Cain & Abel story?

Question

Adam and Eve were the first people on earth (according to the bible). The had 2 children Cain and Able. Cain kills Abel, and was banished. He ended up in "the Land of Nod". Junked around there for a bit and is later mentioned as fathering a lineage of children, and founding a city, which he named Enoch after the name of his son.

Please point out the glaring irregualrity in this story.

Martin S you just clicked on my 'get stuffed button' with your passages from the bible that promotes hatred. What is the deal about this book? It is not well written, nor is it relevant in todays society. This below is prime example of why i don't read the bible:

8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers (?), idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

Again, how do you know the bible is not meant to be taken literally?

And as for Adam living to 900 or so may i just say what a load of crap.

Cain left his family and went wandering. Not the brightest spark if he wandered rigth back in to the camp and was sexually immoral with his sister is he?

Answer 1

"the Land of Nod" isn't a nod what someone on heroin does. "Junked" around ....junked isn't junk a term for heroin? I know where you're going with this story and I hardly believe that Adam and Eve being the first drug dealers is all that important in the bible. It was probably edited in the early years but they accidentally left those in.
Cain was strung out and needed money to by some smack so he went into Abel's room to steal stuff to pawn. Abel caught him and got killed. The name Enoch is a bastardized saying like " 'E knocked me out". Hopefully this clears things up.

Answer 2

If ever there were a classic case on literal interpretation of the OT, this is it. One fundamentalist answer is that Adam and Eve must have had other children, because your common sense tells you that, without other children, there would have been a serious problem in producing succeeding generations unless, of course, Eve and one of the two boys got together.

Another explanation is that we do not know exactly what was going on with Cain after his banishment, but whatever it was, somehow he fathered a clan and started a city. Just ACCEPT it. One day, in the fullness of time, maybe we'll know more.

The problem here is that no matter WHAT explanation you come up with, it is an INTERPRETATION -the very thing fundamentalists say one should not do.

So, why not do the reasonable thing here, folks, and see if you can tease out any moral lessons from the story? The moral insight may be true and useful even if the underlying story content is not factually true or even possible.

Any attempts either to say that a factual analysis indicates the bible is nonsense, or to say that it is to be taken as biological, actual, scientific fact are missing the point. So let's not keep up the constant arguments about that.

For once.

Answer 3

God's word indicates that Adam was the first man and Eve the first woman.  Cain couldn’t have married one of his daughters but he could have married a sister or a niece. Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters in addition to Cain, Abel, and Seth. Marrying a close relative was not a sin and in fact was his only option.  This kind of relationship was not forbidden until much later.  In fact Abraham married his half sister Sarah, Rebekah was Isaac’s niece, and a two of Jacob’s 4 wives were his cousins. All these unions had God’s blessing.

Answer 4

What irregularity?

Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve recorded in Scripture (Genesis 4:1). His brothers, Abel (Genesis 4:2) and Seth (Genesis 4:25), were part of the first generation of children ever born on this earth.

Even though only these three males are mentioned by name, Adam and Eve had other children. In Genesis 5:4 a statement sums up the life of Adam and Eve -- "And the days of Adam after he had fathered Seth were eight hundred years. And he fathered sons and daughters." This does not say when they were born. Many could have been born in the 130 years (Genesis 5:3) before Seth was born.

During their lives, Adam and Eve had a number of male and female children. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that, "The number of Adam's children, as says the old tradition, was thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters."[11]

The Bible does not tell us how many children were born to Adam and Eve. However, considering their long life spans (Adam lived for 930 years -- Genesis 5:5), it would seem reasonable to suggest there were many! Remember, They were commanded to "Be fruitful, and multiply" (Genesis 1:28).

Cain married one of his sisters. The law forbidding marriage between close relatives was not given until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18-20).

Provided marriage was one man to one woman for life (based on Genesis 1 and 2), there was no disobedience to God's law originally when close relatives (even brothers and sisters) married each other.

By the time of Moses (a few thousand years later), genetic mistakes would have built up in the human race to such an extent that it was necessary for God to forbid brother-sister (and close relative) marriage (Leviticus 18-20) and there were plenty of people on the earth by then so there was no valid reason for close relations to marry.

Given that we all descended from Adam and Eve if you believe the Bible, or from a common ancestor if you believe Evolution, then even today all married people have married a relative (but not an immediate relative). The only way to avoid marrying a relative would be to marry a non-human!

Answer 5

A third son was named Seth. Adam and Eve lived many, many more years after Cain and Abel were born and had many other children. Other Sons and Daughters were not all named. Incest was not an issue or even considered a sin at that time [i.e., brothers and sisters married each other]... until many generations later when Moses led the Jewish people and laid down the Mosaic laws which prohibited cohabitation with relatives and in-laws.

Hope that helps.

Peace be with you.

Answer 6

I have heard this question along with many others asked by those who study and want to know the truth about the Word of God. The only thing I depend upon is this - I know that the Word was inspired by men by God and they wrote as they believed facts were important. It is possible that information was left out - it is also possible that information was lost - the word we receive does not really say - and no preacher can answer it with any 'truth' unless he has studied and been led by the spirit to reveal that interpreation to his congregation - because all of us would be guessing only. They say there is NO REAL LAND CALLED NOD...I don't know. I've not done the research - but it is possible that in those days - Cain could have married his sister - I know that Adam and Eve were given the commandment to be fruitful and multiply - and that was before their sin - so God intended for them to enjoy relations.......Perhaps we will get all our questions answered when we meet him face to face.

Answer 7

The law forbidding marriage between close relatives was not given until the time of Moses (Leviticus 18–20). Provided marriage was one man to one woman for life (based on Genesis 1 and 2), there was no disobedience to God’s law originally when close relatives (even brothers and sisters) married each other.

Abraham married his half-sister (Genesis 20:12). God blessed this union to produce the Hebrew people through Isaac and Jacob. It was not until some 400 years later that God gave Moses laws that forbade such marriages.

Today, brothers and sisters (and half-brothers and half-sisters, etc.) are not permitted by law to marry because their children have an unacceptably high risk of being deformed. The more closely the parents are related, the more likely it is that any offspring will be deformed.

Answer 8

There are many glaring mistakes in this.
First of all, Adam and Eve were NOT THE FIRST PEOPLE ON EARTH. All the races were created (in the flesh) on the 6th day;
Adam was created in the flesh and Eve was formed on the EIGHTH DAY. There were already thousands of folks and they went off to the East of the Garden and founded the first known town called Nod. When Cain was thrown out of the Garden for killing Abel, that is where he went to find his wife.
Cains decendants are called Kenites, which means "sons of Cain". They are also known as the House of Racab, and by a few other names as well.
What you may not realize in Scripture is that Cains offspring are the most important piece of knowledge you could know of with regard to understanding your Bible, from Genesis all the way to the Book of Revelation. Eve's sin in the Garden was far from eating fruit, and Cain and his decendants were the consequence of her sin. This is why a mark was placed on Cain by God. Ever hear of the "mark of the beast" - this is its beginning right here on Cain. Its a rabbit hole that goes far deeper than even most Christians realize.
If you do not know who Cains true father was, you probably are not able to understand most of what your Bible is saying to you.

Answer 9

I see no flaws in this. Cain is the son of Adam and later was banished of the paradise. Remember on the six day males and females were created and after God have rested on the seventh day so its an eight day that He have created Adam and all dwellers of the land of Nod are of the sixth day creations was there irregularity with it?

Answer 10

These were the first two sons of the first man and woman created by God. However it does not mean that He did not create others He merely relates about the first . So there is no irregularity only the fact that everything God did/does cannot be written down as the world could not contain it.