A son of Lamech and Zillah, credited in Genesis with forging tools of bronze and iron.
Accounts of this vary across texts and traditions. This entry primarily follows Hebrew Bible (Genesis), with other tellings (Masoretic Text (Hebrew Bible), Septuagint (Greek translation), Jewish and Christian rabbinic and patristic tradition) noted where relevant.
Introduction
Tubal-cain is a son of Lamech and Zillah, in the line of Cain, credited in Genesis 4:22 as a forger of "all kinds of bronze and iron tools", an early reference to the origin of metalworking in the biblical text's account of the development of human culture.
Family
A cultural founder
Tubal-cain is the third of Lamech's sons credited with founding an aspect of early civilisation, in his case metallurgy, and his sister Naamah is named alongside him in the same verse, though without a specific innovation credited to her.
This entry is independently written for myVamsam using the sources listed above.
Where traditions differ, this entry identifies the relevant tradition rather than presenting one account as universally established fact.