# how did cain and abel have children? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 26, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200 "2004-02-26T00:31:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ss500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@ss500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ss500)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/1 "2004-02-26T00:31:52Z")
According to the bible, Adam and eve had two sons- Cain and Abel. After that how did the generation continue? Who did they marry? How did they have kids? ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/2 "2004-02-26T01:55:57Z")
> [@ss500](#): > > According to the bible, Adam and eve had two sons- Cain and Abel. Actually, the bible specifically mentions a third son, Seth, by name, as well as stating that Adam and Eve had more sons and daughters. > [@](#): > > After that how did the generation continue? Who did they marry? Their sisters, obviously. I mean, biblically speaking, there wasn’t anyone else _to_ marry. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/3 "2004-02-26T02:20:27Z")
So if you believe the bible we are all sons and daughters of incest? That explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/4 "2004-02-26T02:23:21Z")
I don’t have a Bible with me, but don’t the wives come from “foreign lands” or something? I seem to remember that. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Joe\_Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Random)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/5 "2004-02-26T02:25:11Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > So if you believe the bible we are all sons and daughters of incest? Of course, a fairly large number of Christians believe that humans at the time of Adam and Eve were more genetically “perfect” (note the super-long lifespans), and thus incest did not have the same risks for birth defects as we see today, making it okay. This seems like a awfully long stretch to me, however. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/6 "2004-02-26T02:29:47Z")
Cain took a wife from the Land of Nod (nomad). No fuller explanation was given, though. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/7 "2004-02-26T02:37:46Z")
> [@Joe Random](#): > > Of course, a fairly large number of Christians believe that humans at the time of Adam and Eve were more genetically “perfect” (note the super-long lifespans), and thus incest did not have the same risks for birth defects as we see today, making it okay. > > This seems like a awfully long stretch to me, however. Perhaps they were cloned? ---
**Author:** ![ss500](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@ss500](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ss500)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/8 "2004-02-26T02:43:13Z")
SO basically noone is sure about the answer? everyone still has different opinions. Actually i don’t think anyone can give a right answer to this ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/9 "2004-02-26T03:17:02Z")
The links from a “Cain+wife” google indicate that Biblical literalists reject the idea that Cain’s wife came from a neighboring land, and insist that it was one of his own sisters. They discount the incest problem by making a claim for genetic purity in the beginning and pointing out that proscriptions against brother-sister marriages didn’t occur until later in the Bible. There, I did it! I actually managed to present that argument without editorial comment or an avalance of rolley eyes. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/10 "2004-02-26T03:30:45Z")
Cain’s wife came from a land called Nod. Woulda been kinda hard for Abel to have kids considering Cain murdered him. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/11 "2004-02-26T04:00:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Cain’s wife came from a land called Nod. Well, the Bible’s a little vague on this one. After God kicked Cain out of the Garden of Eden we see this: > [@](#): > > **Genesis 4:** 16 So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. > \*\*17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. \*\* It’s quite possible that Cain took his wife with him to Nod. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/12 "2004-02-26T04:12:57Z")
if enough time had gone by, he woudn’t have had to marry his sister, could’ve married his sisters’daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/13 "2004-02-26T05:18:23Z")
> [@SnoopyFan](#): > > Cain’s wife came from a land called Nod. > > Woulda been kinda hard for Abel to have kids considering Cain murdered him. Ok so where did the people in Nod come from? Aren’t all humans supposed to be decended from A&E? Abel could have had kids before he was murdered, no? ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/14 "2004-02-26T11:20:28Z")
Deus Ex Machina. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/15 "2004-02-26T11:23:41Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > Ok so where did the people in Nod come from? Aren’t all humans supposed to be decended from A&E? Maybe they were cyborgs? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/16 "2004-02-26T11:49:46Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > Ok so where did the people in Nod come from? Aren’t all humans supposed to be decended from A&E? > > Abel could have had kids before he was murdered, no? Lilith was supposedly around before Eve so maybe the folks from Nod weren’t human? Marc ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/17 "2004-02-26T13:03:39Z")
> [@MGibson](#): > > Lilith was supposedly around before Eve so maybe the folks from Nod weren’t human? > > Marc Lilith wasn’t human? Does the bible say Adam and Eve were the _only_ humans created by God - or just the first? - Rune ---
**Author:** ![Quint\_Essence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/54ee81/32.png) [@Quint\_Essence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint_Essence)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/18 "2004-02-26T13:06:34Z")
my take on it is that when God made adam “in his own image”, what that meant was that he was given a “soul” or spirit. That soul is then transferred to all of his prodigy. The bible mentions humans on earth and giving them dominion even before the actual creation of Adam which suggests that adam was not the first human but rather the first that was “made in the image of god”, i.e. made spiritual. Adams sons then chose wives from other tribes/peoples and their kids would have passed the spirit to their kids. Anyway thats an explanation that I have always kind of bought into. ---
**Author:** ![Priam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Priam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Priam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/19 "2004-02-26T13:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=bnorton] Genesis 4: 16 So Cain went out from the LORD’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain lay with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. [QUOTE] Thus giving rise to the vampires who roam the world toda-- what? Ok so yes I have been reading too much Vampire: The Masquerade. Is that a crime? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200/20 "2004-02-26T13:42:44Z")
Quint Essence may be onto something, but going with the Biblical literalist route- let me add that “Nod” just means “Wandering”, Cain went into exile so wherever he went was “the Land of Wandering”. I have no problem with either the sibling-intermarriage position (not forbidden until the Mosaic Law, whereas parent-child relations were banned from the start- Genesis 2:24- Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh) or the view of Adamic people marrying pre-Adamics. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-cain-and-abel-have-children/231200.md?page=2)