Naamah ( – ''Naʿămā'') is an individual mentioned in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' Cain, she was the only mentioned daughter of Lamech and Zillah and their youngest mentioned child; her brother was
Tubal-cain
Tubal-cain or Tubalcain ( he, תּוּבַל קַיִן – ''Tūḇal Qayīn'') is a person mentioned in the Bible, in , known for being the first blacksmith. He is stated as the "forger of all instruments of bronze and iron". A descendant of C ...
, while Jabal and Jubal were her half-brothers, sons of Lamech's other wife Adah.
Theories
Gordon Wenham notes that the reason "she should be picked out for special mention remains obscure",Gordon Wenham, ''Genesis 1–15'' ( WBC; Word, 1987), 114. while R. R. Wilson suggests that the narrator simply wished to offer a balanced genealogy by noting that both of Lamech's wives had two children.
The early Jewish ''
Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical inter ...
(23.3) identifies this Naamah (the daughter of Lamech and sister of Tubal-cain) as the wife of Noah (see
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
's commentary on Genesis 4:22), while some Jewish traditions associate her with singing.
The Naamah mentioned in the Bible is a Cainite, a descendant in the lineage of Cain. However, a Sethite Naamah is named as the wife of Noah, and a daughter of
''.
The 17th-century theologian John Gill mentioned a theory which identified Naamah instead with the name of the wife of
Ham, son of Noah
Ham (in ), according to the Table of Nations in the Book of Genesis, was the second son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan.
Ham's descendants are interpreted by Flavius Josephus and others as having populated Africa and ad ...
, who he believed may have become confused with Noah's wife. See
Wives aboard the Ark
The wives aboard Noah's Ark were part of the family that survived the Deluge in the biblical Genesis flood narrative from the Bible. These wives are the wife of Noah, and the wives of each of his three sons. Although the Bible only notes the ex ...