Scripture
23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice. You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, for I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. 24 If Cain will be avenged seven times, truly Lamech seventy-seven times.”
Audio Commentary
Abstract
If any doubt remained about Lamech’s character, his own boast to his wives settles it — proof of his cursed pedigree as a descendant of Cain. The commentary reads him as an insecure man who demanded honor precisely because he lacked confidence in his own abilities, and as a bloody barbarian who confesses two murders and cares nothing for how many are sacrificed to his resentment so long as he is feared. His claim that his death would be avenged seventy-sevenfold reveals both a biblical truth and the height of his hubris: unrepentant sin has a multiplicative effect down the generations — Cain’s reactive murder of one brother becoming, in Lamech, the industrialized potential to destroy whole villages. The commentary reads his arrogance as presuming on a divine protection God never granted him, likely rationalized by a false sense of moral superiority over Cain, and draws the standing lesson never to presume on God’s forbearance, and the parallel that a church which fails to act against a leader’s unrepentant sin only emboldens sin in the whole body.
Brief Observations
- The boast that exposes him — Lamech’s speech to his wives removes any doubt of his evil, proving his cursed pedigree as a descendant of Cain.
- Insecurity demanding honor — The commentary diagnoses him as an insecure man who demanded honor because he lacked confidence in himself — those least sure of their abilities being the likeliest to demand respect.
- A confessed murderer — He reveals himself a bloody barbarian, confessing two murders, and his relating himself to Cain may mean the men he killed belonged to Adam’s holy line.
- Feared, not loved — He may have boasted to reassure wives concerned for his safety, since they knew him an arrogant, impenitent man given to bluster; he did not care how much others hated him so long as they feared him, valuing no human life.
- Sin multiplies down the generations — His claim that his death would be avenged seventy-sevenfold reveals both a biblical truth and staggering hubris: unrepentant sin multiplies down the generations, Cain’s reactive murder of one brother becoming in Lamech the industrialized potential to destroy whole villages.
- Presuming on grace never given — His arrogance presumed on a protection God had given Cain but never to him, likely rationalized by a false sense of moral superiority — that, unlike Cain, he had never murdered his own brother unprovoked.
- When discipline is neglected — The commentary draws a parallel to church discipline: when a body fails to act against a high-level leader’s unrepentant sin, everyone else who is sinning becomes emboldened.
- Never presume on His forbearance — The standing lesson is never to presume on God’s forbearance, since He has His own reasons for delaying wrath — reasons that may or may not concern the presumer.
Full Commentary
If there was any doubt whether Lamech was an evil man, he clears all of that away with this speech. He proves his cursed pedigree as a descendent of Cain with this wicked boast. The first piece we notice is how he barks orders at his wives. “Listen to my voice, you wives of Lamech, give heed to my speech.” Rather than honoring his wives as the weaker vessels, he expected his wives to honor him. Lamech already broke one law of marriage by practicing polygamy, so it’s no surprise he broke another one by dishonoring the wives he took.
Lamech was an insecure man which is why he demanded honor from his wives. People who aren’t confident in their own abilities are the ones most likely to demand respect from others. A well-adjusted, high-performance person often engenders respect from others without needing to demand it. To vocally demand it from his own wives proves his ability to perform his duties even in the context of his own polygamous marriage was woefully lacking. If you have to demand respect from your spouse then she probably doesn’t truly respect you and there are probably many reasons why.
Next we see Lamech reveal himself as a bloody barbarian in the way he treated others. Lamech confesses to two murders right here in verse 23. It’s not just a confession, he’s actually bragging to his wives about it. He claims to have killed a man for wounding him and killed a boy for striking him. What a cruel and fierce disposition Lamech must have had to slay two people over such trifling causes. Lamech was proud to be the kind of man who would kill anyone who stood in his way. By his own boasting it appears he went so far as to murder a child for striking him.
What he says in the very next verse is most intriguing. He says, “If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.” Lamech’s relating himself to Cain might mean the people he killed were part of Adam’s lineage of the holy seed. These would have been faithful worshippers of God. In this case it’s possible the man and boy injured Lamech’s conscience through some kind of retort or even by their very presence in front of him. This is what happened between Cain and Abel. We established it was very unlikely righteous Abel would have defamed his brother or verbally cut him down. If anything Abel would have been encouraging Cain and telling him the truth. Cain, overcome with rage, murdered Abel anyway. In that case I think Cain’s soul was injured merely by the presence of Abel’s righteousness. He felt judged by it. Lamech may have felt the same way with this man and boy whom he murdered.
Lamech may have also been bragging to his wives because they may have been concerned for his safety. They knew he was an arrogant, impenitent man with a penchant for bluster. Perhaps they feared someone might come along and end his life for good. If that was the case then Lamech’s boasting would have served to remind them he himself was a murderer. Lamech believed if someone tried to do him harm, he had the power to avenge himself against them seventy-sevenfold.
Lamech didn’t care how much others hated him just as long as those same people feared him. He didn’t value human life, and so he didn’t care how many people had to be sacrificed to his angry resentment. His lack of care and his disregard for human life became a source of safety for him and a twisted reason to honor himself. He was willing to go further than others would go, and this made him dangerous enough that others may think twice before messing with him. Rather than being humble and penitent, Lamech gloried in his own shame. Paul offers a description of this kind of person in Philippians 3:18-19 when he calls them enemies of the cross of Christ. Listen to what he says:
Philippians 3:18-19 18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.
Lamech’s proclamation that his own death would be avenged seventy-sevenfold revealed a biblical truth as well as the staggering height of his own hubris. The biblical truth is that unrepentant sin has a multiplicative effect as it spreads down the generations. It’s almost as if it becomes more potent or more concentrated. Lamech’s sons furthered the development of the artifices of war and Lamech himself decreed outsized acts of vengeance if anyone would so much as look at him the wrong way.
While Cain’s reactive murder of Abel was devastating, Lamech’s potential for reactively destroying entire villages was like industrialized devastation. Cain tried to highjack God’s authority by erasing Abel’s future with a bludgeoning stone. Lamech spiritually positioned himself such that vengeance meant seizing authority over entire people groups. Why stop at murdering one righteous man when you can murder an entire village of them? And this is how the murderous spirit which indwelled Cain grew more and more evil as it made its way into Lamech.
Part of Lamech’s arrogance was to presume God would avenge him should someone rise up and kill him. That was a mark God gave to Cain, not to Lamech. Lamech heard of God’s promise to avenge Cain sevenfold and his own pride caused him to misunderstand it. He thought it was God’s protection against all murderers. He failed to see God marked Cain for God’s own reasons and one of them was likely to prolong Cain’s punishment for murdering Abel.
Lamech may have rationalized that, despite himself being a serial murderer, since he never murdered his own brother unprovoked like Cain did then he was actually morally superior to Cain. His own sense of moral superiority might explain his proclamation that God would avenge him with more tenacity should someone try to take his life. One of Solomon’s insights in Ecclesiastes is that God’s gracious restraint toward a sinner is often abused by other sinners who use the reprieve to harden their own hearts and justify sin. Listen to what he says in Ecclesiastes 8:10-13
Ecclesiastes 8:10-13 10 So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility. 11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil. 12 Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and may lengthen his life, still I know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear Him openly. 13 But it will not be well for the evil man and he will not lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.
This same principle holds true with how churches handle punitive actions against high-level leaders who are revealed as unrepentant sinners. If the church simply turns away from the sin and doesn’t take action to deal with it, then anyone else in the body who is sinning will become emboldened in their sin. So if God’s mark on Cain was motivated by a merciful patience to give Cain the opportunity to repent, Lamech’s evil heart abused this mercy and used it to justify his own murders. Our own judges and district attorneys would do well to remind themselves there is a cost to granting unwarranted mercy. If your society becomes soft on crime, then your society is going to experience more crime.
When considering God’s own justice, it’s just never a good idea to presume on His forbearance. He has His own reasons for delaying wrath and those might have to do with you and they might not. Assuming God’s grace means He will simply look away as you continue sinning is definitely the wrong presumption to make. God strikes some sinners with the sword of justice swiftly, and others He strikes slowly. It’s too difficult to establish a pattern for who will receive what, but we know those sinners who presume on God’s forbearance treasure up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath. This brief passage of Genesis chapter four is all we have concerning the posterity of Cain and his family. The next time we read anything about them is when they all perish alongside the rest of civilization in Noah’s Flood.