Who Was Cain's Wife?

A Feminist Theologian Looks at the Story of Cain and Abel

From the NRSVUE, Genesis 4: The Story of Cain & Abel

Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” 2 Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel for his part brought of the firstlings of his flock, their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. 9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen, your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! 11 And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it will no longer yield to you its strength; you will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” 13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Today you have driven me away from the soil, and I shall be hidden from your face; I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and anyone who meets me may kill me.” 15 Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! Whoever kills Cain will suffer a sevenfold vengeance.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that no one who came upon him would kill him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Beginnings of Civilization

17 Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch, and he built a city and named it Enoch after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methushael, and Methushael the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who live in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 22 Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I have killed a man for wounding me,a young man for striking me. 24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

25 Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has appointed for me another child instead of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth also a son was born, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to invoke the name of the Lord.

In General Terms

The story of Cain and Abel is known far and wide by many Christians and non-Christians alike. After Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden and forced to till the land, they conceive two boys, Cain and Abel [Gen 3: 23-24, Gen 4:1-2].

Cain, the farmer, and his brother, Abel, the sheepherder, both offered the work of their labor as gifts to God, who only favored Abel’s gift. This caused Cain to be indignant about God’s favoritism towards his brother. God recognized Cain’s indignation and told Cain to rule over the seductive power of sin and his emotions, and to do what is righteous. Instead of obeying God’s commandment, Cain takes Abel alone into the field and kills his own brother.

God speaks to Cain again and asks if Cain knows where his brother is.

Cain lies: “I don’t know; Am I my brother’s keeper?”

God is upset. “What have you done? Your brother’s voice cries out to me from the ground…Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”

Cain argues with God over the punishment, claiming the exile will get him killed by other people. God responds that he will put a mark on Cain, so that anyone who kills Cain will suffer sevenfold.

Cain then goes on to marry a nameless wife [Gen 4:17], and they create the first civilization through their progeny. This city, named Enoch after Cain’s firstborn son, and Cain’s bloodline, become the leading ancestors of all those who tended to livestock, metallurgy, and music. Cain’s great-great-grandson, Lamech, kills a young man for striking and wounding him and tells his wives about the murder without remorse.

The story ends with Eve birthing Seth, and it is with this birth, people began to invoke the name of the Lord.

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Questions

Much can be and has been pulled from this story, but I want to focus on Cain’s nameless wife. Cain, who had just murdered his brother and lied about it to God, is cursed to wander the Earth and never farm again. We are then told Cain has a wife. We know nothing about the first wife mentioned in the Bible, not even her name or where she comes from. Adam and Eve never married, there was no mention of Eve as Adam’s wife. The wife of Cain is the first instance of formal marriage and title in the Bible. She is the wife of the first human-born son, and the child-bearer to the first recorded Biblical civilization, and we don’t even get her name. We know the names of the women of Cain’s lineage: his mother, Eve; the wives, Adah and Zillah, of Cain’s great-great-grandson Lamech; and Lamech’s daughter, Naamah. But the woman in the center of it all remains nameless. We know nothing about this woman.

So we must ask our questions.

How did they meet? If Adam and Eve were the first humans, where did Cain develop a fear of other people killing him in exile? Were Adam and Eve the first people, and God sprang up more people outside of the Garden of Eden without the narrator disclosing this to us, the readers? We must assume this is so, otherwise Cain would not have mentioned his fear of others killing him.

Cain, the fratricidal brother, builds civilization. He is now the patriarch of all of civilization. Is this not a commentary on what men will do to establish security, material success, and possible redemption in society? Cain displayed no remorse for the death of his brother. The emotions we know of Cain are that he was mad God didn’t favor his gifts and that he was scared of being judged and killed when God exiled him and removed his ability to farm. Jealousy and fear. That is what we know about Cain’s emotional range. Cain dismisses God after Cain is not found in favor and decides he is going to take life into his own hands and do whatever he pleases. Is this not applicable as we look at our current political leadership?

Cain murdered his brother and lied to God when God questioned him about the murder. Did Cain’s wife know this information? Did she know she married a lying murderer, yet married him anyway?

Let us consider the patriarchal context of the author(s) of Genesis. Women had little status without a husband or children, and if she had children, she likely hoped for sons, regardless of how she felt about birthing a daughter. Men were the sole pathway to status and security for a woman in this historical context. Women’s roles were confined to the domestic sphere. If a woman was not married or did not have children, she was assumed to have something wrong with her and would be disgraced both in her community and by her family of origin. A woman was a nobody unless she was associated with her husband or sons.

Let’s pretend, against all character explanations of what we know about Cain from the texts, that Cain gets a spark of honesty and discloses to his wife that he killed his brother because God favored Abel’s gift over Cain’s.

Does the nameless wife marry Cain anyway for patriarchal security in her society? Is she just glad she has a husband, regardless of who he is and what he is capable of?

Does she feel trapped by society and her life choices, knowing that her lifestyle and security would abruptly end and society would judge the living f*ck out of her if she were to leave somehow?

Does the truth scare her, knowing if he’s willing to kill his own flesh and blood that, she, as a woman, could be his next victim if she acted out in discordance with her husband?

Remember, Abel didn’t do anything to Cain – Abel gave an offering, and God liked Abel’s offering more than God liked Cain’s offering. That’s it. That’s the story. Abel had a lower status compared to his brother; Abel was the younger brother and labored as a sheepherder, which was considered laboriously ‘lower’ than farming. Cain had all the power and God smiled on Abel. But Abel didn’t outright do anything personal to Cain, especially not any action that would justify a murder.

If Cain was able to kill his brother, does that fear extend to his nameless wife, too? What eggshell would she step on to make her husband snap, what misstep could occur that could cost her her life? Are we to suspect that there is cause for alarm that there may be domestic violence in this household? The narrator doesn’t name the wife. She is a plot ploy, mentioned once to serve the plot forward with her womb. Cain names the town after his son, meaning the text tells us Cain’s son’s name twice! And we can’t even get the name of the woman who married the firstborn human son and the namesake of the first civilization.

Does Cain’s nameless wife chalk it up to ‘boys will be boys’?

Does she tell herself that her lowered female status was not competitive with Cain like the rivalry between two brothers, and this exception made her safe? Did she justify that she was not a possible victim because she was a woman?

Perhaps she was of darkness, too. Did she have a sketchy past that they could bond over? Was she a murderer, a thief, or a prostitute, any of which that society would have punished her for? Was she someone who understood what it meant to throw people under the bus in order to get ahead? Was she as cutthroat as her husband, Cain? Was she a survive-at-all-costs kinda gal?

Let us assume that Cain never mentioned the murder; that he married his nameless wife and never spoke about his past.

Cain lied to God about murdering his brother. Did he rationalize, ‘What’s another lie to a lowly woman?’

Does this imply that the first marriage in the Bible was founded on dishonesty, that the first formal biblical union was built on secrets and lies by omission? What does that say about marriage if the first union was to a lying fratricider?

What does it say about society that our first civilization was birthed by a lying brother-killer and his nameless wife?

There is an interpretation from two South African apartheid-era theologians, Boesak and Masala, that argues Cain and Abel is a story about oppression. That those who have power will oppress the marginalized to the point of death and continue to reap material success even after the crime.

I appreciate this sentiment. And, I further expand on this interpretation to wonder about the wives and women of Musk and Trump, who watch their husbands from their ivory towers as those husbands spew hate and exert power that actively harms anyone not on their Yes-team.

Was the nameless wife of Cain similar to Melania Trump? Was she just looking to survive when she married him? Is she trapped, or is she actively participating in her husband’s evils? Who are these women that marry these men, and what is going on behind their eyes?

Who is the wife of Cain?