Common misinterpretations include the notion that Cain's wife was from a pre-Adamic race of people, contradicting Genesis 3:20's assertion that Eve was the mother of all living; in reality, early marriages were among close kin before later prohibitions. Another error is envisioning the 'city' as a large metropolis requiring thousands of inhabitants immediately after the murder, whereas it likely refers to a modest walled village or settlement for family protection, not implying an instant vast population.
Genesis 4:17
King James Version (1769)
17 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.
This verse illustrates the persistence of human life and the beginnings of civilization following Cain's sin, as he marries an unnamed wife—presumably from among his siblings or close relatives, given the early human population descending from Adam and Eve—fathers a son named Enoch, and founds the first city, naming it after his son, which marks the establishment of settled communities and legacy-building among Cain's descendants despite divine judgment.