Where did Cain’s wife come from?
Was there another set of people created somewhere apart from Adam and Eve? (Genesis 4:17)
Genesis 4:17
ESV - 17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. When he built a city, he called the name of the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
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Asked January 07 2021
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Anonymous
For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Kenneth Rumbarger
Earlier in the chapter, (4:3), it says, "in the process of time." Just as one of the Gospels says at its end that there were many other things Jesus said and did which could not be written for sheer volume, likewise other parts of the Bible are focused and selective. Cain, Abel, and Seth were not necessarily the only offspring of Adam and Eve. When you consider the huge lifespans before the Flood, and the relatively short 15-20 years to reach reproductive age, "in the process of time" could have allowed quite a population to develop. While these other offspring of the First Couple would at first have had to marry full brothers or sisters, that was not prohibited at the time. By the time Cain decided to marry, his wife might have been a quite distant relative.