Life and Relationships

Where Did Cain Get His Wife?

Cain's wife came from Adam and Eve's descendants. Genesis 5:4 explicitly says Adam had “sons and daughters.”

Published 2026-09-13 · Updated 2026-09-27

Written and reviewed by the Word Oasis Editorial Team. Read our editorial policy.

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Creation

Biblical explanation

Cain lived at a time when the human population consisted of descendants of the original family. The Bible does not provide a complete list of Adam's children. If the early human population descended from Adam and Eve, close-relative marriages would necessarily have occurred in the earliest generations. Later, the Mosaic law prohibited close-relative marriages. . This law came many generations after Cain and therefore cannot simply be imposed retroactively on the earliest generations. Scripture does not tell us exactly who Cain's wife was. It gives enough information to understand that she was a descendant of Adam and Eve.

In brief

Cain lived at a time when the human population consisted of descendants of the original family.

Bible references

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Editorial note

This answer is written and reviewed by the Word Oasis Editorial Team, and is presented with supporting references so you can examine each passage in context. If you notice an error or unclear statement, please suggest a correction.