The biblical interpretation of the origin of humanity causes a lot of controversy, not only among atheists and agnostics. Some of the nuances are not entirely clear to deeply religious people. One of the most controversial issues concerns the procreation from the sons of Adam and Eve.
In Scripture, there are references to the three children of the first people created by God. They are called by name. The firstborn of Adam and Eve is Cain (Genesis 4: 1). Sometime later, the couple had a second boy named Abel (Genesis 4: 2). At the age of 130, Adam fathered a third son, Seth (Genesis 4:25), who is now often forgotten.
Not a word is said about daughters. At the same time, the Bible clearly indicates that apart from Adam and Eve, there were simply no other first people on Earth. Where did Cain, and subsequently his brother Seth, take wives for themselves to continue the human race?
The wife in the land of Nod
After Cain killed his middle brother out of jealousy and envy, he was expelled from the family. For some time, the outcast was forced to wander, until he found refuge in the mythical land of Nod. It is in connection with this event that Cain's "second half" is first mentioned. Genesis 4: 16-17 says that the fratricide came to the land of Nod, there he “knew the wife” and became the founder of a large family.
On the one hand, it is not entirely clear how people appeared in this area. On the other hand, the very word "knew" does not indicate that Cain got married. "Knew" - this literally entered into an intimate relationship, after which the wife conceived a boy named Enoch. Cain could find a wife in the land of Nod or could settle in this land, being already a married man.
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If the first assumption is correct, then some other generation of people existed. This is contrary to the Bible, but is of great interest to curious scholars of the Holy Scriptures.
Other possible descendants of Adam
In the near-church literature, there are often references to the first companion of Adam. She is known as Lilith. In the Bible itself, there is no information about this mythical lady. But there are many of them in old patericons, descriptions and many other documents prohibited by the church. There is a lot of information about Lilith in the Ben-Sira Alphabet. The alleged author of this medieval text was Yeshua, the son of Sirach (or simply Ben-Sira).
He points out that the first companion of Adam, Lilith, was distinguished by a proud and rebellious disposition. Not wanting to obey God's will and her husband, this woman threw the companion intended for her by the Lord and literally “flew away” from him into the heights. Adam complained to God. The angels Sansena, Samangelof and Sena were sent for the fugitive. Lilith did not want to return, for which she was cursed.
Ben Sira's Alphabet mentions that there could have been several punishment options for Lilith. According to one of them, she became sterile, on the other, she could only give birth to demons. Another type of curse is the nightly death of every hundred children born to Lilith. That is, hypothetically, she could have descendants.
The Jews also have hints of the existence of this enemy of God (Isaiah 34:14). The proper name Lilith in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint, III-I centuries BC) was omitted. This blatant violation of the rules was common in the past. Instead of the woman Lilith, a mysterious night ghost appeared in the Septuagint, the embodiment of evil and darkness. She herself simply disappeared from the pages of the book, “dissolved” in the mists of time.
The first wife of Adam is presented as a demonic being associated with the devil. But whether she had human children and whether they could be another branch of the human race is not known for certain. At the same time, opponents of the traditional church interpretation admit that its descendants could exist. Moreover, Adam took one of the daughters of Lilith to be his wife in the land of Nod.
Brotherly love
If you turn to the traditional interpretation of the Old Testament, you can get a completely different version. The Bible indicates that the first man lived 930 years (Genesis 5: 6). According to God's covenant, he was supposed to "be fruitful and multiply." During such a long life span, the founder of the human race could have had many other children, not only Seth, Cain and the last killed Abel. This is confirmed in Genesis 5: 4.
It says that after the birth of Seth, Adam lived for another 800 years. During this time, the couple had many sons and - most importantly - daughters. The exact number is not specified, but Jewish historians and interpreters of the Old Testament Flavius and Josephus estimate that there were about 30 boys among them, and at least 23 girls.
Undoubtedly, over 800 years, many of Adam's descendants grew up, married and became parents themselves, thereby significantly increasing the population of the planet. Who did the men from the clan of Adam and Eve marry, if besides their sisters there were no other women on earth? In this situation, the only way out was to enter into intra-family marriages.
Arriving in the land of Nod, Cain was either already married to one of his sisters or nieces, or he met there a future wife from his own overgrown family. Courage, the sons of Adam probably left their parents' house and equipped their own homes in new places. They could establish a settlement in the land of Nod, where Cain became a husband and heir.
The concept of incest did not exist in Old Testament times. It was introduced only in the time of Moses. Then there was a strict ban on marriage with blood relatives in order to avoid the birth of offspring with genetic deformities. Up to this point, incestuous marriages were very common, as evidenced by the life of Abraham. He lived 400 years before Moses. Abraham's spouse was his blood sister (Genesis 20: 11-13).
The version that Adam was married to his sister or other close relative confirms most of the Bible's provisions. In particular, the fact that all people are brothers to each other, not only in a metaphorical, but also in a literal sense. All living on earth originated from the same seed and are genetically related.
