GEN 4

Genesis 4:22

WEB

Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Naamah.

BSB

And Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, a forger of every implement of bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

KJV

And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

Matthew Henry

Verses 19–22

Genesis 4:19–22

We have here some particulars concerning Lamech, the seventh from Adam in the line of Cain. Observe,

I. His marrying two wives. It was one of the degenerate race of Cain who first transgressed that original law of marriage that two only should be one flesh. Hitherto one man had but one wife at a time; but Lamech took two. From the beginning it was not so. Mal 2:15; Mat 19:5. See here, 1. Those who desert God's church and ordinances lay themselves open to all manner of temptation. 2. When a bad custom is begun by bad men sometimes men of better characters are, through unwariness, drawn in to follow them. Jacob, David, and many others, who were otherwise good men, were afterwards ensnared in this sin which Lamech begun.

II. His happiness in his children, notwithstanding this. Though he sinned, in marrying two wives, yet he was blessed with children by both, and those such as lived to be famous in their generation, not for their piety, no mention is made of this (for aught that appears they were the heathen of that age), but for their ingenuity. They were not only themselves men of business, but men that were serviceable to the world, and eminent for the invention, or at least the improvement, of some useful arts. 1. Jabal was a famous shepherd; he delighted much in keeping cattle himself, and was so happy in devising methods of doing it to the best advantage, and instructing others in them, that the shepherds of those times, nay, the shepherds of after-times, called him father; or perhaps, his children after him being brought up to the same employment, the family was a family of shepherds. 2. Jubal was a famous musician, and particularly an organist, and the first that gave rules for the noble art or science of music. When Jabal had set them in a way to be rich, Jubal put them in a way to be merry. Those that spend their days in wealth will not be without the timbrel and harp, Job 21:12, Job 21:13. From his name, Jubal, probably the jubilee-trumpet was so called; for the best music was that which proclaimed liberty and redemption. Jabal was their Pan and Jubal their Apollo. 3. Tubal Cain was a famous smith, who greatly improved the art of working in brass and iron, for the service both of war and husbandry. He was their Vulcan. See here, (1.) That worldly things are the only things that carnal wicked people set their hearts upon and are most ingenious and industrious about. So it was with this impious race of cursed Cain. Here were a father of shepherds and a father of musicians, but not a father of the faithful. Here was one to teach in brass and iron, but none to teach the good knowledge of the Lord. Here were devices how to be rich, and how to be mighty, and how to be merry, but nothing of God, nor of his fear and service, among them. Present things fill the heads of most people. (2.) That even those who are destitute of the knowledge and grace of God may be endued with many excellent and useful accomplishments, which may make them famous and serviceable in their generation. Common gifts are given to bad men, while God chooses to himself the foolish things of the world.

Cross-references: Mal 2:15 · Matt 19:5 · Job 21:12 · Job 21:13

Hebrew interlinear

H6741

צִלָּהTsillâh/tsil-law'/

n-pr-f — Tsillah

Derivation: feminine of 6738;

Tsillah, an antediluvian woman

KJV: Zillah.

צִלָּה

n.pr.f — Zillah

צִלָּה n.pr.f. wife of Lam.

H1571

גַּםgam/gam/

adv — assemblage, also, even, yea, though, both, and

Derivation: by contraction from an unused root meaning to gather;

properly, assemblage; used only adverbially also, even, yea, though; often repeated as correl. both...and

KJV: again, alike, also, (so much) as (soon), both (so)...and, but, either...or, even, for all, (in) likewise (manner), moreover, nay...neither, one, then(-refore), though, what, with, yea.

גַּם

adv — also

גַּם 768 adv. denoting addition, also, moreover, yea

H1931

הוּאhûwʼ/hoo/

p — he, she, it, self, same, this, that, as, are

Derivation: of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is הִיא; he a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular;

he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are

KJV: he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.

הוּא

m — he

הוּא m. הִיא f., pron. of the 3rd ps. sing. he, she, used also (in both genders) for the neuter it

1. an emph. he (she, it, they), sometimes equivalent to himself (herself, itself, themselves), or (esp. with the art.) that (those)

2. It resumes the subj. with emph.

3. Where, however, the pron. follows the pred., its position gives it the minimum of emphasis, and it expresses (or resumes) the subject as unobtrusively as possible

4. It anticipates (as it seems) the subject

5. As an emph. predicate, of God

6. In a neuter sense, that, it (of an action, occurrence, matte, etc.)

7. With the art.: so regularly when joined to a subst. defined itself by the art.

H3205

יָלַדyâlad/yaw-lad'/

v — bear young, beget, act as midwife, show lineage

Derivation: a primitive root;

to bear young; causatively, to beget; medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show lineage

KJV: bear, beget, birth(-day), born, (make to) bring forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch, labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be the son of, (woman in, woman that) travail(-eth, -ing woman).

יָלַד

vb — bear

יָלַד 497 vb. bear, bring forth, beget

Qal

1. bear, bring forth

2. less often beget

3. of both parents

Niph. be born

Pi. cause (or help) to bring forth, viz., assist or tend as midwife

Pu. be born

Hiph.

1. beget (a father a child)

2. bear

Hoph. day of one's being born = birthday

Hithp. declared their pedigree

H853

אֵתʼêth/ayth/

prt — self, even, namely

Derivation: apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity;

properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)

KJV: [as such unrepresented in English].

אֵת

mark of the accusative

אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

H8423

תּוּבַל קַיִןTûwbal Qayin/too-bal' kah'-yin/

n-pr-m — Tubal-Kajin

Derivation: apparently from 2986 (compare 2981) and 7014; offspring of Cain;

Tubal-Kajin, an antidiluvian patriarch

KJV: Tubal-cain.

תּוּבַל(־)קַ֫יִן

n.pr.m — Tubal-cain

תּוּבַל(־)קַ֫יִן n.pr.m. first worker in metal

H3913

לָטַשׁlâṭash/law-tash'/

v — hammer out, sharpen

Derivation: a primitive root;

properly, to hammer out (an edge), i.e. to sharpen

KJV: instructer, sharp(-en), whet.

לָטַשׁ

vb — hammer

[לָטַשׁ] vb. hammer, sharpen, whet

Qal

1. hammer

2. sharpen sword

Pu. a sharpened razor

H3605

כֹּלkôl/kole/

n-m — whole, all, any, every

Derivation: or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל; from 3634;

properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)

KJV: (in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).

כֹּל

n.m — the whole

כֹּל once כּוֹל n.m. the whole, all

1. with foll. gen. (as usually) the whole of, to be rendered, however, often in our idiom, to avoid stiffness, any or every

2. Absolutely:

a. without the art., all things, all

b. with the art. הַכֹּל

(a). where the sense is limited by the context to things (or persons) just mentioned

(b). in a wider sense, all, whether of all mankind or of all living things, the universe, or of all the circumstances of life (chiefly late)

H2794

חֹרֵשׁchôrêsh/kho-rashe'/

n-m — fabricator, mechanic

Derivation: active participle of 2790;

a fabricator or mechanic

KJV: artificer.

חָרַשׁ

vb — cut in

[חָרַשׁ] vb. cut in, engrave, plough, devise

Qal

1. cut in, engrave

2. plough

3. devise

Niph. Zion, as a field she shall be ploughed

Hiph. fabricating mischief against

H5178

נְחֹשֶׁתnᵉchôsheth/nekh-o'-sheth/

n-m — copper, coin, fetter, base

Derivation: for 5154;

copper, hence, something made of that metal, i.e. coin, a fetter; figuratively, base (as compared with gold or silver)

KJV: brasen, brass, chain, copper, fetter (of brass), filthiness, steel.

נְחֹ֫שֶׁת

n.m — copper

נְחֹ֫שֶׁת 137 n.m. copper, bronze

1. copper

2. fetters of copper or bronze

3. as less in value than gold but more than wood

4. fig. of pitiless sky

נְחֹ֫שֶׁת

n.[f.] — lust

[נְחֹ֫שֶׁת] n.[f.] Ez 16:36 where context favours mng. lust, harlotry, or specif. sens. obscoen.

H1270

בַּרְזֶלbarzel/bar-zel'/

n-m — iron, iron implement

Derivation: perhaps from the root of 1269;

iron (as cutting); by extension, an iron implement

KJV: (ax) head, iron.

בַּרְזֶל

n.m — iron

בַּרְזֶל n.m. iron

1. iron, lit.

2. tool of iron

3. iron in fig. of unwatered earth

H269

אָחוֹתʼâchôwth/aw-khoth'/

n-f — sister

Derivation: irregular feminine of 251;

a sister (used very widely [like 251], literally and figuratively)

KJV: (an-) other, sister, together.

אָחוֹת

n.f — sister

אָחוֹת 114 n.f. sister

1. sister

2. = beloved

3. symbol. of Judah, Samaria, Sodom & Jerusalem

4. fig. of intimate connection

5. another

H5279

נַעֲמָהNaʻămâh/nah-am-aw'/

n-pr-f n-pr-loc — Naamah

Derivation: feminine of 5277; pleasantness;

Naamah, the name of an antediluvian woman, of an Ammonitess, and of a place in Palestine

KJV: Naamah.

נַעֲמָה

n.pr.f — Naamah

נַעֲמָה n.pr.f.

1. sister of Tubal Cain

2. Ammonitess, mother of Rehoboam

נַעֲמָה

n.pr.loc — Naamah

נַעֲמָה n.pr.loc. city assigned to Judah in Philist. plain Jos 15:41

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