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Tubal-cain

Man living at the time of the Patriarchs

Tubal-cain, a descendant of Cain, was the first metalworker mentioned in the Bible, forging tools out of bronze and iron.

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Tubal-cain is mentioned in Gen.4.22 as a descendant of Cain, the son of Lamech and Zillah. He is described as a forger of all instruments of bronze and iron, making him the first metalworker mentioned in the Bible. The name Tubal-cain consists of two elements meaning "producer" and "smith," emphasizing his role as a craftsman. No other details are provided about his life or specific works. Tubal-cain's skills in metalworking represent the development of civilization and technology among the descendants of Cain before the flood. His story illustrates God's grace in allowing cultural advancements even among those who had turned away from Him.

Family

Father
Lamech
Mother
Zillah

Bible dictionary

Tubal-cain Easton Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

The son of Lamech and Zillah, “an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron” (Gen. 4:22; R.V., “the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron”).

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Tubal-cain Hitchcock Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary (1869)

worldly possession; possessed of confusion

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Tubal-Cain Hastings Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible (1898)

TU'BAL-CAIN (hammer-blows of the smith?), a son of Lamech by his wife Zillah. Gen 4:22. He is said to have been an instructor of every artificer in brass (copper) and iron. Thus he was the original maker of tools.

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Tubal-Cain Schaff Schaff’s Dictionary of the Bible

TU'BAL-CAIN (hammer-blows of the smith?), a son of Lamech by his wife Zillah. Gen 4:22. He is said to have been an instructor of every artificer in brass (copper) and iron. Thus he was the original maker of tools.

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Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.

Where Tubal-cain appears

1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s H8423

Genesis1

Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.