The second Cainan
Whether the second Cainan in Luke's genealogy preserves a patriarch omitted from the Hebrew line or is an interpolation introduced by a later copyist.
Luke 3:36-38
36the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
37the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,
38the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.
Genesis 11:10-26
10This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.
13Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
14Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber.
15Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
16Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.
17Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
18Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.
19Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
20Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.
21Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
22Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.
23Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.
25Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
26Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
What each tradition says
Rabbinic / Midrashic
Hirsch and Kohler state that Kainan is the son of Arphaxad and father of Salah. He is mentioned only in Gen. xi. 13 (LXX.), Book of Jubilees, viii. 1-4, and Luke iii. 36. In all other versions of Gen. xi. 13 he is omitted, with Salah given as Arphaxad’s son.
Emil G. Hirsch, Kaufmann Kohler, Kainan (Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1906) — Article 'Kainan' (redirected from 'Cainan')
Patristic
Augustine says that in the second year after the flood, Shem at 100 begot Arphaxad; Arphaxad at 135 begot Cainan; and Cainan at 130 begot Salah. This places Cainan between Arphaxad and Salah.
Catholic
Haydock reports that some say Cainan appears in St. Luke’s text because his citations conform to the Septuagint. Others conjecture that Cainan and Sale were only different names of the same person, so the sense may be “who was of Sale, who is also Cainan.”
George Leo Haydock, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary (1859) — On Luke 3:36
Orthodox
No sourced position found. Checked archive.org (2026-09-14) — no public-domain English commentary on Luke (Theophylact exists only as a modern copyrighted translation); CCEL ANF/NPNF (no Eastern treatment of the genealogy); pravoslavieto.com (Bulgarian catalogue, no English verse commentary); Philaret's Longer Catechism and the Synod of Jerusalem (doctrinal only). No Eastern discussion of the second Cainan found despite the LXX/Slavonic text retaining him.
Reformed / Protestant
Matthew Henry holds that the second Cainan is not in Genesis, and that the Seventy Interpreters inserted him into their Greek Old Testament for reasons best known to themselves. Since Luke wrote among Hellenist Jews and had to use that translation, he simply took the name as he found it.
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume V (Matthew to John) — On Luke 3:35-36
Evangelical
Adam Clarke notes that this Cainan, son of Arphaxad and father of Sala, is not found in any other Scripture genealogy. He observes that Genesis 10:24, Genesis 11:12, and 1 Chronicles 1:18 and 1:24 make Arphaxad the father of Sala and mention no Cainan at all.
Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke Bible Commentary — On Luke 3:36