Where Do They Get This Stuff?

Men can come up with some fanciful notions sometimes when it comes to God’s word. We need to be careful that we only draw such conclusions as are warranted by the evidence. And we also need to be careful that we don’t bind our opinions upon others. The divisions in Christianity are not God’s fault; they are caused by men who simply cannot stay within the confines of God’s word. The illustrations of that are innumerable, but I want to mention one that I think is fairly quaint, but does indicate just how imaginative man can be when it comes to Scripture. I don’t believe there have been any denominational divisions over this illustration, but I do think it shows how flighty humans can be at times when dealing with Holy Writ.

In Genesis 4, we read about a man named Lamech, a descendent of Cain. Lamech took two wives, the first polygamist that we know of. One of his wives, Zillah, bore him a son named Tubal-Cain, who was the world’s first metal worker. That’s found in verse 22. But that verse ends with the declaration, “And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.”

Naamah. Who was she? Well, she was the daughter of Lamech and Zillah and the brother of Tubal-Cain. What else does the Bible tell us about her? Absolutely nothing. She disappears completely from Scripture, at least as far as any direct mention of her is concerned. She was Lamech and Zillah’s daughter, and Tubal-Cain’s sibling. That’s the sum total of what God says about her.  Why He even mentions her I haven't the faintest idea.  I hope I can ask Him some day.

But what do men say about her? Well, the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel says she was the inventress of funeral songs and lamentations. A commentator named R. S. Jarchi tells us 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” (Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Genesis 4:22).

Where in the world did they get all of that?

You know what I think? I think Naamah had a rose garden and that she raised Labrador retrievers. She had red hair and green eyes, was 5’2 inches tall, and I’m not about to embarrass her by giving her weight. She chased butterflies and, unless I miss my guess, invented a rudimentary form of the game of golf. Quite a lady, if you ask me.

Now, where in the world did I get all of that? Well, the same place that the fellow who thinks she was Noah’s wife—the imagination. And my guess is every bit as good as his. I cannot imagine what good this kind of speculation can do, but I can imagine a lot of harm, if men begin to think their speculations are as valid as what God actually said—or, in this case, didn’t say.

Let’s watch out how we handle Scripture. It’s God word, and while reasonable deductions can be made from solid evidence, we don’t want to hie off on an imaginary tangent that will distract us from what is truly important—discovering what Jehovah wants us to do in order to be saved from sin.