Through the lens of Woman
Cain, Abel, and the line of Seth
After Abel dies, Genesis 4 says one more thing about Eve. Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given me another offspring in place of Abel” (Gen 4:25).
Eve names this son. Not Adam. Eve names him. And the name she gives is theological — Seth means appointed or given. She has buried one son and seen another exiled. She is grieving, and she is also still believing that God has given her something.
This is what Scripture quietly insists about women across the whole biblical story. They name what God is doing. They see when the men can’t. Hagar names God El Roi — the God who sees. Hannah names her son Samuel — heard by God. Mary sees what the angel says before Joseph does. The women at the tomb see Jesus before any of the eleven.
If you are a woman who has lost something — a person, a season, a hope, a version of your own life — Genesis 4 says you are also the one most likely to see what God is also giving in the middle of the loss. That is not a small gift. It is a kind of vision.
One small thing today: in the place where you have been grieving, ask God to show you what he is also giving. Then name it out loud. Like Eve did. Even if it is just to yourself.