The wife of Cain revisited?

Question

In Genesis 4:15-17, clearly implies the existence of other people beside Adam, Eve, and Cain, and even mentions another area outside Eden known as Nod. So we've established that Adam and Eve were not the only people god created.

Why then, did the sin of Adam and Eve cause god's judgment against all people, innncluding the innocents living in Nod? Even if you accept that sin passes from parents to children, that still makes no sense.

Ok dezmodnar, that's interesting. Why then did he need a mark to keep from being harmed if no-one was there except he and his wife?

Answer 1

Nothing is clear in the bible.
But you're right, why would god punish the innocent for something they are not guilty of?
And if he did create others, why only make adam and eve the lucky winners of the "garden of eden" condo?
Well that's what happens when you try to apply real world rules to mythology...

Answer 2

The Bible is only small (but important) pieces of a larger story. If you were to write a book about a 30 year old male’s life time in detail of every day. It would be a lot larger than the Bible. In Biblical days, people lived a lot longer than they do now. Adam and Eve had many children, Cane and Able were among the first. Other dependence of Adam and Even inhabited a place called Nod. I know this because I once sought out the answer to the same question. The key is faith, some things are above and beyond our recollection. But we cant let that affect our faith. .

Answer 3

In the first several generations of mankind, people lived hundreds of years. After a number of years of Adam and Eve reproducing, and then their children reproducing, there could be a sizable population of people. As the group grew larger, it is just logical that they would begin to spread out to other areas.
Just because some of these people moved off and established a land of Nod, this does not mean that their lineage could not be traced back to Adam and Eve.
Secondly, there are no "innocents", since "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". (Romans 3:23)
Eve is called the "mother of all living". All humans, therefore, descended from Adam and Eve.

Answer 4

That's a very interesting one. But if you could just prove that the people outside Eden were innocent, I'll rest my case. You have to keep in mind that the two were God's chosen people and I want to believe that by the time those sinned, the ones in Nod werent doing much better hence punishment for all.

Answer 5

Seeing as how we've got monkey debates here, we might as well go all out and have this one too, eh?

It's come up a few times. I posted a question asking if Islam had an answer to this: apparently, they both married each other's twin sisters. Christians will also say similar things, meaning, as far as I can tell: Gay marriage: bad. Abortion: bad. Mixed fabrics: bad. Sibling incest: no probs.

Seems to me that they could just say 'After God created Adam and Eve and after he condemned them from the Garden of Eden, he went back and created a bunch more people too.' I mean, it's hardly much more of a stretch, is it?

Yet they tend not to say this. Don't really understand why not...

Answer 6

Adam and Eve had other kids and were alive a long time. Long enough to establish other areas outside of Eden. Cain and Able were a "point to be made".

Answer 7

First, once again, there is no such thing as 'inherited sin' (Ezekiel 18:20).

Second, this city was not there before Cain went there. His wife was a close relative, most likely a sister. Incest was not forbidden until such time as DNA damage made reinforcement a danger. Eve was the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20).

Answer 8

There was no town called Nod!
The Hebrew word 'nohdh' is translated into English as: fugitiveness
Being a fugitive, he went to the land of fugitiveness.
Like someone in trouble may run to 'safe haven'.
However, the name of the place where he finds himself is not called safe haven.
Please stop reading the King James Version of the Bible.
It was produced in the 1500's, language has changed.
BTW he took a wife WITH him, he didn't find one there.

Answer 9

adam and eve were the first people. they had many children, not just cain and abel. cain married one of his sisters. the scripture states that cain "knew his wife", which can be rephrased as "had sex with his wife". it doesn't say he found her in those lands, only that he "knew her" there. cain started the tribe that lived in nod.

as for modern science, genetic studies show that all humans descend from one mother. they call her "eve". coincidence? i don't think so.

Answer 10

Yet another problem with a literal reading of the Creation myth.

The Creation myth is a symbolic story that is told to convey important truths. One truth: everyone possesses a congenital predisposition to sin, called original sin by many Christians. Another truth: because of our predisposition to sin, we can do great harm - even kill - our fellow man, even those from our own families.