Genesis 4:19 - Meaning and Application

Here we have some details about Lamech, the seventh generation from Adam in Cain’s family line. Notice first that he married two wives. One of Cain’s degenerate descendants was the first to break God’s original law of marriage, where two are meant to become one flesh. Up to this point, one man had one wife at a time, but Lamech took two. From the beginning, it was not so (Malachi 2:15; Matthew 19:5).

This shows two things. First, those who leave God’s church and his ways expose themselves to every kind of temptation. Second, when a bad custom starts with bad people, even people of better character can sometimes be drawn into it through carelessness. Jacob, David, and many others, who were otherwise good men, were later trapped in this sin that Lamech began.

Second, we see Lamech’s success in his children, even though he had sinned in marrying two wives. He was blessed with children by both wives, and those children became famous in their own generation. They were not known for godliness, as far as the record shows, for they seem to have been the unbelieving people of that age. They were known for their skill and usefulness. They were men of work, and they became notable for inventing, or at least improving, useful arts.

Jabal was a famous shepherd. He loved caring for livestock and was so wise in finding better ways to do it, and in teaching those ways to others, that the shepherds of that time, and even later shepherds, called him their father. Or it may be that his children followed the same work, so that his whole family became a shepherding family.

Jubal was a famous musician, especially an organ player, and he was the first to set rules for the noble art of music. Jabal helped them become wealthy, and Jubal helped make them cheerful. People who spend their days in wealth will not be without music and celebration (Job 21:12, 21:13). From his name, Jubal, the jubilee trumpet may likely have taken its name, since the best music was that which announced freedom and redemption.

Tubal-cain was a famous smith, a metalworker who greatly advanced the craft of working in bronze and iron for use in war and farming. He was their Vulcan, their great craftsman.

This teaches us that worldly things are often the only things worldly and wicked people care about, and they are most clever and hardworking in those things. It was so with this ungodly family of cursed Cain. Here was a father of shepherds and a father of musicians, but no father of the faithful. Here was one who taught people about bronze and iron, but no one who taught the true knowledge of the Lord. Here were plans for wealth, power, and enjoyment, but nothing about God, his fear, or his service.

It also shows that people can lack the knowledge and grace of God and still have many fine and useful abilities. Such gifts can make them well known and useful in their own time. God gives common gifts even to bad people, while he chooses the foolish things of the world for himself.