Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Genesis 4:23 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 23. 23And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Lamech commands Adah and Zillah to listen and boasts that he has killed a man or young man in retaliation for a wound or bruise; the parallel lines most naturally describe one victim and one event.
Read It With
- Genesis 4:17–24
Read verses 23–24 together and compare 4:15. Verse 23 presents the retaliatory killing; verse 24 interprets it by magnifying Cain's sevenfold protection into Lamech's seventy-sevenfold claim.
Why This Verse Appears Here
The genealogy stops listing descendants and lets Lamech speak, revealing the violent self-understanding toward which the unit has moved.
Read Genesis 4:23–24 together
Why these verses belong together: The two verses form one Hebrew poem in which retaliatory killing is magnified through comparison with Cain.
Verse 23. 23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
Verse 24. 24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Follow the Context
- Cain fathers Enoch, builds a city, and names it after his son (4:17).
- The genealogy moves rapidly from Enoch through Irad, Mehujael, and Methusael to Lamech (4:18).
- Lamech takes Adah and Zillah as wives, and their children are associated with mobile pastoral life, string and wind instruments, and metalwork; Naamah is also named (4:19–22).
- Lamech commands his wives to listen, boasts that he has killed a man or young man for injuring him, and claims vengeance far beyond Cain's sevenfold protection (4:23–24).
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“hear my voice ... hearken unto my speech”
In plain language: The parallel imperatives command both wives to listen.
Lamech frames the poem as an authoritative declaration to his household.
Why it matters: The speech displays power before it describes violence.
How certain? strong“I have slain a man”
In plain language: The ordinary Hebrew form states completed killing.
The matching young-man line most likely restates the same victim and act.
Why it matters: A boast is the strongest reading, while the event's details remain unknown.
How certain? probable“to my wounding ... to my hurt”
In plain language: Lamech presents his killing as retaliation for an injury.
The punishment he claims is lethally out of proportion to a wound or bruise.
Why it matters: The poem exposes escalation rather than establishing a rule of justice.
How certain? probableWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
Genesis 4:23 does not identify Lamech's victim as Cain, prove the killing was accidental, or give enough detail to decide who initiated the encounter.
What Remains True
Power becomes dangerous when injury is treated as permission for disproportionate violence and the violent person controls the story through self-justifying speech.
How It Can Shape Life
- When someone boasts of retaliation or threatens harm, take the danger seriously, protect possible targets, and pursue proportionate accountability rather than admiring forceful self-defense rhetoric.
Teach It Back
Explain Genesis 4:23's contribution to Genesis 4:17–24. Include why the nearby verses are required, what the verse clearly says, and one conclusion it does not justify.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 4:17–24 — Cain's Family Develops Culture as Lamech Escalates ViolenceSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The victim, circumstances, sequence, and alternative ancient denial readings cannot be reconstructed with certainty.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Reader-facing Scripture wording, verse numbering, paragraph data, and supplied-word markup.
Exact location: Pinned eBible/CrossWire standardized 1769 KJV corpus, Genesis 4:17–24
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, genealogy, craft terms, poetic parallelism, perfect-form killing claim, and numerical escalation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, wlc/Gen.xml, Genesis 4:17–24
Open source ↗Translation and textual notes
NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026
Supports: Material translation questions involving ongoing city-building, pastoral vocabulary, musical instruments, metalworking, retaliatory language, and seventy-sevenfold vengeance.
Exact location: NET Bible, Genesis 4:17–24 translator and study notes
Open NET Genesis 4 ↗peer reviewed open history of exegesis and contextual study
Genesis 4:17–24: A Case-Study in Eisegesis
Maarten J. Paul
Tyndale Bulletin 47.1, 1996
Supports: History of positive and negative readings of the city and crafts, explicit narrative silence, contextual evaluation, and the refusal to call culture itself uniformly evil.
Exact location: Tyndale Bulletin 47.1 (1996), pp. 143–162; complete open article, especially pp. 143–145 and 158–162
Open source ↗peer reviewed modern literary study
Lamech's Song and the Cain Genealogy: An Examination of Genesis 4:23–24 within Its Narrative Context
Geula Twersky
Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 31.2, 2017
Supports: Abstract-level literary thesis that Lamech's song is central to the genealogy and articulates self-exalting, disproportionate power.
Exact location: Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 31.2 (2017), pp. 275–293; official abstract
Open source ↗peer reviewed literary and name study
Lamech in the Genealogies of Genesis
Richard S. Hess
Bulletin for Biblical Research 1.1, 1991
Supports: Lamech's transitional structural role, segmented family list, poem parallelism, and comparison with Cain.
Exact location: Bulletin for Biblical Research 1.1 (1991), pp. 21–25; official record and visible article excerpt
Open source ↗