In the beginning God created one male and one female. From Adam and Eve came sons and daughters, including Cain. In (Genesis 4:17) we read about Cain’s wife. Have you ever wondered who Cain’s wife was? Was Cain’s wife also his sister?
Isn’t That Incest?
The question of whether Cain’s wife was his sister brings the obvious thought of incest. First to answer the question. Cain’s wife would had to have been his sister, or at the very least his niece.
(Genesis 5:4) tells us that Adam had other sons and daughters. It would be from these daughters, or their children, that Cain would had to have chosen his wife. God created only Adam and Eve in the beginning, so the first children of theirs would had to have become husband and wife. There was no one else on the earth at that time.
How Cain’s Wife Could Have Been His Sister
God’s creation in the beginning was perfect, including Adam and Eve. When the first couple sinned, God cursed the ground. Sickness and death became part of a fallen world. It is not until (Leviticus 18) that we find God not allowing close relatives to marry. By the time God put these restrictions in place, the effects of the curse would have been enough to begin taking its toll on the genetics being passed down from one generation to the next.
What we know of as incest today can cause all kinds of physical and mental problems for children born out of that situation. This is because close relatives have a greater chance of sharing the same bad or defective genes that can be passed down to children. This was not the case for the first generations on the earth, who came from perfect parents, genetically speaking. Therefore, Cain’s wife could very well have been his sister.
