This was possible, in part, because Adam lived to be 930 years old. This is when an unexplained, unnamed wife appears: And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. (Genesis 4:17) Thats it. (Later this was forbidden by the Old Testament, but was necessary at the beginning of the human race.) In essence, Cains response was self-centered. Genesis 5:4. What is the significance of Eve being created as a "helper fit for [Adam]? Some scholars believe that the length of the life spans of the people of this time was due to a vapor canopy in the atmosphere. The First Book of Adam and Eve Chapter 74 (LXXIV): 5-7 God rebuked Cain for his actions and told him that from this point he would be a homeless wanderer on the earth (Genesis 4:12). He's kind of a big deal. Abel's name in Hebrew means, "breath or vapor" perhaps indicative that his life was short-lived. Their sons likely married their sisters because that would have been the only way to populate the earth. In practice, mitochondria DNA has steadily, In Asia, there is a very ancestral lineage known as M, with the descendant branches E, F, and G, as well as the A through the D lineages, also found in the Americas. It seems they would have likely had at least seven, as Cain, Abel and Seth are named. If we scale todays fertility to the antediluvian time, it would be about 350 years. Dr. Cavallo-Sforza believes these Y chromosome lineages may be associated with the most major language groups of the world. This means it must have been around before then, probably before the official Bible was codified, and it was well-known enough to merit mention. While the Bible doesnt mention where Cains wife came from, the apocryphal additions to the story do make sense, even if they kind of have to jump through hoops to make everything fit. 28 Feb 2023 12:46:23 The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? . ), With a whole world to populate, Adam and Eve couldnt stop at just two children. Abel, in the Old Testament, second son of Adam and Eve, who was slain by his older brother, Cain (Genesis 4:116). They had a pristine genetic code. (Genesis 2:21-22) The Lord made only two people, so the only people available for Adam and Eve's sons to marry were their own sisters.Consequently, although this is not stated, the only logical conclusion is that Cain married his sister and they had children . (Its unclear how Adam and Eve knew this. Josephus doesnt write if she got any sort of happy ending. Genesis 3:22-23 tells us that God removed Adam and Eve from the garden of Eden after they sinned. May we strive to be among those who are renewed in knowledge after the image of Jesus Christ. Thus, Cain (1) + Abel (1) + Seth (1) + other sons (2+) and daughters (2+) would equal at least seven children. Genesis 4:1-2 states that Adam and Eve had two children named Cain and Able. All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. This seems like a lot of pressure to put on a wife, making sure her husband doesnt give in to Satan, but sure. Cain may simply have not been showing proper respect toward God with his offering. It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. The Book of Genesis also states that Adam and Eve had "other sons and daughters." According to the creation stories of the Abrahamic religions, God created Adam and Eve, the first man and woman. Cain, on the other hand, means hater. The text explains that even when the twins were in the womb, Cain hated his sister. The King James Bible says, And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters (viaGenesis 5:4). The Bible does not give us a specific number. He was followed by his sister and Eveson, the second son of Adam and Eve. Seth [and] 6 Seth became the father of Enosh [and] 9 Enosh became the father of Kenan [and]". The Controversial Theory That Suggests Jesus Didn't Even Exist, The Untold Truth Of Arlington's Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier, The US Government's Secret Plan To Control The Media Explained, Disturbing Details Found In The Bodies Of The Toolbox Killer's Victims, The Truth About The Peaceful Saddam Hussein Heist, How History Classes Lie About Great Britain And The American Revolution, The History Of The Olympic Anthem Explained, Here's What Happens To The Bowling Ball After You Hit A Strike, Jesus ever heard of him? This means he was of the same character. 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved Genesis 4:17 mentions that Cains wife (Luluwa) gave birth to Enoch. Obviously, he couldnt marry his twin, Lulawa. The Authors intention is seemingly to present the grand picture first and then add certain details throughout the rest of Scripture; this is called Progressive Revelation. Do Men Still Wear Button Holes At Weddings? Like, lots more. Genesis chapter five presents the genealogies of the descendants of Adam where we are simply given the fathers name, his age when he begot the first son and the total number of years he lived. Genesis 6. The Many Faces of Christ: The Thousand-Year Story of the Survival and Influence of the Lost Gospels., From Small Town to the Fast Lane: Meet Danica Patrick, Thomas Jefferson Had A Secret Retreat You May Not Know About, How A 4,400-Year-Old Shaman's Snake Staff Rewrites Finnish History, Here's How Serial Killer Vlado Taneski Gave Himself Away, Inside The Rift Between Michael Jordan And Charles Barkley, The Real Reason Rob Gronkowski Retired From Football, CDC Has A Warning For Men Amid Coronavirus Concerns, Mystery Deaths Among Amish People Caused By Genetic Mutation, Creepy Urban Legends That Turned Out To Be True. The South Caspian population, for example, may have the spoken Eurasian, the ancestral, In 1998, Dr. Wallace and his colleagues discovered the X pattern, a very rare European lineage among the northern Native Americans such as the Sioux and Ojibwa. Required fields are marked *. Later (the date is not clear, just one day) Cain asked Abel to walk with him in the field, and Cain killed Abel. Adam and Eve had many other children, and their children had children, etc. But waityou can't marry your relation, can you? Why Do Cross Country Runners Have Skinny Legs? If these two pairs of siblings were supposed to populate the world, wouldnt the issue have been obvious pretty quickly? Salem Media Group. Accordingly, in their time, they werent doing anything wrong. homage to God&dquo;.8 This was the divinely. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. But Genesis 5:4 is very clear, "After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters." As The Bible Answer explains, the plural on both those words indicated there would have been at least two more children of each sex, bringing the minimum number of kids they had to seven. And indeed, if you are only using the Bible or Torah as your source, there isnt that much detail youre missing out on, especially once Adam and Eve are out in the real world and raising their sons. However, after Adam and Eve sinned in Genesis 3, God said, Look, the human beings have become like us, talking about them as representatives of their entire species. At first glance, Genesis 4-5 sounds like its saying Adam and Eve didnt have any children between Abel and Seth. Eve is called the mother of all living 3:20, so there could be no other humans, other than Adam and Eve's children. There he met his wife and got married and had a child. With likely hundreds of years of child-bearing capability, Adam and Eve likely had 50+ children in their lifetime. I think these prolonged periods of human life were given by God to ensure that humans had enough time to reproduce and create a stable ecosystem. Was Galileo expecting to see so many stars? Ok, I did some searching, and there seems to be some tradition that alleges Adam and Eve and 33 sons and 23 daughters. And when it comes to incest, God doesnt leave any room for doubt with Leviticus 18:6: No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations. With the exception of Enoch, all of these pre-flood descendants of Adam lived a minimum of 777 years, while most were over 900 years. Cain and Abel: The first son of Adam and Eve was named Cain, his name in Hebrew means, "acquired" for Eve remarks after his birth in Genesis 4:1, "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.". He accumulated much wealth, but he got it by violence, robbery, and pillaging. Theoretically, Adam and Eve could have any number of daughters, according to accepted scripture. Incest is dangerous because inherited mutant genes that produce deformed, sickly, or . After this point, Cain had a son named Enoch and founded a city, and had various descendants who developed skills like playing music, forging metal, and nomadic herding (Genesis 4:17-24). It only takes a minute to sign up. The Bible only tells us that Adam and Eve had three sons (Cain, Abel, and Seth.) Is It Ok for Christians to Follow Zodiac Signs? Genesis 5:4King James Version. Now no one bothers to ask her if she wants to marry this new brother. How did the world get populated according to Bible? Cain, who hated her even as an embryo, got mad when Satan told him that Adam and Eve were going to have Luluwa marry Abel, while Cain would be stuck with Aklia. With the exception of Enoch, all the descendants of Adam have lived at least 800 years before the big flood, meaning that there must have been another woman for Adams sons to reproduce as there is no other way for Adams genes to have been carried down the lane. But that lack of details and the crumbs of information that have no explanation, have meant that others tried to fill in the gaps in the story. Still, in a book that will come out in March, Genes, people and also the languages, a colleague at the university, Dr. Lauca Cavalli-Sforza, sketched a preview of all the findings. This was possible, in part, because Adam lived to be 930 years old. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. We have detected that you are using extensions to block ads. So, its possible that in Cain and Abels period, human genetics were so good that all the biological problems that incest creates (mutations, etc.) We also know that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born, so there could have been several generations of people born in between Genesis 4:1 and Genesis 4:17 (the first time that Cains wife is mentioned). [3] (2962 BC) Jewish tradition [ edit] Seth figures in the pseudepigraphical texts of the Life of Adam and Eve (the Apocalypse of Moses ). To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader. G. Connor Salter is a writer and editor, with a Bachelor of Science in Professional Writing from Taylor University. 4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: Read full chapter. Toll Free: 1(800)-422-4253 If they had no daughters, then humanity would have gone extinct. All rights reserved. Abrahams wife Sarah was his half-sister by a different mother (Genesis 20:11-13). He sounds like the worst husband/brother ever, and Luluwa would have been trapped in a gilded cage. At some point, Cain and Abel both gave offerings to God from their produce. Clearly, people wanted to know about these women. Genesis 3:20 chapter context similar meaning copy save. As established, we dont know when Adam and Eve started having daughters (or for that matter whether Abel had a wife and children unmentioned in the narrative). Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died. It had to be many, as they were commanded "Be fruitful and multiply" to populate the earth, but an exact number, based on the Bible, is not known. Reproduction Through Incest. However, accepting that Adam, and likely Eve, lived for 930 years, seven children would be the minimum number, but does this seem reasonable? Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. The European X lineage also originated in Western Asia around 40,000 years ago. Dr. Joseph Greenberg, a linguist at Stanford University, has also proposed three migrations corresponding to the three language groups of the Americans, which are known as Amerind, Na-Dene, and Eskimi-Aleut. NASB Then the days of Adam after he fathered Seth were eight hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. At first, they assumed it came from the intermarriage with the very modern Europeans. The girl was named Luluwa (alternately, according to the Book of Jubilees, viathe Chicago Tribune, her name was Awan), or beautiful, because she was even prettier than Eve. Despite this, the phrase Cain and Abel is known throughout our culture, and we all have a fairly good idea of what it means. Eves second child, Abel, was born seven years later between the years 71-77 anno mundi [p.51]. Other side effects of an incestuous relationship include an increased risk of infertility, miscarriage, cleft palates, heart conditions, facial asymmetry, low birth weight, slow growth rate and neonatal mortality. It was only later that God made the restriction not to marry one's own sister or brother.Genesis 5:4 The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters.As . We know that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters in addition to Abel, Cain, and Seth ( Gen. 5:4 ), and if there was only one original family, then the first marriages had to be between brothers and sisters. If you paid really good attention in Sunday school, you might remember Adam and Eve had another son after Abel was murdered, named Seth. The Bible does not specify how many children Adam and Eve had. How many children did Adam and Eve have? In an article he published in March in The American Journal of Human Genetics, he and his colleagues identify the Vasikela King of the northwestern Kalahari desert in southern Africa as the population that will lie nearest to the root of the human mitochondrial DNA tree. If we compare chapter five to chapter four within Genesis, we can see that the Bible was not written in chronological order, but more in the order of events based on importance. Therefore many people could have existed at the time when Cain killed Abel. An interesting note from the end of the chapter on Abel and Aklias birth is that it reports After the birth of these, Eve ceased from childbearing, at least until after Abels murder, when she gives birth to Seth as a kind of replacement. One of these books was called The Book of the Daughters of Adam. Its not known when it was written, but we do know that Pope Gelasius included it on a list of texts he wanted everyone to know were not church-approved in 494, according toThe Pocket Magazine. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia. How does a fan in a turbofan engine suck air in? 2022 History of Yesterday | All Rights Reserved. The boy, just like in the Bible, was named Cain. Is It True That Adam And Eve Had 33 Sons And 23 Is It True That Adam And Eve Had 33 Sons And 23 Daughters? So, again, is there any indication from tradition or historical writings regarding how many sons and daughters Adam and Eve had altogether? It starts by saying this is a written account of the descendants of Adam, then says, When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him He named his son Seth(5:3). Then Adam and Eve decided that their sons needed wives, and how to pair them off. Proud member Genesis 5:4-5 states that Adam fathered "sons and daughters" before his death, aged 930 years. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. On the other hand, if you think that the act of incest could create hereditary diseases, that would have been impossible as Adam and Eve were created perfectly healthy, and based on these historical records the world was free of viruses or diseases up until humans fell into bad vices. He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against him. She married Abel, pre-him being killed. That means originally, close relatives like brothers and sisters married. Son III S lineage migrated to Asia and begat sons, who spread through the rest of the world to the Sea of Japan, northern India, and the South Caspian. Genesis 4:25-26 picks up after the story of Cains family and says that Adam and Eve had another son named Seth. Thus, Adam lived to see eight future generations. Jacob married two of his female cousins (Genesis 29-30). Second, Genesis 5 talks about Adams lineage without mentioning Cain and Abel at all. This would fit the shift we see in Genesis from early generations with long lives producing children past their 100s to humans with shorter lives and shorter fertility rates. In Genesis 5:3-4 we read, "When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth. And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Apparently, they had a further 56 children:33 sons and 23 daughters. were twins, as it is said, And she conceived and bore Cain (Gen 4:1). The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. It says that After the birth of Seth, Adam lived another 800 years and he had other sons and daughters, (5:4) as if there was a long period where it was just Adam, Eve, and their two sons followed by a big expansion after Seth. So unless he married his mom, where did this wife come from? However, prior to this law being given in Leviticus, there are various instances of men marrying their sisters or other relatives. Based on this the only logical ideology is that Adam and Eve did not have only two sons, but plenty of sons and daughters who married each other in order to reproduce. Your email address will not be published. The key one in Luluwa and Aklias situations is Leviticus 18:9: Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your fathers daughter or your mothers daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere., Just in case you thought He stuttered, God is back in Leviticus 20, repeating a variety of unacceptable incestuous pairings, including, in verse 17: If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace.. The scriptures states, After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. Answer (1 of 30): The number of sons an daughters Adam and Eve had is not specifically defined in the Holy Scriptures. And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. Share. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. Later, Cain married and begat his own nation (see Where did Cains wife come from?). How was the Earth divided in the Days of Peleg? Spare a thought for this girl, who was apparently so undesirable her brother murdered her twin so he didnt have to marry her. Dr. Wallace has recently been exploring the root of the mitochondria tree. At a rate of only one child every seven years, this would result in 50 children for Adams immediate family. I think we can then establish an upper limit for Adam and Eve having a maximum of 1011 children. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-1','ezslot_5',119,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-historyofyesterday_com-large-mobile-banner-1-0');What makes historians and some geologists question some of the statements made within the Bible is the strange order in which the events are presented. Evry mans the same in the good Lords sight.. Therefore, according to Scripture, Adam and Eves family consisted of sons Cain, Abel and Seth, plus a minimum of two other sons and two daughters, giving a total of seven children. He was warned, and yet he continued to behave rebelliously. One of the very vexed issues in human prehistory is the excellent timing and number of the migrations into the Americans. There simply hadnt been enough time or enough generations for the genetic issues modern-day incest presents to emerge. Such marriages in the beginning were not harmful. What does the word sacrifice mean in Hebrew? But one of the things its clear about very early on is that incest is a no-no. Genesis 5 records this: 1 This is the list . However, the Bible states that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters according to Genesis 5:4. Here is a link to the works of Josephus, where this appears: The number of Adam's children, as says the old tradition was thirty-three sons, and twenty-three daughters. Original publishers: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, UK. Now, you would say that incest goes against the Bible and Christianity as a whole, which it does, but at that time the Bible says that these souls, as the first ones to be given life were excused as there was no other way to reproduce. We dont know much about the children these brother-sister couples had. Avid Writer with invaluable knowledge of Humanity! Why precisely God didnt approve of Cains offering is hard to say. Regardless, sheer math would indicate that at least one of Adams three sons married a sister. So when Satan appeared and told him his younger brother, who he disliked so much, was going to get to marry the sister who was, by process of elimination, the hottest woman on Earth at the time, it sent Cain over the edge. Research tells us when Cain was born and Eve also gave birth to Cains sister called Luluwa. It was sometime after the flood when peoples age dramatically decreased. While we do not know the exact number of children Adam and Eve had, it is important to note that their son Seth was born in his own likeness, and after his image (Genesis 5:3). In Romans 5:12-19, Paul's argument rests on Adam as a particular historical individual whose personal choices have governed all of subsequent humanity. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. And since there was still a whole planet to populate, it got worse for Luluwa: His sister bore him children, who in their turn began to multiply by degrees until they filled that place.. Geneticists believe this ancestral human population lived somewhere in Africa and also started to split up some time after 144,000 years ago; you can live or take 10,000 years, the inferred time at which both of the mitochondrial and Y chromosome trees make their first branches. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. That Eve lived approximately the same amount of time as Adam (again an argument from lack of evidence), 800 years / 9 months per child (assuming no rest between children) = 1000, Twins appear in 1 out of every 86 births = 11. RT @BaddCompani: A little tidbit about the Bible, if it was accurate, then help me out with something If Adam and Eve were the first humans and they had 2 sons, Cain and Abel, and they had children, could you explain how this was possible, please? This makes sense, since God told them to be fruitful and multiply. Five kids just wouldnt cut it. And she said, God has appointed for me another offspring instead of Abel, for Cain killed him (Genesis 4:25). They often say Adam and Eve had to have been medium brown or golden brown in colour, as they had within them the genes/genetic information to produce all the divergent races of man This is a politically correct, condescending and inclusive argument that makes people (especially non Caucasians) happy, but it . However, The Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan survived and was included in The Forgotten Books of Eden in 1926 (viaSacred Texts). I am the Lord. He then lists 11 different variations of incest and why each one specifically is unacceptable. So is this just another Biblical contradiction? In this case, he asked Cain, Where is your brother? Cain responded, I dont know am I my brothers guardian? (Genesis 4:9). The split between the two main branches in the European tree suggests that the modern humans reached Europe 39,000 to 51,000 years ago, Dr. Wallace calculates, a time that corresponds with the archaeological date of at least 35,000 years ago. Christianity Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for committed Christians, experts in Christianity and those interested in learning more. While today that would be creepy and illegal, following the lines of evidence reveals that it was healthy and normal back . Get Your Bible Minute in Your Inbox Every Morning. All we are told about Adams offspring is that the first son was named Cain, the second son named Abel [Genesis 4:1-2 ], then after Abels murder, another son named Seth was begotten when Adam was 130 years old. After that, Adam begot sons and daughters [Genesis 5:3-4]. This is actually mentioned in one of the answers to a question on this site regarding how the world got populated. of Real Answers. The Bible mentions Adam and Eve having Seth after a section about Cain's descendants . When Seth was born, Eve said, "God has granted me another child in place of Abel" ( Genesis 4:26 ), indicating that having Seth filled the void left after that tragedy. I do wonder if there is anything from tradition. Dr. Wallace suggests a part of this group may have made their way to America via Siberia, even though no traces of the X-lineage have yet turned up in eastern Asia. Certainly Abel is the younger brother, a significant theological point (Genesis 115, 102). Even if theres not always a mutation, inbreeding brings up a lot of problems involving recessive traits. If you feel an answer is not 100% Bible based, then leave a comment, and we'll be sure to review it. 2 Male and female he created them, and 3 Adam became the father of .