Lemekh and His Wives in Art

Introduction

The character of Lemekh appears in Tanakh only briefly, relaying an enigmatic speech to his wives which hints to a murder, but does not elaborate further.  The four artworks displayed here, the engraving by Alexander Master,¹ the woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld,² the painting by William Blake,³ and the miniature from the Speculum Humanæ Salvationis⁴  all depict the event. The portrayals differ in almost every detail, from the choice of characters included, to the emotions they express and the actions they commit.  The variety reflects the many different ways the story has been understood.

Contrasting Images

Alexander Master

Alexander Master depicts Lemekh as a hunter.  He stands to the viewer's left, holding his bow and arrow, aiming to shoot.  Near him a young boy lies face down on the ground, while a second man lies a bit further away with an arrow through his heart.  This Lemekh's emotions are hard to read, and contain neither signs of despair nor of pride.

Schnorr

Schnorr's Lemekh stands in stark contrast to that of Blake.  He is not tormented and distraught, but rather proud and defiant.  He runs home to his waiting wives and family, his bloody sword raised in a sign of victory.  They look up at him with admiration.

Blake

Blake's image is full of pathos, with a grief-stricken Lemekh taking center stage.  Lemekh pulls his hair in anguish as he looks at the dead body sprawled on the floor by his feet.

Speculum

This depiction differs from the others in that it contains no hints of violence on the part of Lemekh at all, no sword and no dead bodies.  Instead, a somewhat foolish-looking Lemekh stands in between his two wives, who raise their fists at him and pull on his hair.  Lemekh lifts his hands as if to say, "enough, what do you want from me?"

Relationship to the Biblical Text

The artists' choices reflect certain ambiguities in the Biblical text and different possible interpretive stances:

How Many Dead Bodies?

While Alexander Master depicts two dead bodies, and Blake includes just one, Schnorr and the Speculum do not portray any at all.⁵  Which choice is most supported by the Biblical text?  Lemekh's words, "כִּי אִישׁ הָרַגְתִּי לְפִצְעִי וְיֶלֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִי" are ambiguous.  Taken literally, one might assume that both a child and older man were killed,⁶ but it is also possible that the two halves of the verse are simply poetically parallel and speak of but one victim.⁷ Alternatively, Lemekh's words do not constitute a statement at all but rather a rhetorical question, "Have I killed a man...", in which case there should be no deaths to view.⁸

Boast or Lament?

Blake's Lemekh is dismayed at his actions, whereas Schnorr's figure seems proud, and happy to share his feat.  What was the Biblical Lemekh feeling?  Again the text is ambiguous, and depends both on how one interprets the phrases "לְפִצְעִי" and "לְחַבֻּרָתִי" and what tone one ascribes to Lemekh's words. Thus, for example, SfornoBereshit 4:23About R. Ovadyah Sforno reads Lemekh as expressing sincere regret and explains that he is telling his wives, "I have killed a man and it will be a wound to me" (I will always hurt for my deed).  Ibn KaspiBereshit 4:23About R. Yosef ibn Kaspi, in contrast, asserts that Lemekh is boasting to his wives that to retaliate for a mere bruise, he has killed a man. For elaboration, see Lemekh's Monologue.

Lemekh's Wives

Tanakh only presents Lemekh's monologue, leaving his wives' reaction to the reader's imagination.  Interestingly, the Speculum portrays them as tormenting their husband. Where might such a depiction be coming from? Various commentator's readings of the story might provide a clue. The TanchumaBereshit 11About the Tanchuma suggests that Lemekh had killed his own relatives, his ancestor, Kayin, and his son, Tuval Kayin.  As such, the angry reaction of his wives might be expected.  According to R. Yosef KaraBereshit 4:23About R. Yosef Kara and ShadalBereshit 4:23About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto, in contrast, Lemekh is reacting to his wives and not vice versa.  Due to their constant harassment, he questions why he deserves such a fate if he is an innocent man, never having killed another. For elaboration, see Lemekh's Monologue.

Murder Weapon

Schnorr depicts Lemekh wielding a sword while Alexander Master accouters him with a bow and arrow. Blake's image, in contrast, shows no weapon at all.  Here, too, Tanakh is not explicit. When Lemekh says, "אִישׁ הָרַגְתִּי לְפִצְעִי וְיֶלֶד לְחַבֻּרָתִי" is he speaking of the motivation for the murder or the method thereof?  CassutoBereshit 4:23About Prof. Umberto Cassuto suggests the latter, asserting that Lemekh killed the man by just bruising or wounding him, using no weapon at all.  Alternatively, the context of the verses, the creation of metallurgy, might suggest that actually weapons had just been invented, and the killing was done via sword or the like.

¹ This image is from the History Bible (KB, 78 D 38 I), c. 1430, which contains over 50 miniatures.  It is housed in the National Library of the Netherlands, the Hague.

² Schnorr (1794-1872) was a German painter of the Nazarene movement.  He made over 200 engravings of Biblical scenes for a Picture Bible, Die Bibel in Bildern.

³ William Blake (1757-1827) was a British painter and poet associated with the Romantic movement.  The painting is housed in the Tate Gallery, London.  The image shown here is a cropped version of the original.

⁴ The Speculum humanæ salvationis, or Mirror of Human Salvation, is an anonymous, but influential work dating to the Late Middle Ages.  It portrays the concept of typology, that the events of the New Testament were prefigured by those recounted in the Old.  Several hundred illuminated copies of it were made in the 14th-15th centuries.  This version is from c.1360 and is housed in ULB Dermstadt.

⁵ Schnorr, though, alludes to the murder through the blood stained sword in Lemekh's hand.

⁶ See, for instance, TanchumaBereshit 11About the Tanchuma who identifies these as Kayin and Tuval Kayin, or the NetzivBereshit 4:23-24About R. Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin who agrees that two people were killed but leaves them anonymous.

⁷ See U. CassutoBereshit 4:23About Prof. Umberto Cassuto who reads the verse in this manner.

⁸ For two variations of this approach see Bereshit Rabbah and R. Yosef Kara.  The former assumes that Noach's wives refused to have relation with him, knowing of the impending flood.  R. Yosef Kara, in contrast, has Lemekh responding to the noisy quarreling between his wives. Either way, Lemekh questions them why they are punishing him, if he has done no wrong and killed neither boy nor man..