Genesis 4:17-26--The Generations of Cain

Genesis 4:17-26
World English Bible
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17 Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and named the city after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 Irad was born to Enoch. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech. 19 Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the father of all who handle the harp and pipe. 22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah. 23 Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice.
    You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech,
for I have slain a man for wounding me,
    a young man for bruising me.
24 If Cain will be avenged seven times,
    truly Lamech seventy-seven times.”

25 Adam knew his wife again. She gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, saying, “for God has given me another child instead of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 A son was also born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. At that time men began to call on Yahweh’s name.

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We end with a short genealogy to tell us "this is the end of the story of Cain."  Cain was not cut off without any descendants.  He was allowed to get married, have children and stop his wanderings as he settled down to raise his family.  He built a city in honor of his firstborn son, Enoch (this is not the Enoch that you probably know who was an Old Testament prophet and the father of Methuselah). If you're interested in the meanings of the names, don't forget that you  have free access to Hitchkock's Dictionary of Bible Names when you create a Lifeway account and access your Lifeway Reader.  Names had meaning and significance, especially at this time.

We see that Cain's family was resourceful, artistic, and willing to try new things.  One of his descendants became the father of all the nomadic shepherds and herdsmen who live in tents and wander from place to place to find food and water for their animals.  There are many such people like this even today, but Jabal was the first.

Jabal's brother Jubal was the father of those who play the harp and pipe (musicians).  This is the first job that we've seen that has no practical purpose, but is more artistic in function and for the enjoyment and pleasure of those performing as well as its audience.  We have moved to a new level of civilization here where people are no longer solely focused on what is necessary to survive and are able to think of thing like art and music.

Tubal Cain was also born to Lamech by his second wife, and Tubal Cain became the father of those who made tools of bronze and iron.  Those ages were not so far apart according to the Bible.  Cain's family many have been curses, but God allowed them to invent things that were for the good of all generations to come after them.  Let's zoom in on Lamech for a moment, the father of Jabal, Jubal, and Tubal Cain.

First, we see that Lamech violates the pattern that God has established for marriage being a lifetime covenant between one man and one woman.  So far, even with Cain's family, we have seen this pattern followed that was set forth in Genesis 2.  Now, we see the first  polygamous union between one man and two wives.  We'll see this pattern continue as men continue to rebel against God and the natural order of things that He established.  It would also seem that Lamech, like Cain, did not respect the sanctity of human life.  He sought vengeance for himself seeking to repay someone who had injured him by taking their life.  Worse than that, he bragged about it to his wives and presumed on the grace and mercy of God that God would keep him safe from the avenger of blood that sought the life of the one who look the life of their kinsman.

This whole family is really messed up, and it all started by one man, Cain, giving into his passions and not listening to the wisdom of the LORD to not let sin or passion rule over him.  We are left thinking, "Is there any hope for the human race?" after we read even a short family history like this.  The answer is a resounding "Yes!"  The last two verses in this chapter give us hope and move us along onto the next part of the narrative.  The answer will not be found in the family of Cain, but in the son that God will give to Adam and Eve after the death Abel (and the text reminds us that Abel is dead because Cain killed him, in case we forgot that part).

There is a glimmer of hope that it appears that the descendants of Seth, specifically Enosh, start a kind of revival and people start calling on the name of the LORD again.  In chapter 5, we get a complete genealogy from Adam to Noah through the family of Seth.  This is the Bible's way of telling us that we are leaving one story to focus on a new story, but, although we did not know this at the time, God the Holy Spirit is also helping us focus on the right people to watch for the promise of Genesis chapter 3 to come true.  God has now chosen one of Adam's sons (Seth) and a specific lineage of his descendants to work through.  This is one of the first instances of Election that we see (and it is the general principle of all of these genealogies that we will read), and we see that the first born is not entitled to the promise of the fulfillment of the Messianic promise.  In fact, God loves to work things out just the opposite of what we would expect when t comes to who we think will carry on the promise.  Our natural assumptions are usually wrong because it will not be  a promise fulfilled by natural means, but supernatural means.