Genesis 4:23-24

4:23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah! Listen to me!

You wives of Lamech, hear my words!

I have killed a man for wounding me,

a young man ¹  for hurting me.

4:24 If Cain is to be avenged seven times as much,

then Lamech seventy-seven times!” ² 

Genesis 4:19

4:19 Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.

Genesis 5:25

5:25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he became the father of Lamech.

Genesis 5:28

5:28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son.

Genesis 5:31

5:31 The entire lifetime of Lamech was 777 years, and then he died.

Genesis 4:18

4:18 To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father ³  of Mehujael. Mehujael was the father of Methushael, and Methushael was the father of Lamech.

Genesis 5:26

5:26 Methuselah lived 782 years after he became the father of Lamech, and he had other ⁴  sons and daughters.

Genesis 5:30

5:30 Lamech lived 595 years after he became the father of Noah, and he had other ⁵  sons and daughters.

[4:23]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term יֶלֶד (yeled) probably refers to a youthful warrior here, not a child.

[4:24]  ² sn Seventy-seven times. Lamech seems to reason this way: If Cain, a murderer, is to be avenged seven times (see v. 15), then how much more one who has been unjustly wronged! Lamech misses the point of God’s merciful treatment of Cain. God was not establishing a principle of justice when he warned he would avenge Cain’s murder. In fact he was trying to limit the shedding of blood, something Lamech wants to multiply instead. The use of “seventy-seven,” a multiple of seven, is hyperbolic, emphasizing the extreme severity of the vengeance envisioned by Lamech.

[4:18]  ³ tn Heb “and Irad fathered.”

[5:26]  ⁴ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.

[5:30]  ⁵ tn The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.