CAINAN

(Ca·iʹnan).

1. Son of Enos (Enosh); an ancestor of Jesus’ earthly mother Mary. (Lu 3:37) Cainan is evidently called Kenan at Genesis 5:9-14 and 1 Chronicles 1:2.

2. One listed in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus Christ as the son of Arpachshad. (Lu 3:36) The name Cainan appears in genealogical lists in present copies of the Greek Septuagint, such as the Alexandrine Manuscript of the fifth century C.E. (Ge 10:24; 11:12, 13; 1Ch 1:18 but not 1Ch 1:24), although it is not found in extant Hebrew manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures. The name Cainan is also missing at Luke 3:36 in two Bible manuscripts (Papyrus Bodmer 14, 15, of c. 200 C.E.; Codex Bezae, of the fifth century C.E.). This omission is in harmony with the Masoretic text at Genesis 10:24; 11:12, 15; and 1 Chronicles 1:18, according to which Shelah, not Cainan, is the son of Arpachshad.​—See ARPACHSHAD; GENEALOGY OF JESUS CHRIST (A Problem in Luke’s Genealogy of Jesus).