Lamech (father of Noah)

Lamech (/ˈleɪmɪk/;[1] Hebrew: לֶמֶךְ‎ Lémeḵ, in pausa לָמֶךְ‎ Lā́meḵ; Greek: Λάμεχ Lámekh) was a patriarch in the genealogies of Adam in the Book of Genesis. He is part of the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:36.[2] According to the Book of Jasher (Yasher), Lamech's wife was named Ashmua (Jasher 4:11).

For the person in Genesis 4, see Lamech (descendant of Cain).
Lamech
Resting placeMihtarlam, Afghanistan
ChildrenNoah, and other sons and daughters
Parent(s)Methuselah

Lamech (Arabic: Lamik) is also mentioned in Islam in the various collections of tales of the prophets who preceded Muhammad, which mentions him in an identical manner.

Bible narrative

And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. And Lamech lived after he begat Noah five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters:

And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died.

— Genesis 5:28–31 King James Version

Biblical genealogy

Lamech is the eighth-generation descendant of Adam (Genesis 5:25), the son of Methuselah, and the father of Noah (Genesis 5:29), 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.[3]

Genesis 5:28–31 records that Lamech was 182[4] (182 according to the Masoretic Text; 188 according to the Septuagint.[5]) years old at the birth of Noah and lived for another 595[6] years, attaining an age at death of 777[7] years, five years before the Flood 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.

AdamEve
CainAbelSeth
EnochEnos
IradKenan
MehujaelMahalalel
MethushaelJared
AdahLamechZillahEnoch
JabalJubalTubal-CainNaamahMethuselah
Lamech
Noah
ShemHamJapheth

Prophetic naming

When Lamech named his son Noah, he prophesied: "This [same] shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed." (Genesis 5:29) The people were cumbered with the toil of cultivating a ground that had been cursed in Genesis 3:17, 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.'"[8] At Noah's sacrifice in the new world after the flood, the LORD said, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart [is] evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."[9]

In culture

Tomb

Lamech is buried in a tomb built by Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni in Mihtarlam, Afghanistan. Mihtarlam is named after Lamech.[10][11]

References
  1. "Lamech." Dictionary.com.
  2. Luke 3:36
  3. Genesis 5:12–25
  4. Genesis 5:28–31
  5. Larsson, Gerhard. “The Chronology of the Pentateuch: A Comparison of the MT and LXX.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 102, no. 3, 1983, pp. 402. www.jstor.org/stable/3261014.
  6. 595 according to the Masoretic Text; 565 according to the Septuagint. Larsson, Gerhard. “The Chronology of the Pentateuch: A Comparison of the MT and LXX.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 102, no. 3, 1983, pp. 402. www.jstor.org/stable/3261014.
  7. 777 according to the Masoretic Text; 753 according to the Septuagint. Larsson, Gerhard. “The Chronology of the Pentateuch: A Comparison of the MT and LXX.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 102, no. 3, 1983, pp. 402. www.jstor.org/stable/3261014.
  8. Barnes' notes – Genesis 5:29
  9. Genesis 8:20–21
  10. "Afghanistan: Metar Lamech Shrine". www.culturalprofiles.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
  11. Elphinstone, Mountstuart, "SULTÁN MAHMÚD. (997–1030.)", The History of India, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 532–579, ISBN 978-1-139-50762-2, retrieved 2020-12-15
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