Cain and Abel?

‘And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch.’

So is this a bit ambiguous, or is it just me? Does this mean that there were people before Adam and Eve?

I say yes. You might say no. Tell me which (yes/no), and tell me why.

 

If Genesis 1-11 is taken strictly literal, then it indicates that Cain's wife was born sometime, but does not indicate any sort of time frame.

I tend to lean towards the idea that Gen 1-11 is metaphorical. So Did Cain's wife exist before Adam and Eve? No, they didn't exist period.

 

I find Genesis to be about the most interesting book of the bible...and would love to be able to read from the original translation of eons ago.
In Genesis 4 when Cain was kicked out of Eden for killing his brother, he was actually nervy enough (lol) to be Worried that "everyone that findeth me shall slay me". Now where was this concern when he was killing his brother? anyway, there Had to be other people in the world since he expressed Fear of what "everyone" would do to him!
Cain then "dwelt in the land of Nod" - and apparently there were ALREADY people there because just after this he "knew his wife".
Of course, I could definitely be incorrect in what I'm going to say - but this is how I see it - Adam was the first man that God made individually (breathing the "breath of life" into his nostrils)Gen. 2: 7, 8. But man as in humans were Already created on the sixth day - Genesis 1:26-28. Adam was created to "dress and keep" the ground in Eden and to name all of the animals, and Eve was created (individually just like Adam, but From Adam) to be Adam's "help meet".
Hope you find this helpful.

 

Oh I think there are many other books of the bible that pile it on equally as deep

uke:

 

As previously stated, I think there were people here before Adam and Eve, but I don't think that they had any kind of religion or god. I think they our lives are so short because we have souls, and there's some kind of life after death.

And I have no religion, for the record. I believe in God, but not in the sense that most people do. I have...obscure views.

That being said, if there were people here before the "sons of God," maybe they just lived for thousands of years, but when they died, they were gone forever. That's might explain why the earliest Biblical figures lived to be 600-900 years old.

 

I asked this same question to some members of a christian organization at my school and the individuals that I asked, who claim to believe a literal interpretation of the bible, said that cane's wife was his sister. When I asked why it was acceptable for that incest to occur the reply was that god had not banned incest yet.

 

From what I have seen on a number of threads here...

"incest is best" ..still holds water


But if you take it literally .. Cain was doing his mom... no mention of sisters
as Eve was the only gal around.. rib shortage I guess

 

poor Cain, he wasn't Abel.

 

It may seem to be a little ambiguous but just because there is not a lot of details mentioned.

But the Bible does say that Adam had sons and daughters and so Cain’s wife could have been one of those daughters. (Genesis 5:4)

Although the Bible does not say specifically that before Adam and Eve there were no other people on the Earth, the account in Genesis does seem to indicate that Adam and Eve where the first and only.

 

When looking at incest from today's viewpoint, it does look repugnant and wonder how it could have ever happened.

But that is thousands of years after the fact and we know what happens now, genetically when there is inbreeding.

If one takes into consideration that originally Adam and Eve were at one time perfect and that their children would have been born nearer to that perfection, perhaps genetic inbreeding was not such a big problem back then and thus did not need to be banned.

But as time went on and people got father away from perfection genetic problems would become more pronounced and so God stepped in and banned what is now called incest, not because in of itself it was repugnant but to prevent further problems genetically and now over the years and seeing the genetic problems that it can cause it has become culturally repugnant.

 

As I just mentioned, at Genesis 5:4 it says that Adam had sons and daughters. So no need for Cain to be doing his mom.

 

What is the big deal about ignoring the land of Nod (Gen. 4:16), where Cain went to live separate from his family, with the mark so that he would not be slain (Gen.4:15)...
Why must it be his mother or sister he had to "know as wife"? Even though I already indicated this, it seems to bear repeating - Gen. 4:14 indicates that there are OTHER PEOPLE (not family). Why is it so very difficult to imagine or accept that Cain's wife came from these OTHER PEOPLE - the ones he was scared would slay him, the ones that God marked him for protection against?!?

 

Gen. 4:14 does not actually say that those “OTHER PEOPLE” were not of his family.

Also having another branch of the human family not descended from Adam and Eve would kind of spoil that old inherited sin from Adam thing wouldn’t it?

 

No, it doesn't say that they were not of his family - but Gen. 1:26 indicates (to me at least) that indeed there were other people created, and in the picture so to say.

I also don't think that would "spoil that old inherited sin from Adam thing" because I Still think that Adam was the first person of Jewish descent. And Jehovah Yahweh "breathed the breath of life into Adam's nostrils" where as this is not reflected in the scripture I cited above. I believe that when God planned to give us free will and option of salvation, He planned to give All of us as humans salvation through belief in His one perfect sacrifice and son - that does not, to me, reflect that there were not other humans created prior to His creating Adam.

I believe the scripture could be interpreted more ways than the singular one you are ascribing to.

 

And not just you, OWB, others also.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-u0_vOs1CE&feature=related

They say that Cain caught Abel
rolling loaded dice.. :leaving:

 

There is no doubt the there are many ways that people interpret the Bible but most of them end up making most of the Bible contradictory. That is why I've always felt that the correct interpretation of what the Bible says is one that allows the whole Bible to make sense and not be contradictory.

It would indeed "spoil that old inherited sin from Adam thing" because those not descended from Adam could not have inherited sin from Adam and thus would not need Jesus sacrifice or salvation.

Unless you are trying to say that God created Adam and Eve perfect but these "others" were created already sinners and imperfect. This would seem to contradict all God’s works being prefect. Or are you saying that all these others were also stupid enough to eat of the tree as well?

 

While I know the Bible doesn't say everthing that happened but it would seem like it would have mentioned that whole "loaded dice thing" if it really happened.

 

A lot of that sounded like overanalyzing goobeldygoop to me, OWB.

I think that the line of Adam (the Jews) was the one intended all along (created differently than the "others") to be the salvation of us all.
I think we are elibigle for salvation because "we" (those of us not born of Jewish descent) are "related" to Adam, if not "descended". In that we are humans, as Adam was human.
And I find it most interesting you STILL have not adressed the whole thing about Gen. 1:26 and how people were created then and all.
Then, along comes in a whole nother chapter discussion about the creation of Adam, when the garden of Eden needed someone to "dress" it...
and Then we start hearing about other people and the land of Nod.

Why did this have to turn into a philosophical analyzation of being created perfect or imperfect, and inheriting original sin????

I say Cain procreated and did not have to "know" his mother or his sister - and the scripture does NOT say different.

 

One person’s simple logic is another person’s overanalyzing goobeldygoop.

Adam was not a Jew, if he was then all of his descendants would have been Jews but they were not

Sin and death are inherited from Adam and thus if you are not one of Adams descendants you are not in need of salvation.

Addressed it? What’s to address, even you said it was what it seemed like to you but there just is no direct mention of an “Other People” being created or even existing, so any belief in such “Other People” is at best speculation.

It is not a philosophical analyzation of being created perfect or imperfect; I’m just saying that if there is, as you say, a line of people that are not descendants of Adam and Eve then they would have no need for Jesus, his sacrifice, salvation or the Bible for that matter and they would never die.

Nothing philosophical about it, that is exactly what Adam and Eve gave up for themselves and their children and their all their descendants, when they ate of the tree. That’s why Adam’s descendants need Jesus, his sacrifice, salvation and the Bible.

Yes, the scriptures do NOT specifically say different but believing that there are “Other People” that were not descendants of Adam and Eve makes most of what the Bible says invalid. Now if you wish to invalidate the Bible with your beliefs, that is up to you but I personally prefer beliefs that validate the Bible rather than invalidate it.