LAMECH
209
LAMECir
ly Lambnischini was in danger, and fled to Civita Ycc- chia, but, not finding more security there, he returned to Kome. In 1848 he tied first to Naples, and afterwards joined Pius IX at Gaeta. He re-entered Rome with the pope in 1850, and was appointed cardinal of the pa- pal household. He is said to have then advised meas- nres of moderation, which were rejected by cardinal An- tonelli. He died May 12, 1854. His principal works were translated into French, under the title Meditations sitr les Vertus de Suinte Therese,i}recedees dhtn ahrerje de sa vie (Paris, 1827, 18mo) -.—Sur PlmmacuUe Conception de Marie, dissertation poUmique (Paris and Besan(,'on, 184o,8vo):— />ft'oriOM au Sucre Cceiir de Jesus, etc. {Var. 1857, 18mo). See JJict.de la Conversation; Eourquclot ct Jlaury, La Litterature Fran^aise Contemp. ; Hoefer, Xoui: Biog. Generale, xxix, 175. (J. N. P.)
La'mech (Ileb. Ze'meA-, T^'oh, taster, oi\ie.r\s\se, a vig- orous youth, in pause La'meh, "'^b ; Septiiag. and N. T. Aa/(£x ; Josephus Aafiixog, Ant. i,2,2), the name of two antediluvian patriarchs.
1. The fifth in descent from Cain, being the son of IMethusael, and father of Jabal, Jubal, Tubal-cain, and Naamah (Gen. iv, 18-24). B.C. cir. 3770. He is re- corded to have taken two wives, Adah and ZiUah ; and there appears no reason why the fact should have been mentioned, unless to point him out as the author of the evil practice of polj'gamy. The manner in which the sons of Lamech distinguished themselves as the inven- tors of useful arts is mentioned under their several names (q. v.). The Targum of Jonathan (ad loc.) adds, that his daughter was "the mistress of sounds and songs," i. e. the first poetess ; which Jewish tradition embellishes by saying that all the world wondered after her, even the sons of God, and that evil spirits were born of her (^Midrash on Kuth, and Zohar). Josephus {Ant. i, 2, 2) relates that the number of Lamech's sons was seventy- seven, and Jerome records the same tradition, adding that they were all cut off by the Deluge, and that this v.-as the seventy-and-sevenfold vengeance which La- mech imprecated.
The most remarkable circumstance in connection with Lamech is the poetical address which he is very abrupt- ly introduced as making to his wives, being, indeed, the only example of antediluvian poetry extant (Gen. iv, 23, 24):
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice ; Wives of Lamech, listen to my say ! For a man I slew for my wound, Even a youth for my bruise : If seveufold Cain was to be avenged, Then Lamech seventy and seven.
It has all the appearance of an extract from an old poem, which we may suppose to have been handed down by tradition to the time of Moses. It is very difficult to discover to what it refers, and the best explanation can be nothing more than a conjecture. It is the subject of a dissertation by Hilliger in Thesaurus Theologico- Philol. i, 141, and is discussed at length by the various commentators on Genesis. See also Hase, De Oraculo Lamec/ii (Brem. 1712) ; Schroder, De Lamecho homicida (Marb. 1721). The following is a synopsis of ancient and modern views. " Chrysostom {Horn, xx in Gen.) re- gards Lamech as a murderer stung by remorse, driven to make public confession of his guilt solely to ease his conscience, and afterwards {Horn, in Psa. vi) obtaining mercy. Theodoret {Quwsf. in Gen. xliv) sets him down as a murderer. Basil (A)). 2(50 [317], §5) interprets Lamech's words to mean that he had committed two murders, and that he deserved a much severer punish- ment than Cain, as having sinned after plainer warn- ing; Basil adds, that some persons interpret the last lines of the poem as meaning that, whereas Cain's sin increased, and was fuUowod after seven generations by the punislmient of the Deluge washing out the foulness of the world, so Lamech's sin shall be followed in the seventy-seventh (sec Luke iii, 23-38) generation by the coming of him who taketh away the sin of the w.orld.
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