Today, I read the following passage:

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (KJV)

I understand that the Bible only tells us stories of Adam & Eve and their descendents.

Did anybody read any commentary or any book on males and females created before Adam? Who were these man and woman? Is there any mention of these people, other than when Cain was given a mark to protect him from that "every one that findeth me shall slay me"(Genesis 4:14)?

This passage has always confused me too.

I take it to mean that he created all the races, black, asian, spaniard, white, indian etc. and placed them thruought the world.

However, adam and eve were in the garden of eden to keep the garden and care for it. Then when they were disobedient, they were sent out from the garden.


Later, it says that adam and eves children took husbands and wives from the population around them. Which means they could not have been the only people there...

Triund,
It is believed by many if not most people that Adam and Eve were the first and only humans with a soul.
Also that Adam and Eve had many children and they married each other.
They were born with no genetic defects, Those came along much later.
That is what I believe.
Others believe that there were some cave man type peoples who were there who some of Adam's and Eve's children did mate with.
Walking down the streets in many cities a person often see people who look like cavemen which may be one of the reasons such a believe came to be.
Peace and kindness,
Fred

The Bible is clear that we are all descended from Adam and Eve - why we all have sinful blood in us - why Jesus was born of a virgin woman where his sinless blood came from God the Father.
Genesis 5:4 says that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters. This is where Cain got his wife and also where his fear of the "others" killing him would come. At the time Adam and Eve had perfect genetics with all the variations contained in them. Just like when a person makes a copy of that copy of that copy of a document, things get worse and worse. The same thing happens genetically. Finally, dna got so corrupted that close relations were forbidden to marry because it doubles the odds of birth defect. Even with this prohibition birth defects are always increasing. In dog breeds, the "purebreds" are the least healthy and defects are destroying entire breeds. Everyone knows that so-called "mongrels" are usually much healthier than "purebreds."
This is due to the second Law of thermodynamics - entropy - things are decaying, winding down, getting worse on a universal scale.
Scientists know and believe this Law but ignore that evolution teaches the opposite. Stars grow dim and go out, comets disappear, orbits decay. Unless acted upon by an intelligent force, everything dies or decays. (Life - plants, animals, humans, do grow and thrive for a time but all then decay and/or die. Our ancestors were extremely intelligent. Despite the jokes about so-called cave men there is a green movement to make our houses more like caves for energy savings. Drive through Missouri sometime on the interstate. In winter, the billboards say, "visit our caves - they are always a warm 62-65 degrees." In summer, the same billboards say, "visit our caves - they are always a cool 65-68 degrees."

I'm sorry jeff, but you are wrong... cain did not take a wife from any sisters he had...


Genesis 4 11-17

And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. 12 When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength; you shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth." 13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, thou hast driven me this day away from the ground; and from thy face I shall be hidden; and I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will slay me." 15 Then the LORD said to him, "Not so! If any one slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the LORD put a mark on Cain, lest any who came upon him should kill him. 16 Then Cain went away from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 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.




I looked from genesis 1 to these verses and found nothing about cain getting married before this... he must have taken his wife from Nod.

If I'm wrong then the Bible is wrong because it clearly states there were only 2 people on earth, Adam and Eve and Eve, being the "mother of all living" gave birth to many children. Yes Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod. The Bible just does not mention that he took his wife with him nor does it mention when he is in Nod acquiring a wife at that time. You are reading something into scripture that it isn't clear on. Living in the land of Nod was certainly possible for one of his sisters to be there before him since no time frame is given and living to be quite old, the bible mentions some not taking a wife till they were over 100. Even if your conclusion is correct that he took his wife from when he arrived in Nod, that doesn't mean the woman wasn't his sister. When giving the genealogies in genesis, the Bible doesn't mention the woman at all in many places. For example "When seth lived 105 years he became the father of Enosh... when Enosh had lived 90 years, he became the father of Kenan. Of course, you don't conclude that since no woman or marriage is mentioned that these men gave birth themselves!
I'm amazed you tell me I'm wrong when you have no proof you are right and if you are right then the Bible is wrong. The Bible is clear that all humans descended from Adam and Eve.

I understood that he went to a different land to take his wife but as you said they could have just arrived years before.
Incest was not a law until much later in the Bible.

Still on vacation but I have dropped in once or twice to view the threads.So I will offer a short answer to this thread.

The idea that Adam and Eve were the first created, whould make void the Word of God.. It clearly states in (Genesis 1:27) male and female were created. KJV

In (Genesis 1:31) God looked back on what He created and was pleased, and this was the sixth day..

There after begins the single hertiage of life in what Adam and Eve represent as one family hertiage leading to Christ, the King of Kings on earth. And because it is important for us to acknolwedge Christ as a man, yet begotten of God who did walk on this earth. The fulfillment of Christ depended on all that was written in scripture telling of the generations, that lead to HIS throne on earth being King of Kings yet also LORD of LORDS. The fact in the description of Eve (mother of all living) is a direct relation to the generation and hertiage of Christ the living bread that brought us all life.

I believe that adam and eve were the FIRST created, but not the ONLY. As sndbay said, it clearly says before he made adam and eve, he created the human male and female.

Adam and eve were chosen to keep his garden.

Exactly which verses prove God made others before Adam and Eve?

He created male and female does not prove a plural of more than the two.

If you are saying that he created male and female before Adam and Eve that doesn't make sense because in the beginning of Genesis they reiterate the creation.
Otherwise you are saying he created Adam and Eve from the dirt AFTER the seven day creation after he created others.
Why would have created them later?
I can understand it to a degree but it doesn't add up to me.

I think the original poster is only asking if anyone has heard of or read any sources that speak of people before adam and eve. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

this is what I've dug up with a quick search. Most speak only of lilith, adam's first wife.


The Lilith Myth

Were There People Before Adam and Eve?

"Hey" There Were People on Earth before Adam and Eve: The Creation before Adam and Eve



while this one has no seeming basis in provable facts, I do find it amusing ^_^

We are the other people

I believe in the gap theory and I have heard of the stuff on the links you gave but it still doesn't add up to me. Like people were created on the 5th? Day but then he created Adam and Eve 11 verses later after the 7th day?

One of the things people have difficulty with in the Bible is there is no sense of time, we see only a dim picture of a few points in time with no explanation of how much time has passed in these early days. Adam is counted as living a thousand years so we have no idea where some of the events are on the time line but much can happen in a thousand years or fifty generations and certainly a family population can become huge in that time.

Just because something happened once doesn't make it a rule, so a man took a wife at one hundred, it doesn't mean all men waited that long or that that was his only wife. That Cain took a wife from another group doesn't mean they were not related and when they speak of a city they are not talking of a metropolis but something a little better established than a village. Consider how large a town of a few thousand people is, in the light of those ancient days it is huge.

The point of the Story of Adam and Eve is to provide context for the human condition.
1. God treated man, man did not create God
2. Man transgressed and the consequence of sin is the need for redemption, to restore the relationship between God and man
3. Man is easily deceived into thinking he can be like God, knowing all things

It basically boils down to a matter of opinion. There will never be conclusive proof in any direction that will convince either science or religion that they're wrong.

See, the problem I have with the idea that adam and eve were the ONLY humans... is that if this were true, we would all be the same color... where did the africans come from? The spanish? The asian? And any number of other races and ethnicitys...

Some people say there is proof that the first race was African. I believe they were darker skin middle eastern Jews.

I remember yrs ago reading in the OT Genesis 4 that Ham was the first man of the black race. I haven't see it in any newer Bibles I have read.

Before anyone can come to the full understanding of the answer , One must first ask them self, What was the forbidden fruit?
Why was Adam and Eve commanded not to partake of it? ( Even though their actions was necessary for the fall to take place). Who in there right minds would want to leave a perfect garden , where they actually talked to God and all the animals?
There were beings among the new world, Only they were not man. Fallen Angels,
Who were jealous of us , because they thought God loved us more. The leader of those few Angels is called, Lucifer. (Who was band from the Grand Council of Heaven for his own sins ).
Remember we are created in his ( the Creators image) We choose to leave our home with him and come here too this Temporal world to be tried and tested as he (God) sees fit. The ultimate goal being found worthy to resurrect back onto him just as his true Son our saviour Jesus Christ taught us. By his Example.

Tried to keep it as simple as I could. But for those of you who think the fruit is still an Apple and the tempter was a snake , good luck and stay wonderful.

I must agree with homesell.
Fred

Thanks Fred.
Every time a number is used with the word "day" in the bible, it means an ordinary day. Every time evening or morning is mentioned, it means an ordinary day, so when the Bible says "there was evening and there was morning, the first day..." etc. the second the third and so on it is saying it is an ordinary day. If one isn't sure God meant an ordinary day he numbers it so that they understand, and if they still don't believe it he makes it plain by adding evening and morning. The only place in the entire Bible that people question the meaning of the word "day" is in Genesis 1. You never hear people say, "I wonder if Jonah was in the belly of the great fish 3 days or 3 thousand years?" The only reason people question the 6 days is because fallible man has brought in the idea that the earth is billions of years old. Even non-believers and bible scholars say that the meaning of day in Genesis is clear.
In Exodus, God wrote with his own finger into a rock that He(God) created in six days and that is why the seventh day is a day of rest.
Jesus said in Matthew, "In the beginning, the Creator made them male and female..."
I'm not going to contradict the Bible or what Jesus says.
Knowledge from "operational science" - things that are observable, testable, and repeatable are what brought us cars, and cellphones and all the wondrous devices that we have and I fully embrace all of it.
"Origin science" is not science at all but pure speculation based on assumptions starting with the worldview assumption that the earth is billions of years old.

Thanks Jeff,
But...
I still believe that the universe is billions of years old.
God may have made it that way, but that is the way I see it.
Fred