Kenan

For the Irish saint, see Cianán.

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, Kenan had his only named son, Mahalalel, when he was seventy. 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).

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. Nevertheless, a substantial number of traditions about this other Cainan exist in the history of literature.

References

• See also: Cainan: LDS Narrative - MormonWikia
• See also: Cainan ben Enos - Genealogy of Kenan: Familypedia

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.