LAMECH – Scroll of the book of L. (with the two fragments thus far able to be detached), found together with other Hebrew manuscripts in the Judean Desert at ‘Ajn Fešbah in September 1947.
To this must be added the rich correspondence (published by A. Gambaro in the periodical Levana in 1924 and 1927 and subsequently separately, Turin 1939).
The fundamental ideas he set forth and defended are as follows: in the field of pedagogy too, the fundamental problem to be resolved by the educator is the fraternal, serene, and formative union of the educator’s authority with the pupil’s autonomy. The old method, which made everything consist in authority and in an iron discipline that prescribed in advance to the pupil every movement and every form according to which he was to be moulded, was an erroneous method; as erroneous was the method of J. J. Rousseau, which instructed the educator to impose nothing, but to allow the child to develop by himself, according to his nature, which is fundamentally good. The true method, on the other hand,
is to harmonize authority and personality: that is, to offer and surround the pupil with all those aids that do not deprive him of the obligation to perform his own work, but impel him to it and point out the right path to follow; the teacher then becomes not the agent of education, but its co-worker. This cooperation will be all the more effective insofar as it is permeated by that vital breath which is the Christian love of souls; they will then acquire trust and confidence, and the pupil will have an ever greater part in directing himself. «If the work is well conducted, it will be the child who truly educates himself» (Della educazione, ed. E. Codignola, Florence 1922, p. 30).
L. also insists greatly on religious education; but the principles set forth above, concerning the autonomy of reason even in the face of faith and its mysteries, undermine its value and would lead one astray from the right path. Certainly, religion must not be limited to external practices, but must be felt and lived; this does not mean becoming arbiters of whether or not to admit a revealed truth taught by the Church, as L. more or less covertly wishes to imply, but only giving every external practice the accompaniment, indeed the foundation, of a profound knowledge and also, insofar as possible, of a taste rooted in the soul through the intimate persuasion of the intellect, even when that persuasion can derive only from the authority of the Church.
LAMECH (Heb. Lemekh, in pausa Lāmekh). - 1. Sixth in the brief genealogy of Cain and son of Mathusael (Gen. 4:17-24). The estrangement from God is complete in L., who combines lust with cruelty and indomitable pride. L. is the first to take two wives, Ada and Sella. His brief song, the first poetic attempt according to the laws of Hebrew rhythm, breathes ferocity and brazen confidence. He has no need of God; he declares himself ready to kill for a slight injury and to avenge himself far more thoroughly than God had promised for Cain. The connection between these sentiments and the beginning of metalworking, attributed to Tubalcain, son of L. (Gen. 4:22), which ensured the Cainites' supremacy over others, is probable.
2. Descendant of Seth and son of Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-31; I Chr. 1:3; Lk. 3:36-37).
The attempt to identify the two genealogies (Ph. Buttmann, etc.) has only the identity of the name as a most fragile foundation. The expression (Gen. 5:29) accompanying the choice of Noah's name demonstrates in L. a sentiment quite different from those observed in the previous one. F. de Hummelauer believes it can be established from the Samaritan Pentateuch that both Lamechs perished in the flood.