Who Did Cain or Seth Marry?

This post was first published on ROOTSS Wednesday, 20th February 2008 under the title The Line Continues

In Gen 4, we read the famous story about the very first murder -- where Cain killed his brother Abel.

If this act is seen in the light of the first prophesy where the devil was told that Eve's seed would crush his head, then we can see why the devil inspired Cain to do so -- he had thought Abel was the promised one, since God accepted his sacrifice, but rejected Cain's. This view is supported in the New Testament, where John, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, recorded in 1 Jn 3:12 " Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother..."

Thankfully, God was always at least one step ahead of the devil, because Adam and Eve produced another son, Seth (Gen 4:25), and it was through this son that the line continued.

Which brings me to a related subject that some may have questions about but have been afraid to ask (I know I did) -- and that is, who did Cain and Seth marry?

If the entire human race originated from Adam and Eve, then the only logical answer is that Cain and Seth married their own sister or niece.

We read in Gen 5:4, "After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters", and Adam's sons and daughters would have had to marry one another in order to have children.

Before one gets nauseated, do remember that God had commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. Back then, it was perfectly acceptable for a person to marry his own sister or cousin, because the effect of the fall would take time to manifest in terms of genetic abnormalities.

Hence, we find that Abraham married his half-sister Sarah, while Jacob married his cousins Leah and Rachel.

For that matter, after the flood, Noah's grandsons had to marry his granddaughters since everyone else besides his family had perished.

It was only 2,500 years later during the time of Moses that God said specifically that one could not have sexual relations with his sister (Lev 18:9). By then, the effect of the fall would have been of significance, and marrying a close relative would increase the chances of duplicating a particular gene mutation (which is the medical grounds upon which secular societies forbid incestuous relationships).

Oh by the way, the earth as we know it is about 6,000 years old, and not millions of years as some scientists would like us to believe. Creation took place in 4004 B.C. and the flood took place in 2348 B.C. These and other events in the Old Testament are shown in this Old Testament timeline.