Cainan shows up twice in Scripture’s long family lists. In Genesis 5 he is the son of Enos and the father of Mahalaleel, and the text says he lived seventy years before his son was born and died at 910 years old. Chronicles spells the name Kenan, and Luke names a Cainan in the line leading to Jesus (Luke 3:36). Readers do not agree on how the Genesis Cainan and Luke’s Cainan relate, and the text does not settle it. What the passages share is a steady rhythm of births, years and deaths, the quiet record of one generation handing life to the next.
9 verses
And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan:
And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died.
And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel:
And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died.
And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat Jared:
Kenan, Mahalaleel, Jered,
Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
Matthew George Easton, 1897
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.”
William Smith, 1884
(possessor)
(1.) Son of Enos, aged 70 years when he begat Mahalaleel his son. He lived 840 years afterwards, and died aged 910. (Genesis 6:9-14)
(2.) Son of Arphaxad, and father of Sala, according to (Luke 3:36,37) and usually called the second Cainan. The is nowhere named in the Hebrew MSS. It seems certain that his name was introduced into the genealogies of the Greek Old Testament in order to bring them into harmony with the genealogy of Christ in St. Luke’s Gospel.