.

Yes, I believe this is pretty much the standard view of conservative Bible scholars. (see for example bible.org)

a few verses earlier, after cain has killed abel and is exiled, he worries that other people who will find him will kill him. so god grants him protection.well, what other people?the simplest answer is that there are simply other people around. adam and eve were special somehow, but other people existed. genesis 2 seems rather unconcerned with the creation of everything (like genesis 1 deals with). rather, it's more about the beginning of a certain family lineage, and a special subset of people. it seems unconcerned with the fact that other people exist.lots people offer the explanation above: "other sons and daughters." but they're mostly conflating the two stories, presupposing they are talking about the same "adam." and remember, these "sons and daughters" are listed after the one that carries the birthright, seth. that means the were necessarily born after seth. and seth is not born until after abel is dead and cain is banished. maybe a daughter slipped away, but that still doesn't answer the first question. what other people is cain worried about?traditional explanations have all involved other daughters of eve. i believe a story can be found in one of the pseudepigraphical texts (adam and eve? jubilees? i forget) that states cain married his sister, who had run away years before.

---

Book of Adam & Eve. Jubilees brings Enoch back into the GOE.Edited by jar, : fix spallin

---

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

i thought it was that, but aren't there actually several books that bear that title, or similar titles? i know from my brief look into the pseudepigraphical library searching for the origin of the "fall of satan" story that there were at least two books with the names "adam" and "eve" in their title that covered similar material...

---

There is the Book of Adam & Eve and also 1st and 2nd Adam & Eve.

---

Aslan is not a Tame Lion

as arach hinted, the bible isn't the story of the creation of the world, but of the creation and history of the jewish people. if there were other people, they simply weren't important. also, since when do old oral myths makes sense, even after they've been written down?

well, genesis 2-4 is the creation of the jewish people. the rest of the world, too, maybe, since noah is the father of all, right?but genesis 1 is definitely the creation of the world. different stories, different focus.

---

i was referring to the purpose of the whole book. inevitably, there has to be some discussion of the creation of the world, but it's certainly not substantial in any way.

The simple answer is as stated. Adam & Eve had other unnamed children. They were close to perfection, so that did not cause problems. There is no evidence that any other people were created apart from Adam & Eve. People lived a long time then, so within a few centuries the population could be quite large.

I doubt that they rarely if ever make sense.