Jennifer Henkel Bible/History Middle School Teacher, Lover of the OT!

Adam and Eve were created by God as the first humans, and their bodies were perfect, meaning no genetic defects of any kind. 

So yes, Seth, Cain and many other sons of Adam and Eve married sisters. There were no genetic complications at first -- the only "bad" gene that was passed on was the sin gene (Romans 5:12), which is passed to babies through the father.

Abraham married a half-sister, Isaac married a first cousin, and so on. Only later is there the prohibition against marrying close relatives, and now we know why--close family members can double-up genetic anomalies and birth defects result. But there was no such issue with our first parents.

July 10 2014 • 3 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Seth Freeman

One of the commands to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful and multiply. Remember when Cain killed his brother and was afraid because he said that anyone who found him would kill him? Clearly there were other people living at the time already. Meaning, Adam and Eve were working hard to fulfill that command;)

When you had such incredibly long lifespans like the genetically pure first generations did, it wouldn't have been dangerous for such close relatives to wed. Only now with the genetic degradation do we find danger in close relatives having children. 

So Seth either married a sister, a cousin, a niece, maybe even an aunt.

July 10 2014 • 7 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Ezekiel Kimosop

Scripture does not mention the name of the wife of Seth but there is no doubt that Seth found a wife to marry and sired children as described in Genesis 4:6-11. 

Seth is first introduced in Genesis 4:26 where he is given to Adam to replace Abel who was murdered by his brother (Genesis 4:8). The Hebrew meaning of his name is "compensation". Seth was the father of Enos and his lineage was a godly one compared to that of Cain that was largely evil. 


The second question concerns whether Seth's wife was his sister. Whether Seth's wife was indeed one of his sisters cannot be directly proved from Scripture and neither can it be ruled out entirely. However, it is most probable that Seth may have married one of his sister or a niece because Genesis 5:3-4 demonstrates that Adam lived 130 years before begetting Seth. The Bible records: " And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters." (KJV)

This passage does not preclude the possibility that through the 130 years of the first part of Adam' life, he may have sired other children, including the daughters mentioned. Remember that the narrator was merely keen to portray the pre-eminence of Seth from among his siblings and as the progenitor through whom God would fulfill His divine purposes. Luke traces the lineage of Jesus traces to Seth (Luke 3:38).

During this long period of human living, the children of Adam would have multiplied into clans and sub-clans. Notice that Seth lived 105 years before he got his first son Enos and went on to live for 912 years in total. Again it is difficult to conclude that Seth had no other children even though Scripture is silent on this. Remember that the narrator was guided by the purposive hand of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit in writing this account so that only what is important for our knowledge is mentioned in Scripture.

Even if Seth married his sister, which was most likely the case, there was perfectly nothing wrong with this option because his choices were limited by then. This union was therefore not sinful in the eyes of God and perfectly fitted into his eternal plan for mankind. 

Notice also that the lineage of Ruth the Moabites is traced to one of the two daughters of Lot who conceived through incest yet God permitted this lineage to proceed from what would pass for an unbiblical union (Gen 19:29-38, cf. Matthew 1:5). 

Besides, the genetics of this first generation of human beings may have been superior to ours and had not been diluted by any sexual pollution. It would then follow that their children were genetically clean. Sibling marriage was later forbidden under the Levitical Law (Leviticus 18:9).

July 10 2014 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report