• Biblical Families is not a dating website. It is a forum to discuss issues relating to marriage and the Bible, and to offer guidance and support, not to find a wife. Click here for more information.

Lamech, the good guy

Asforme&myhouse

Seasoned Member
Real Person
Male
Everyone seems to cast aspersions on Lamech and his two wives. He is attacked for being “prideful and arrogant”. He’s attacked for killing a man. He’s is attacked for being a polygynist. But, in reality, the actual reason Lamech is attacked so vehemently is because of that last one, because he is a polygynist. If Lamech had only taken one wife, he wouldn’t be referred to as “Lamo” or “an evil man” or other such derogatory terms. Instead he would be lauded for being the father of and raising some of the most creative and successful sons in history. Sons who seem to have single handedly set the trend for the civilization of all humanity by inventing ranching, music, and metallurgy. Even his daughter’s name gets an honorable mention in Scripture which is pretty rare. However, if we look closer at the things he is condemned for by modern evangelicals, we discover that Lamech himself was a trend setter, in a good way. The two things he is attacked for, namely polygyny and self defense, are two things later codified into law by God himself, in the affirmative, for his own chosen people. Is it perhaps then more appropriate to view Lamech’s tiny mention in Scripture as one portraying one of the most noteworthy men in history?
 
Last edited:
It was questions about those aspersions on Lamech which appear in a popular study Bible that prompted my now second wife to ask me about polygyny in the Bible. The monogamy-only presuppositions that frame most people's thinking (including the authors of study Bibles) cause them to view this man badly. There is certainly no reason in the text and, yes, he had some noteworthy descendants whose skills have benefitted all humanity.
 
Back
Top