Person Old and New Testament
Kenan
Also known as Kenan =ESV, NIV, KJV; Cainan =KJV, Cainan =ESV, KJV; Kenan =NIV
Kenan (Cainan), the son of Enosh, was a descendant of Seth and an ancestor of Noah. Mentioned in 7 verses across 3 books, first at Genesis 5:9.
Why it matters. Son of Enosh, descendant of Seth
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Kenan
Kenan, also known as Cainan, was a descendant of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve (Gen. 5:9, 10, 12, 13, 14; 1Chr. 1:2; Luk.3.37). He was the son of Enosh and the father of Mahalalel. The genealogy in Genesis 5 provides the ages at which Kenan and other pre-flood patriarchs had children and the total length of their lives. Kenan was 70 years old when he became the father of Mahalalel, and he lived a total of 910 years (Gen. Luk.5.12-14). The long lifespans of the pre-flood patriarchs are a distinctive feature of this genealogy and may indicate a different environment or a closer genetic connection to the original creation. Kenan's inclusion in the genealogies of both Genesis and 1 Chronicles highlights the importance of tracing the lineage from Adam to Noah, and ultimately to Abraham, the father of the Israelites. His name also appears in the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luk.3.37, emphasizing the connection between Jesus and the ancestral line of humanity.
Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.
Connections
No reviewed connections yet.
Family
Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.
Appears in Scripture
Named in 7 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.