{"id":1831,"date":"2004-09-25T03:09:41","date_gmt":"2004-09-25T03:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=1831"},"modified":"2019-02-27T03:15:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-27T03:15:12","slug":"could-cousins-marry-in-biblical-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-cousins-marry-in-biblical-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Could cousins marry in biblical times?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Could cousins marry in biblical times?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>The restriction on marrying near relatives changed as the world aged. In the beginning, the world was created in perfect condition. &#8220;<i>Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good<\/i>&#8221; (Genesis 1:31). There were no genetic defects to plague mankind at this time. Hence, Adam married Eve even though she was created from a rib taken from the side of Adam (Genesis 2:21-24). However, Adam and Eve sinned which opened the door for death and decay (Genesis 2:17;\u00a0Romans 5:12). The decay did not come immediately, but gradually. Adam and Eve&#8217;s children married each other (Genesis 5:1-4). After all, there were no other humans. Eve was the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). And Paul points out that all of mankind come from one blood. &#8220;<i>And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings<\/i>&#8221; (Acts 17:26).<\/p>\n<p>As time progresses, we find Abram married to his half-sister (Genesis 20:11-12). Jacob married two sisters (Genesis 29:21-28). But by the time the Law was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, detailed restrictions were placed on sexual relations between near of kin. The rules are found in\u00a0Leviticus 18:6-18. A person was not allowed to marry or to have sex with:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Her father<\/li>\n<li>His mother<\/li>\n<li>His step-mother<\/li>\n<li>His sister<\/li>\n<li>Her brother<\/li>\n<li>His half-sister<\/li>\n<li>Her half-sister<\/li>\n<li>His granddaughter<\/li>\n<li>Her grandson<\/li>\n<li>His step-sister<\/li>\n<li>Her step-sister<\/li>\n<li>His aunt (by blood or marriage)<\/li>\n<li>Her uncle (by blood or marriage)<\/li>\n<li>His daughter-in-law<\/li>\n<li>Her son-in-law<\/li>\n<li>His sister-in-law<\/li>\n<li>Her brother-in-law<\/li>\n<li>Any woman and her daughter together<\/li>\n<li>Any woman and her sister together<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, notice that cousins did not make the list; they could marry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Could cousins marry in biblical times? Answer: The restriction on marrying near relatives changed as the world aged. In the beginning, the world was created in perfect condition. &#8220;Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good&#8221; (Genesis 1:31). There were no genetic defects to plague mankind at this&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[64],"class_list":["post-1831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-marriage"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7562,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-did-adam-and-eves-children-marry\/","url_meta":{"origin":1831,"position":0},"title":"Who did Adam and Eve&#8217;s children marry?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Just recently I have heard a question that has been circulated among many different mediums. Just the other night this same question came up in my history class and I would like to know how to answer it. Forgive me if I have somehow missed the logic in this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42117,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-did-cain-go-to-another-land-and-take-a-wife-after-being-cast-out-of-the-garden\/","url_meta":{"origin":1831,"position":1},"title":"How did Cain go to another land and take a wife after being cast out of the Garden?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: When Cain was cast out of the Garden. How did he go to another land and take a wife? Adam and Eve did have more children but not until after Cain was cast out. Were there people here before Adam and Eve? Answer: You are making assumptions that are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41224,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-create-other-people-besides-adam-and-eve\/","url_meta":{"origin":1831,"position":2},"title":"Did God create other people besides Adam and Eve?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Hamilton, I have a question: Were there any other people on Earth at the time of Cain and Abel or at the time of Adam and Eve were created? Because the Bible says Adam and Eve were the first two humans created. However, in Genesis, after Cain killed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17666,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-cain-get-his-wife-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":1831,"position":3},"title":"Where did Cain get his wife? (2)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As I continue my journey through Genesis I find myself asking a new question. I understand Adam and Eve. I get that they had two sons, Cain and Abel, but after Cain killed his brother he was cast over to another part of the land. How did Cain meet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-did-cain-get-his-wife\/","url_meta":{"origin":1831,"position":4},"title":"Where did Cain get his wife?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Where did Cain get his wife? Answer: Genesis 5:3-4\u00a0tells us, \"And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16815,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/doesnt-genesis-414-prove-that-there-were-other-people-than-just-the-descendants-of-adam-and-eve\/","url_meta":{"origin":1831,"position":5},"title":"Doesn&#8217;t Genesis 4:14 prove that there were other people than just the descendants of Adam and Eve?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I just read\u00a0your sermon on three days and three nights\u00a0and I am glad to finally find a preacher or even a person for that matter, who agrees with me on the day of the crucifixion. I can stop arguing about it now that I know I am not alone\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}