In Genesis 4:1-8 we have the story of Cain and Abel. We have their birth in verses 1-2, their sacrifices that were offered to God in verses 3-5, and Cain murdering his brother in verses 6-8. Then in verses 9-12 we see God appealing to Cain to repent and then God pronounced a judgment (to wander as a fugitive on the earth) upon him for failing to repent.

Now let’s read verses 13-15, “And Cain said to the LORD, ‘My punishment is greater than I can bear! Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ANYONE who finds ME will kill me.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Therefore, WHOEVER kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on HIM sevenfold.’ And the LORD set a mark on Cain, lest ANYONE finding HIM should kill HIM.” It is obvious from the words I capitalized that there “were other people living on earth.” Cain was banished from his parents and Eden, he assumed others would try to kill him (perhaps for the murder of his brother). In mercy, God “set a mark on Cain” and promised to punish anyone who would kill him. Again, Cain was sure there were OTHER PEOPLE on the earth and this is confirmed by God Himself who said He would take vengeance on THE PERSON who would murder him.

Let’s read on in verses 16-17, “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.” Here we learn that there were people living in “the land of Nod” and that Cain, at some point, got married and his wife bore him a son named Enoch. Furthermore, he built a city, which no doubt involved many others who helped him. We then read in verses 18-24 of the generations of children that were born to Cain through the line of Enoch.

The questions I always hear are: 1) Where did the residents of Nod come from? and 2) Did Cain marry one of his sisters or a niece? These questions are from critics of the Bible who assume that Cain and Abel were the only people living on the earth after Eve gave birth to them (as we see in Genesis 4:1-2). But those who make this assumption fail to see there are two verses which can easily account for Adam and Eve having MANY children born to them before Cain murdered his brother. In Genesis 4:3 we read, “And IN THE PROCESS OF TIME it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD.” How much TIME PASSED before Cain and Abel sacrificed to the Lord and then Cain killed his brother? We are not told, but it would seem it was MANY YEARS which then allowed Adam and Eve to have MANY CHILDREN, and some of them “moved to the land of Nod.” In Genesis 5:4 we read, “After he (Adam) begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had SONS AND DAUGHTERS.” Cain obviously married one of his sisters or a niece, either before he murdered Abel or when he got to the land of Nod. Marriage to close relatives had not yet been forbidden in those early days of the human race (nor was there the genetic risk of bearing children with some kind of handicap like we have today).  (DO)  (721.5)