This source sheet is part of the larger Ta’amei HaPardes Commentary, a project of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. This is sheet 13 of 16 on the topic of TORAH.
From verse 18 until the end of Genesis 5, we are met with two elaborate genealogical lists, one originating with Cain, the other with his brother Seth. The presence of such lists raises fundamental questions about their purpose. Are the Bible’s lineages meant as a historical record? Or do the listed names somehow offer biographical information about the figures who bear them? Might the Bible’s names have further reach, commenting not only on individual characters, but on the societies in which the characters live?
In addressing these questions, the methodological spectrum is broad. On one end stands Ibn Ezra, who sternly warns against reading meaning into names. In his view, the only exceptions are those narratives in which a name is explicitly defined, as in the case of Moses and several of the tribes of Israel.
At the opposite end of the gamut is Samson Raphael Hirsch, who gleans a great deal of information from names, especially names as evocative as those listed in Genesis 4 and 5 [Gen. 4:18, s.v. ויולד לחנוך].
Precisely because the names in these chapters are so suggestive, we will embrace Hirsch’s approach, seeking to cull as much information as is possible from the biblical record.
(יח) וַיִּוָּלֵ֤ד לַֽחֲנוֹךְ֙ אֶת־עִירָ֔ד וְעִירָ֕ד יָלַ֖ד אֶת־מְחֽוּיָאֵ֑ל וּמְחִיָּיאֵ֗ל יָלַד֙ אֶת־מְת֣וּשָׁאֵ֔ל וּמְתוּשָׁאֵ֖ל יָלַ֥ד אֶת־לָֽמֶךְ׃
(18) To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methusael, and Methusael begot Lamech.
Irad, עִירָ֔ד
The name Irad, whose first syllable is comprised of the word ir, meaning city, sends us back to the preceding verse, in which Hanokh serves as cover for his father’s defiant city-building effort. Now a father himself, Hanokh renounces all pretense and publicly names his child for the dubiously conceived city. It appears that in this generation, there is no longer any shame attached to circumventing God’s will. (Intertextuality, Character Analysis, Wordplay, Symbolism)
Mehuya’el, מְחֽוּיָאֵ֑ל
In an ever-escalating irreverence from one generation to the next, Irad begets Mehuya’el, whose name means quite plainly: “erasure of God.” (Wordplay, Symbolism)
Metusha’el, מְת֣וּשָׁאֵ֔ל
This name may be viewed as a composite of met, meaning dead, and she’ol, meaning the netherworld. Interpreted this way, the name delivers a grim foreboding of the lethal consequences that await the line of Cain. Two generations prior, the name Irad hinted at a defiance against God; Irad’s son Mehuya’el then reflected a desire to erase God. Metusha’el appears to be another link in a dynasty of increasing evil. Cumulatively, these descendants of Cain propel humanity toward the great flood, which will ensure death for all. (Wordplay, Symbolism, Foreshadowing)