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Cainan
A descendant of Shem named in Luke's genealogy of Jesus, between Arphaxad and Shelah.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 2
Family & lineage
ScholarlyLuke's genealogy inserts a 'second Cainan' as son of Arphaxad, following the Septuagint's expanded chronology of Genesis 10-11; this Cainan is absent from the Hebrew Masoretic Text and the Samaritan Pentateuch, making it a well-known text-critical divergence between the Greek and Hebrew traditions.
LXX vs. MT/Samaritan Pentateuch at Genesis 11; the extra generation appears in Luke 3:36.
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe antediluvian patriarch's name, Hebrew Qenan, is generally connected to the same q-y-n root as Qayin/Cain, again evoking notions of 'smith' or 'acquisition'; it functions in the Genesis 5 list as a near-doublet of the Cain name of Genesis 4.
Onomastic comparison of Qenan (קֵינָן) with Qayin; noted in commentary on the parallel Genesis 4 and 5 name-lists.