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Kenan, biblical figure, Son of Enos (4th generation of the Genesis patriarchs)

Kenan as depicted in Jacques de Charron's Histoire universelle (1630)

Biblical longevity
Name Age LXX
Methuselah 969 969
Jared 962 962
Noah 950 950
Adam 930 930
Seth 912 912
Kenan 910 910
Enos 905 905
Mahalalel 895 895
Lamech 777 753
Shem 600 600
Eber 464 404
Cainan 460
Arpachshad 438 465
Salah 433 466
Enoch 365 365
Peleg 239 339
Reu 239 339
Serug 230 330
Job 210? 210?
Terah 205 205
Isaac 180 180
Abraham 175 175
Nahor 148 304
Jacob 147 147
Esau 147? 147?
Ishmael 137 137
Levi 137 137
Amram 137 137
Kohath 133 133
Laban 130+ 130+
Deborah 130+ 130+
Sarah 127 127
Miriam 125+ 125+
Aaron 123 123
Rebecca 120+ 120+
Moses 120 120
Joseph 110 110
Joshua 110 110

Kenan (also spelled Qenan or Kaïnan, as found in Luke 3:36, 37), Hebrew: קֵינָן, Modern Qeinan Tiberian Qênān ; "possession; smith", or Cainan, was a Biblical patriarch first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible Book of Genesis as living before the Great Flood.

According to Genesis 5:9-14, he was the grandson of Seth and son of Enos. Born when Enos was ninety years old,[1] Kenan had his only named son, Mahalalel, when he was seventy.[2] Other sons and daughters were born to Kenan before he died at 910 years of age.

This name seems to derive from words denoting a permanent dwelling place or stronghold.

In Islamic miniatures Noah's Ark is sometimes depicted with a kind of manned diving bell next to it. Long thought of as a puzzling reference to Iskandar, famous for his underwater exploits, alternative Flood stories show this occupant to be the disobedient Kenan, trying to escape the waters his own way (only to drown in urine inside his contraption as God punishes him with a bladder infection).[3]

Postdiluvian Cainan[]

Two men named Cainan are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus given in Luke 3 in the New Testament. One of these is the son of Enos above; a second Cainan is listed as the son of Arpachshad and father of Salah, who lived in the time between Noah and Abraham.

This Cainan also appears in the Septuagint (Greek) Old Testament, but is omitted by the Hebrew Masoretic text. For this reason, this second Cainan is considered to be a scribal error by some scholars.[4] Nevertheless, a substantial number of traditions about this other Cainan exist in the history of literature.

References[]

  1. Genesis 5:9
  2. Genesis 5:12
  3. e.g.: Laban Kaptein (ed.), Ahmed Bican Yazıcıoğlu, Dürr-i Meknûn. Kritische Edition mit Kommentar, § 3.91. Asch 2007. ISBN 9789090214085
  4. Answers in Genesis
Wikipedia
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original article was at Kenan. The list of authors can be seen in the page history.
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