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שמען קולי HEAR MY VOICE — For his wives separated from him because he had killed Cain and Tubal-Cain, his own son. Lamech was blind and Tubal-Cain used to lead him. The latter saw Cain and thought him to be an animal. He therefore told his father to draw the bow, and thus Lamech killed him. As soon as he learned that it was his forefather Cain, he smote his hands together, struck his son between them and so killed him too. His wives thereupon separated from him, and he endeavoured to appease them,

AND LAMECH SAID UNTO HIS WIVES. For the sense of this verse, the commentators have depended on the opinion of Onkelos who explained therefore whosoever slayeth Cain vengeance shall be taken on him ‘shivatha’im’⁴⁶⁶Above, Verse 15. as meaning that at the end of seven generations, vengeance shall be taken on him [Cain], but not now⁴⁶⁷The sense of the verse, according to Onkelos, would thus be: “Therefore, all ye who would slay Cain, know that seven generations later vengeance will be taken on him (Cain), but not now.” because G-d would be long-suffering with him. Now Lamech’s wives feared to bear children because they would be the seventh generation to Cain, but he comforted his wives by saying that G-d would be forbearing with him for yet seventy-seven generations because he would pray before Him, for He is long-suffering and would have mercy upon him. Or it may be that Lamech’s words were an absurd a fortiori argument, in accordance with the Midrash that Rashi mentioned, [namely: “For if so, the Holy One, blessed be He, could never exact His debt nor fulfill His word.”] If so, Scripture is stating: “Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken of the seventh generation” and not in his days. And this is the translation of Onkelos: “All who would slay Cain! In seven generations, punishment will be exacted of him [Cain].” But if so, it would have been proper that the verse, And Lamech said unto his wives, appear before [Verse 20: And Adah — Lamech’s wife — bore Jabal].
In my opinion, the word shivatha’im does not mean “seven generations” because this word is not used for seven separate units but rather for the multiplying of one thing seven times, such as: refined ‘shivatha’im’ (sevenfold);⁴⁶⁸Psalms 12:7. restore ‘shivatha’im’ (sevenfold);⁴⁶⁹Proverbs 6:31. and the light of the sun shall be ‘shivatha’im’,⁴⁷⁰Isaiah 30:26. meaning doubled and redoubled seven times. But the meaning of therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain⁴⁶⁶Above, Verse 15. is, according to its real sense, that G-d said: “Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain will have vengeance taken on him sevenfold, for I will punish his slayer seven times for his sin, since I have promised Cain that he will not be slain in view of his fear of Me and his confession before Me.” However, the matter of Lamech and his wives is not mentioned clearly in Scripture. We could also say that they feared lest Lamech be killed as a punishment for his ancestor’s sin since G-d did not tell Cain, “I have forgiven you.” Instead, He promised him only that he will not be slain, but He would collect His debt from his children, and they did not know when. And so indeed the matter happened. Lamech, however, comforted them by saying that G-d would have mercy on him even as He had mercy on Cain, for he had cleaner hands than Cain, and he also would pray before Him and He would hear his prayer.
However, it appears to me that Lamech was a very wise man in every craft, and he taught his eldest son [Jabal] the business of pasturing according to the nature of the cattle. To the second son [Jubal] he taught the art of music, and he taught the third one [Tubal-Cain] to forge metals and to make swords, spears, javelins, and all instruments of war. His wives were then afraid that he might be punished because he brought the sword and murder into the world, and he thus retained in his hand the evil deed of his ancestor [Cain] since he was a descendant of the first murderer and he created the waster to destroy.⁴⁷¹Ibid., 54:16. But he [Lamech] told them: “I did not slay a man by wounds, nor a child by bruises,⁴⁷²See Verse 23 in this chapter. as did Cain, and G-d will not punish me. Instead, He will guard me from being killed moreso than Cain” He [Lamech] mentioned this in order to say that man cannot kill only with the sword and javelin; death caused by wounds and bruises is a worse death than by the sword. Therefore, the sword is not the cause of murder, and there is no sin upon him who made it.

שמען קולי נשי למך, Lemech called out in grief

ויאמר למך לנשיו, our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 23,4 state that when Lemech wanted to sleep with his wives they refused him. They used several arguments, one being that they were afraid of the deluge and they did not want to give birth to children already doomed. Lemech countered that if Kayin whose deed of foul murder had resulted in suspension of his death sentence for 7 generations, then he, Lemech, who had killed inadvertently, accidentally, would not be punished for far longer than that, and his wives had no reason to worry. Even if a deluge would come tomorrow, he was free from the taint of sin and would not become its victim. He went further, saying that even assuming he had deliberately killed a man or a child, G’d would forgive him, seeing he had many merits which would offset one such sin. Kayin had not had such merits even before he killed his brother but had sinned so that G’d had rejected his offering, and still his sentence had not been carried out for seven generations. This is how he arrived at the expression שבעה ושבעים as opposed to שבעתים the period during which G’d had suspended the carrying out of the sentence of death on Kayin. He appealed to G’d’s patience to extend this patience to him. It is also possible that Lemech’s logic was totally foolish, as hinted at by Rashi, as the wives of Lemech did not worry about retribution for Lemech’s sin but the long overdue retribution for Kayin’s sin, something that would include all of Kayin’s offspring. We have to assume that Lemech’s speech to his wives took place before his wife Adah had given birth to Yaval.
Some of our sages (Tanchuma 11), claim that Lemech was blind and that when whenever he went out hunting a child (Tuval Kayin) would serve as his guide. When the child spotted the animal he would tell Lemech to draw his bow and aim his arrow in a certain direction. In this fashion Kayin, while being mistaken for an animal, was killed. Other sages (Bereshit Rabbah 22,12) claim that the “sign” provided by G’d for Kayin to warn people and beasts not to kill him, was a horn which grew out of his forehead. Kayin, being constantly on the move in the field due to G’d’s curse, was mistaken by the boy accompanying Lemech for a wild beast seeing that it had a horn on its forehead. Once the boy and Lemech came close to inspect the “beast” they thought they had killed, the boy told Lemech that they had killed a human being. Lemech then suddenly realised that he had killed his ancestor Kayin and this gave rise to his words איש הרגתי לפצעי וילד לחבורתי, he told his wives not to worry because whereas Kayin had murdered intentionally, he had reason to believe that G’d would delay punishing him for longer even than He had delayed Kayin’s punishment.
Rabbi Yaakov bar Idi asked Rabbi Yochanan why our verse mentioned both איש and ילד, would not either have been enough? Rabbi Yochanan replied that the word איש refers to the slain’s physical size, i.e. he was an adult, whereas the word ילד refers to the age of the slain person. [in which case the slain person was not Kayin at all, seeing that if he was still alive during Lemech’s time he must have been at least 500 years plus at the time he was killed by Lemech who was already married. Ed.] It is also possible to understand the passage as hinting at the jealousies between Lemech’s two wives, especially, since it appears that no one prior to Lemech had taken two wives. This is also why in Talmudic parlance such wives are known as צרות. This expression occurs first in connection with Chanah and Peninah the two wives of Elkanah (Samuel I 1,6). Lemech threatened to kill both his wives if they would continue to feud with one another. He made it plain that he had no reason to be afraid of the punishment for killing them, since G’d would be even more lenient with him than He had been with Kayin who had not had any good reason to kill his brother. Seeing that the number שבעה had already been used in connection with Kayin and his punishment, Lemech used an amended version of the number seven in describing how long it would take for him to be punished.
According to our commentary earlier on verse 15, Lemech intended here to make plain to his wives that whoever would kill him if he were forced to kill his wives, would experience far greater retribution than the one who killed Kayin, concerning whose killing G’d had warned the killer of especially severe (not sevenfold) retribution. The justification for such drastic retribution was that G’d Himself had assured Kayin of protection against being killed arbitrarily, hence the crime would be both against G’d and against Kayin. In practice this meant that the penalty could be paid only by the offspring of the killer. In addition to the killer himself. G’d’s retribution would include those who are close to the killer, for instance. His reasoning was that whereas he would have killed with provocation, Kayin had killed without provocation, ergo anyone killing him would be far more guilty than Kayin had been at the time. Seeing that G’d had not bothered to warn anyone who would kill Lemech of such draconian punishment, he had to go on record himself. The reference to פצע, which seems unrelated to killing, is to a wound which results in the victim bleeding, whereas חבורה is an injury that does not result in blood flowing from the victim. He associated the word חבורה with children, as these, being frail, are more likely to die from injuries that did not result in loss of blood. The word הרגתי is to be understood as the same as אהרג, i.e. a future mode, seeing he is warning of what may yet occur. Alternatively, the references to injuries refer to he himself being injured, and he is warning those who might injure him that he would retaliate by killing them. According to the first explanation the letters י at the end of the word לפצעי and לחבורתי would refer to the people causing such injuries, whereas according to the second explanation these letters would refer to the ones sustaining such injuries. We have numerous examples of such constructions, for instance Psalms 2,6 ואני נסכתי מלכי, “but I have installed my king, etc.” or Psalms 74,12 ואלוקים מלכי מקדם, “O G’d my King from old;” in the former the letter י refers to the passive subject, in the letter to the active party.

ויאמר למך לנשיו, “Lemech said to his wives, etc.” Nachmanides concludes from the plain text of our verses that Lemech was a wise and astute individual, well versed in all the vocations requiring not only brawn but also brain. He taught his oldest son how to be a proficient shepherd, allowing for the different nature of different animals, as well as the different kind of feed which they would thrive on. He taught his second son the rudiments of musical composition and how to play certain musical instruments. He taught his third son the art of working with different kinds of metal, including the making of weapons such as swords, spears, daggers, etc. His wives became afraid that he would be punished for introducing warfare into a peaceful society. Seeing that his paternal great-great-grandfather had been a murderer, perpetuating the art of killing would surely be frowned upon by heaven. Thus thought his wives. He told them that he himself had not been guilty of killing as had Kayin, so that G’d would protect him against murder even more so than He had been protecting Kayin for hundreds of years. He made the point that it is not the weapons which kill but the men who abuse the weapons. Man is capable of inflicting death on his fellow man with his bare hands and therefore manufacturing swords was not something that by itself was sinful. Rabbi Joseph Kimchi interprets the speech by Lemech to his wives as provoked by the discord in his household, seeing he had married two wives. Lemech is asking why he should be blamed, מה פשעי, when it was his wives who could not live in harmony with one another. If people like Kayin who had murdered, could live in peace and undisturbed, why should he who had not been guilty of murder have to be the victim of such discord? He warned his wives with sevenfold retribution by G’d Who had promised Kayin that He would personally avenge his life if anyone were to kill him. G’d would bring down great unhappiness on the people making Lemech’s life miserable. Other commentators consider Lemech as boasting that he had killed both adults and children merely in order to put the fear of him into the hearts of his wives. In fact, he had not killed. They would become afraid of him and live together peacefully under his roof.

כי איש הרגתי לפצעי, “for I have slain by my wound, etc.” Lemech introduced the sword and murder into the world. It is a case of the deeds of the fathers being re-enacted by the children After all, Lemech was the son (descendant) of the first murderer, Kayin. Lemech sired three sons. His oldest son taught him the art of grazing, i.e. to understand the nature and needs of the animals. His second son taught him all about music and musical instruments. His third son taught him how to use metal implements to make war both aggressively, i.e. by the sword and defensively by means of the shield. His wives were afraid that he should not die as a penalty for having brought instruments of murder and killing into the world. This is why he said to them: ”for have I killed a man by inflicting many wounds upon him (as Kayin did to Hevel) or a child (Hevel had only been 50 days old) and nonetheless G’d did not kill Kayin?” He meant to say that the sword is not what murders. Murder is the result of other considerations. The fact that I have perfected the art of war by making swords is not by itself punishable. [It is the use to which people put such instruments that may or may not be punishable. Ed.]

Die verschiedenen Auffassungen dieses Verses sind bekannt. Sie lassen alle mehr oder minder Schwierigkeiten ungelöst. Wir haben bereits an die Parallele der kainitischen Geschlechtsreihe mit derjenigen der sethitischen Geschlechter erinnert. Auch dort erscheint am Ende derselben ein "Lemech" und spricht einen bedeutsamen Satz über die Zukunft des Geschlechtes: "זה ינחמנו וגו׳" aus. Hier spricht schon die gehobene Form der Rede dafür, dass wir hier ein שיר, einen von höherem Geist diktierten Ausspruch vor uns haben. Erwägen wir diese Form, nehmen wir die Sprachformen in ihrer ungezwungensten Bedeutung, erinnern wir uns, dass schon ein Midrasch — allerdings auf ein konkretes Ereignis beziehend — in dem getöteten Manne den Ahn und in dem getöteten Kinde den eigenen Sohn erblickte, und fassen wir das Ganze im Zusammenhange mit dem Vorhergehenden auf: so dürften wir hier das letzte Vermächtnis eines kainitischen Sehers vor uns haben. Lemech hatte drei Söhne und mit ihnen die menschliche Kultur begründet. Welches stolze Selbstgefühl hätte die Brust dieses Mannes erfüllen, wie hätte er jubeln müssen!! Allein das Ergebnis seiner Lebenserfahrungen hat seinen Geist mit dem bitteren Gegenteil erfüllt. Er spricht: Hört auf mich, Ada und Zilla, auch wenn ihr nicht Lemechs Frauen wäret; denn was ich zu sagen habe, betrifft alle Menschen. Aber als Frauen Lemech׳s, als Mütter dieser Söhne, höret mir doppelt zu, geht euch meine Rede doppelt an. Ihr meint, mit dem, was wir getan, hätten wir Kain aufgerichtet, uns eine glückliche Gegenwart und unseren Kindern eine noch glücklichere Zukunft bereitet? "Nicht gesühnt, getötet habe ich den Ahn, gemordet die Jugend und mir selbst mit allem die tiefste Wunde geschlagen!" Alle Bestrebungen der Kultur, im Dienste Gottes stehend, sind heilig und beglückend. Sie bauen fort auf dem ererbten Gottesschatz der Ahnen, überliefern ihn bereichert ihren Kindern, leben selbst ein beglücktes Leben der Gegenwart. Allein aus "Mechujael und Mechijael", aus einem Geschlechte hervorgehend, in welchem das Göttliche erloschen, und das nur bestrebt ist, es immer mehr in dem werdenden Geschlechte zu verlöschen, nur im Dienste der Selbstsucht stehend, nichts als תובל קין, nichts als Produkt des mit aller Kraft gegen Gott ankämpfenden Menschen, tötet ein solches Geschlecht die Ahnen, tötet das heranwachsende Geschlecht und schafft sich selbst nur tiefe Wunden und Leiden. Es opfert Vergangenheit und Zukunft und gewinnt die Gegenwart nicht.

And Lemech said to his wives - the explanation of Rav Yosef Karo of blessed memory: since Lemech married two wives first, they would fight and envy one another and each would anger her rival, and they would make a cacophony. He said to them, "What is my sin above all men that there is no peace in my house?! No [peace] in eating, nor in drinking, nor in lying down, nor in arising - have I killed people, or strangled babies, that this thing should happen to me which never happened to any person?! And now, look, I'm dying at your hands! I can't bear all of this! But the Holy Blessed One will exacted payment for this! For Kayin who sinned, God said God would take revenge seventy times -- all the more so God should take revenge for me seventy-seven!" And this comes to teach us that man shouldn't have many wives, because that's trouble and strife. And it seems to me that in those days they were far-seeing and wise, and they knew a flood would come in the days of Lemech, for you don't find genealogies for the children of Lemech because they would drown in the flood. The wives of Lemech heard this and wanted to separate from Lemech. They said, "Why should we birth for vanity, and suffer the pain of pregnancy and birth and child-rearing?" And he said to them and comforted them, "Don't believe that the Holy Blessed One would do this, for have I killed a man or strangled youths, that this should happen to me and my children should be drowned? The Holy Blessed One took pity on Kayin - should They not do this all the more so for me?" And he seduced them with words until he had offspring from them, and it seems to me that this is why these children of Lemech learnt these crafts, since they weren't blessed in agriculture because of the curse of Kayin in their youth, and regarding this matter it was explained by Targum Onkelos.

ויאמר למך לנשיו, “Lemech said to his wives:” from the pleading manner in which the Torah describes his address to his wives, i.e. שמען קולי,....האזנה אמרתי, “hear my voice...give ear to my speech,” it is evident that his wives were quite angry and rebellious at him at that time. Lemech exclaims (seeing that he had been blind) “did I deliberately kill someone?” [In other words, how can you blame me? Ed.]

"Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech listen to my statement." His wives did not listen to him, as in Isaiah (32) "Carefree women, come, listen to my voice; confident daughters, listen to my statement." And therefore it says "Because I killed a man for my anger and a lad for my bruising." There is cause for his wives to fear him, because he has killed several people. According to another interpretation, he warned them that they are not stronger than the "man" that "I killed" and if they think that he would not hurt them because they are women, behold, he has also killed a child, so he would not hesitate to harm them as well.

saying שמען קולי “Hear my voice”— obey me and return to me: for the man I slew — was he slain by my wounding? i. e. did I wound him with premeditation, that the wound should be called by my name (i. e. attributed to me); and the child that I slew — was it slain by my blow? (i. e. by a blow directed intentionally by me?) [Rashi here inserts the word בתמיה which he uses frequently to direct that the preceding words should be read as a question.] Did I not act inadvertently and not with premeditation? This was not my wound, nor was this my blow!

אמרתי, I have to express my mental anguish’

נשי למך, constructions in which one refers to people close to oneself in the third person, as Lemech did to his wives in this verse, also occur in Exodus 24,1 as well as in Genesis 2,20 and in Samuel I 12.11.

האזנה, this word, meaning: “listen please,” has the vowel tzeyreh under the letter zayin.

פצע wound, is the stroke inflicted by a sword or arrow (old French macheure).

הרגתי לפצעי, I have caused myself real injury, for the one who has killed my father (ancestor Kayin) has inflicted upon me the child a deep wound, seeing that the killer was my son.