Genesis 4:19
New International Version
Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

New Living Translation
Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah.

English Standard Version
And Lamech took two wives. The name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Berean Standard Bible
And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

King James Bible
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

New King James Version
Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.

New American Standard Bible
Lamech took two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

NASB 1995
Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

NASB 1977
And Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

Legacy Standard Bible
And Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

Amplified Bible
And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

Christian Standard Bible
Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah.

American Standard Version
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Lamek took to himself two wives; the name of one was Ada and the name of the other was Tsala.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Lamech took to himself two wives; the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the second Sella.

Contemporary English Version
Lamech married Adah, then Zillah.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other was Sella.

English Revised Version
And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

Good News Translation
Lamech had two wives, Adah and Zillah.

International Standard Version
Later, Lamech married two wives. One was named Adah and the other was named Zillah.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Literal Standard Version
And Lamech takes to himself two wives, the name of the first Adah, and the name of the second Zillah.

Majority Standard Bible
And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.

New American Bible
Lamech took two wives; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second Zillah.

NET Bible
Lamech took two wives for himself; the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.

New Revised Standard Version
Lamech took two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

New Heart English Bible
Lamech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Lamech took to him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

World English Bible
Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah.

Young's Literal Translation
And Lamech taketh to himself two wives, the name of the one Adah, and the name of the second Zillah.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Descendants of Cain
18Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methusael, and Methusael was the father of Lamech. 19And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock.…

Cross References
Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Genesis 4:18
Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael was the father of Methusael, and Methusael was the father of Lamech.

Genesis 4:20
Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock.

Genesis 4:23
Then Lamech said to his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. For I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me.


Treasury of Scripture

And Lamech took to him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

two wives.

Genesis 2:18,24
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him…

Matthew 19:4-6,8
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, …

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Adah Lamech Married Second Wives Women Zillah
Genesis 4
1. The birth, occupation, and offerings of Cain and Abel.
8. Cain murders his brother Abel.
11. The curse of Cain.
17. Has a son called Enoch, and builds a city, which he calls after his name.
18. His descendants, with Lamech and his two wives.
25. The birth of Seth,
26. and Enos.














(19-22) Lamech took unto him two wives.--Whether polygamy began with Lamech is uncertain, but it is in keeping with the insolent character of the man. The names of his wives bear testimony to the existence, even at this early date, of considerable refinement; for I can scarcely believe that we need go to the Assyrian dialect for the meaning of two words for which Hebrew suffices. They are explained in Assyrian as being edhatu, "darkness," and tzillatu, "the shades of night." In Hebrew Adah means ornament, especially that which is for the decoration of the person; while Zillah means shadow, which agrees very closely with the Assyrian explanation. Both have distinguished children. Jabal, Adah's eldest son, took to a nomadic life, whence his name, which means wanderer, and was looked up to by the nomad tribes as their founder. The difference between their mode of life and that of Abel was that they perpetually changed their habitation, while he remained in the neighbourhood of Adam's dwelling. The younger, "Jubal," that is, the music-player, "was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ." Of these instruments, the kinnor, always translated "harp" in our version, was certainly a stringed instrument, a guitar or lyre. The other, in Hebrew 'ugab, is mentioned only in Job 21:12; Job 30:31; Psalm 150:4. It was a small wind instrument, a reed or pipe.

The son of Zillah attained to higher distinction. He is the first "sharpener (or hammerer) of every instrument of copper and iron." Copper is constantly found cropping up in a comparatively pure state upon the surface of the ground, and was the first metal made use of by man. It is comparatively soft, and is easily beaten to an edge; but it was long before men learned the art of mixing with it an alloy of tin, and so producing the far harder substance, bronze. The alloy to which we give the name of brass was absolutely unknown to the ancients. The discovery of iron marks a far greater advance in metallurgy, as the ore has to be smelted, and the implement produced is more precious. The Greeks in the time of Homer seem to have known it only as a rarity imported from the north; and Rawlinson (Anc. Monarchies, i. 167) mentions that in Mesopotamia, while silver was the metal current in traffic, iron was so rare as to be regarded as something very precious. The name of this hero is "Tubal-cain." In Ezekiel 27:13, Tubal brings copper to the mart of Tyre, and in Persian the word means copper. Cain is a distinct name from that of Adam's firstborn, and means, in most Semitic languages, smith; thus Tubal-cain probably signifies coppersmith.

The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.--The same as Naomi (Ruth 1:2), and meaning beauty, loveliness. As women are not mentioned in the genealogies, and as no history follows of this personage, her name must be given as an indication that a great advance had been made, not only in the arts, but also in the elegancies of life. Women could not have been mere drudges and household slaves, nor men coarse and boorish, when Naamah's beauty was so highly appreciated. The Rabbins have turned her into a demon, and given free play to their imagination in the stories they have invented concerning her. . . .

Verse 19. - And Lamech took unto him two wives. Being the first polygamist of whom mention is made, the first by whom "the ethical aspect of marriage, as ordained by God, was turned into the lust of the eye and lust of the flesh" (Keil). Though afterwards permitted because of the hardness of men's hearts, it was not so from the beginning. This was "a new evil, without even the pretext that the first wife had no children, which held its ground until Christianity restored the original law - Matthew 19:4-6" (Inglis). The names of Lamech's wives were suggestive of sensual attractions. The name of the one Adah, the Adorned (Gesenius), and the name of the other Zillah, the shady or the tinkling (Keil), the musical player (Lange), the shadow (Wordsworth). "Did Lamech choose a wife to gratify the eye with loveliness? and was he soon sated with that which is so short-lived as beauty, and then chose another wife in addition to Adah? But a second wife is hardly a wife; she is only the shadow of a wife" (ibid.).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And Lamech
לֶ֖מֶךְ (le·meḵ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3929: Lamech -- a descendant of Cain, also a descendant of Seth

married
וַיִּֽקַּֽח־ (way·yiq·qaḥ-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

two
שְׁתֵּ֣י (šə·tê)
Number - fdc
Strong's 8147: Two (a cardinal number)

women,
נָשִׁ֑ים (nā·šîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

one
הָֽאַחַת֙ (hā·’a·ḥaṯ)
Article | Number - feminine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

named
שֵׁ֤ם (šêm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8034: A name

Adah
עָדָ֔ה (‘ā·ḏāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 5711: Adah -- two non-Israelite women

and
וְשֵׁ֥ם (wə·šêm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8034: A name

the other
הַשֵּׁנִ֖ית (haš·šê·nîṯ)
Article | Number - ordinal feminine singular
Strong's 8145: Second (an ordinal number)

Zillah.
צִלָּֽה׃ (ṣil·lāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 6741: Zillah -- wife of Lamech


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OT Law: Genesis 4:19 Lamech took two wives: the name (Gen. Ge Gn)
Genesis 4:18
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