Original Word: לֶמֶךְ
Part of Speech: Proper Name Masculine
Transliteration: Lemek
Pronunciation: LEH-mek
Phonetic Spelling: (leh'-mek)
KJV: Lamech
NASB: Lamech
Word Origin: [from an unused root of uncertain meaning]

1. Lemek, the name of two antediluvian patriarchs

Lamech

From an unused root of uncertain meaning; Lemek, the name of two antediluvian patriarchs -- Lamech.

Word Origin
of uncertain derivation
Definition
a desc. of Cain, also a desc. of Seth
NASB Translation
Lamech (11).

לֶ֫מֶךְ proper name, masculine (on original form compare Lag^{BN 77}; conjecture as to meaning Bu^{Urgesch. 102, 129}); — ׳ל Genesis 4:19 7t.; לָ֑מֶךְ Genesis 4:18 2t.; —

1 son of מְתוּשָׁאֵל (Cainite) Genesis 4:18,19,23 (twice in verse); Genesis 4:24 (all J).

2 son of מְתוּשֶׁלַח (Sethite) Genesis 5:25,26,28,30,31 (all P), 1 Chronicles 1:3. — ᵐ5 Ααμεχ.

לְמִן, לְמִנִּי see מִן

9b.

לְמַעַן see מען below ענה.

לֹעַ see below I. לוּעַ.

Identity and Genealogical Placement

The name לֶמֶךְ (Lamech) is borne by two distinct antediluvian patriarchs. One descends from Cain through Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, and Methushael (Genesis 4:17-18). The other belongs to the godly line of Seth through Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah (Genesis 5:3-25). Because both lines converge only in Adam, the divergence between the two men named Lamech highlights the widening moral chasm in early human history.

Lamech the Descendant of Cain

References: Genesis 4:18-24 (four occurrences).

Cain’s Lamech appears at the seventh generation from Adam via Cain—a deliberate literary marker paralleling the “sevenfold vengeance” pronounced upon Cain (Genesis 4:15). He is the first polygamist recorded in Scripture, taking “two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah” (Genesis 4:19). His children pioneer key cultural advances: animal husbandry (Jabal), musical instruments (Jubal), and metallurgy (Tubal-cain) (Genesis 4:20-22). These developments display human creativity while simultaneously foreshadowing the moral bankruptcy that occurs when cultural progress outruns spiritual righteousness.

The Song of the Sword (Genesis 4:23-24)

Lamech’s only recorded words compose the oldest poem in the Bible:

“Then Lamech said to his wives:

‘Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

O wives of Lamech, listen to my speech.

For I have slain a man for wounding me,

and a boy for striking me.

If Cain is avenged sevenfold,

then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.’”

The boast exalts personal vengeance beyond divine justice, turning God’s protective mark on Cain (Genesis 4:15) into a license for inflated retaliation. Lamech thus personifies the deepening corruption that provokes the coming judgment of the flood (Genesis 6:5-7).

Cultural Firsts and the Spirit of Violence

Through Lamech’s household the arts of city-building, animal domestication, music, and metalworking take strategic leaps. Yet the accompanying arrogance and violence expose civilization’s inability to cure the sin nature. Lamech’s “seventy-sevenfold” threat stands in stark antithesis to Jesus’ injunction, “not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22), turning the pledge of endless vengeance into a call for limitless forgiveness.

Lamech the Descendant of Seth

References: Genesis 5:25-31 (six occurrences); 1 Chronicles 1:3.

Seth’s Lamech is seventh from Adam through Seth, mirroring Enoch’s placement as seventh through Adam in Jude 14. He fathers Noah at 182 years of age and lives 777 years (Genesis 5:28-31), a numerically significant life span that counters Cainite Lamech’s “seventy-sevenfold” threat with threefold perfection. His genealogy is repeated intact in 1 Chronicles 1:3, affirming its historic reliability.

Prophetic Hope for Humanity

Upon naming his son Noah, Lamech declares, “May he comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed” (Genesis 5:29). The oracle links Noah’s birth to relief from Eden’s curse, prefiguring both the rest granted after the flood and the ultimate redemption accomplished in Christ (Hebrews 4:1-11). Unlike Cain’s Lamech, this Lamech expresses humble dependence on divine mercy, anticipating grace rather than boasting in violence.

Ministry Implications

1. Family leadership: The two Lamechs illustrate how a patriarch’s disposition steers an entire lineage. Pastors and parents must guard against pride and cultivate reverence, knowing that generational trajectories often flow from a single heart posture.
2. Technological neutrality: Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal-cain show that technology is morally neutral; its blessing or curse depends on the user’s character. God’s people are called to harness cultural tools for righteous ends (1 Timothy 4:4-5).
3. Gospel foreshadowing: The contrast between vengeful “seventy-sevenfold” and Christ’s forgiving “seventy-seven times” supplies a compelling bridge from Genesis to the Gospel, affirming the unity of Scripture and the superiority of grace over wrath.

Connections in the Canon

• Jesus’ allusion in Matthew 18:22 deliberately echoes Genesis 4:24, reversing Lamech’s spiral of violence with an ethic of limitless forgiveness.
• Hebrews 11:7 commends Noah’s faith, indirectly honoring his father Lamech’s prophetic insight.
• Jude 14-15 sets Enoch, a contemporary in Seth’s line, against the ungodly. The parallel genealogical sevens underscore the clash between righteousness and rebellion encapsulated in the two Lamechs.

Summary

Lamech in Genesis presents a study in contrasts: one man magnifies sin, the other anticipates salvation. Together they frame the antediluvian narrative—one foreshadowing the wrath to come, the other heralding the hope that survives the flood. Their legacies challenge every generation to choose between self-exaltation and God-centered trust, vengeance and forgiveness, curse and comfort.

וְלֶ֖מֶךְ ולמך לֶ֔מֶךְ לֶ֕מֶךְ לֶ֖מֶךְ לֶ֗מֶךְ לֶ֜מֶךְ לָֽמֶךְ׃ למך למך׃ lā·meḵ Lamech lāmeḵ le·meḵ Lemech lemeḵ veLemech wə·le·meḵ wəlemeḵInterlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel Texts