The land of Nod is the land of wandering. As the name implies, it is a state of being “tossed” about. This state of confusion and restlessness finds its home in Cain’s descendants. According to Philo, the names of Cain’s descendants represent the progress, or regress, of humanity into this state of “tossedness.” Genesis 4:18 tells us, “ To Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.” With this approach, the names are more than just unpronounceable words; they teach us something. Carasik suggests that the ancient Jewish commentators thought so. He says, “Though our chapter does not say so, all these names were meant to commemorate some particular incident or other. That was the custom in the early generations. Sometimes the reason for the name is given; other times, not. But the midrash explains these particular names.”[1]

I could not find what the “midrash” said about these names, but here are some suggestions from Jon Courson. In defining the names, he says, “The name Irad literally means ‘Fugitive’ or ‘Wild Ass.’Mehujael means ‘blot out that Yah is El.’ In other words, ‘wipe out the name of God.’ Methusael means ‘They are dead who are of God.’ In other words, ‘Those who believe in God are dead.’ It’s a skeptical, scornful kind of name. Lamech means, ‘poor and lowly.’”[2]

Philo sees these names differently and more complex. Instead of “wild ass,” Philo says Irad means something like “flock.” Irad represents the floundering flock with no shepherd to protect it. It has no “rock” upon which to build a good, solid life. Therefore, Philo says, “the flock itself being left unheeded perishes, and great loss is entailed upon its owner, while the irrational and unprotected creature, bereft of a guardian of the herd to admonish and discipline it, finds itself banished to a great distance from rational and immortal life.” Concerning Mahujael, Philo says “whose name translated is ‘away from the life of God.’ For since the flock is without reason, and God is the Fountain of reason, it follows that he that lives an irrational life has been cut off from the life of God.” Then came Methusael (not to be confused with the man of the same name in the line of Seth) whose name means “a dispatch of death.” Death is the outcome for the flock bereaved of its shepherd. Finally, we have Lamech. Philo says death is the abandonment of our souls to the lusts of the flesh as the mind rejects the truths of the existence of God seen in the world around us. Thus, one gives themselves over to debasing and shameful passions. So, Philo says, Lamech “means ‘humiliation,’ [or ‘brought low’] … a low and cringing passion being [an] offspring of the soul’s death, [and] a sore debility child of irrational impulse.” Although he does not say so, Philo seems to be applying Paul’s description of those who abandon the presence of God in their lives. It leads to a progressive or regressive state of being that ends in humiliation. Romans 1:21-25 says, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

[1] Carasik, Michael, ed. 2018. Genesis: Introduction and Commentary. Translated by Michael Carasik. The Commentators’ Bible. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.

[2] Courson, Jon. 2005. Jon Courson’s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis–Job. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.