The tale unfolds with Zillah, once barren, miraculously blessed by the Lord with two children: Tubal Cain, a prodigious master of metalcraft, and Naamah, a cherished daughter bringing joy after years of longing. Their lives intertwined fatefully as Tubal Cain, guided by his aging father Lamech, unwittingly slew Cain, his ancestor, mistaking him for game in a tragic twist of fate. This act set in motion a chain of sorrow and regret, culminating in Lamech accidentally causing the death of his own son, Tubal Cain, amidst deepening remorse and divine retribution.
As Lamech’s life unraveled, he confessed his unintended crimes to his wives, Adah and Zillah, who turned against him with fury and grief. Their family torn apart, they sought solace in ancient laws and counsel from Adam, their patriarch. Yet, their reconciliation remained elusive, haunted by the looming threat of divine judgment amid a world descending into wickedness. Meanwhile, the passing of Adam, the first man, marked the end of an era, leaving his descendants to grapple with mortality and the weight of prophecy fulfilled.
In the aftermath of Adam’s death, the sacred mantle passed to Enoch, signaling a pivotal shift in the destinies of men. The narrative pulses with the drama of lineage and legacy, weaving together the joys of new life and the tragedies born of mortal frailty, echoing through the ages as humanity navigates its precarious journey through a world shaped by divine decree and the echoes of ancient transgressions.
Major Characters
Minor Characters
Insignificant Characters
Watch an explainer video for the Death chapter:
Genesis
19%
Jasher
69%
Jubilees
12%
Exposition
Tubalcain (Cain’s line) is born
Genesis 4:22a
Jasher 2:23-24
Naamah (Cain’s line) is born
Rising Action / Climax
Lamech (Cain’s line) accidentally kills Cain and Tubalcain
Falling Action
Adah and Zillah hear about what happened
Lamech laments killing Cain and Tubalcain
Genesis 4:23-24
Jasher 2:34-35
Adah and Zillah vow to have no more children
Resolution
Adam dies
Genesis 5:4-5
Jubilees 4:10
Adam’s burial
Jasher 3:14-16
Jubilees 4:29-30
The garments of skin from YHWH are given to Enoch
Jubilee: 19
Year: 911
Tubalcain (Cain's line) is born i
Genesis 4:22a
22a And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron:
Jasher 2:23-24
23 And in the end of days and years, when Zillah became old, the Lord opened her womb.
24 And she conceived and bare a son and she called his name Tubal Cain, saying, After I had withered away have I obtained him from the Almighty God.
Year: 918
Naamah (Cain's line) is born ii
Genesis 4:22b
22b and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
Jasher 2:25
25 And she conceived again and bare a daughter, and she called her name Naamah, for she said, After I had withered away have I obtained pleasure and delight.
Lamech (Cain's line) accidentally kills Cain and Tubalcain
Jasher 2:26-31
26 And Lamech was old and advanced in years, and his eyes were dim that he could not see, and Tubal Cain, his son, was leading him and it was one day that Lamech went into the field and Tubal Cain his son was with him, and whilst they were walking in the field, Cain the son of Adam advanced towards them; for Lamech was very old and could not see much, and Tubal Cain his son was very young.
27 And Tubal Cain told his father to draw his bow, and with the arrows he smote Cain, who was yet far off, and he slew him, for he appeared to them to be an animal.
28 And the arrows entered Cain’s body although he was distant from them, and he fell to the ground and died.
29 And the Lord requited Cain’s evil according to his wickedness, which he had done to his brother Abel, according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken.
30 And it came to pass when Cain had died, that Lamech and Tubal went to see the animal which they had slain, and they saw, and behold Cain their grandfather was fallen dead upon the earth.
31 And Lamech was very much grieved at having done this, and in clapping his hands together he struck his son and caused his death.
Adah and Zillah hear about what happened
Jasher 2:32-33
32 And the wives of Lamech heard what Lamech had done, and they sought to kill him.
33 And the wives of Lamech hated him from that day, because he slew Cain and Tubal Cain, and the wives of Lamech separated from him, and would not hearken to him in those days.
Lamech laments killing Cain and Tubalcain
Genesis 4:23-24
23 And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.
24 If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
Jasher 2:34-35
34 And Lamech came to his wives, and he pressed them to listen to him about this matter.
35 And he said to his wives Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice O wives of Lamech, attend to my words, for now you have imagined and said that I slew a man with my wounds, and a child with my stripes for their having done no violence, but surely know that I am old and grey-headed, and that my eyes are heavy through age, and I did this thing unknowingly.
Adah and Zillah vow to have no more children
Jasher 2:36
36 And the wives of Lamech listened to him in this matter, and they returned to him with the advice of their father Adam, but they bore no children to him from that time, knowing that God’s anger was increasing in those days against the sons of men, to destroy them with the waters of the flood for their evil doings.
Genesis 5:4-5
4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:
5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.
Jubilees 4:10
10 And Adam knew Eve his wife and she bare yet nine sons.
Jasher 3:14-16
14 And it was in the fifty-sixth year of the life of Lamech when Adam died; nine hundred and thirty years old was he at his death, and his two sons, with Enoch and Methuselah his son, buried him with great pomp, as at the burial of kings, in the cave which God had told him.
15 And in that place all the sons of men made a great mourning and weeping on account of Adam; it has therefore become a custom among the sons of men to this day.
16 And Adam died because he ate of the tree of knowledge; he and his children after him, as the Lord God had spoken.
Jubilees 4:29-30
29 And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year [930 A.M.] thereof, Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the earth.
30 And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the testimony of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: ‘On the day that ye eat thereof ye shall die.’ For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it.
The garments of skin from YHWH are given to Enoch
Jasher 7:25a
25a For after the death of Adam and his wife, the garments were given to Enoch, the son of Jared,
Notes
i
It’s assumed that Tubalcain was born just before Adam died at a time when he would still be young. I’ve placed his birth at the beginning of the 5th week of the 19th jubilee.
ii
I’ve placed Naamah’s birth at the beginning of the 6th week of the 19th jubilee.
