can you explain genesis 4:17 ???

Question

as in god created adam and eve as the first human beings but how
can cain lay with his wife if thier was no other human being around ???
gen 4:17 17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. ???

Answer 1

It would be impossible to include the birth, marriage and death of every person that God made on this earth, goes without saying.

Would you read, or would others read the Bible if it were longer and filled with all this information? It tells us just enough to understand and grow as caretakers on HIs earth.

Praise the Lord.

Answer 2

Well, it is clear that there are other people in the Genesis 'era' at the time of t 'first people'. One must assume that since Enoch was not at all far removed (only a few generations) from Adam and Eve, that there were in fact others around at the time of the supposed illustrated biblical characters.
If we alter our perspective a bit, we realise that the people described outline certain ideas, values and themes necessary to portray what was intended by the scholars who wrote the chaper. This is how the bible is meant to be read, figuratively not literally. How could a literal story possibly communicate the wide range of messages that the bible teaches? Who cares about the tiny details that go against the practicalities of logistical reproduction in the early days? I think it is not a slip of the bible, to suddenly mention other people, it is not a novel! One is supposed to think laterally slightly when new things are mentioned that don't correlate with your logic- the clues are in the expression of the words and the symbolism of action and deeds. Sorry about being too lazy to find a bible from which to quote.

Answer 3

I have the truth for you! although preachers are saying that Adam and Eve were the first people on earth they were not! read Gen.chp 1 v.26-28. God made all the races of mankind on the sixth day. he made hunters and fishers and the like. Then you go on to read Gen.chp. 2 v.5 and you see that Adam was created on the eigth day because ther was no man to till the ground.

So then you see that the earth was already populated when cain went east into the land of Nod.
He did NOT marry his sister or niece! God is the same yesterday today and forever. He has always hated incest.

Answer 4

I took a class on the Old Testament in college and I think I have an answer. First, I'm going to ignore Genesis Ch. 1 since it was written by a different author and believed to have been added to the original text (look at the style of writting and compare it to Ch. 2, also note that God creates the animals and THEN man in Ch. 1 while he creates Adam, THEN the animals, then eve in Ch. 2).

The ancient Hebrews were essentially polytheistic in the sense that they believed in the existence of other deities; just that their God (YHWH as his ineffable name is often depicted in English) was far mightier than any other deity. Ancient religions believed that each region or each city had a deity presiding over it. It could be that another deity presided over the land of Nod (where Cain went to when he was exiled) and those people where made by the hand of that deity. This would also explain why YHWH made his covenant with Abraham and not with the whole of mankind, and why he favors the Jewish race and gave them the Promised Land of Isreal.

Answer 5

The Bible only mentions the people who are necessary to whatever points God is trying to make at the time. As Adam and Eve were the first humans, and as they had other children besides Abel, Cain, and Seth, the implication is that Cain married a sister. Gradually, as more and more people came to be the genetic branching became wider and it was no longer necessary to marry one's sister.

As for the naming of the city, just look at the names of towns and roads in your State. Lots of them are named after people.

Answer 6

Hello Andy,

In that time there were no restrictions or laws on marriage between related peoples, so she could have been his sister. The genetic pool was deeper so there would have been no danger to the babies born, unlike today. The law on marriage didn't come about till much later.

Enoch means consecration or initiation, Cain may have done this to try and neutralise Gods curse.

Answer 7

I see two possibilities: First, God breathed Spirit into two Homo Sapiens that we know as Adam and Eve. If that's the case, then Cain simply married another H Sapiens, and passed the ability to create children with immortal souls on, or...

Adam and Eve had many children not mentioned in the Bible. This is not inconsistent with the writing style of the day.

Take your pick.

Answer 8

How much time had passed between Adam and Eve giving birth to the time of Cain laying with his wife????

Answer 9

Adam & Eve were the first human spirits incarnated in the most noble and highly developed apes. The ape could not develop any further and so created the lowest bridge available for a higher form of life to cross. So human spirits were seeded in the lowest form of gross material bodies to start their own development and there is where us and the apes parted. So Darwin AND the Bible are right, you just have to view it from above to get it in perspective. Hope this helps

Answer 10

it means that Cain got his wife pregnant and they named him Enoch. At that time he was founding a new city and he was so proud of his son or that he wanted to honor him so he named the city after his son.