Genesis 4:23-24

"And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; Ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: For I have slain a man for wounding me, And a young man for bruising me: If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, Truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold."

Although this little poem is somewhat uncertain as to the meaning, it is nevertheless recognized as the oldest poem ever written, at least the oldest that has come down through history, and, tragically, it is a song of murder and vengeance. Perhaps the significant thing in it is the arrogant egotism of Lamech. It was God who had promised to avenge any slayer of Cain, but Lamech does not rely upon God. He apparently thinks that with the new weapons which his son has invented, he does not need God at all; he is fully able to take care of himself. Furthermore, he will do a much bigger and more effective job of avenging himself than God had mentioned in regard to Cain! Whereas, Cain would have been avenged sevenfold, Lamech will execute his own vengeance on a scale ten times as terrible as that God promised upon behalf of Cain!

The religious value of these verses includes the information that the technical advancement of the race and the inventions which they made are clearly presented as the achievements of men, "whereas in heathen mythologies they were thought to be due to various deities."[27] This is another instance in which the Bible differs from and rises above the false views of the heathen.