זה ספר תולדת אדם, “this is the book of the history of mankind.” G–d even gave Adam an outline of the family trees of future generations. Some of this is reflected by the interpretations given by famous sages to the verse in Leviticus 19,18: ואהבת לרעך כמוך, (normally translated as “love your fellow man as yourself). In Torat Kohanim Rabbi Akiva is quoted as saying that that verse teaches us “a great rule, an all inclusive concept,” (a variation of Hillel who summed up the essence of Judaism as don’t do to others what you would not have do them to you.) Ben Azzai understands the words as applying to the end of the verse, i.e. אני ה', “I am the Lord,” a reminder that all human beings have been created in the image of the Lord, so that no race can feel superior to another race, [regardless of the colour of their skin. Ed.] He applies the verse even to people who due to their humility have a low esteem of their own value as not being allowed to forget that we are all descended from the same origin. Everyone must respect his fellow man’s dignity and honour, regardless of how unassuming he himself happens to be. He must look at the likeness of his fellow man seeing that he cannot look at himself objectively. [We are not speaking of mirror images. Ed.] It follows that our verse is more far-reaching in meaning than the verse quoted from the Book of Leviticus.

ויולד בן, “he begot a son.” Note that the Torah did not write “he begot Noach,” as it had done when listing the nine generations previous to Noach. This is already a hint that the future of mankind would be descended from this son of Lemech after the deluge. Noach and his three sons and their wives were the only survivors of the deluge. An alternate interpretation. Metushelach, Noach’s grandfather, a G–d fearing person, advised his son Lemech not to name his firstborn son immediately after he was born, as all the other people of that time were idolaters and sorcerers, and if they had known why his father had called him Noach they would have tried to harm him had they known his name, by applying their sorcerers’ formulas.