Then Lamech took for himself two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah.
Parallel translations
- WEB Lamech took two wives: the name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah.
- KJV And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.
- BSB And Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah.
- NASB Lamech took two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.
- NLT Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Lamech takes two wives, Adah and Zillah. It records the first departure from God's design of one man and one woman in marriage.
Overview
Lamech's taking of two wives marks the first recorded instance of polygamy, a deviation from the one-flesh union established at creation. The detail signals the moral decline within Cain's line. It quietly contrasts human practice with God's original intent for marriage, later reaffirmed by Christ (Matthew 19:4-6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Gen 2:24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
- Matt 19:4–6He answered, “Haven’t you read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female,
- Gen 2:18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
- Matt 19:8He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it has not been so.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 4:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.