Kainam between Arphaxad and Shelah
Says The Hebrew of 10:24 reads וְאַרְפַּכְשַׁד יָלַד אֶת־שָׁלַח וְשֶׁלַח יָלַד אֶת־עֵבֶר (“and Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber”). The Greek has one more generation: καὶ Ἀρφαξὰδ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Καινάμ, καὶ Καινὰμ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σάλα (“and Arphaxad fathered Kainam, and Kainam fathered Sala”). In 10:22 the Hebrew and the Greek name the same five sons of Shem.
Says Swete’s notes add more detail. In 10:22 one later Greek manuscript adds “and Kainan” after Aram, and in the Alexandrian manuscript the end of “Aram” is written by a corrector over an erasure. In 10:24 the words “Kainam and” in the Alexandrian manuscript also stand over an erasure by a corrector.
Uncertain Three views are held. Kainam may be an addition in the Greek, which also gives him a place in 11:12–13; the objection is that Luke 3:36 names a Cainan between Arphaxad and Shelah. The Greek may preserve a name lost from the Hebrew; the objection is that the Hebrew lacks it, and the Alexandrian corrections show the Greek itself was unsettled at both places. Luke may follow the Greek text he used, or may be evidence for the name. Wider questions are left with these views stated. No lean is taken here.
Says Editorial decision: print the MT (confidence medium). The Hebrew is the base text, and the Greek reading stands in the Greek note.
Claims
- SaysThe Hebrew of 10:24 reads וְאַרְפַּכְשַׁד יָלַד אֶת־שָׁלַח וְשֶׁלַח יָלַד אֶת־עֵבֶר (“and Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber”). The Greek has one more generation: καὶ Ἀρφαξὰδ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Καινάμ, καὶ Καινὰμ ἐγέννησεν τὸν Σάλα (“and Arphaxad fathered Kainam, and Kainam fathered Sala”). In 10:22 the Hebrew and the Greek name the same five sons of Shem.
- SaysSwete’s notes add more detail. In 10:22 one later Greek manuscript adds “and Kainan” after Aram, and in the Alexandrian manuscript the end of “Aram” is written by a corrector over an erasure. In 10:24 the words “Kainam and” in the Alexandrian manuscript also stand over an erasure by a corrector.
- UncertainThree views are held. Kainam may be an addition in the Greek, which also gives him a place in 11:12–13; the objection is that Luke 3:36 names a Cainan between Arphaxad and Shelah. The Greek may preserve a name lost from the Hebrew; the objection is that the Hebrew lacks it, and the Alexandrian corrections show the Greek itself was unsettled at both places. Luke may follow the Greek text he used, or may be evidence for the name. Wider questions are left with these views stated. No lean is taken here.
- SaysEditorial decision: print the MT (confidence medium). The Hebrew is the base text, and the Greek reading stands in the Greek note.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 10:22–24 (WLC/OSHB; morph HVqp3ms)
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 10:22–24, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 16 (leaf n47). Checked against the printed page (scan).
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-11
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