Translation
Then Lamech said to his wives ADAH and Zillah, “Pay attention to my voice, oh wives of Lamech, and put your hand to your ears to better hear the words I speak: for I have killed a man for wounding me, even a lad
Go to footnote numberfor striking me.
Paraphrase
Then Lamech (meaning unknown) said this to his two wives, ORNAMENT and Zillah (meaning unknown), “What I am about to say is very important, so listen carefully, and make a point to understand me fully and remember this always. This will be the kind of man I will be known as – no one, regardless of who he is, can do any harm to Lamech without suffering for it, without suffering far beyond what is deserved.
Footnotes
1
This word means “child or young lad.” In this case it seems to be an explanation for the previous clause in the parallelism which uses the word man. Therefore it is probably a reference to a youth who is in the process of becoming a man. The point is that this individual could not be expected to be an equal, on the same level as Lamech regarding hand-to-hand combat. He may have used trickery or some other way of gaining an advantage and wounding Lamech, and in response Lamech went further than was necessary and killed him.