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The pedigree assigned to Lamech in the ] bears similarities to that given for ], and it has been suggested that they represent different versions of the same original pedigree.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bandstra|first=Barry L.|title=Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible|url=https://archive.org/details/readingoldtestam00band_309|url-access=limited|publisher=Wadsworth|year=2009|pages=-60|isbn=9780495391050}}</ref> The pedigree assigned to Lamech in the ] bears similarities to that given for ], and it has been suggested that they represent different versions of the same original pedigree.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bandstra|first=Barry L.|title=Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible|url=https://archive.org/details/readingoldtestam00band_309|url-access=limited|publisher=Wadsworth|year=2009|pages=-60|isbn=9780495391050}}</ref>

==Song of the Sword==
The last part of the account of Lamech ({{bibleverse||Genesis|4:23–24|HE}}), takes the form of a brief poem, which refers back to the ]. In the poem, Lamech's stance resembles that of a supreme warrior, able to avenge himself absolutely. However, no explanation of who Lamech supposedly killed is ever given in the ]. Some scholars have proposed that it is connected to the invention, contextually by Tubal-Cain, of the ], for which reason the poem is often referred to as the '''Song of the Sword'''. The poem may originate from the mysterious ], though the greater context for it is likely to remain obscure.{{Citation needed|date=October 2014}}

] in ] (France) depicts Lamech hunting with his son Tubal-Cain. They accidentally shoot and kill Cain. ХII century.]]However, this paucity of context did not stop a rabbinical tradition growing up around it. The ] and ] present an extensive legend, told, for example, by ],<ref>. Sefaria. Accessed 17 February 2021.</ref> in which Lamech first loses his sight from age, and had to be led by Tubal-Cain, the seventh generation from Cain. Tubal-Cain saw in the distance something that he first took for an animal, but it was actually Cain (still alive, due to the extensive life span of the ]s) whom Lamech had accidentally killed with an arrow. When they discovered who it was, Lamech, in sorrow, clapped his hands together, accidentally striking and killing Tubal-Cain. In consequence, Lamech's wives desert him. A similar legend is preserved in the pseudepigraphic ], Chapter XIII; in this version Tubal-Cain is not named, but is instead referred to as "the young shepherd." After Lamech claps his hands he strikes the young shepherd on the head. To ensure his death, he then smashed his head with a rock.

An alternate form of this negative attitude towards Lamech (such as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan) claims that even though Lamech did not kill anyone, his wives refused to associate with him and denied him sex, on the grounds that Cain's line was to be annihilated after seven generations. The poem is then given by Lamech to allay their fears. Other classical sources, such as ], see the word ''seventy-seven'' as the number of sons which Lamech eventually had.

Extending on this classical view of Lamech is the ], regarded in ] as ]. According to this ] text, Lamech entered into a secret pact with ], as had Cain before him, becoming a second ]. When ] (an ancestor of Lamech) learned his secret and began to publicise it, Lamech murdered him. News of the murder was spread by Lamech's two wives, leading to his being cast out of society.


==Family tree== ==Family tree==

Revision as of 21:29, 21 March 2023

Biblical figure, descendant of Cainan, Descendent of Seth, brother of Cain and Abel For the person in Genesis 5, see Lamech (father of Noah).
Lamech and Cain, 1524 engraving by Lucas van Leyden

Lamech (/ˈleɪmɪk/; Template:Lang-he Lémeḵ, in pausa לָמֶךְ‎ Lā́meḵ) is a person in Cain's genealogy in the fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis. His father was named Methushael. This Lamech is distinguished from the other Lamech mentioned subsequently in Genesis, who was a descendant of Adam's third son Seth.

Interpretation

When fully translated, the text resembles mythology concerning the origin of the various forms of civilization, the shepherds and musicians being products of the day, and pleasure being a product of the night. Blacksmiths, in carrying out their trade, are also associated with the darkness. Lamech could be interpreted as a culture hero. Some speculate that the names demonstrate punning: Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal rhyme, and possibly derive from the same root: JBL (YVL in modern Hebrew): to bring forth, (also) to carry. A similar description existed amongst Phoenicians.

The names are instead interpreted in the Midrash as an attack on polygamy. Adah is there interpreted as the deposed one, implying that Lamech spurned her in favour of Zillah, whose own name is understood to mean she shaded herself . The Midrash consequently regards Adah as having been treated as a slave, tyrannised by her husband, who was at the beck and call of his mistress, Zillah. It goes on to claim that part of the immorality, which had led God to flood the Earth, was the polygamy practised by Lamech and his generation.

The rabbinical tradition is just as condemning of Naamah. While a minority, such as Abba bar Kahana, see Naamah as having become Noah's wife, and being so named because her conduct was pleasing to God, the majority of classical rabbinical sources consider her name to be due to her singing pleasant songs in worship of idols.

The pedigree assigned to Lamech in the Genesis genealogies bears similarities to that given for Lamech, father of Noah, and it has been suggested that they represent different versions of the same original pedigree.

Family tree

Family tree
AdamEve
AbelSeth
Enos (Enosh)
CainCainan (Kenan)
EnochMahalalel
IradJared
MehujaelEnoch
MethushaelMethuselah
AdahLamechZillahLamech
JabalJubalTubal-CainNaamahNoah
ShemHamJapheth

See also

References

  1. "the definition of Lamech". Dictionary.com.
  2. Genesis 4:19–24
  3. Stuart, Kelly (2018). The Minister and the Murderer: A Book of Aftermaths. Granta Books. ISBN 978-1847089243.
  4. "Bereishit Rabbah 23:2". www.sefaria.org. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  5. Cite error: The named reference Naamah was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. Bandstra, Barry L. (2009). Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Wadsworth. pp. 59-60. ISBN 9780495391050.
Adam to David according to the Hebrew Bible
Creation to Flood
Patriarchs after Flood
Tribe of Judah to Kingdom
Names in italics only appear in the Greek Septuagint version
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