And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-cain [was] Naamah.
22. Tubal-cain ] The double name is strange, and presumably means “Tubal of the family of Cain.” Tubal is traditionally supposed to have given his name to the people mentioned in Gen 10:2 (see note). “Tubal” in Eze 27:13; Eze 32:26; Eze 38:2; Eze 39:1 is associated with Javan and Meshech as a community whose traffic included “vessels of brass.” The Assyrian inscriptions record a people called “Tabal,” apparently living to the S.E. of the Black Sea.
the forger ] Heb. “the sharpener.” The expression is intended to denote the first smelter of metals. LXX , . Lat. Tubalcain qui fuit malleator et faber in cuncta opera aeris et ferri.
The R.V. marg. = A.V. “an instructor of every artificer,” is a conjectural rendering of an obscure passage, and does not follow the original.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
22. brass ] Better than copper. The metal, like the Gr. , was probably our “bronze,” for which “brass” was the equivalent in all early English literature. “Brass” is an alloy of copper and zinc; “bronze” of copper and tin. Copper-mining (not “brass”) is referred to in Deu 8:9; Job 28:2. Our English word “bronze” is derived from “Brundusium.”
It should be noticed here (1) that Hebrew tradition realizes how important an epoch in the progress of civilization is marked by the discovery of the use of metals; (2) that in this verse the mention of bronze precedes that of iron; (3) that no knowledge is shewn of a stone age, which archaeology has demonstrated to have preceded.
Naamah ] meaning “pleasant.” The mention of her name, concerning whom nothing else is recorded, implies the existence of legends or traditions which have disappeared. Perhaps she symbolized luxury, as Jubal symbolized art and Tubal-Cain industry. The juxtaposition of Naamah and Tubal-Cain reminds us of Venus and Vulcan, more especially as Naamah is said to have been the Phoenician title of the Semitic goddess Istar. It is the name borne by the mother of Rehoboam, an Ammonitess (1Ki 14:31).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 22. Tubal-cain] The first smith on record, who taught how to make warlike instruments and domestic utensils out of brass and iron. Agricultural instruments must have been in use long before, for Cain was a tiller of the ground, and so was Adam, and they could not have cultivated the ground without spades, hooks, c. Some of these arts were useless to man while innocent and upright, but after his fall they became necessary. Thus is the saying verified: God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions. As the power to get wealth is from God, so also is the invention of useful arts.
M. De Lavaur, in his Conference de la Fable avec l’Histoire Sainte, supposes that the Greeks and Romans took their smith-god Vulcan from Tubal-cain, the son of Lamech. The probability of this will appear,
1. From the name, which, by the omission of the Tu and turning the b into v, a change frequently made among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, makes Vulcain or Vulcan.
2. From his occupation he was an artificer, a master smith in brass and iron.
3. He thinks this farther probable from the names and sounds in this verse. The melting metals in the fire, and hammering them, bears a near resemblance to the hissing sound of tsillah, the mother of Tubal-cain and tsalal signifies to tinkle or make a sound like a bell, 1Sa 3:11; 2Kg 21:12.
4. Vulcan is said to have been lame; M. De Lavaur thinks that this notion was taken from the noun tsela, which signifies a halting or lameness.
5. Vulcan had to wife Venus, the goddess of beauty; Naamah, the sister of Tubal-cain, he thinks, may have given rise to this part of the fable, as her name in Hebrew signifies beautiful or gracious.
6. Vulcan is reported to have been jealous of his wife, and to have forged nets in which he took Mars and her, and exposed them to the view of the whole celestial court: this idea he thinks was derived from the literal import of the name Tubal-cain; tebel signifies an incestuous mixture of relatives, Le 20:12; and kana, to burn with jealousy; from these and concomitant circumstances the case of the detected adultery of Mars and Venus might be easily deduced. He is of opinion that a tradition of this kind might have readily found its way from the Egyptians to the Greeks, as the former had frequent intercourse with the Hebrews.
Of Naamah nothing more is spoken in the Scriptures; but the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel makes her the inventress of funeral songs and lamentations. R. S. Jarchi says she was the wife of Noah, and quotes Bereshith Rabba in support of the opinion. Some of the Jewish doctors say her name is recorded in Scripture because she was an upright and chaste woman; but others affirm that the whole world wandered after her, and that of her evil spirits were born into the world. This latter opinion gives some countenance to that of M. De Lavaur.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Tubal-cain, whom (as the learned conceive, and the agreement of the name and function makes probable) the heathens worshipped by the name of Vulcan, the god of smiths; and his sister Naamah, by the name of Venus. He first taught men how to make arms, and other instruments of iron.
Naamah; so called from her beauty, which her name signifies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain,…. Thought by many to be the same with Vulcan, his name and business agreeing; for the names are near in sound, Tubalcain may easily pass into Vulcan; and who, with the Heathens, was the god of the smiths, and the maker of Jupiter’s thunderbolts, as this was an artificer in iron and brass, as follows: his name is compounded of two words, the latter of which was no doubt put into his name in memory of Cain his great ancestor; the former Josephus u reads Thobel, and says of him, that he exceeded all in strength, and had great skill in military affairs:
an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; he taught men the way of melting metals, and of making armour and weapons of war, and other instruments, for various uses, out of them; and he seems to be the same with the Chrysor of Sanchoniatho; for he says w of them (Agreus and Halieus) were begotten two brothers, the inventors of iron, and of working of it: one of these, called Chrysor, is said to be Hephaestus or Vulcan; and Chrysor, as Bochartus x seems rightly to conjecture, is -, “Choresh-Ur, a worker in fire”; that, by means of fire, melted metals, and cast them into different forms, and for different uses; and one of these words is used in the text of Tubalcain; and so, according to Diodorus Siculus y, Vulcan signifies fire, and was not only the inventor of fire, but he says he was the inventor of all works in iron, brass, gold, and silver, and of all other things wrought by fire, and of all other uses of fire, both by artificers and all other men, and therefore he was called by all
, “fire”. Clemens of Alexandria z ascribes the invention of brass and iron to the Idaeans or priests of Cybele in Cyprus; and so Sophocles in Strabo a:
and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah; whose name signifies “pleasant”, fair and beautiful; and is thought by some to be the Venus of the Heathens; the Arabic writers b say she was a most beautiful woman, and found out colours and painting; and by others Minerva; and Josephus c says she excelled in the knowledge of divine things; and Minerva is by the Greeks called Nemanoum d. The Jews say e she was the wife of Noah; and some of them say f she was the wife of one Shimron, and the mother of the evil spirit Asmodeus, mentioned in Tobit, and of whom other demons were begotten: the Targuru of Jonathan adds,
“she was the mistress of lamentation and songs;”
but our Bishop Cumberland g conjectures, that she was the wife of Ham, was with him in the ark, and after the flood was the means of leading him into idolatry: what led him to this conjecture was, that he observed in Plutarch, that the wife of Cronus, the same with Ham, is by some called Nemaus, which brought Naamah to his mind. Josephus h makes the number of children Lamech had by his two wives to be seventy seven.
u Antiqu. l. 1. c. 2. sect. 2. w Ut supra. (Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 1. p. 35.) x Canaan, l. 2. c. 2. col. 706. y Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 11, 13. & l. 5. p. 341. z Stromat. l. 1. p. 307. Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 34. c. 1, 2. a Geograph. l. 10. p. 326. b Elmacinus, p. 8. apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. l. 1. C. 8. p. 232. c Antiqu. l. 1. c. 2. sect. 2. d Plutarch. de Jide. e Bereshit Rabba, sect. 23. fol. 20. 3. Jarchi in loc. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 1. 2. f R. Elias Levita in Tishbi, fol. 19, 21. g History of Sanchoniatho, p. 107. h Antiqu. l. 1. c. 2. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22. T ubal-cain It is quite natural to compare this name and character with the Vulcan of Roman mythology, but the names have no necessary connexion .
Instructor of every artificer Rather, a forger of all that cuts brass and iron . The invention of metal instruments marks an advancing civilization, but is no evidence in itself that the previous times were barbarous or savage . Their wants were fewer, but increasing population, pursuing new arts and enterprises, furnishes the conditions of many inventions .
Naamah This name of Tubal-cain’s sister, which means the lovely, or the beautiful, is apparently introduced as further showing the worldly spirit and tastes of the Cainites . According to the Targum of Jonathan, she was the mistress of sounds and songs a poetess .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Zillah bore Tubal-Cain, he was the forger of all instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.’
Tubal-Cain was the one who shaped metals. Mitchell (NBD) suggests that perhaps ‘he discovered the possibilities of cold forging native copper and meteoric iron, a practise attested archaeologically from prehistoric times’. We do not know what Naamah (meaning ‘pleasant’) did but she must have been very outstanding or notoriously beautiful to be named at all.
Notice that three sons are named, as with Noah (Gen 5:32) and Terah (Gen 11:27), in their case instead of ‘other sons and daughters’. Three was an indication of fullness and completeness (in ancient Sumerian religious literature the numbers three and seven were used almost exclusively because of their significance as meaning ‘complete’). They may have had others but they are not named.
So Lamech’s family built up an enviable reputation for invention from which the line of Seth would benefit. The Flood would wipe out their family but their inventions would be preserved and are remembered with gratitude. Yet probably the compiler considers that it brings out the contrast between these ‘worldly’ men and the line of Seth, conveying the lesson that achievement means nothing without obedience.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
Reader! observe, here, how little notice is taken of the posterity of Cain. ‘This is all which is said of him and his race, until that they were all destroyed by the deluge. Compare Psa 21:10 with Psa 102:28
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 4:22 And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain [was] Naamah.
Ver. 22. And Zillah bare Tubal-cain. ] Perhaps the same that the poets call Vulcan. He was a cunning artificer in brass and iron. Tools they had before, and instruments of iron: how else could they have ploughed the accursed earth? But this man, artem iam inventam excoluit ornavitque , saith Junius; and is therefore called, a whetter or polisher of every artificer in brass and iron. They had the art of it before: but he added to their skill by his invention; he sharply and wittily taught smith’s craft; and is therefore by the heathens feigned to be the god of smiths, says another interpreter. a
a Vide Natal. com. Mythol ., lib. ii., cap. 5.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Tubal-cain = flowing from Cain.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
instructor: Heb. whetter
brass: Exo 25:3, Num 31:22, Deu 8:9, Deu 33:25, 2Ch 2:7
Reciprocal: Job 28:2 – Iron