Q & A: How Many Children Did Adam and Eve Have?

How many children did Adam and Eve have?

There are some things that should be recognized from the beginning. The first is that Adam and Eve was the first man and woman upon the face of the earth. “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).That man would be named Adam (Genesis 2:19). “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:21-23). That woman was named Eve (Genesis 3:20). You can also make reference to Genesis 1:26-28 for the creation of one man and one woman. These two came together to form the first marriage. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Eve is the mother of all living. “And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living” (Genesis 3:20). All human life began with Adam and Eve since they were the first man and woman on earth.

First, we will look at the children we know by name. The first of these children were Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-2). We automatically know these two because Cain murdered Abel. That leaves one living son and one dead. The third son is not as well known but he was a child of Adam and Eve. “And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Genesis 4:25). These are the only children of Adam and Eve that we know by name.

Now, there’s two offspring that are unnamed. After Cain murdered Abel, he wound up dwelling in the land of Nod (Genesis 4:16). The unnamed sibling is found in the next verse. “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). Keeping in mind Genesis 3:20, there can be no other explanation. Cain and his wife were brother and sister. Keep this also in mind when reading Genesis 5:6. In order for Enos to be born, Seth had to have a wife. This was more than likely a sister of Seth.

It should be noted that this was the only way the human race could expand. It was also safe to do this at the time without fear of any of the problems that occur from this type of relationship today. Later, during the days of Moses, a decree was given by God against this practice as it was no longer needed. Also, the chances of a birth defect would have been greater at this time (Leviticus 20:11-12, 13, 16-17).

We have noticed five children of Adam and Eve. Is that it? Honestly, we cannot answer this question with an exact number. “And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters” (Genesis 5:4). While we know they had children, we do not know exactly how many.