Lemekh's Monologue/1/en
Lemekh's Oration
Introduction
Unexplained Excursus
After the story of Kayin's murder of Hevel, the Torah lists Kayin's descendents. Most are mentioned just by name, but when the Torah reaches the sixth generation it expounds at length about Lemekh, his wives, children, and their occupation:
What is the relevance of these facts to the reader? Why does the Torah elaborate only about Lemekh?
This biographical information is followed by a short but enigmatic poem which hints to amurder but explicates no further:
This speech appears without any context, making it difficult to decipher both the tone and meaning of Lemekh's speech. Do his words constitute a statement or a question? What emotions lie behind them; is Lemekh upset, consoling or boastful? Most importantly, what is it that he is trying to share with his wives? Almost every phrase that he utters is unclear:
- Who are the "אִישׁ" and "יֶלֶד" that are mentioned?
- Why were they killed? What do the words "לְפִצְעִי" and "לְחַבֻּרָתִי" come to explain, do they reflect the motivation for the killing, or the method thereof?
- What role does the comparison to Kayin play? What does the phrase "שִׁבְעָתַיִם יֻקַּם" mean?
