LAMECH
1.Genesis 1:4, a descendant of Cain, in the fifth generation, and ancestor of numerous posterity distinguished for a skill in agriculture, music, and several mechanic arts. He is the first polygamist on record. His address to his two wives is the oldest specimen of poetry extant, and is a good illustration of Hebrew parallelism.
"Adah and Zillah,
Hear my voice;
Ye wives of Lamech,
Hearken unto my speech.
I have slain a man
To my wounding,
And [or even] a young man
To my hurt.
If Cain shall be avenged
Seven-fold,
Truly Lamech
Seventy and seven fold."
Many explanations of this abrupt fragment have been suggested. The most satisfactory, perhaps, is that Lamech had accidentally or in self-defense killed a man, and was exposed to the vengeance of "the avenger of blood;" but quiets the fears of his wives by saying of Cain under heavy penalties, Genesis 4:15, much more would he guard the life of Lamech who was comparatively innocent.
2. The son of Methuselah, and father of Noah; he lived seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and died only five years before the flood, Genesis 1:5-31.