Many commentators regarded this verse as the first reference to prayer as we know it in the Bible. Prayer is basic to man's relationship with God, which is a major theme in Genesis. However the phrase "call on the name of the Lord"usually refers to proclamation rather than prayer in the Pentateuch.261Here it probably refers to the beginning of public worship of Yahweh.
"Gen 4 concludes the story of mankind that was cut off in the flood, a tale that opened with Gen 2:4, This is the history. . . .' With the aid of a genealogy from Adam to Lamek, the seventh generation, it traces the development of technology and arts on the one hand and the growth of violence on the other. Only in the last two verses introducing the descendants of Seth do we have glimmers of hope, for from him, as chap. 5 will describe, descended Noah, the survivor of the flood, and it was in Enosh's day that the public worship of God was reintroduced."262
Chapter 4 also teaches that it is important for the righteous to preserve the knowledge of God when they live in an ungodly society.
