Lamech is a significant figure in the early chapters of the Book of Genesis, appearing in two distinct genealogical lines: the descendants of Cain and the descendants of Seth. His account provides insight into the early generations of humanity and the development of civilization and sin.

Lamech, Descendant of Cain

Lamech, a descendant of Cain, is introduced in Genesis 4:18-24. He is the son of Methushael and the father of Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain, as well as a daughter named Naamah. Lamech is notable for being the first polygamist mentioned in the Bible, having two wives, Adah and Zillah. This departure from the monogamous union established by God in Genesis 2:24 marks a further moral decline in the line of Cain.

Lamech's sons are credited with significant cultural advancements. Jabal is described as "the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock" (Genesis 4:20), indicating the development of pastoral life. Jubal is called "the father of all who play the harp and flute" (Genesis 4:21), suggesting the beginnings of music and arts. Tubal-cain is noted as "a forger of every implement of bronze and iron" (Genesis 4:22), pointing to advancements in metallurgy and technology.

Lamech's most notable act is his declaration to his wives, recorded in Genesis 4:23-24. In a poetic form, Lamech boasts of killing a man for wounding him and a young man for striking him, claiming, "If Cain is avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:24). This statement reflects an escalation of violence and vengeance, contrasting with God's protection of Cain and highlighting the increasing corruption in Cain's lineage.

Lamech, Descendant of Seth

A different Lamech appears in the genealogy of Seth, the son of Adam, in Genesis 5:25-31. This Lamech is the son of Methuselah and the father of Noah. He is part of the godly line that leads to the birth of Noah, who would become a pivotal figure in God's plan to preserve humanity through the Flood.

Lamech lived 777 years, and his life is marked by a prophetic utterance at the birth of his son Noah. He named him Noah, saying, "He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands, caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed" (Genesis 5:29). This statement reflects a hope for relief from the curse placed upon the ground due to Adam's sin, indicating Lamech's awareness of the fallen state of the world and the need for divine intervention.

Theological Significance

The two Lamechs represent contrasting paths in early human history. The Lamech of Cain's line exemplifies the spread of sin and human pride, while the Lamech of Seth's line points to the hope of redemption and God's ongoing work through a faithful remnant. These narratives underscore the biblical themes of sin, judgment, and the promise of salvation, setting the stage for the unfolding account of God's redemptive plan through Noah and ultimately through Jesus Christ.Lamech

poor; made low

Lamech

(powerful), properly Lemech.

1. The fifth lineal descendant from Cain. (Genesis 4:18-24) He is the only one except Enoch, of the posterity of Cain, whose history is related with some detail. His two wives, Adah and Zillah, and his daughter Naamah, are, with Eve, the only antediluvian women whose names are mentioned by Moses. His three sons, Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-cain, are celebrated in Scripture as authors of useful inventions. The remarkable poem which Lamech uttered may perhaps be regarded as Lamech's son of exultation on the invention of the sword by his son Tubal-cain, in the possession of which he foresaw a great advantage to himself and his family over any enemies.
2. The father of Noah. (Genesis 5:29)

Lamech

1. Genesis 4:18-24, a descendant of Cain, in the fifth generation, and ancestor of numerous posterity distinguished for a skill in agriculture, music, and several mechanic arts. He is the first polygamist on record. His address to his two wives is the oldest specimen of poetry extant, and is a good illustration of Hebrew parallelism.

"Adah and Zillah,

Hear my voice;

Ye wives of Lamech,

Hearken unto my speech.

I have slain a man

To my wounding,

And [or even] a young man

To my hurt.

If Cain shall be avenged

Seven-fold,

Truly Lamech

Seventy and seven fold."

Many explanations of this abrupt fragment have been suggested. The

most satisfactory, perhaps, is that Lamech had accidentally or in

self-defense killed a man, and was exposed to the vengeance of "the

avenger of blood;" but quiets the fears of his wives by saying of

Cain under heavy penalties, Genesis 4:15, much more would he guard

the life of Lamech who was comparatively innocent.

2. The son of Methuselah, and father of Noah; he lived seven hundred

and seventy-seven years, and died only five years before the flood,

Genesis 5:25-31.

The strikerdown; the wild man.

(1.) The fifth in descent from Cain. He was the first to violate the primeval ordinance of marriage (Genesis 4:18-24). His address to his two wives, Adah and Zillah (4:23, 24), is the only extant example of antediluvian poetry. It has been called "Lamech's sword-song." He was "rude and ruffianly," fearing neither God nor man. With him the curtain falls on the race of Cain. We know nothing of his descendants.

(2.) The seventh in descent from Seth, being the only son of Methuselah. Noah was the oldest of his several sons (Genesis 5:25-31; Luke 3:36).

LAMECH

la'-mek (lemekh; Lamech, "a strong youth"?):

(1) The name is first mentioned in Genesis 4:18-24. Here Lamech, the son of Methushael, is named as the last of the descendants of Cain. He was the father of Jabel, Jubal, Tubal-cain, and Naamah. As the husband of two wives, namely, Adah and Zillah, he furnishes the first recorded instance of polygamy. It is very instructive to note that this "father of polygamy" at once becomes the first blustering tyrant and a braggadocio; we are fully permitted to draw this conclusion from his so-called "swordlay" (Genesis 4:23 f). He does not put his trust in God, but in the weapons and implements invented by his sons, or rather these instruments, enhancing the physical and material powers of man, are his God. He glories in them and misconstrues the Divine kindness which insured to Cain freedom from the revenge of his fellow-men.

(2) Another Lamech. is mentioned in Genesis 5:25, 28 (compare 1 Chronicles 1:3 Luke 3:36), the son of Methuselah and the father of Noah. His words (Genesis 5:29) show the great difference between this descendant of Seth and the descendant of Cain. While the one is stimulated to a song of defiance by the worldly inventions of his sons, the other, in prophetical mood, expresses his sure belief in the coming of better times, and calmly and prayerfully awaits the period of comfort and rest which he expected to be ushered in by his son Noah.

William Baur

2984. Lamech -- Lamech, a patriarch and an ancestor of Christ
... 2983, 2984. Lamech. 2985 . Lamech, a patriarch and an ancestor of Christ.
Part of Speech: Proper Noun, Indeclinable Transliteration ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2984.htm - 6k

3103. Mathousala -- Matthat, an Israelite
... Transliteration: Mathousala Phonetic Spelling: (math-oo-sal'-ah) Short Definition:
Methuselah Definition: (Hebrew) Methuselah, son of Enoch and father of Lamech ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3103.htm - 5k

6741. Tsillah -- wife of Lamech
... 6740, 6741. Tsillah. 6742 . wife of Lamech. Transliteration: Tsillah Phonetic
Spelling: (tsil-law') Short Definition: Zillah. Word ...
/hebrew/6741.htm - 6k

8423. Tubal Qayin -- a son of Lamech
Tubal Qayin. 8422, 8423. Tubal Qayin. 8424 . a son of Lamech. Transliteration:
Tubal Qayin Phonetic Spelling: (too-bal' kah'-yin) Short Definition: Tubal-cain ...
/hebrew/8423.htm - 6k

3106. Yubal -- a son of Lamech
... 3105, 3106. Yubal. 3107 . a son of Lamech. Transliteration: Yubal Phonetic
Spelling: (yoo-bawl') Short Definition: Jubal. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/3106.htm - 6k

2989. Yabal -- a son of Lamech
... 2988, 2989. Yabal. 2990 . a son of Lamech. Transliteration: Yabal Phonetic
Spelling: (yaw-bawl') Short Definition: Jabal. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/2989.htm - 6k

3929. Lemek -- a descendant of Cain, also a descendant of Seth
... Lemek. 3930 . a descendant of Cain, also a descendant of Seth. Transliteration:
Lemek Phonetic Spelling: (leh'-mek) Short Definition: Lamech. ... Lamech. ...
/hebrew/3929.htm - 6k

"In the Volume of the Book it is Written of Me" (Heb. . .
... 2. Lamech. And Lamech ... bruising me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Truly Lamech seventy and seven fold" (Gen.4:23, 24, RV). ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the antichrist/in the volume of the.htm

How it is that Cain's Line Terminates in the Eighth Generation ...
... descend to Noah, and thence to start again by a rigid order, what need was there
of omitting the first-born sons for the sake of descending to Lamech, in whose ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 20 how it is that.htm

The Answer to the Question Raised.
... Enos begat Cainan, but Cainan begat Mahalaleel, but Mahalaleel begat Jared, Jared
begat Enoch, Enoch begat Methuselah, Methuselah begat Lamech, Lamech begat ...
/.../cassian/the works of john cassian /chapter xxi the answer to.htm

Concerning the Flood; and after what Manner Noah was Saved in an ...
... Now he was the tenth from Adam, as being the son of Lamech, whose father was Mathusela;
he was the son of Enoch, the son of Jared; and Jared was the son of ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 3 concerning the flood.htm

Cain's Family and their Inventions.
... "Not yet had men a city built.". And to Enoch was born a son, by name Gaidad; who
begat a son called Meel; and Meel begat Mathusala; and Mathusala, Lamech. ...
/.../theophilus/theophilus to autolycus/chapter xxx cains family and their.htm

Of the Two Fathers and Leaders who Sprang from one Progenitor.
... For we read, "Methusael begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto him two wives: the
name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah. ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 17 of the two fathers.htm

Of Methuselah's Age, which Seems to Extend Fourteen Years Beyond ...
... For, according to our books, Methuselah, before he begat the son whom he called
Lamech, lived 167 years; then Lamech himself, before his son Noah was born ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 11 of methuselahs age which.htm

Letter cclx. To Optimus the Bishop.
... 5. Your next question is of a kindred character, concerning the words of Lamech
to his wives; "I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt ...
/.../basil/basil letters and select works/letter cclx to optimus the.htm

Waiving Allusion to the Paraclete, Tertullian Comes to the ...
... Still, God's institution, after once for all suffering violence through
Lamech, remained firm to the very end of that race. Second ...
/.../tertullian/on monogamy/chapter iv waiving allusion to the.htm

Fragment iii. Adam, when 230 Years Old, Begets Seth; and after ...
... Mathusala, when 187 years old, begot Lamech. Lamech, when 188 years old, begets
Noe. Footnotes: [1083] In Georgius Syncellus, Chron., p. 81, al. 65. ...
/.../africanus/the writings of julius africanus/fragment iii adam when 230.htm

Lamech (11 Occurrences)
... It has been called "Lamech's sword-song." He was "rude and ruffianly," fearing neither
God nor man. With him the curtain falls on the race of Cain. ...LAMECH. ...
/l/lamech.htm - 12k

Lamech's (2 Occurrences)
...Lamech's (2 Occurrences). Genesis 4:24 If seven lives are to be taken as punishment
for Cain's death, seventy-seven will be taken for Lamech's. (BBE). ...
/l/lamech's.htm - 6k

Adah (8 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Ornament. (1.) The first of Lamech's two wives,
and the mother of Jabal and Jubal (Genesis 4:19, 20, 23). ...
/a/adah.htm - 10k

Zillah (3 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Shadow, one of the wives of Lamech, of the line of Cain,
and mother of Tubal-cain (Genesis 4:19, 22). Noah Webster's Dictionary. ...
/z/zillah.htm - 7k

Methuselah (7 Occurrences)
... me-thu'-se-la, me-thu'-se-la (methushelach, "man of the javelin"): A descendant
of Seth, the son of Enoch, and father of Lamech (Genesis 5:21 1 Chronicles 1:3 ...
/m/methuselah.htm - 9k

Begetteth (52 Occurrences)
... and daughters. (YLT). Genesis 5:25 And Methuselah liveth an hundred and eighty
and seven years, and begetteth Lamech. (YLT). Genesis ...
/b/begetteth.htm - 19k

Patriarchs (6 Occurrences)
... See CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 2. Divergences between the Three Texts: Divergence
exists in the case of Jared, Methuselah and Lamech only. ...
/p/patriarchs.htm - 37k

Antediluvian
... See CHRONOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 2. Divergences between the Three Texts: Divergence
exists in the case of Jared, Methuselah and Lamech only. ...
/a/antediluvian.htm - 35k

Family (438 Occurrences)
... It is not till many generations after that event that we find a case of
polygamy-that of Lamech (Genesis 4:19-24). Lamech is said ...
/f/family.htm - 87k

Eighty (36 Occurrences)
... (WEY). Genesis 5:25 Methuselah lived one hundred eighty-seven years, and became
the father of Lamech. (WEB KJV JPS ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV). ...
/e/eighty.htm - 17k

Who was Lamech in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Why did Lamech think Noah would bring comfort (Genesis 5:29)? | GotQuestions.org

Who was Methuselah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org

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