Genesis 4:19-22

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 4:20

Verse 20 20.Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in tents. Moses now relates that, with the evils which proceeded from the family of Cain, some good had been blended. For the invention of arts, and of other things which serve to the common use and convenience of life, is a gift of God by no means to be despised, and a faculty worthy of commendation. It is truly wonderful, that this race, which had most deeply fallen from integrity, should have excelled the rest of the posterity of Adam in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:16-24

The kingdom of God contrasted with the kingdom of this world. Society without the Lord. The banished Cain and his descendants. I. MULTIPLICATION apart from Divine order is no blessing. II. CIVILIZATION without religion is a chaos of conflicting forces, producing violence, bloodshed, working out its own ruin. Compare France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Arts of life may grow from a mere natural root. Music, mechanical skill, scientific discovery, and invention, in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:17-26

The progress of the race. I. ITS INCREASE IN POPULATION . Starting from a single pair in Eden, in the course of seven generations the human family must have attained to very considerable dimensions. At the birth of Seth, Adam was 130 years old, and in all probability had other sons and daughters- besides Cain and his wife. If Lamech, the seventh from Adam in the line of Cain, was contemporaneous with Enoch, the seventh from Adam in the line of Seth, at least 600 years had passed away... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:19

And Lamech took unto him two wives . Being the first polygamist of whom mention is made, the first by whom "the ethical aspect of marriage, as ordained by God, was turned into the lust of the eye and lust of the flesh" (Keil). Though afterwards permitted because of the hardness of men's hearts, it was not so from the beginning. This was "a new evil, without even the pretext that the first wife had no children, which held its ground until Christianity restored the original law—Matt, Genesis... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:20

And Adah bare Jabal . Either the Traveler or the Producer, from yabhal , to flow; poetically, to go to walk; hiphil, to produce; descriptive, in the one case, of his nomadic life, in the other of his occupation or his wealth. He was the father — av , father; used of the founder of a family or nation ( Genesis 10:21 ), of the author or maker of anything, especially of the Creator'( Job 38:28 ), of the master or teacher of any art or science ( Genesis 4:21 )— of such as dwell in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:21

And his brother's name was Jubal. Player on an instrument, the musician. Cf. jobel , an onomatopoetic word signifying jubilum , a joyful sound. Cf. Greek, ο ̓ λολυ ì ζειν α ̓ λαλα ì ζειν ; Latin, ululare ; Swedish, iolen ; Dutch, ioelen ; German, juchen (Geseuius). He was the father of all such as handle the harp. The kinnor , a stringed instrument, played on by the plectrum according to Josephus ('Ant.,' 7, 12, 3), but in David's time by the hand... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 4:22

And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain . Worker in brass or iron;related to Persian, tupal , iron dross (Gesenius, Rodiger, Delitzsch). Keil and Furst think this Persian root cannot be regarded as the proper explanation of the name. Furst suggests that the tribe may have been originally named Tubal, and known as inventors of smith-work and agricultural implements, and that Cain may have been afterwards added to them to identify them as Cainites ( vide 'Lex. sub hem.'). The name Tubal, like... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Genesis 4:17-24

- XIX. The Line of Cain17. חניך chenôk, Chanok, “initiation, instruction.”18. עירד ‛ı̂yrād, ‘Irad, “fleet as the wild ass, citizen.” מחוּיאל mechûya'el, Mechujael, “smitten of ‘El, or life of ‘El.” מתוּשׁאל metûshā'ēl, Methushael, “man of ‘El, or man asked.” למך lāmek, Lemek, “man of prayer, youth.”19. עדה 'ādâh, ‘Adah, “beauty.” צלה tsı̂lâh, Tsillah, “shade or tinkling.”20. יבל yābāl, Jabal, “stream, leader of cattle, produce, the walker or wanderer.” אהל 'ohel plural: אהלים... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 4:19

Genesis 4:19. Lamech took two wives It was one of the degenerate race of Cain who first transgressed the original law of marriage, that two only should be one flesh, and introduced a custom which still subsists in many parts of the world. Christ fully laid open the iniquity of this practice, and restored marriage to its first form, Matthew 19:8. read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Genesis 4:20

Genesis 4:20. He (Jabal) was the father of such as dwell in tents That is, he taught shepherds to dwell in them, and to remove them from place to place for conveniency of pasture. The first authors of any thing are commonly called its fathers. read more

Group of Brands