Don Stewart :: What Did Eve Mean, I Have Gotten a Man from the Lord?

As God had commanded, Adam and Eve produced children. The first child born to them was a son named Cain. When Eve's first son was born she made the following statement.

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord (Genesis 4:1).

This statement I have gotten a man from the Lord has led to several interpretations.

Adam Knew Eve

Adam and Eve obeyed the commandment of God to be fruitful and multiply. The reference to Adam knowing his wife means . There are a number of deductions that commentators have made from this statement. It has been deduced that when Eve conceived, this was the first time that the couple had had relations. If this is true, then it may help answer the question as to how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden before they sinned. Based upon this statement, some commentators believe that the Fall took place the very first day they were in the Garden. This however, is not necessary to assume. We do not know that this statement refers to the first time they had relations. We simply do not have enough information to be certain. The inference, however, is that the Fall took place a short time after they were placed in the Garden.

Acknowledging God

Some commentators see Eve's response at Cain's birth as something positive. Upon Cain's birth Eve said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. or as the Revised Version translates the verse, with the help of the Lord. This interpretation would have Eve acknowledging God's hand in the birth of the child. She would see it as part of the fulfillment of the promise of God that her seed would crush the serpent's head. Thus, Eve may have thought her first son would be the promised Messiah and put her hope in him. Instead of being the Savior, Cain became the first murderer.

Eve Proud

There is evidence that Eve saw her second son Abel as the fulfillment of the promised seed rather than her firstborn Cain. Abel, not Cain, was the son of promise. This can be discovered by her response when her son Seth was born.

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed (Genesis 4:25).

Seth was the seed who replaced the murdered son Abel. In this case, Eve's response to Cain's birth was not so much in thinking she brought forth the promised seed, but rather she was boasting that she had created a man equally with God. Thus the expression was confidence in her own ability to fulfill God's promise.

Summary

From the account of the birth of Cain we can make the following deductions.

1.Adam and Eve fulfilled God's commandment to be fruitful and multiply. In doing so, Eve brought forth their first son Cain.

2.Some have deduced from the text that this was the first time the couple had relations, but this is impossible to prove.

3.What does seem to be true, is that the time between the placing of Adam and Eve in the Garden, and the Fall, was very short -no children had been conceived before they sinned.

4.Eve's response at Cain's birth may indicate that she thought her first son would be the promised Savior.

5.There is also the view that Eve did not understand Cain as the son of promise, but rather it was Abel. Therefore Eve's comment at Cain's birth was not a belief that the promised Messiah was born.