Bible Dictionaries
Lamech

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

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 .

Bibliography Information
Rand, W. W. Entry for 'Lamech'. American Tract Society Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ats/​l/lamech.html. 1859.