In the previous post we saw how, when God confronted him about the death of Abel, Cain refused to repent. Instead he banished himself from God’s presence, choosing not to repent, but choosing to be a wanderer. Now we are told what happens to Cain’s line in this state of self-imposed exile from God’s presence.

Hebrew text:

17 וַיֵּ֤דַע קַ֙יִן֙ אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וַתַּ֖הַר וַתֵּ֣לֶד אֶת־חֲנ֑וֹךְ וַֽיְהִי֙ בֹּ֣נֶה עִ֔יר וַיִּקְרָא֙ שֵׁ֣ם הָעִ֔יר כְּשֵׁ֖ם בְּנ֥וֹ חֲנֽוֹךְ׃

18 וַיִּוָּלֵ֤ד לַֽחֲנוֹךְ֙ אֶת־עִירָ֔ד וְעִירָ֕ד יָלַ֖ד אֶת־מְחֽוּיָאֵ֑ל וּמְחִיּיָאֵ֗ל יָלַד֙ אֶת־מְת֣וּשָׁאֵ֔ל וּמְתוּשָׁאֵ֖ל יָלַ֥ד אֶת־לָֽמֶךְ׃

19 וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ל֥וֹ לֶ֖מֶךְ שְׁתֵּ֣י נָשִׁ֑ים שֵׁ֤ם הָֽאַחַת֙ עָדָ֔ה וְשֵׁ֥ם הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית צִלָּֽה׃

20 וַתֵּ֥לֶד עָדָ֖ה אֶת־יָבָ֑ל ה֣וּא הָיָ֔ה אֲבִ֕י יֹשֵׁ֥ב אֹ֖הֶל וּמִקְנֶֽה׃

21 וְשֵׁ֥ם אָחִ֖יו יוּבָ֑ל ה֣וּא הָיָ֔ה אֲבִ֕י כָּל־תֹּפֵ֥שׂ כִּנּ֖וֹר וְעוּגָֽב׃

22 וְצִלָּ֣ה גַם־הִ֗וא יָֽלְדָה֙ אֶת־תּ֣וּבַל קַ֔יִן לֹטֵ֕שׁ כָּל־חֹרֵ֥שׁ נְחֹ֖שֶׁת וּבַרְזֶ֑ל וַֽאֲח֥וֹת תּֽוּבַל־קַ֖יִן נַֽעֲמָֽה׃

23 וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לֶ֜מֶךְ לְנָשָׁ֗יו עָדָ֤ה וְצִלָּה֙ שְׁמַ֣עַן קוֹלִ֔י נְשֵׁ֣י לֶ֔מֶךְ הַאְזֵ֖נָּה אִמְרָתִ֑י כִּ֣י אִ֤ישׁ הָרַ֙גְתִּי֙ לְפִצְעִ֔י וְיֶ֖לֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִֽי׃

24 כִּ֥י שִׁבְעָתַ֖יִם יֻקַּם־קָ֑יִן וְלֶ֖מֶךְ שִׁבְעִ֥ים וְשִׁבְעָֽה׃

Transliteration:

17 way·yê·ḏa‘  qa·yin ’eṯ- ’iš·tōw,  wat·ta·har wat·tê·leḏ ’eṯ-  ḥă·nō·wḵ; way·hî bō·neh ‘îr,  way·yiq·rā šêm hā·‘îr, kə·šêm bə·nōw  ḥă·nō·wḵ.

18 way·yiw·wā·lêḏ  la·ḥă·nō·wḵ ’eṯ- ‘î·rāḏ,  wə·‘î·rāḏ yā·laḏ ’eṯ- mə·ḥū·yā·’êl;  ū·mə·ḥî·y·yā·’êl, yā·laḏ ’eṯ- mə·ṯū·šā·’êl,  ū·mə·ṯū·šā·’êl yā·laḏ ’eṯ- lā·meḵ.  

19 way·yiq·qaḥ-  lōw le·meḵ šə·tê  nā·šîm; šêm hā·’a·ḥaṯ  ‘ā·ḏāh, wə·šêm haš·šê·nîṯ  ṣil·lāh.  

20 wat·tê·leḏ  ‘ā·ḏāh ’eṯ- yā·ḇāl;  hū hā·yāh, ’ă·ḇî yō·šêḇ  ’ō·hel ū·miq·neh.  

21 wə·šêm  ’ā·ḥîw yū·ḇāl;  hū hā·yāh, ’ă·ḇî  kāl- tō·p̄êś kin·nō·wr  wə·‘ū·ḡāḇ.  

22 wə·ṣil·lāh  ḡam- hî yā·lə·ḏāh  ’eṯ- tū·ḇal qa·yin,  lō·ṭêš kāl- ḥō·rêš nə·ḥō·šeṯ  ū·ḇar·zel; wa·’ă·ḥō·wṯ tū·ḇal- qa·yin  na·‘ă·māh.  

23 way·yō·mer  le·meḵ lə·nā·šāw,  ‘ā·ḏāh wə·ṣil·lāh šə·ma·‘an  qō·w·lî, nə·šê le·meḵ, ha’·zên·nāh  ’im·rā·ṯî; kî ’îš hā·raḡ·tî lə·p̄iṣ·‘î,  wə·ye·leḏ lə·ḥab·bu·rā·ṯî. 

24 kî  šiḇ·‘ā·ṯa·yim  yuq·qam- qā·yin;  wə·le·meḵ šiḇ·‘îm wə·šiḇ·‘āh. 

NIV:

17 Cain made love to his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Cain was then building a city, and he named it after his son Enoch. 

18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

19 Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 

20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. 

21 His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. 

22 Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.

23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.

24 If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times.”

Study:

The first thing we read about Cain after he runs from God’s presence is that he makes love to his wife and that she bears him a son. Despite his deliberate choice to flee God’s presence and cut off ties with the source of life, his wife bears him a son. God’s desire that his creation abounds with life is not easily thwarted. But where does Cain find his wife? Many Christians have argued that Adam and Eve had other children, not mentioned in the Genesis narrative, and that Cain’s wife is either one of these or a descendant of these. However, as mentioned in an earlier post, if we view Adam and Eve archetypally, we need not think that they are chronologically the first humans. If this is the case, then there were other humans around and Cain’s wife is simply one of them.

Cain goes on to build the first city. Once again, this suggests that Adam and Eve were not the first humans. After all, for Cain to think of building a city, there would have had to be a sizable number of people. One does not build a city alone. Nor does one build a city even for a few hundred persons. There must have been thousands of people around at the time Cain built Enoch and this is quite impossible to believe if Adam and Eve were chronologically the first humans. 

The narrative then lists Cain’s descendants. The list is as follows: Cain, Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methushael, Lamech and the narrative spends no time describing any of them till Lamech. 

The first thing we are told about Lamech is that he had two wives. This is significant and indicates that Lamech did something out of the ordinary. While the text does not explicitly indicate that his taking two wives was wrong, its inclusion as an introduction to Lamech should be taken as a sign that the text is suggesting that Lamech had initiated a bad precedence. 

The narrative then devotes a few lines to Lamech’s children. Three sons are mentioned and one daughter. The sons are described as having been key contributors to human culture – herding, music and smithy. Since the narrative paints Lamech in a poor light, the fact that his children contributed so positively to human culture is a sign that, even in the depths to which Lamech had sunk, humans, by virtue of being God’s image bearers, cannot help but express their creativity. 

Having briefly described Lamech’s children, the narrative swings back to focus on Lamech again. And what we hear about him is horrific. We saw earlier, that the mark put on Cain was the reputation he and his descendants had of being people who exacted revenge beyond the lex talionis. But here Lamech takes that predisposition toward vengeance to an extreme. He had been wounded by a young man. And the vengeance he took was to kill the young man. There was no intention of taking an eye for and eye. For Lamech it was a life for an eye. Indeed, he takes the mark of Cain and twists it to an unbelievable extreme. Now it won’t even suffice to take an eye for an eye or even a life for a life. Lamech declares that he will obliterate the entire family and clan of anyone who antagonized him! 

While the text does not explicitly make the point, we are to understand that the escalation of violence that characterized Cain’s line is what happens when we flee from God’s presence. In our current state, not having the ability to know what the best course of action is in any situation, the refusal to be guided by God results in our acting from a commitment to our self interests, which will eventually lead to us inflicting violence on others. In our current state, it is only God’s presence that enables us to refuse the temptation to put ourselves first. Only with God’s presence are we able to act in ways that do not violate others. 

Prayer:

Our heavenly Father. We ask you to constantly guide us with your Spirit. Get rid of every desire to separate ourselves from you. Quench every instinct to hiding from you. Enable us to realize that it is only when we engage with you that we can fulfill our calling to be people who bear your image to the world. Give us the strength of character to refuse the temptation of quick, but violent solutions, and to pursue only those solutions that would bring you glory. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.