Adah
“Ornament or adornment”
Summary
The name of two women in Genesis: one of the wives of the patriarch Lamech and one of the wives of Esau.
☩Wife of Lamech
Adah was one of the two wives of Lamech, the descendant of Cain. She was the mother of Jabal, the ancestor of nomadic tent-dwellers and keepers of livestock, and Jubal, the father of musicians who play the harp and pipe. This Lamech is notable for his song to his wives in which he boasted of violence and claimed greater protection than even Cain received.
☩Wife of Esau
A different Adah was the daughter of Elon the Hittite and one of Esau's wives. She bore him Eliphaz, his firstborn son, who became the ancestor of several Edomite tribes. This Adah is apparently the same woman called Bashemath in an earlier passage, the variation in names possibly reflecting the ancient custom of women receiving new names upon marriage.
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Adah," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. I (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Adah," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Adah," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).