Just before his death, the patriarch Lehi stated that Adam and Eve only
had children after they were cast out of the Garden of Eden:
And now, behold, if
Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained
in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in
the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained
forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they
would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no
misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. (2 Nephi 2:22-23)
Interestingly, this is also found in the thirteenth-century Syriac text,
The Book of the Bee, written by the Nestorian bishop Solomon. In chapter 18, “Of Adam’s Knowing Eve,” we read:
When Adam and Eve went forth from Paradise,
they were both virgins. After thirty years Adam knew Eve his wife, and she
conceived and brought forth Cain together with his sister Kelêmath. (The
Book of the Bee [trans. E.A. Wallis Budge; First Rate Publishers], 33)
