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The Septuagint 4.22 · 4.22

Tubal-cain, the first smith

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Σελλὰ δὲ ἔτεκεν καὶ αὐτὴ τὸν Θόβελ· καὶ ἦν σφυροκόπος χαλκεὺς χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου· ἀδελφὴ δὲ Θόβελ Νοεμά.

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ΣελλὰSellàZillahδὲandἔτεκενétekenboreκαὶkaìalsoαὐτὴautḕshe herselfτὸνtòntheΘόβελThóbelTubal-cain·καὶkaìandἦνênwasσφυροκόποςsphyrokóposa hammererχαλκεὺςkhalkeùsa smithχαλκοῦkhalkoûof bronzeκαὶkaìandσιδήρουsidḗrouof iron·ἀδελφὴadelphḕthe sisterδὲandΘόβελThóbelof Tubal-cainΝοεμάNoemáNaamah.

The setting

Θόβελ (Tubal-cain) gives the third and last of this line's inventions: metalworking, in both χαλκός ("bronze/copper") and σίδηρος ("iron") — an anachronism much discussed by commentators, since the historical Iron Age postdates any plausible date for this genealogy by millennia; the text is not offering archaeology but a theological claim about origins, crediting Cain's cursed and exiled line with civilization's foundational crafts (music, metallurgy, city-building) nonetheless. σφυροκόπος, "a hammerer," and χαλκεύς, "a smith," are both worked into 2 Tim 4:14's only New Testament χαλκεύς, "Alexander the coppersmith."

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