Where Did Cain's Wife Come From?

© 2010 Answers in Genesis

Question: In the bible it talks about Eve bearing 3 sons but it also says that eve and Adam were the only two ever to have no earthly father or mother, so when Cain went to live in nod, where did his wife come from?

My Reply:

Yes, the Bible does talk about Eve bearing 3 sons, but it also tells us that they had many other sons and daughters. And being the 1st parents created, Adam and Eve surely made many and many children!

Remember, Adam lived a really long time, and I doubt they only had 1 child a year...they were commanded to fill the earth with people (paraphrased), so I don't doubt the Lord caused Eve to give birth to like, quintuplets or something, at least several times in her life.
Also, we don't know how old Cain and Abel were when the murder took place...so it could've been well over enough time for other children to grow old enough to move away. 

I used to wonder why Cain was afraid of being killed after being sent away. I read recently that these other sons and daughters no doubt knew their brother Abel. So their wanting to kill their other brother Cain would be due to their knowing of what he did to Abel (or more if he ticked them off beforehand).  So Cain's wife was either a sister, niece, or child of a niece (or child of the child of a niece).  That information though is not explained basically because it's not needed to understand the lineage of the patriarchs, the experiences of God’s people, or the prophesies or lineages connected to the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ.  Plus, everybody connected with Cain died in the flood anyway, so there's no need to go back and figure out her part of Adam's lineage.

---Pastor Andy

I’m Having Trouble Discerning My Race

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Question:

I know it sounds weird but I’m struggling to know what race i am.
Well I’m 16 years old, I have very light brown skin, and have straight dark brown hair.  But now both my parents are white…my dad has green eyes, white skin, and light brown hair.  My mom has dark eyes, dark hair, and white skin.
However, my great granddad was dark-skinned like me, and he’s the only one I look like.  My whole family is from Portugal and I was born there as well, but I’m currently living in England.
Please, can you tell me what race I am?  I’m so confused.

My Reply:

I had a friend in a similar situation as you. Both of her parents were white, but she was black...when you looked at her, you'd consider her African-American. She said it was because there was African blood somewhere down the line in her family, and sometimes it skips a generation, sometimes it surfaces, as it did with her. Funny thing was she looked a lot like her mom, minus the skin color.
If you're Granddad's still alive, I'd suggest asking him about from where he gets his dark complexion. If he's not, then this may be a good initiative to begin doing some ancestral research. You may find some really neat things about your family, as well as yourself.

As for the race question:

1. A wise man once told me to not be bound by labels. Why?  Because they put you into a box of who you're supposed to be.  If you're Black, you're supposed to be this; white, this; Asian, this...ya know?  Don't be boxed up by labels. And on applications, just put "Other".
2. If you're a Christian, then your race is Christian. Paul reminds us that in Baptism, we died to our old self and were born anew...a new creation...a new race.  Check out Romans 6:4, 2Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10 for more on this.
3. Answers in Genesis did an article on this that you may find interesting.

---Pastor Andy