Genesis 4:18

And unto Enoch, &c. The genealogy of Cain is a framework of names, each of which may have been connected with traditions that either had been forgotten, or were not deemed suitable for preservation in this context. It is a mistake, into which some commentators have been betrayed, to endeavour to extract meanings from the proper names of the antediluvian patriarchs. It is very doubtful, whether the original names would have conveyed the same thoughts which their later Hebraized pronunciation has suggested to devout, but fanciful, imagination. The facts of history are not to be spelt out from the obscure etymology of primaeval proper names. These well-meaning endeavours have sometimes been based on the assumption that Hebrew was the original language.

The most that can be said is that these names preserve the recollection of legendary persons, and that they have received a Hebraized form which rendered them easier of pronunciation and facilitated a symbolical interpretation.

Irad The name occurs in 1 Chronicles 4:18; see note on Jared, Genesis 5:16.

Mehujael Cf. Mahalalel, Genesis 5:12. If a Hebrew word, it may mean "blotted out by God." Cf. Genesis 6:7, where "destroy" is in the marg. blot out.

The LXX Μαίηλ must have read Mahyiel= "God maketh me to live."

Methushael Cf. Methuselah, Genesis 5:21. Assyriologists say that the name means "Man of God," and is the same as Mutu-sha-ili.