Sons and Daughters, Adam and Eve
Emails & Questions
Adam's Sons and Daughters
Q: Where did Cain and Abel's wives come from?
I know Adam and Eve had sons and daughters. They did have daughters. Of course, Cain, Abel, and Seth are the only children whose names are mentioned, but but we read in in Genesis 5:4, "And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters”
A: You have given the simple answer but there is another. First off, we must realize that Adam was created, not in the Garden but outside of it and later placed in that Garden. We are told that humans were created, after the restoring of the Earth. Remember, in the Genesis account, the Earth is already in its place and covered with water. It is from this flooded world that our Creator begins a restoration project that is recorded for us in Genesis. What was the world like before is was covered in the water? That is anybody's guess, but from the biblical record, the Earth was restored from a watery grave and humanity was created and it is only later, after this restoring of the Earth from a previous flood, that we read about the creation of Adam and the Garden and Adam being placed in this Garden called Eden. We are not talking about the Great Flood that followed the rebellion of mankind and Adam and Eve kind, but a previous flooded world.
(Gen 1:2) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. NIV
What we have in the original account is a world, or planet, covered in water -- a planet flooded with water. What was before this? We have no idea, we are not told, but it is from this flooded earth that our creator begins to form the world we know today. Of course, today, being the time AFTER the second great flooding of this planet we call, Earth. Adam and Eve's world existed before they were created. The Earth is restored from a watery grave and humanity is created -- Genesis 1:1-25, records the Earthy creation, in a systematic and orderly manner, with animals being created before man --
(Gen 1:25) God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
It is only after this that our Creator, or Ceators said this --
(Gen 1:26) Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
Right after the animals, of every kind, are created, , mankind, in the likeness of their Creator are created.
(Gen 1:27-28) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
Here is the command to go out and subdue the Earth. This is not the case with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden, protected in a personal relationship with their Creator.
Many confuse this with the creation of Adam and Eve. It is not until later that Adam and Eve are created, and only AFTER the Garden, into which they are placed is created. Also, this is a very limited area, in a special location on the surface of this Earth.
(Gen 2:8) Now YaHWeH God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.(Gen 2:9) And YaHWeH God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.