Mother: Hmm. I think we shouldn't judge a person by the one mistake they made in their life. Poor Eve.
Even if she did mess it up for all of us we probably would've done the same.
Daughter: Mom, you digress we're not starting with Eve. Okay, so Lamech is the first man recorded to be polygamous. "Read Passage Below"
17 Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. 18 Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. 20 Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen.[i] 21 His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute. 22 Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.
For I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for striking me.
24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,
then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!
Mother: So it didn't take long for man to stray away from God, and from the oringinal mandate for marriage of one man and one woman.The Bible doesn't say much about these women, however, we can research their culture and the meaning of their names to get an idea of what they were like. Also, we know that your character is often shaped by the people around you. They are part of the un-Godly line of Cain which is paralleled in the next chapter with the Godly line of Seth.
Daughter: In the Bible, I've noticed that names have meanings. Take for example, Jacob, "who was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel. His name is explained as meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter". " (Behind The Name) So we can make a conjecture that since Adah's name means pleasure or adornment that she was very beautiful; and that Zillah, who's name means shade, was either a coward, living in Adah's shadow, or that she had dark features, or both.
Mother: We have to talk about Cain's line because it will give us a better understanding of who Adah and Zillah were. In Haley's Bible handbook it says that,
"Assuming that Adam and Eve were made full grown, Cain when he killed
Abel must have been about 129... Cain's wife must have been his
sister..." Cain received a mark or sign to note that none should kill him in retribution for what he did to his brother Abel. Cain's un-Godly city, Enoch, was somewhere East of Eden. If Cain was the father of that city then it follows that evil also followed his line into his city. Enoch would not have been a place that one honored God. His great- great-great-great-grandson followed in his footsteps by murdering someone. Although Cain was probably alive when Lamech made that vow to his wives.
Daughter: See here! In the text (The Bible: Genesis 4:23) it sort of says it was self-defense because Lamech was just defending himself from (probably a family member) a young boy who attacked him. So in this Lamech's actions are no worse than those of war.
Mother: Maybe that is true as we aren't told all of the circumstances, most of what we know is conjecture. Even my assumptions that Enoch was an ungodly place to live, but what does all this say about Adah and Zillah. We know that Adah and Zillah grew up in a place that most likely did not honor God. Yet they could have. I like how Matthew Henry said, "The worse others are the better we should be, and the more zealous." They were not too displaced from the wicked days of Noah. Here is what Matthew Henry's Commentary says on this passage:
"One of Cain's wicked race is the first recorded, as having broken the law of marriage. Hitherto, one man had but one wife at a time; but Lamech took two. Wordly things, are the only things that carnal, wicked people set their hearts upon, and are most clever and industrious about. So it was with this race of Cain. Here was a father of shepherds, and a father of musicians, but not a father of the faithful. Here is one to teach about brass and iron, but none to teach the good knowledge of the Lord: here are devices how to be rich, and how to be mighty, and how to be merry; but nothing of God, of his fear and service. Present things fill the heads of most. Lamech had enemies, whom he had provoked. He draws a comparison betwixt himself and his ancestor Cain; and flatters himself that he is much less criminal. He seems to abuse the patience of God in sparing Cain, into an encouragement to expect that he may sin unpunished."
Daughter: I think that Adah and Zillah weren't horrendous people but they were living in sin apart from God which makes even the best person bad.
Mother: They must have been good mothers, their children were very accomplished. I wonder at Adah's personality. Was she vain because she was beautiful? Was Zillah jealous? I can't imagine sharing my husband with another woman, especially in my own home. Being that they are the first to be mentioned as having been the wives of one man, it makes you wonder was that common or uncommon?
Daughter: To me it seems like cheating on someone with both of their permission. Which is like majorly wrong! I think we can assume that Lamech was the first to have two wives. The Bible would've probably mentioned otherwise. I also think that it is great that their (Adah and Zillah) sons did the things they did but I agree with Mathew Henry that faith should've been more important than the things of the world.
Mother: Good observation. I also believe a godly heritage is more important. So from our study what have we learned? How do we apply it to where we are today?
Daughter: I'd say that I learned how to use commentaries for mine own benefit. I also learned about God's original intent for marriage. Girl's fight over guys all the time and they're not even "going out". I think that's why God said one man and one woman because He knew all the trouble that would be caused over this in later times.
Mother: Nice! ~ I learned more from studying the commentaries then I would have thought. I would encourage others to read Matthew Henry's Commentary on the first few chapters of Genesis! Talk about insight! That man truly walked with God! Also Halley's Bible Handbook is a great resource. As far as Adah and Zillah's names it was interesting to find that Adah meant adornment, in today's culture we could probably use the term, "Eye Candy" She was beautiful on the outside, but...
Proverbs 31:30She would have been lovelier still had she been a woman after God's own heart.
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD will be praised.
Daughter: Beauty today, as well as back then, is very sought after. Girl's can seriously have a hard time thinking that they are beautiful when they are bombarded with tall, skinny, perfect woman whom the media says we should look like in order to be pretty. While some of those natural tall skinny almost perfect women will use their feminine wiles as bait and dangle it front of guys faces, and they also use it as a way to torment girls who have no confidence.
Mother: It is definitely a great reminder to place our self-image aside, and look for our confidence in Christ.
So our next study will be on Noah's wife, and daughters in law.
Love, love, love this. Thanks for letting us be in on the conversation :)
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