Where did Cain's wife come from?, page 5
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reply posted on 20-9-2009 @ 03:58 AM by J-in-TX
I have never given this much thought until now. This question has got me intrigued. I'll give a few of the explanations that I have found.

The classic idea is that Cain married his sister.

Genesis Rabbah states "Cain was a twin, for with him was born a girl; and Abel was one of three, for with him came two girls."

And in the Talmud Sanhedrin 58b "Come and hear! Why did not Adam marry his daughter? So that Cain should marry his sister, as it is written, For I said, the world shall be built up by grace. But otherwise, she would have been forbidden [to Cain] - Once however that it was permitted, it remained so."

As has been already been posted by kingofmd, the prohibition of marriage between brother and sister (see Lev. 18:9) was not in effect until the law was given at the time of the exodus. After that time, the practice was considered abhorrent so no mention of her is given.

Which caused me to ask myself another question. Why are any of the descendants of Cain even mentioned. I have not found any real answer. The closest thing I could find is again from Genesis Rabbah which states "Naamah, daughter of Lemech and sister to Tubalcain, was Noah's wife." As she is the last mentioned in the lineage of Cain, that is the best reason I can find for that.

There is another theory that I remember hearing, but cannot find any references for it. I think this one is silly, but I'll throw it out anyway.
It is based on Gen. 3:16 "To the woman He said, 'I shall surely increase your sorrow and your pregnancy; in pain you shall bear children. And to your husband will be your desire, and he will rule over you.'"
The idea is that without the pain of childbirth there is the possibility that she may have had an uncountable number of children. Like I said, it is goofy and nonsensical.


Those are the classic explanations. I have a somewhat different take on it. I don't take these stories as a literal fact. I look at these as an allegorical story of how things came to be. Gen 1 describes an evolutionary concept. First simple life, grasses and plants; then marine life; then terrestrial life; then humans.
Gen 3 has been given a bad rap as "The fall of man". I don't see it like that. I see the expulsion from the garden as a good thing. In the garden, they were running around naked and picking nuts and berries. Then they are kicked out and begin to wear clothes and begin agriculture. It is a great step forward to civilized life. It is a graduation from a hunter-gatherer existence to a civilized agricultural existence.


reply posted on 20-9-2009 @ 08:10 PM by ButterCookie
reply to post by ColdSteel



Star!!

There are so many passages that conclude to mulitple Gods during creation....


reply posted on 6-10-2009 @ 07:30 PM by PublicDefenseCorp
Originally posted by jd140
reply to
post by Ophiuchus 13



You must be very sensitive to think that post was emotional, good thing I didn't put the word well at the beginning. You might have bursted into tears.

I don't care to read your post, I just was backing up someone else who had trouble understanding it.

Don't cry, I'm sure it was a very well thought out message, it just won't break my heart if I don't get to read it in clear text.


In your reply, you tried to "school" this poster, or even talk down to them.
However, when you've made comments such as "bursted into tears" or "I just was backing up.." then it clearly shows you not only have a very limited understanding of basic grammer, as what you should have stated was "BURST into tears", and "I was just backing up" or even "I was simply backing up..".

So in lamens terms... do not sit at your desk hiding behind a computer screen, acting high and mighty, and over intellegent, when you aren't even able to retort with proper sentence structure!


reply posted on 12-10-2009 @ 12:53 PM by KOGDOG
reply to post by justamomma


My take on the Israel/Hebrew trip is much more....... um... hard core than ATS could handle.

Moving back on topic...

Cain and those strangers "East of Eden" who would either murder or marry him...

Absolutely right.... never take the Tanakh literally unless doing so serves your purposes/agendas.

For example.... those funky "trees" in the "Garden".... wazzup wid dat?

Do you think the "tree" might have been the "family ancestral tree of God"????

And that "forbidden fruit".......... ever hear of a "First Fruit"????

All I can say is....
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. (Eze 16:3)


reply posted on 13-10-2009 @ 01:16 AM by justamomma
Originally posted by KOGDOG
reply to
post by justamomma


My take on the Israel/Hebrew trip is much more....... um... hard core than ATS could handle.

Moving back on topic...

Cain and those strangers "East of Eden" who would either murder or marry him...

Absolutely right.... never take the Tanakh literally unless doing so serves your purposes/agendas.

For example.... those funky "trees" in the "Garden".... wazzup wid dat?

Do you think the "tree" might have been the "family ancestral tree of God"????

And that "forbidden fruit".......... ever hear of a "First Fruit"????

All I can say is....
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. (Eze 16:3)


WHAT A GREAT POST!!! Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. I am being serious when I say I have enjoyed reading your thoughts here. Ezekiel 16 is one of those chapters that many Christians love to throw in our faces to say how evil we are ... and yet, are we not human? Do we not come from the same place as the rest of you? We are no more and no less special than everyone else on this planet. Just like anyone else, we were and are a People who want a land where we can exist in our way of life. That is all. From a non Jewish standpoint, I would think that the view of Ezekiel 16 would be exactly what you pointed out ... that we are only ever human like everyone else. In this sense, I find it to be one of the most beautiful chapters in our Scriptures. We don't put expectations of perfection on the world (that is the Christians) and yet, why it is expected of us to the point that we are even blamed for almost everything that goes wrong in the world is the mystery!

I personally see the tree of life being the heritage of mankind ... and now, with where we are heading for insight through science, there seems to be much truth in this. Certainly the Torah shows evolution from the very beginning! It is a beautiful writing and it is sad to me that other religions have gone and crammed it down the throats of others, even distorting the purpose for its being written. The Tanakh is NOT a book of oppression ... it just takes the educated mind to see this! It is a book of Life .... written for a People by a People .... but ultimately it *is* the Book that speaks to Life from the beginning for all of us.

Again, thank you for this insightful reply of yours ... it made me think.

[edit on 13-10-2009 by justamomma]


reply posted on 13-10-2009 @ 11:07 AM by KOGDOG
reply to post by justamomma



Ezekiel 16 is one of those chapters that many Christians love to throw in our faces to say how evil we are...


The elements of my last post could never even remotely suggest what you believe were my intentions for quoting Eze 16:3.


I personally see the tree of life being the heritage of mankind ...


Honesty really is the BEST policy when interpreting "Scripture". You might find that not everyone is "out to get you".


The Tanakh is NOT a book of oppression ... it just takes the educated mind to see this!


I will agree with part of the above...

"Education" has little to do with "insight" and "love".

Cain found a wife from a different "bloodline".

It is "The Blood" that determines one's destiny.

Another fun dose of "metaphor/symbolism"........ right????
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.
(Isa 49:26)
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