Lamech

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Lamech is in the Old Testament in Genesis 1 in Gen 4  EU the son of Methushael and Gen 5  EU 's son Methuselah .

Name variants

The name is לֶ֖מֶךְ lemech in Hebrew . However, the name also occurs at the end of the message (in pausal form ) with an elongated vowel as לָֽמֶךְ lamech . Therefore, the Septuagint and the New Testament also give the name as λαμεχ lamech . Hence the form of the name in German comes from.

Genesis 5

According to Gen 5  EU, Lamech was a descendant of Set , son of Methuselah and father of Noah . According to Gen 5,25–31  EU, Methuselah was 187 years old ( Masoretic text: 182 years, Septuagint : 188 years, Samaritan Pentateuch : 53 years) when Lamech was born. It is known that Lamech had other children after Noach and that according to the Masoretic text he was 777 years old (Septuagint: 753 years, Samaritan Pentateuch: 653 years) (on the problem of age information → Methuselah ).

At the birth of Noah, Lamech prophesied: "He will make us breathe a sigh of relief from our work and from the labor of our hands to grapple with the soil which the Lord has cursed."

According to the biblical age data of Lamech at the birth of Noah and those of Noah from Gen 9.28  EU according to the Masoretic text, Lamech would have died five years before the beginning of the flood.

Genesis 4

In Gen 4  EU , Lamech is a descendant of Cain and the firstborn son of Metuschaël. According to Gen 4.19  EU , Lamech took two women, Ada and Zilla , and thus became the first polygamist mentioned in the Bible . With Ada he fathered Jabal , the ancestor of all nomads, and Jubal , the ancestor of all musicians, with Zilla Tubal-Kain , the ancestor of blacksmiths and metalworkers, and a daughter named Naama .

In Gen 4,23-24  EU he prides himself and speaks to his wives: “Ada and Zilla, listen to my voice, you women of Lamech, listen to my speech! Yes, I kill a man for a wound, and a boy for a welt. If Cain is avenged seven times, Lamech is avenged seventy-seven times. "

This short song is considered to be the oldest surviving poetry in the Bible and refers back to Gen 4.15  EU : “But the Lord said to him: Therefore everyone who kills Cain should suffer sevenfold vengeance. Thereupon the Lord made a sign to Cain that no one would kill him who found him. ”So it apparently praises the excessive practice of blood revenge by a clan that was traced back to Cain, the first human murderer. In rabbinical literature the song is associated with the invention of the sword by the blacksmith Tubal-Cain, hence it is also called "sword song ".

Historical-critical interpretation

It is assumed that the mentions of Lamech in Gen 4 and 5 are the same person who is only classified differently genealogically. Gen 4 is assigned to the non-priestly tradition and Gen 5 to the priestly scriptures.