General Christian Discussions

Biblical Incest? – Mene-Mene

Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
Wow, am I controversial today. These have been hanging around me for a while.

Since Adam and Eve were the first people, where did the other people come from? Adam and Eve had 3 boys, (A nightmare I'm sure, they haven't had a childhood to help them understand or learn) it appears no girls. So who did the boys marry?

We know the Abel was killed, so thats 2 boys that need marriage. I THINK that it says Cain married an egyptian woman, where did Egypt come from? It would have taken tens of generations to become reckonised as a nation. Seth was born later.

So, I figure maybe Adam had daughters, but wouldn't both Cain, and Seth commit incest violating their sisters?

Maybe this is a bit PG-13, but look around! Its openly talked about now, these days are terrible, no matter how you shield yourself you hear it. And I'm curious. If you want I'll get rid of this.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

HanClinto

Administrator

Posts: 1828
From: Indiana
Registered: 10-11-2004
Incest wasn't forbidden until much later in the Bible. This makes pretty good sense, since the gene pool was still very rich at that point and inbreeding wasn't nearly as detrimental to offspring as it is now.

While the Bible doesn't specifically say so, it's most commonly understood that Cain married one of his sisters, and so did Seth.

ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
well, by technicalities, the rules of incest weren't around then and maaaaaaayybe it can explain why us humans don't live 900 years anymore( but I doubt it). is a deformity a deformity if everyone has it?

I need to look into this more, but I'm open to the possibility that while Adam and Eve might have been the first, didn't mean they were the only.
Cain was afraid, when he was banished, of other people and their reaction toward him.

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Realm Master: "I'm cockasian"
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Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
I see your points, but its still pretty scary thinking about it.

Arch: Whats your point of him being afraid?

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
not of being afraid, but of the other people. seemed the world was not only pretty populated, but also having different groups of people.

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Realm Master: "I'm cockasian"
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buddboy

Member

Posts: 2220
From: New Albany, Indiana, U.S.
Registered: 10-08-2004
well, you know, the world was a different place before the flood. I think it's possible incest wouldn't have created deformities and such like they do now. but that's just speculation.

I believe that yeah, they did marry their sisters. it says when Cain ran off, after he got wherever, he knew his wife and she bore a son. and he started a city, called Nod.

Arch pointed out something interesting, though. but you know, people lived to be very old at that time. it's possible that Cain may have been, say, 400. and so by that time, his kids, and his brother's kids, and their kids, and their kids, may have had more kids. so perhaps that area of the earth was already populated with their offspring.

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that post was really cool ^ <IMG SRC="http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f272/mitchelldude/swordbanner.png[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f272/mitchelldude/liberalismjoke.jpg">
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[|=D) <---|| me

[This message has been edited by buddboy (edited January 01, 2007).]

spade89

Member

Posts: 561
From: houston,tx
Registered: 11-28-2006
guys the bible doesn't talk about the story of every single person, people back then lived something like 900 years, how young did you have to be to get married or how many wives was a man allowed to have? or how frequently did women had children in those days population growth could be exponential at those times ,people didn't have as many diseases as we do now,and if they could live 900 years it is possible that their metabolism is much different than ours, how long does a woman have to be pregnant before giving birth at those days ? before the great flooding lots of things were different.

anyways i don't see the significance, if it was signigicant then the bible would have mentioned it.
although it is good to be open-minded about everything ,i don't believe that questioning the bible would benifit us or give us a more understanding of the bible or christianity. if you are curious about this things it is good to ask questions like this but don't let curiosity define your belief.

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Matthew(22:36-40)"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Whose Son Is the Christ

Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
I see your points and have heard some others. As for the long life thing. If I remember correctly, Noah was like 400 before he had any kids.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto

ArchAngel

Member

Posts: 3450
From: SV, CA, USA
Registered: 01-29-2002
well... I dunno. I'd have to read the text over again but I'd imagine Noah was 400 when he had Japeth (or whoever of the three which came first).
The bible doesn't record all the kids a man has, just the ones that aren't completely worthless.

400 years before your first kid... worst case of blue b-- nvm.

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Realm Master: "I'm cockasian"
Soterion Studios

buddboy

Member

Posts: 2220
From: New Albany, Indiana, U.S.
Registered: 10-08-2004
um, spade, we weren't letting it define our beliefs. it's just a little discussion about what we think about this subject. I think we're all a little curious, and MM was just curious about our views.

are you sure Arch? wow. that's old.

Well, the bible's not too clear on this. it just says when he was 500 he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. doesn't say if they were his first 3, or when exactly...

but from what I say of the rest of the chapter, this was old to have your first kids, even for that time. dunno.

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that post was really cool ^
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[|=D) <---|| me

spade89

Member

Posts: 561
From: houston,tx
Registered: 11-28-2006
sory ,bb i didn't mean anything by it,it's just that sometimes curiosity can make you lose prespective on things,and from what i have seen that's not the case with you guys

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Matthew(22:36-40)"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Whose Son Is the Christ

steves
Junior Member

Posts: 2
From: Somewhere,USA
Registered: 05-31-2005
> Adam and Eve had 3 boys,...it appears no girls. So who did the boys marry?

Genesis 5:4
The days of Adam after he fathered Seth were 800 years; and he had other sons and daughters. (ESV)

Did the sons and daughters marry? Yes. Was it incest? Incest is a modern term generally involving some type of abuse. So I'm not sure of applying that particular wording.

What about genetic defects caused from genetic copying mistakes? Perhaps Adam and Eve were geneticly 'pure' and the copying mistakes would have taken quite some time and numerous generations to manifest.

Biblical laws against brother-sister marriage were first
instituted for the Israelites around 2000 years after Adam—during
the time of Moses (Leviticus 18).

Mene-Mene

Member

Posts: 1398
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
Registered: 10-23-2006
Thank you Steves, Buddboy, Spade, and others for your input. I think this topic has gotten a bit old, and further response only repeats whats been said, so I'm kind of done, I've gotten my answers.

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MM out-
Thought travels much faster than sound, it is better to think something twice, and say it once, than to think something once, and have to say it twice.
"Frogs and Fauns! The tournament!" - Professor Winneynoodle/HanClinto