God’s Word for You
Genesis 4:23-24 An ancient song of toxic pride
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Monday, October 12, 2026
23 Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
wives of Lamech, listen to my words:
I have killed a man for wounding me,
and a young man for striking me.
24 If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
Most of us know or can think of an arrogant boaster, the kind of man who is jealous of someone else’s fame and then claims he deserves twice as much. Here we see something like that in Lamech, the descendant of Cain. We know that one of his sons was the inventor of metal weapons, and we get the impression that Lamech was so taken with the idea, so aware of the significance of such power, that here he stands, perhaps fingering the sharp edge of a new sword (the world’s first sword?), and he lets his craving for fame and glory take shape in a poetic song, known generally as his “Sword Song.”
Why sing the song to his two wives? To answer that, perhaps we need to look at the center of the song, a song which really has three parts: (1) Listen, my wives (2) I have killed two men, and (3) If Cain was avenged seven times, then I get seventy-seven.
Lamech confesses to a pair of murders. Now, should we take his words as a true confession? Grammatically, “I have killed a man” is a past tense statement (harugti, qal perfect). There is no real way to arm-wrestle this into a future promise, such as “I promise to kill a man….” And he adds a second causal statement, “for wounding me.” And then he says, “And I have killed a young man for striking me.” So it would seem that Lamech has committed not one murder, but two.
Someone might argue that in Hebrew poetry, classic parallelism would mean that “I have killed a man…, a young man” could perhaps refer only to one single killing. However, Moses is quoting something that was spoken by Lamech long before there was a Hebrew language, and perhaps we should be careful about using the usual rules of Hebrew poetry for this descendant of Cain. Once again, I think that it is more likely that Lamech has committed not one murder, but two.
Now, in the 19th and 20th centuries, a whole string of Hebrew scholars took this statement a different way. They thought that it is not a simple historical statement, but a “perfect (tense) of assurance,” used as a threat and not as an actual act committed in the past. Another point is that Moses, the inspired author, does not mention this double homicide except in the “Sword Song.” Now, this is not conclusive. There are things that David mentions in the Psalms (such as an encounter with an enemy named Cush from the tribe of Benjamin) that are not in any of the historical books (Psalm 7, Title). So we return to the grammar of the verse and the claim of Lamech to his wives: “I have killed one warrior and one young man.”
Who were these men? Enemies from among Cain’s other descendants? Or men that were threats to Lamech on account of his unbelief, and therefore from among the descendants of Adam and Eve’s sons? Lamech had killed men he disagreed with in some way. His claim that they hurt him, wounded him, could mean causing him physical pain, or moral pain, or spiritual pain. But whichever it was, his answer was to kill.
This brings us back to his wives. Why address them? It’s likely that they were now afraid that when someone came to seek revenge on him, that they would suffer as well. So his response was to brag. He puffs himself up. He gloats that yes, he’s killed one man in the prime of his manhood, and he’s killed a young man just coming into maturity, and now that his own son has created this new metal weapon, he will be able to defend himself. He will be avenged seventy-seven times.
The very opposite of Lamech’s arrogance is the gentle humbleness of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus said, “for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). Peter said, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5).
Lamech’s arrogance went beyond even Cain’s unbelieving attitude. Cain was overcome by the temptation to murder (4:7) but Lamech reveled in what he had done. Cain looked for protection in a panic (4:13-14), but Lamech looked for provocation. Cain killed his brother out of jealousy; Lamech killed a boy for giving him a mere wound.
When Peter asked Jesus about forgiveness, he asked if he should forgive someone seven times. Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:22). Was Jesus reaching back into this account to compare retaliation and forgiveness? What Lamech was threatening with his sharpened weapon was to kill, kill, kill. It was all about blood and death. What Christ teaches us with his blood and death is to love, love, love. He is all about forgiveness and life. For the gospel of forgiveness absolves even those sins we do not remember, while the threat of violence and death condemns even those wrongs that are only imaginary.
The heart of the believer reaches out to Christ and says, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord—and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:5). These words, spoken from the heart (and not just quoted, as if in a play) are the contrition God seeks in us. And he forgives our guilt, our sin, and all our wrongdoing, for Jesus’ sake.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.