GENESIS 4:16 – 18
Cain and the Names of His Offspring
And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. (Genesis 4:16)
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. (Genesis 4:17)
And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. (Genesis 4:18)
  Expelled from the presence of God, from the appointed place of worship, and from direct communication with God, Cain was thus removed from all that was good, gracious, true and faithful. He went to a place named ‘Nod,’ which means ‘vagabond.’ God the Holy Spirit loves details, and He adds on the east of Eden, Cain was drawn to the rising of the sun. And in a way that depicts a point of his character. A murderer of his brother, rebellious against God and all that God had instituted, he still acts on the false assumption that he can achieve his own righteousness outside of God’s prescribed conditions by looking ahead to the rising of the sun. The rising of the sun has been a point of worship from the dawn of man. Cain looks to the sun, as a new day, and a new beginning for him without God.
Where did Cain get his wife?
  I can’t count the times that I have been asked, ‘Where did Cain get his wife?’ This question is asked believing that there is no answer — this question is asked assuming that the validity of the Scripture will be destroyed — they ask this question thinking that even though they have never read the Bible they know all about the Bible.
  Here is the answer! Adam and Eve had many sons and daughters besides Cain, Abel, and Seth. In Genesis 5:4 it is recorded that they had daughters, And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: Cain had sisters, and he married a sister. We do not marry sisters and brothers today because of the corruption of our gene pool. Someone once said that ‘the stream is purer at the source than at the mouth.’ The genes of our first ancestors were purer and had not yet become affected by illness, disease, mutation, or sin. Civilization throughout time can be compared to cities positioned alongside of a stream, wherein they throw out their garbage into the stream. As one progresses down the stream, one encounters more and more contamination and garbage. So, it is no great shock to say that Cain married a sister, after all, Adam married his rib! Only someone who is looking for an excuse to get away from God will be troubled by, ‘Where did Cain get his wife?’ How do you think the primitive earth became populated, one man and one woman, then another man with another woman, etc., etc.
  The Bible records that this first family of Adam was ever increasing in numbers. Not too long ago in world history, large families of 12 to 18 children were born from the same mother and the same father. In my own family, my grandfather was the father of 7 boys and 7 girls. This was quite common, not the exception. If even a portion of the first family married, and had children, and their children had children, and their children had children; Adam’s progeny would have numbered in the hundreds of thousands at the time of his death, and that is a very conservative figure to determine the early world population.
  God doesn’t reveal the names of all the other offspring of Adam and Eve because the battleground will be based on just two seeds from Eve. Up to now our study in Genesis there have been many things that God has not given to us in recorded form. For instance, in Genesis 1:1, God gives us merely one verse about the creation of the universe. Why should God bother to give us more information? Do we think that within all our genius minds that we would be able to comprehend the works of God? Jesus, speaking to a very intelligent man named Nicodemus said, If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? (John 3:12) Simply put . . . get over it . . . God doesn’t think much of the mind and reasoning ability of man. Regarding our current section of Scripture, God quickly moves over events and people not involved in His greater plan of redemption for man because the Bible is centered around God, His Christ the Lord Jesus Christ, and redemption: that mankind is in need of redemption.
Names in Scripture
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16)
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. (Romans 15:4)
  Every word, every number, every color mentioned, every age mentioned . . . everything in Scripture was given by God through the Holy Spirit of God for our learning. There is not one superfluous word. Names have meanings, some names are drawn from more than one root. When this occurs, pay attention to both roots because they will somehow tell us a story about the person with the name, and the person who gave the name.
  Most parents, in our current society, give names to their offspring for reasons that usually reveal something about the parents. Names are given to draw attention to the background or roots of the family, names are given to honor a close relative, names are given for a favorite movie, or movie star, or celebrity or a personality; sometimes names are selected because they are contrary to the established norm of society, sometimes names are selected in the hope of what the child may become. There are many reasons, yet all reveal something about the giver, and because children (on the most part, thank God there are exceptions) become what their parents train them to become they in turn take on the same mind-set and fulfill that name. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. (Genesis 4:17)
ENOCH
— ‘dedicated’ —
3rd from Adam and 2nd from Cain
  The very first thing we notice about Cain after the birth of his son was the development of an urban civilization. The first city mentioned in Scripture before the flood was called Enoch, named after Cain’s first-born son. Their inward thought [is, that] their houses [shall continue] for ever, [and] their dwelling places to all generations; they call [their] lands after their own names. (Psalm 49:11) Cain named his son Enoch, which means ‘Dedicated.’ This name reveals much to us about the mind-set and heart-set of Cain. Instead of having a repentant heart attitude over his murderous act against his own brother: Abel, and a repentance towards God, instead Cain’s heart revealed a defiant and rebellious attitude. He will name the work of his hands ‘dedication.’
  A city implies many people, and we see Cain’s family multiplying. His offspring had his same rebellious heart. Cain named his first born ‘dedicated’ because Cain was dedicated to himself, dedicated in his self-will, and to the dedication of his heart to rebel against God in everything he did. We learn much about the men of the Bible by the names they called their children. He was proud in his possessions, and claimed the city and the land as his, and not God’s. That is man, sinful man, he believes that this world belongs to him, and leaves God out of it completely. It’s as if Cain said to God — ‘Look what my hands have accomplished, I don’t need you God, we are dedicated to showing you what we can achieve in the wonderful accomplishments by our own hands — we don’t need or want God!’ Man has not changed, not one bit, thousands of thousands of years have past, and man still is dedicated to himself and only himself.
And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech. (Genesis 4:18)
IRAD
— ‘wild ass’ or ‘city of witness’ —
4th from Adam and 3rd  from Cain
— ‘wild ass’ or ‘city of witness’ — 4th from Adam and 3rd from Cain— (one root of the name is ‘wild ass,’ another connected root is ‘city of witness.’) Irad also could have had both names at the same time; as I have more than one name that I am known by (family members call me by one name, business associates and acquaintances call me by another name) and many people have more than one name.
  Enoch (Dedicated) called his firstborn ‘A City of Witness’ or/and ‘Wild Ass.’ In Enoch’s pride over his city being called by his name, he also is a ‘wild ass.’ A wild ass is uncontrollable, it cannot be reasoned with, it is rebellious and goes its own way. The city witnesses to God and to the world that they do not need God and are doing whatever they want to do. True of man today in heart and spirit – a wild ass.
MEHUJAEL
— ‘blot ye out that Jah is God’ —
5th from Adam and 4th from Cain
  ‘A City of Witness – Wild Ass’ names his first-born son ‘blot ye out that Jah is God.’ Here we have the first mention of God in the name ‘Jah,’ — mehuja (el) — inserted in the name of an earthly person. Does this not show Irad’s complete rebellion against God, and his disrespect towards the Almighty God. Only a ‘wild ass’ of a person would name his son this name, in that ‘wild ass’ desires to remove the name of God from the earth, but he also wants to bring God down from His position of Creator, Judge, and the Eternal Existent One. True of man today in heart and spirit — attempting to not only blot out the existence of God but attempting to bring God down to be on the same plain with man.
METHUSAEL
— ‘they died who are of God’ and/or ‘they died enquiring’ and/or ‘man who is of God’ —
6th from Adam and 5th from Cain
 ‘Blot ye out that Jah is God’ names his son, ‘they died who are of God.’ This name discloses that not only did ‘blot ye out that Jah is God’ want to remove the true God of heaven and earth from being God (which also reveals the religiousness of man in worshiping man-made gods), but man wanted to shout to the world that those who follow God would face death or should face death. Notice the continuation of the murderous heart that was in Cain. ‘They died who are of God’ has a twofold meaning: the first meaning refers back to Abel who was murdered because he was of God; second meaning implies that all those who are of God should be destroyed. True of man today in heart and spirit — as they are murderers in heart and hate God, His Christ and all Christians.
  I find that the third root of this name can also be ‘man who is of God.’ Of course, he was not the man of Jehovah, but he could quite possibly have been ‘a man who is of god.’ This would give us another side of this man to examine. Religion is a very powerful force, and through religion man can be controlled and manipulated. I would think that in this civilization of the Cainites, man not only worshiped themselves, but they would gravitate to worship . . . the worship of trees, stones, idols, anything and everything. And in their worship, they would most likely follow a worship leader, ‘a man who is of god.’ Things haven’t changed very much in the hearts of humanity. Today man worships anything and everything and is very religious; man is especially drawn to organizations that have a form of religion with all the outward symbolism. Thousands will gather to hear men speak with buttery mouths and sugary words . . . all these men have to do is to drop the name of ‘Jesus’ or say ‘God’ a few times in their oration and that alone makes them ‘a man who is of god’ in the ears of the hearers.
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Romans 1:21)
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. (Romans 1:23)
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; (2 Timothy 4:3)Â And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:4)
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:5)
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love [to have it] so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? (Jeremiah 5:31)
LAMECH
— ‘made low,’ or ‘unto bringing low’ or ‘why thus with thee?’ —
7th from Adam and 6th from Cain
   Methusael, (‘they died who are of God’) then named his firstborn ‘made low.’ This name also takes us back to Cain not only losing his birthright but being made low by becoming a vagabond in the earth and rejected by Jehovah. This name Methusael was given to be a memorial of hate for God. In the name Lamech ‘made low’ we see a fist raised to God as if ‘they died who are of God’ is saying to God, you think we are ‘made low,’ but look at us — we have a city, you think we are ‘made low,’ look at us — we have commerce, you think we are ‘made low,’ look at us —we have the arts of music and song. You think we are ‘made low,’ look at us and all our inventions of iron and brass. Look what we, who have been made low, have accomplished. Look how high we have come from being ‘made low.’ Look at lowly man, without God, achieving great things for humanity. True of man today in heart and spirit — as they take great pride in their accomplishments and inventions. They have created their own religion, the worship of self, the worship of man, and the religion of humanism.
© Copyright 2015, Mary Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB)