quote:
Originally posted by b50m:
We all know that women were considered basically slaves during the beginning of mankind, (sometimes now too), and I have always wondered who they were and from where did they come? Even if we say Cain's wife was his sister, where did all the wives of other men come from?. . . This was several generations, what happened in between?
Hi B,
We are told in Genesis 5:5 that Adam lived to be 930 years old. Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born (Genesis 5:3) -- so Cain was born many years before and had grown into a mature man who farmed; so, let's say he was born when Adam was 50 to 75 years old when Cain was born. In the 800 years after the birth of Seth; Adam and Eve had many children. How do I know this? They were young, for that time, healthy (their gene pool had not been corrupted) -- and most likely had many children. The article from Answers In Genesis referenced below shows that they had
"thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters." Those children married and had children and it takes very few generations for the population to explode. In Genesis 10:6-8, we read that Noah's son, Japeth, had a son, Cush. Cush was the father of Nimrod. And, we know from Genesis 11 that by the time Nimrod led the people to the plain of Shinar -- there were quite a few, enough to get in trouble with God by trying to build their tower of Babel.
But, the real reason God was miffed at those in Babel was that they were disobedient to his command to
"multiply and fill the earth." Instead if filling the earth -- they all stayed together on the plains of Shinar. So, God confused their language to cause them to migrate into other areas.
So, you can see that, in just a few generations -- the sons of Noah had built a healthy population. Imagine how many people descended from Seth -- until the flood -- billions. So, yes, during that time people married siblings as well as other relatives.
Paw suggests that this is incest. No, for God did not institute the law of incest until the time of Moses. For about 2500 years, there was no such restriction as we know incest today. However, we do know that the effect of interrelated marriages will eventually corrupt the gene pool -- so, God made changes in the way people married and had children. But, until the time of Moses -- no incest, no incest laws.
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Cain’s Wife — Who Was She? http://www.answersingenesis.or...b/who-was-cains-wife Many people immediately reject the conclusion that Adam and Eve’s sons and daughters married each other by appealing to the law against brother-sister marriage. Some say that you can’t marry your relation. Actually, if you don’t marry your relation, you don’t marry a human! A wife is related to her husband before they are married because all people are descendants of Adam and Eve — all are of one blood. This law forbidding close relatives marrying was not given until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18–20). Provided marriage was one man for one woman for life (based on Genesis 1–2), there was no disobedience to God’s law originally (before the time of Moses) when close relatives (even brothers and sisters) married each other.
Remember that Abraham was married to his half-sister (Genesis 20:12). God’s law forbade such marriages, but that was some four hundred years later at the time of Moses.
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.” (The Complete Works of Josephus) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Population of the PreFlood World http://ldolphin.org/pickett.html Very little is known about the people who lived before the Great Flood. Genesis chapters 2 through 7 provide a synopsis of that age. Ancient Jewish writings provide more possible detail. However, no archaeological discoveries have been made which would reveal additional information about this lost society. Therefore, scripture is all we have to rely on. Of the many issues concerning the flood, a common question that has often been asked is:
"What was the world population when the flood occurred?" Most people have been taught that the population might have been in the tens of millions or perhaps in the hundreds of millions. Using an electronic spreadsheet, an analysis was made of the effects of population size using the numerical values provided in the book of Genesis for age of childbirth, number of children per family and life-spans.
This study is based upon a time span of 1656 years, beginning with the creation of Adam and extending to the time the Great Flood occurred. Although arguments can be made against this amount of time, it is widely accepted among Bible scholars. When you add up the genealogies in the book of Genesis you get 1656 years. However, it should be noted that other ancient Jewish writings such as the Septuagint indicate a longer time period .
Although it is difficult to obtain an actual value of world population at the time of the flood,
5 to 17 billion people would appear to be reasonable populations, with an average of around 10 billion. The best ages for childbirth would be 80.8 to 92 years with 6 to 7 children per family. This would be 20 to 18 generations produced from Adam to the Flood in 1656. The Book of Genesis indicates (Chapter 5) that each family had at least 5 children. Adam and Eve had a total of 7 (including Abel). However, Noah apparently had only 3 children. (It is possible that he could have had sons and daughters that aren't recorded and who weren't on the ark.)
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So, B50, where did Cain get his wife? She was either a sibling or a close relative, i.e., cousin.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill