Man living at the time of the Patriarchs
Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, was an ancestor of Jesus Christ according to Luke's genealogy.
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Cainan is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus Christ recorded in the Gospel of Luke (Luk.3.36). He is listed as the son of Arphaxad and the father of Shelah. This genealogy traces Jesus' lineage back to Adam, emphasizing His humanity and connection to the ancestral line of the Israelites. Cainan's inclusion in this genealogy is notable because he is not mentioned in the genealogies found in Genesis 11 and 1Chronicles 1, which list Shelah as the direct son of Arphaxad. Some scholars suggest that the name Cainan may have been added to Luke's genealogy based on the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) translation, which includes Cainan in Genesis 11. The presence of Cainan in Luke's genealogy highlights the importance of genealogical records in establishing Jesus' lineage and fulfilling messianic prophecies.
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Possession; smith. (1.) The fourth antediluvian patriarch, the eldest son of Enos. He was 70 years old at the birth of his eldest son Mahalaleel, after which he lived 840 years (Gen. 5:9-14), and was 910 years old when he died. He is also called Kenan (1 Chr. 1:2). (2.) The son of Arphaxad (Luke 3:36). He is nowhere named in the Old Testament. He is usually called the “second Cainan.”
CAI'NAN (possession, or a smith). 1. The son of Enos. Gen 6:9-14; Luke 3:37. He is called Kenan, which is the correct form, in 1 Chr 1:2. He lived 910 years. 2. A son of Arphaxad, Luke 3:36; but as the name is not found in the Hebrew, it is probably an unwarranted interpolation into the Septuagint, and thence copied by Luke into his Gospel.
CAI'NAN (possession, or a smith). 1. The son of Enos. Gen 6:9-14; Luke 3:37. He is called Kenan, which is the correct form, in 1 Chr 1:2. He lived 910 years. 2. A son of Arphaxad, Luke 3:36; but as the name is not found in the Hebrew, it is probably an unwarranted interpolation into the Septuagint, and thence copied by Luke into his Gospel.
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G2536
the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.