Lamech and Cain
The obscure figure of Lamech (whose name means “vigorous youth) was a descendant of Cain. Once, he said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; wives of Lamech, listen to my utterance: I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for bruising me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times” (Gen 4:23-24).
He was a man with two wives and Adah bore him two sons (Jabal and Jubal). Zillah produced one son (Tubal-Cain) and one daughter (Naamah). Lamech had killed someone and was claiming eleven times the protection that God had given to Cain. After Cain killed Abel, God rebuked him for that fratricide and banished him. Cain was terrified that he, too, would be killed. Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear. Look, you have now banished me from the ground. I must avoid you and be a constant wanderer on the earth. Anyone may kill me at sight” (Gen 4:13-14). As descending from Cain, did God offer Lamech protection and mark him? There is no biblical evidence he asked for this. Unlike Cain, Lamech took it upon himself to claim God’s protection and mercy.
Ancient writers and commentaries are filled with speculation about this passage wondering: Was Lamech saying that because his son was someone who made weapons that as the father he could exact vengeance? Was he pacifying his worried wives? Was he claiming that he was justified in killing this person? Was he repentant or bragging? Speculations abound with no definitive consensus. It seems more plausible to presume that he was falsely claiming God’s protection and bragging about it.
The passages in regard to Cain and Lamech talk about vengeance, retaliation, retribution, and consequence. In the Gospel, Jesus speaks of forgiveness beyond what anyone had ever considered before: seventy times seven! Many commentaries understand this to mean that Jesus was telling Peter that he should forgive his brother a limitless number of times. There is poetry for the soul in these passages contrasting the fact that while there is a small, determined amount of vengeance, there is limitless Divine forgiveness. God gave Cain “seven;” Lamech self-proclaimed the standard of “seventy-seven;” yet only Jesus can offer forgiveness “seventy times seven!”
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
The Gospel adds to the exchange between Peter and Jesus the parable of the unforgiving servant who was forgiven a “huge amount” by his king. This understated expression falls short in the English version. Scripture scholars translate this phrase from the Greek as literally “a myriad of talents,” a myriad being 10,000 talents. A talent was worth 6,000 denarii. A single denarius was a typical day’s wages. Hence, Jesus’ parable doubles down on His command to forgive without limitation, as the servant who was forgiven his debt was forgiven wages that would span hundreds of lifetimes. In other words, Jesus is saying the servant was forgiven a debt that he could never repay. Of course, this is where all of us stand before God.
Then the parable jolts its listeners into indignation when Jesus describes this same servant refusing to forgive a “much smaller amount” that he was owed by a fellow servant. The king throws that unforgiving servant into prison and pain “until he should pay back the whole debt.” Jesus declares this is how sinners will be judged if they do not forgive one another “from the heart.” That is to say, we must always forgive others and, moreover, truly mean it — in other words, we must will it. Does this mean we must feel warm, affectionate feelings while forgiving another? No. Authentic, true love is an act of the will, not derived from our emotions. Emotions can be difficult to control. Authentic love consists in willing the good of another, as St. Thomas Aquinas teaches.
So, too, to forgive another is also an act of love and an act of the will or, to put it another prosaic way, an act of “the heart.” Jesus thus commands His disciples to forgive from the heart — which means that with the grace of God, we can make an act of the will to forgive another by willing their good (including their salvation) even when it feels all but impossible to “like” that person at the moment or to have warm, affectionate feelings for them.
Nature and dignity 