Lemech of Cain's line לֶמֶךְ מִזֶּרַע קַיִן
sixth generation from Cain; the first man said to have taken two wives
"And Lemech took himself two wives—the name of one Adah, and the name of the second Tzilah" (Bereshit 4:19). Four children were born to them, and of each the Torah says what began with him: herding, music, metalwork.
His too are the darkest words of the chapter: "Adah and Tzilah, hear my voice... for I have slain a man for wounding me, and a boy for bruising me. For Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, and Lemech seventy-seven" (Bereshit 4:23–24). The Torah does not say whom he means.
Midrash Tanchuma (Bereshit) reads this as the account of Cain's own death: Lemech, blind, went hunting with a boy who aimed his hand at a movement in the field; the arrow struck Cain, and the "boy" was the guide himself. This is tradition, not what the Torah states—but it is the source of the notion that Cain's life reached the seventh generation.
He is not to be confused with Lemech of Seth's line, father of Noach, who lived seven hundred and seventy-seven years (Bereshit 5:31).
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Tanakh
- Bereshit 4:17–24 — the line of Cain: seven generations and Lemech's four children
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Bereshit Rabbah 23 — the exposition of the verses on the house of Lemech: on Adah and Zillah, on Naamah, and on the crafts of Jabal, Jubal and Tubal-Cain
Basis: stated in the Tanakh.