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NASB | Genesis 4:17 ¶ Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 4:17 ¶ Cain knew his wife [one of Adam's descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son. |
Subject: Where did Cains wife come from |
Bible Note: Greetings FreeThinker, As for 2 Kings 19 being an exact copy of Isaiah 37, I attempted to answer that Question in post# 106680. As for your general question about sin 'not being present' due to the lack of the Law being given, there are a few things that you are overlooking.. First of all, in Genesis 2:16,17, the LORD God commanded the man that He had made from the ground, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." But man disobeyed this simple command from God, by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:6), even though he knew that what he was doing was wrong (Genesis 3:2-3). Was the Law present during the time of the Garden of Eden? No, it was not. But even though the Law was not present, disobedience and sin were still present, since Adam and his wife fell to sin. But you ask: Where did the Lord tell Cain not to murder before he murdered his brother? The truth of the matter is that God formed man in His own image, after His likeness (Genesis 1:26,27). Therefore, God did not explicitly have to tell Cain that killing a man was a sin, because Cain knew that what he was doing (killing his brother) was a wicked, evil, sinful deed, since every man was created in the likeness or image of God. To destroy an image of something (man) is the next best thing to destroying the very thing itself (God). And since Cain could not destroy God, he killed his brother. This is why Satan prowls after God's creation like a roaring lion, attempting to bring all humankind to ruin and death. Satan is seeking to destroy that which is like God, since Satan cannot overthrow God Himself. And our knowledge of murder as sin is reinforced in Genesis 4:10-15, since the LORD God punished Cain for his sin. And it is later 'reinforced' in Exodus 20. But Cain knew that the act of killing his brother Abel was a sin, and in direct violation with God's standard, since every man is created in the image, or likeness, of God. There has always been a standard. There has always been a "right" and a "wrong." The very nature of things in this world (justice system, nature, the behavior of human beings) proves that there has always been a 'standard' that exists that shows that there is a 'correct' way to behave and there are certain acts that are wrong. In every interaction that you and I have with anyone else that we know or do not know in this world, there is always (or we are pretending) an 'understanding' of some kind of Law or Rule of fair play or decent behavior or morality or whatever you want to call it. And you and a complete stranger are in 'agreement' about this, without even saying a word! For instance, if you and I are in an automobile accident, and the front of my vehicle strikes yours in the rear, then you would argue that I was "at fault", since my vehicle struck yours in the rear. The only defense that I would have would be to contest, or quarrel against, your claim. Therefore, I would be trying to show that you are the one who is in the wrong, and not me. But there would be absolutely no sense at all in trying to prove you as the one being in the wrong unless you and I had some sort of an agreement about what was Right. Therefore, there has always been a 'standard' of rules for behavior that has existed for as long as two different people (and the possibility of conflict) have existed. Or would you argue that you are not subject to the laws of gravity? Would you also say that you are in no need of water for life, or food to eat? In the same way, there is a 'standard' of right and wrong that has always existed for humans, and you will be surprised to find that all humans are in agreement regarding what this basic 'standard' demands. You cannot say that you do not know what this 'standard' is, since you would not be functionable within any civilized society if that would be true. Or are you like an animal that does not have understanding? If that be so, then you would not be able to communicate with me in this way, through a computer, and reading human words. Therefore, you also must realize that there is a 'standard' that has always existed regarding human behavior. Blessings to you, Makarios |