I've been doing a Bible study memorizing a whole boatload of verses. Because I never did that as a child and it's always bothered me not to have them at the ready.
![Text says, "Guess who I am" and a Bible verse is quoted with the person's name shown as a double question mark. The verse is "[double-question-mark] said to his wives, 'Adah and Zillah, listen to me. Wives of [double-question-mark], hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me.' Genesis 4:23"](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0738/4101/7119/files/Lamech-3_480x480.png?v=1701061335)
Anyway, Day 3 has been bothering me since I first read it because it seemed so insignificant I couldn't understand why it was labeled a "Top Verse To Memorize."
Insignificant it is not! I went down a research rabbit trail this morning and ohhh my did I learn something!
Day 3 is Genesis 4:23 "Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, listen to me. Wives of Lamech, hear these words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me." NIV
Now when I first read that verse as part of the plan, I looked it up for context and I came to the conclusion that he was warning them, that these were words of remorse or at the very least fear. He goes on to say may be be avenged 77 times where Cain was avenged 7 times. Remember, God placed a protection on Cain after he killed his brother and was exiled, that anyone who killed Cain would suffer 7x over. God's order of protection was in response to Cain protesting the exile, that he would be vulnerable and killed.
My little dive into context and my (lacking) interpretation wasn't sufficient. The verse continued to tug at me. So today I looked further. With the aid of Google, I found scholars who pointed out that Lamech's family was the first mention of polygamy and that his sons were the first to raise livestock, the first musicians, and the first metalworkers.
Okay, I thought polygamy bad but cultural advancement seems good, right?
But these scholars go on to label the verse as boastful, that Lamech glorified excessive violence.
Wow, that's different than my take. So I kept digging to see why. How do they know it we a boastful proclamation instead of confession.
Here's the kicker. I found a video who explained the name "Lamech" is very similar to the Hebrew word for "king" except the first two letters are swapped - which signifies that instead of values we would expect of a king (wise, composed, and full of integrity), here we find the opposite: "the corruption & the perversion of power."
Here's the link to that video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WCr8RFXD5_4
More to come on this topic! Watch for the sequel!
