Day 17 Devotion – Where Did Cain get his Wife?

Then Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. Genesis 4:16-17

Picture: Cain being cast out in the background as Adam and Eve mourn over Abel's body.

One of the oldest questions about the Bible is where did Cain get his wife? We are told about Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel but no other people are mentioned at this point. We must remember that we are told later that Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters. We are not specifically told that Cain and Abel were the first ones born. We know from DNA evidence that all the people on earth descend from one man and one woman so there is no choice but to visualize that Cain’s wife was either a sister or possibly a niece. Cain was also worried after he killed Abel that others would want to harm him so they must have been reproducing pretty rapidly.
Cain was banished to the land of Nod. David Rohl discovered several places east of Lake Urmia called Noqdi. Again he found numerous links that this is where the Garden of Eden must have been located.


And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and flute. And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. Genesis 4:21-22


This area in northern Iran is also the birthplace of civilization. It is where man first domesticated animals and plants and figured out how to smelt copper and then alloy it with tin to make bronze. They have even found musical instruments in their digs there. Archaeologists have been amazed at how rapidly man developed these skills. They appear rather suddenly, which contrasts with our typical view of man spending many millennia as primitive cave men. Ancient man was very intelligent and built structures that today we cannot figure out.