CAINAN
(Ca·iʹnan).
1. Son of Enos (Enosh); an ancestor of Jesus’ earthly mother Mary. (Luke 3:37) Cainan is evidently called Kenan at Genesis 5:9-14 and 1 Chronicles 1:2.—See KENAN.
2. One listed in Luke’s genealogy of Jesus Christ as the son of Arphaxad. (Luke 3:36) The name “Cainan” appears in present copies of the Septuagint, such as the Alexandrine Manuscript of the fifth century C.E. (Gen. 10:24; 11:12, 13; 1 Chron. 1:18 but not 1:24), although it is not found in extant Hebrew manuscripts of the Hebrew Scriptures. Hence, Luke may have inserted the name Cainan between the names of Shelah and Arphaxad on the basis of the Septuagint reading, but there is some question as to whether this name actually appeared in the original text of Luke’s Gospel. The name “Cainan” is, in fact, missing at Luke 3:36 in the Cambridge Manuscript of the sixth century C.E. This omission is in harmony with the Masoretic text at Genesis 10:24; 11:12 and 1 Chronicles 1:18, according to which Shelah, not Cainan, is the son of Arpachshad. On the other hand, the name “Cainan” is possibly a variant of the word “Chaldean,” and therefore the Greek text of Luke 3:36 may once have read: “the son of the Chaldean Arphaxad.”—See ARPACHSHAD.