Lamech (; ''Lemeḵ'', in
pausa ''Lāmeḵ''; ''Lámekh'') was a
patriarch in the
genealogies of Adam in the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
. He is part of the
genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:36.
Lamech (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: لامك,
romanized
In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, ...
: ''Lāmik'') is also mentioned in
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
in the various collections of
tales of the prophets who preceded
Muhammad
Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
, which mentions him in an identical manner.
Bible narrative
Biblical genealogy
Lamech is the eighth-generation descendant of
Adam
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam).
According to Christianity, Adam ...
(), the son of
Methuselah, and the father of
Noah (), in the genealogy of
Seth in Genesis 5. In Genesis 5:12-25, Lamech was a son of Methuselah, who was a grandson of
Jared, who was a grandson of
Kenan descended from Adam.
Genesis 5:28–31 records that Lamech was 182 (according to the
Masoretic Text; 188 according to the Septuagint
) years old at the birth of Noah and lived for another 595
[ years, attaining an age at death of 777][ years, five years before the ]Flood
A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...
in the Masoretic chronology. With such numbers in this genealogical account, Adam would still have been alive for about the first 56 years of Lamech's life.
Prophetic naming
When Lamech named his son Noah, he prophesied: "This '' ame' shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the hath cursed." () The people were cumbered with the toil of cultivating a ground that had been cursed in , and they hoped for relief through Noah. Albert Barnes noted: "In stating the reason of the name, they employ a word which is connected with it only by a second remove. נוּח nûach and נחם nācham are stems not immediately connected; but they both point back to a common root נח (n-ch) signifying 'to sigh, to breathe, to rest, to lie down. At Noah's sacrifice in the new world after the flood, the said, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart '' s' evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."
Tomb
According to a local Afghan legend, Lamech was buried from Mihtarlam. Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni built a tomb and gardens over the presumed burial site. Mihtarlam itself is said to be named after Lamech.
In popular culture
Lamech is portrayed by Marton Csokas in the 2014 film '' Noah'', handing his son the skin of the serpent who tricked Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
to eat the Forbidden Fruit in the Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (; ; ) or Garden of God ( and ), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genesis 2–3 and Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel 28 and 31..
The location of Ede ...
, before he is murdered by Tubal-cain with a battle axe.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamech
Book of Genesis people
Bereshit (parashah)
Noah
Prophets in the Hebrew Bible