Twin sisters of Cain and Abel

The twin sisters of Cain and Abel exist in some traditions of the Abrahamic religions. The canonical Book of Genesis does not mention any sisters of Cain and Abel; the names and narratives appear only in later Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. The names of the twin sisters are different according to a specific tradition.

Twin sisters of Cain

Aclima and Lusia

Aclima (also Kalmana, Lusia, Cainan, Luluwa, Âwân[a]) according to some religious traditions was the oldest daughter of Adam and Eve and the sister (in many sources, the twin sister) of Cain. This would make her the first woman to be born naturally.

Genesis 4:17 states that after he had killed Abel, "Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch". In an effort to explain where Cain and Abel acquired wives, some traditional sources stated that each child of Adam and Eve was born with a twin who became their mate. In Muslim tradition, Cain was born with a twin sister named Aclima, and Abel with a twin sister named Azura. Adam wished Cain to marry Abel's twin sister (Azura) and Abel to marry Cain's (Aclima). Cain did not consent to this arrangement, and Adam proposed to refer the question to God by means of a sacrifice. God rejected Cain's sacrifice to signify his disapproval of his marriage to his twin sister Aclima, and Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy.[1][2][3]

In another Muslim tradition, Cain's twin sister was named Lusia, while Aclima was Abel's twin sister.[4]

In different sources, this name appears as Aclimah, Aclimia, Aclimiah, Klimia.[5] In the Cave of Treasures she is called Qelima.

Other names

Some sources in the Eastern Orthodox traditions give Cain's twin sister the name Calmana, Calmanna, Azrun, or luluwa Azura.[5]

In the Jewish work Seder Hadorot, Cain's twin sister is called Kalmana, and Abel's twin sister called Balbira.[6][7]

Cain's sister is named Kalmana in the Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius (first Greek redaction) II.1.,[8] and Calmana in the Golden Legend. The poet Petrus Riga (1140–1209) included Calmana in his famous poem Aurora, and this could have been a source for her appearance in Peter Comestor's Historia Scholastica. Comestor's Biblical narrative text then served as the standard textbook for Biblical education for centuries.

In an Armenian work republished in 1966, Cain's twin sister was named Cainan. This short work does not mention Cain's marriage.[9]

In the 6th-century apocryphal work Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, Cain's wife and twin is named Luluwa.[10]

According to the Book of Jubilees, Âwân (also Awan, Avan or Aven, from Hebrew אָוֶן aven "vice", "iniquity", "potency") was the wife and sister of Cain and the daughter of Adam and Eve.[11]

Twin sister of Abel

Azura

For other uses, see Azura.

Azura (also Âzûra[b], Aclima, or Balbira) was the daughter of Adam and Eve, the twin of Abel, and both the wife and sister of Seth, as described in chapter 4 of the Book of Jubilees.[11][12] In an effort to explain where Cain and Abel acquired wives, some traditional sources stated that each child of Adam and Eve was born with a twin who became their mate.

In Muslim tradition, Abel was born with a twin sister named Azura, and Cain with a twin sister named Aclima. Adam wished Cain to marry Abel's twin sister and Abel to marry Cain's. However, Cain wished to marry Aclima rather than Azura. Adam proposed to refer the question to God by means of a sacrifice, and God rejected Cain's sacrifice, signifying his disapproval of Cain's marriage to Aclima. Cain slew his brother in a fit of jealousy.[1][2][3]

Some sources in the Eastern Orthodox traditions give the name Azura to Cain's twin sister.[5]

Aclima

In another Muslim tradition, Aclima was Abel's twin sister, while Cain's twin sister was named Lusia.[4]

Balbira

In the Jewish work Seder Hadorot, Abel's twin sister is called Balbira.[6][7]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Aclima was considered Cain's twin in some traditions, and the Book of Jubilees tells us that Cain was born 64–70 A.M., while Âwân was born 78–84 A.M. This may indicate Aclima and Âwân were two separate figures.
  2. ^ "Azura" was considered Abel's twin in some traditions, and the Book of Jubilees tells us that Abel was born 71–77 A.M., while "Âzûra" in the Book of Jubilees (who was claimed to be Seth's wife), was born 134–140 A.M. This may indicate Azura and Âzûra were two separate figures.

References

  1. ^ a b Brewer, E. Cobham. "Brewer's dictionary of phrase and fable." (1894).
  2. ^ a b Brewer, Cobham (2001). Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. p. 197.
  3. ^ a b "Cain", Dictionnaire des sciences occultes (Encycloedie Theologique Vol. 48), ed. Jacques Paul Migne, cols. 297–298.
  4. ^ a b Gibson, Margaret (2012). Apocrypha Arabica. Cambridge University Press. p. 11.
  5. ^ a b c Burrington, Gilbert. An Arrangement of the Genealogies in the Old Testament and Apocrypha: To which are Added, from the Same Authorities, a Selection of Single Names, and Chronological Tables of the Kings of Egypt, Syria, and Assyria: with Notes Critical, Philological, and Explanatory; and Copious Indexes, in Two Volumes. Vol. 1. Rivington, 1836.
  6. ^ a b Seder Hadorot 8a
  7. ^ a b Abarbanel Gen. 4,1 as cited by Codex Judaica
  8. ^ A.C. Lolos, Die Apokalypse des Ps.-Methodios. Beiträge zur klassischen Philologie 83. Meisenheim am Glan: Hain, 1976.
  9. ^ Stone, Michael. "The Death of Adam—An Armenian Adam Book." Harvard Theological Review 59.3 (1966): 283-291
  10. ^ "First Book of Adam and Eve" and "Second Book of Adam and Eve", printed in Platt, Rutherford H. The Forgotten Books of Eden (annotated edition). Jazzybee, 2012.
  11. ^ a b Amaru, Betsy (1999). The Empowerment of Women in the Book of Jubilees. p. 17.
  12. ^ "The Wesley Center Online: The Book Of Jubilees". wesley.nnu.edu. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
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