Adah 1: Midrash and Aggadah
This 1583 engraving print by Jan Sadeler depicts Lamech (center), an Israelite ancestor, and his two wives Zillah and Adah, seated at left. It is part of a series of prints titled "The Story of the First Men." Source: The British Museum, via Wikimedia Commons.
Adah was one of Lamech’s wives and the mother of two of his sons. According to several aggadic and midrashic traditions, Adah and her co-wife Zillah refused relations with their husband after he killed two men, and they went to Adam’s tribunal to settle the matter. Adah is portrayed as a respected woman taken seriously in the court, where she and her co-wife impart their wisdom that will have consequences for the fate of the judge and, ultimately, the human race.
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