And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
Lamech, the fifth in descent from Cain, took two wives, Adah and Zillah. He was the first to depart from God's original arrangement of one man united to one wife, which had been given to show all who should live on the earth His order and law for marriage. His taking of two wives added the sin of polygamy to the murder begun by Cain, as Satan's studied effort to pervert the marriage institution, weaken its obligations and lessen its sacredness. The two wives brought discord, envy and jealousy into his home and made him unhappy, and as men multiplied wives to themselves they increased in wickedness, crime and wretchedness. That departure from God's plain command was continued before the Flood in the indulgence of corrupt passions and disregard for justice and right, and it was one of the sins that filled the world with transgression and brought God's wrath upon it in destruction.
Lamech in Cain's Line
Lamech was the fifth in descent from Cain, and he took two wives, Adah and Zillah. His act belongs to the dark history of Cain and his descendants, with Cain as the head of a line of bold, abandoned sinners, and in it Lamech added the sin of polygamy to the crime of murder that Cain had begun. Led on by Satan, that one apostate became a tempter to others, and his example and influence exerted a demoralizing power until the earth became corrupt and filled with violence so as to call for its destruction.
His line had gone out from the presence of the Lord, had cast away the promise of the restored Eden, and sought possessions and enjoyment in the earth under the curse of sin, standing at the head of those who worship the god of this world. His descendants became distinguished in mere earthly and material progress, but were regardless of God and in opposition to His purposes for man. That family line is associated with departing from God and building cities, in contrast with those who held to God's principles and lived among fields and hills, and Enoch separated from Cain's descendants because of their wickedness. Yet in boastful defiance Lamech still acknowledged God, only to draw from the avenging of Cain an assurance of his own safety.
The verse belongs to the whole story told in Genesis 4, which shows departure from God's plain commands that filled the world with transgression and sin and caused God to destroy the world. Fifteen centuries after the sentence upon Cain, the fruition of his influence was witnessed in the crime and pollution that flooded the earth. That history illustrates what would result from permitting the sinner to live on forever in rebellion against God, for the forbearance of God only rendered the wicked more bold and defiant, and the longer men lived in sin the more abandoned they became. It manifests that the sentence of death pronounced upon the fallen race for transgression of God's law was both just and merciful, a blessing cutting short unbridled iniquity and freeing the world from those hardened in rebellion.
God's Order and Its Violation
In the beginning God gave Adam one wife to show to all who should live upon the earth His order and law and pattern that marriage is one man with one wife, and He never designed that man should have a plurality of wives. Lamech was the first to depart from and break that wise arrangement by taking two wives, Adah and Zillah, carrying out unlawful wishes instead of doing justice. After the transgression and fall brought sin and wretchedness upon the human race, men followed their own carnal and sinful desires and changed God's order by taking a plurality of wives, so that polygamy was introduced and practiced at an early date.
That practice was Satan's studied effort to pervert the marriage institution, to weaken its obligations and lessen its sacredness, for in no surer way could he deface the image of God in man and open the door to misery and vice. Polygamy is contrary to God's will, God has not sanctioned it in a single instance, and He knew the happiness of man would be destroyed by it. Lamech's two wives created discord in his family, and the envy and jealousy of both made him unhappy, illustrating that having multiple wives harmed human happiness.
The more men multiplied wives to themselves, the more they increased in wickedness, crime, and unhappiness and wretchedness, joining polygamy with disregard for justice and right toward neighbors. Neither the marriage relation nor the rights of property were respected, with men taking by force the wives, cattle, possessions, or anything belonging to a neighbor that they coveted, prevailing by strength or by putting him to death and exulting in deeds of violence. People before the Flood continued in polygamy and the indulgence of corrupt and base passions, and that departure was one of the sins that brought the wrath of God upon the antediluvian world, while after the Flood it again became widespread.
Lamech, the fifth in descent from Cain, took two wives, Adah and Zillah. He was the first to depart from God's original arrangement of one man united to one wife, which had been given to show all who should live on the earth His order and law for marriage. His taking of two wives added the sin of polygamy to the murder begun by Cain, as Satan's studied effort to pervert the marriage institution, weaken its obligations and lessen its sacredness. The two wives brought discord, envy and jealousy into his home and made him unhappy, and as men multiplied wives to themselves they increased in wickedness, crime and wretchedness. That departure from God's plain command was continued before the Flood in the indulgence of corrupt passions and disregard for justice and right, and it was one of the sins that filled the world with transgression and brought God's wrath upon it in destruction.
Lamech in Cain's Line
Lamech was the fifth in descent from Cain, and he took two wives, Adah and Zillah. His act belongs to the dark history of Cain and his descendants, with Cain as the head of a line of bold, abandoned sinners, and in it Lamech added the sin of polygamy to the crime of murder that Cain had begun. Led on by Satan, that one apostate became a tempter to others, and his example and influence exerted a demoralizing power until the earth became corrupt and filled with violence so as to call for its destruction.
His line had gone out from the presence of the Lord, had cast away the promise of the restored Eden, and sought possessions and enjoyment in the earth under the curse of sin, standing at the head of those who worship the god of this world. His descendants became distinguished in mere earthly and material progress, but were regardless of God and in opposition to His purposes for man. That family line is associated with departing from God and building cities, in contrast with those who held to God's principles and lived among fields and hills, and Enoch separated from Cain's descendants because of their wickedness. Yet in boastful defiance Lamech still acknowledged God, only to draw from the avenging of Cain an assurance of his own safety.
The verse belongs to the whole story told in Genesis 4, which shows departure from God's plain commands that filled the world with transgression and sin and caused God to destroy the world. Fifteen centuries after the sentence upon Cain, the fruition of his influence was witnessed in the crime and pollution that flooded the earth. That history illustrates what would result from permitting the sinner to live on forever in rebellion against God, for the forbearance of God only rendered the wicked more bold and defiant, and the longer men lived in sin the more abandoned they became. It manifests that the sentence of death pronounced upon the fallen race for transgression of God's law was both just and merciful, a blessing cutting short unbridled iniquity and freeing the world from those hardened in rebellion.
God's Order and Its Violation
In the beginning God gave Adam one wife to show to all who should live upon the earth His order and law and pattern that marriage is one man with one wife, and He never designed that man should have a plurality of wives. Lamech was the first to depart from and break that wise arrangement by taking two wives, Adah and Zillah, carrying out unlawful wishes instead of doing justice. After the transgression and fall brought sin and wretchedness upon the human race, men followed their own carnal and sinful desires and changed God's order by taking a plurality of wives, so that polygamy was introduced and practiced at an early date.
That practice was Satan's studied effort to pervert the marriage institution, to weaken its obligations and lessen its sacredness, for in no surer way could he deface the image of God in man and open the door to misery and vice. Polygamy is contrary to God's will, God has not sanctioned it in a single instance, and He knew the happiness of man would be destroyed by it. Lamech's two wives created discord in his family, and the envy and jealousy of both made him unhappy, illustrating that having multiple wives harmed human happiness.
The more men multiplied wives to themselves, the more they increased in wickedness, crime, and unhappiness and wretchedness, joining polygamy with disregard for justice and right toward neighbors. Neither the marriage relation nor the rights of property were respected, with men taking by force the wives, cattle, possessions, or anything belonging to a neighbor that they coveted, prevailing by strength or by putting him to death and exulting in deeds of violence. People before the Flood continued in polygamy and the indulgence of corrupt and base passions, and that departure was one of the sins that brought the wrath of God upon the antediluvian world, while after the Flood it again became widespread.