historical · Gen 4:14–26 · ✓ Approved

Cain’s wife and the two lines in early and later reading

Says Cain fears that “whoever finds me will kill me” (Gen 4:14), and he “had relations with his wife” (4:17). Adam “had other sons and daughters” (5:4). After Enosh’s birth, אָז הוּחַל לִקְרֹא בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה (’az huchal liqro’ beshem YHWH, “then calling on the name of the Lord was begun”, 4:26).

Jubilees makes Cain’s wife Âwân and Seth’s wife Azûrâ their sisters (Jub 4:9, 11), and has Enos begin “to call on the name of the Lord on the earth” (4:12). Augustine holds the first men married sisters, “dictated by necessity” then and later forbidden (Civ. 15.16). Keil agrees, since the race came from one pair (he compares Lev 18). Josephus has Cain’s descendants grow very wicked and Seth’s imitate his virtues (Ant. 1.2.2–3). Augustine assigns Cain to the city of men and Abel to the city of God (Civ. 15.1). Philo gives the names shared by both lines a double sense (Post. 40–42). Skinner suggests the Cainite list and the Sethite core may be variants of one original; Keil denies that similar names make them “different forms of one primary legend”. For the wider source question see note.historical.Gen.2.4-Gen.2.25.two-accounts-question. The Targum of Pseudo-Jonathan reads 4:26 as the time men “began to err, and to make themselves idols”. These are their views.

Uncertain Whether the two lines are distinct families or variant lists, and whether 4:26 marks a beginning of worship or of error, are open. No lean is taken, and these readings do not fix the meaning of 4:14–26.

Claims

SaysGen 4:14 records Cain’s fear of being killed; 4:17 that he had relations with his wife; 5:4 that Adam had other sons and daughters; 4:26 that calling on the name of the Lord was begun.
UncertainWhether the two lines are distinct families or variant lists, and whether Gen 4:26 marks a beginning of worship or of error, are open; no lean, and these readings do not fix the meaning of 4:14–26.

Citations

BSB public domain Gen 4:14, 17; 5:4
OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 4:26
APOT public domain vol. 2 (1913): Jub 4:9, 11–12, p. 18 (n37); read on the page image; “to call on the name of the Lord on the earth” (4:12) quoted, otherwise paraphrased
Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 15.1, p. 284 (n307; no page number printed, by the leaf count and the following p. 285); 15.16, p. 297 (n320) (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2; CCEL npnf102.iv.XV.1, npnf102.iv.XV.16); read on the page images; “dictated by necessity” quoted, otherwise paraphrased
Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), on Gen 4:17, p. 116 (n119); on Gen 4:17–24 and ch. 5, p. 117 (n120); read on the page images; “different forms of one primary legend” quoted, otherwise paraphrased
Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.2.2 = 1.60–66 and 1.2.3 = 1.67–71 (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1), p. 13 (n22); read on the page image; paraphrased
Philo (Yonge) public domain Post. 40–42 (Yonge ch. XII, p. 295 (n308)); read on the page image; paraphrased
Skinner, Genesis (ICC) public domain Skinner, Genesis (ICC, 1910): on Gen 5, p. 138 (n239); read on the page image; paraphrased, not quoted
Etheridge public domain Etheridge, vol. 1 (1862), Targum of Palestine (Pseudo-Jonathan) on Gen 4:26, p. 174 (n186); read on the page image; quoted, otherwise paraphrased

Sources BSB public domain OSHB CC BY 4.0 APOT public domain Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Josephus (Whiston) public domain Philo (Yonge) public domain Skinner, Genesis (ICC) public domain Etheridge public domain Bible Scholarship & Tool CC BY 4.0

2026-11-10

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