Cain's Wife
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8931082 |
|---|---|
| Authors | N Wyatt (University of Glasgow, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Volume | 97 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 88-95 |
| Publication date | 1986-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Folklore (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0015-587X • E-ISSN: 1469-8315 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/0015587x.1986.9716369 |
| OpenAlex | W2082671994 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 3 |
THE identity and origin of Cain's wife has always been one of those delightful and unanswered puzzles in biblical tradition. In the Old Testament narrative in its extant form, no answer is to be found, but it is possible that by asking the right questions of the material before us, we can tease a plausible answer from it. The only relatives of Cain who are named are his mother Eve and his brothers Abel and Seth. The latter two may be set aside as irrelevant to the present discussion. So we are left with his mother. Gen. 4.1 does indeed state that the man (ha'adam) had intercourse with his wife Eve, and that she subsequently gave birth to Cain. But there are reasons for doubting the originality of the apparent causal link that is usually implied between these two statements. Firstly, while a causal relationship may legitimately be understood in the syntax of the Hebrew text, it is not the only possible sense. The sentence may equally well be read as four consecutive statements whose relationship to each other remains unstated, to be defined according to the reader's presuppositions. Gen. 4:1 consists of four clauses, each beginning with the particle
Art · Aside · Identity (music · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Originality · Presupposition · Sentence · Syntax · Theology · Wife · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Historical and Linguistic Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citations per year | 0.05 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1989 - 2011 (23) |
| Highly cited | No |