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Bible Dictionaries
Lamech
American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
or 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 .
These files are public domain and are a derivative of the topics are from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary published in 1859.
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Lamech'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ats/l/lamech.html. 1859.
