“And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah”
Like many today, Lamech thought he could improve on the Divine marriage model. “Two are better than one,” he likely would have misquoted Ecclesiastes had it been written before his day (4:9). The text records no reason for Lamech taking two wives, however, because to give a reason would be to excuse his action, in which case it wouldn’t be sin.
In this first instance of polygamy registered in Scripture, Lamech “took unto him two wives,” in sharp contrast to God’s original monogamous design, where God “brought [Eve] unto the man.” While many people today rival Lamech’s reckless innovation of openly aberrant “marriages,” multitudes more adhere to the correct external structure but still follow Lamech’s lead by casting aside all godly counsel and guidance, and taking unto themselves. Self-gratification becomes king, and marriage morphs into a consumer-based model. No wonder families everywhere are failing.
Who were these two women, the first in history to share the same husband? Inspiration saw fit to record their names for our instruction. Adah’s name means “ornament, or to adorn, deck (self).” The name Zillah comes from the Hebrew root word tsâlal (H6751, 6749) “to shade, as twilight or an opaque object: begin to be dark, shadowing,” and “to tumble down, that is settle by a waving motion: -sink.” The name also has connections to tselem (H6754) which means “to shade, a phantom, illusion, resemblance; hence a representative figure, especially an idol: -image, vain shew” (Strong’s Concordance, E-Sword App).
That the parents of these two women gave them such names is strong evidence that they were not only familiar with jewelry, cosmetics and idolatry, but were positively in favor of them. Why else would they choose these names, if not to express their vain priorities and desires as to the character and future of their daughters?
Now, as then, self-adornment and idolatry come together to distort and ruin functional and faithful relationships, both horizontal and vertical. In taking these two women as his wives, Lamech realized the potential of his own name in reverse: attempting to show himself strong as an innovative priest and spiritual leader, he made himself morally low.
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