In the days of Lamech, who was now old and advanced in years,
and whose eyes were so dim that he could not see, Tubal Cain, his son, led him one day into
the field. Here in the field was Cain, the son of Adam, he who had murdered his brother Abel,
and he advanced towards them. But Lamech was very old and he could not see who it
was and Tubal Cain, his son, was very young and so did not know who Cain was.
‘There’s someone there!’ Tubal Cain stammered. ‘Someone or… something!’ For they were at such
a distance from Cain that no man could have determined who or what made its way toward them.
So Tubal Cain, threatened by the entity who approached them, told his father to draw his bow.
‘It’s better to be safe than sorry,’ Tubal told his father. ‘You have the bow. Draw now
and slay the creature before it slays us!’ ‘I cannot make out what it is,’ Lamech said,
but he loaded the bow all the same. And it was with this did Lamech let
loose arrow after arrow, and without knowing, he shot Cain through the chest, for he believed
it to have been an animal or a beast. And as the arrows entered Cain’s body,
he fell to the ground and he died and the ground opened its mouth to receive his blood,
just as it had done to his brother Abel. The Lord, who had seen this transpire,
had long since forgiven Cain for his transgression and there, Cain had found favour in the eyes
of God. Yet, God condemned Cain to die in this way nonetheless - a death that was in
accordance with his own wickedness, for he had slain his brother Abel, thus he was slain too.
And it came to pass that when Cain had died, Lamech and Tubal went over to see
what it was that they had slain. And when they saw Cain had fallen upon the earth,
they were much aggrieved for what they had done. ‘I thought it was an animal - or a beast - or…
or someone who meant to harm us,’ Tubal told Lamech, but his father could not be consoled.
‘You fool!’ Lamech cursed. ‘You’ve turned me into a murderer - a murderer of my own blood!
If not for your harrying to load my bow and shoot, I would not have taken
a life - the life of my ancestor, no less - who began our bloodline in the first place!’
And Tubal pleaded with his father, ‘But… but father! I didn’t mean to - I just….’
‘You stupid boy!’ Lamech clapped his hands together in a rage and there,
he struck his son Tubal so hard that he struck him dead and was made a murderer once more.
Now when Lamech returned home to his wives Adah and Zillah,
he told them of what had transpired and how, in his rage, he had killed their son Tubal.
‘How could you?’ the wives burst into tears. ‘You condemned our son for your own actions and you
have made yourself a murderer twice over! You are the one who should’ve died out in those fields!’
‘Wives, please. Listen to me!’
But the wives of Lamech did not listen and they sought to kill him for what he had done. From
that day onward, they hated Lamech because he was not only a murderer, but a murderer of their son.
And the wives of Lamech did separate from him in those days and would not hearken to him.
Sometimes after, Lamech came to his wives and pressed upon them to listen to him. And he said
to his wives, ‘Hear my voice, attend to my words, for now you have imagined and said that I slew a
man with my arrows and a child with my fists, but surely know that I am old and grey-headed
and that my eyes are heavy through age, so know that I did these things unknowingly.’
The wives of Lamech did listen to him in this matter, and after being
urged by Adam to return to him, they did.
But they bore him no more children from that time, knowing that God’s anger was increasing
in those days against the sons of men. Indeed, it would be one day soon that the sons of men would
be destroyed by the waters of the flood for their wrong doing and everything would be started anew.
In the book of Jasher, Cain is portrayed in a more detailed and nuanced manner compared
to the somewhat limited description provided in the canonical Bible. Of Cain’s fate in Genesis,
we know that after killing brother Abel, he is marked and banished by God, which leads him to
building his own city (which is named after his son Enoch). Beyond this, Genesis doesn’t give us
much else in regards to the character of Cain. We don’t know what happens to the city of Enoch,
we don’t know where it was located and most importantly, we aren’t told what happens to Cain
after he’s completed its construction. The Book of Jasher seeks to fill these holes, telling us at
the end of Chapter 1 that ‘In that time the Lord began to give [Cain] rest and quiet in the earth’,
suggesting that God gave him respite in his banishment and allowed him to
live a better life than readers of the traditional bible might’ve expected.
But as the Book of Jasher shows us, Cain’s murder of Abel does not go unpunished and
whilst Cain was allowed to live - whether as a wanderer or a builder, he was still
struck down by the hand of another - a somewhat poetic end for the first very first murderer.
In this section of Chapter 2 in the Book of Jasher, we are told of Lamech - a character
who features very minimally in the bible. Despite his perceived irrelevance amongst readers, Lamech
takes centre stage here in the Book of Jasher, and though he is old and his eyes don’t work anymore,
he is still evidently pretty decent with the bow. Now, the text tells us that Lamech (with his
son Tubal), are walking in the field when none other than Cain starts advancing towards them.
What does Cain want with them? It is unclear, but the whole thing seems to spook Tubal Cain
for the text tells us he thought Cain was some sort of animal. We are told,
‘And Tubal Cain told his father to draw his bow, and with the arrows he smote Cain,
who was yet far off, and he slew him, for he appeared to them to be an animal.’ (Jasher 2:27)
The Genesis tale makes no direct reference to Cain being murdered in this way - nor murdered at all.
As far as we know from Genesis, Cain became a restless wanderer - cursed
to roam the world forever. Genesis tells us, “Now you are under a curse and driven from the
ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When
you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a
restless wanderer on the earth.” (Genesis 4:12) But as we can see in Jasher, Cain’s ‘curse’ is
lifted as he crosses paths with Lamech. It isn’t clear how this works into God’s plan from the text
alone. Was this God absolving Cain of his previous crime and putting an end to his misery, or was
this God punishing Cain for his sins and damning him to ‘fall to the earth’ just as Abel had done?
In my retelling, I aimed to show Cain falling similarly to his brother, with his blood
being received by the mouth of the earth. I hoped to establish a parallel if you will,
as the two brothers essentially meet the same fate - senselessly murdered by someone else.
The text in Jasher however is a bit more simplified and makes no allusion to Genesis.
All we are told is, ‘And the arrows entered Cain’s body although he was distant from them,
and he fell to the ground and died.’ (Jasher 2:28) - which kind of makes it seem like
Cain’s death wasn’t even that significant - it was merely a footnote in God’s plan,
something that starts and ends with the flight of an arrow.
In the 29th verse in the Book of Jasher, we do get more of an idea as to why God let Cain die here.
We are told, ‘And the Lord requited Cain's evil according to his wickedness, which he
had done to his brother Abel, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken.’ Again,
it is open to interpretation here as to whether God allowed Cain to die out of mercy or whether
this was his vengeance, to have him snuffed just as senselessly and easily as his brother had been.
By this point, some readers of Genesis may be thinking about the stipulation of Cain’s curse
that God places on him - one that would protect him from the attack of others. We are told there,
“But the Lord said to him, “[...} anyone who kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.”
Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him.” (Genesis 4:15)
This part of the curse is not established in Jasher. Unlike in Genesis, Cain doesn’t
seem to worry that someone will kill him when he is out wandering the land in banishment,
but instead wordlessly accepts his punishment and gets on with it. Yet, with Cain being killed by
Lamech here, it does create discrepancy between Genesis and Jasher - for if Cain was given the
mark that ensured no one who found him would kill him, how then did Lamech kill him? And
if Lamech did kill him… then was Lamech cursed suffer vengeance seven times over?
Well, one idea is that because Lamech was pretty much blind (even though he was a decent shot) and
because Tubal was too far to identify Cain (and may not have known what he even looked like),
no one had actually ‘found’ him. Jasher is keen to let us know that Cain was shot ‘at a distance’
and that neither Lamech or Tubal knew it was Cain until after the deed was done. In fact,
the text does tell us that both might have mistaken Cain for an animal.
With this, a loophole is established with the mark of Cain, for it raises the question that if
Cain was struck before he could be ‘found’, then was he really still protected? In other words,
if Cain’s death was ‘accidental’, then did it count as Cain being killed, per say.
Perhaps with these circumstances, it also excused Lamech of suffering vengeance seven times over.
In any case, The Book of Jasher is capable of bringing Cain’s life full-circle and
unlike Genesis, a definitive conclusion is given for Cain’s open ended arc,
one that whilst isn’t necessary, does give us some closure as to not only
what happened to Cain, but also in seeing him get what he deserves.
Jasher puts a neat little bow on all of this, telling us of this, “And the Lord requited Cain's
evil according to his wickedness, which he had done to his brother Abel, according to the word
of the Lord which he had spoken.” (Jasher 2:29) Now, when Lamech and Tubal go to investigate the
‘animal’ they shot, they find that it’s Cain and begin to grieve their now dead relative.
What’s interesting here is that Lamech takes the death of Cain pretty hard,
with the text showing him recognizing Cain as his ancestor and suffering from immediate grief.
In fact, his turmoil at having shot Cain is so intense, that it leads him to taking his
emotions out on his son Tubal, blaming him for what has transpired and even killing him too!
In the Genesis account, we don’t know much about either Lamech or Tubal Cain, so it’s hard to
compare the Lamech and Tubal-Cain here in Jasher with the Lamech and Tubal-Cain of the bible.
What little information we have of them comes from Genesis chapter 4, where we are told,
“Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was
the father of those who live in tents and raise livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was
the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes. Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who
forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.” (Genesis 4:19-22)
In a way, Lamech and Tubal come to mirror Cain and Abel, in that one kills the other
out of anger and misplaced emotion. One blames the other for the pain they are
feeling. And one pays the ultimate price for something that was never even their fault.
Cain kills Abel because he is jealous of him - he is angered that Abel is favoured by God and
he blames Abel for showing him up and embarrassing him. This leads him to killing Abel, even though
Abel had done nothing to spite or wrong him. Similarly, Lamech demonstrates the same pattern.
He is angered that Tubal told him to raise his bow and shoot the oncomer and thus he blames him
for the murder that took place by his own hand. This leads him to killing Tubal, even though
Tubal hadn’t intentionally plotted to murder Cain, but had simply mistaken him for something else.
As Cain was the progenitor of Lamech’s line, some might say that the apple doesn’t fall from the
tree here, for both are quick to temper and both do not hesitate when it comes to taking a life.
However, where Cain comes to repent and grieve for killing Abel in the moments after having murdered
him, Lamech isn’t seen to mourn killing Tubal. In fact, where Cain buried Abel, we don’t see Lamech
do the same. In fact, we see Lamech more visibly upset with having killed Cain than he is with
having killed his own son. Perhaps in this, we see a large difference between Cain and Lamech, one
who knows he’s done wrong and one who does not. Though Lamech does admit to the crime to his wives
later on, one might say that he only does this to get back in their good books after they leave him.
Additionally, one might say that Lamech’s lack of remorse here is indicative of the attitude of the
sons of men during this time, who were becoming more unruly and sinful in the eyes of God.
Now, when Lamech does return to his wives we are told that they hated him for what he
had done and they even sought to kill him. Of course, this would have also turned them into
murderers and because they were righteous, they chose instead to leave Lamech and would not even
talk to him thereafter. Jasher tells us that he pleads with them to listen, saying to them;
“And he said to his wives Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice O wives of Lamech, attend to my words,
for now you have imagined and said that I slew a man with my wounds, and a child with
my stripes for their having done no violence, but surely know that I am old and grey-headed,
and that my eyes are heavy through age, and I did this thing unknowingly.” (Jasher 2:35)
With this statement, Lamech seems to attempt to avoid direct responsibility for the murders
and hides behind the ideas that he is ‘old’ and that his ‘eyes are heavy through age’.
Basically, he is blaming his eyesight for the murder of Cain, whilst blaming his old
age for the murder of Tubal. ‘I did this thing unknowingly’, he tells his wives,
and whilst this might be true for the murder of Cain, he definitely did strike Tubal knowingly,
which led to his death. Admittedly, Lamech probably hadn’t meant to kill Tubal,
otherwise he probably would’ve shot him with an arrow too instead of just striking him. At best,
both accounts probably fall under manslaughter - they were accidents, but at least one of
them could’ve been avoided if Lamech controlled his temper - something he doesn’t acknowledge.
Interestingly, despite the death of Cain not being directly acknowledged in Genesis,
the event is alluded to in chapter 4, where we see Lamech talking to his wives. He says, “Adah
and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.’ (Genesis 4:23) This coincides with the way he begs his wives
to listen to him in Jasher - this incessant request to hear his words.
Furthermore, it also shows us that even in the bible, Lamech is a murderer - he murders a man
who wounded him and he murders a young man who injures him. Neither of these men are
identified here as Cain or Tubal, but the subsequent line does make it quite damning.
Lamech told his wives, “If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.” (Genesis 4:24) Although Cain’s banishment takes place in the same
chapter as this conversation between Lamech and his wives, it does seem a bit random that Lamech
would bring up Cain here… unless of course, that Cain was one of the men he spoke of murdering.
Lamech evidently knew of the curse of Cain too, but as we can tell from his words, he doesn’t
think much of it. In a way, he comes across as boastful, believing that he can offer a greater
vengeance than God can. In his example, God can only offer vengeance seven times, but Lamech
believes he can offer it seventy-seven times - which is arguably not only quite revealing about
his character, but also reflects the progressive blasphemous nature of the people at the time.
With this, one might say that Lamech’s focus was not atoning for his actions, nor grieving
the loss of his son, but instead winning back the affections of his wives and promoting his
own perceived strength. In spite of this, it’s interesting then that Lamech and his descendants
do not appear in either Jasher or Genesis again. As always guys, if you enjoyed today’s episode on
the Book of Jasher, then don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe
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