DBSJ 24 (2019): 119–154 ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF KAINAN, SON OF ARPACHSHAD by Henry B. Smith Jr., with Kris J. Udd 1 Kainan, the son of Arpachshad in Luke 3:36, is considered original to Luke’s messianic genealogy by the editors of Novum Testamentum Graece 28 (NA 28 ) and UBS 5. 2 A few scholars have argued instead that his name originated as a scribal error in an early manuscript of Luke’s Gospel. Then, Christian scribes across the Mediterranean world almost universally accepted his name as original to Luke, interpolating Kainam/n 3 into the forty plus manuscripts of Luke presently extant. According to this theory, Christian scribes also added Kainan to all known Septuagint (LXX) manuscripts of Genesis 11:13b–14b 4 dated prior to the 12th century AD. While doing so, they allegedly borrowed the begetting age (130) and remaining years of life (330) from Shelah in the next verse (LXX Gen 11:15–16) and falsely assigned them to Kainan. They also added Kainan to some manuscripts of LXX Genesis 10:24 and 1 Chronicles 1:18, 24. Additionally, Christian scribes also amended extant copies of the pseudepigraphical Book of Jubilees by fab- ricating a biography for Kainan in chapter eight and inserting it be- tween the lives of Arpachshad and Shelah. This article will examine several lines of textual and historical evi- dence and demonstrate that this explanation for Kainan’s origin cannot be sustained. Other untenable theories of Kainan’s origin will also be explored. Instead of being spurious, Kainan’s originality in LXX Genesis 10:24 and 11:13b–14b, the Book of Jubilees, and Luke 3:36 is virtually certain. Moreover, we will also propose that the most viable explana- tion for the known matrix of evidence is that Kainan appeared in the 1 Dr. Udd and Mr. Smith have co-authored § 1.1–3. The remainder of the article reflects the research and conclusions of Mr. Smith. 2 Barbara Aland and Kurt Aland, eds., Novum Testamentum Graece, 28th ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012), 191; Barbara Aland et al., eds., The Greek New Testament, 5th rev. ed. (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2014), 410. 3 Καιναµ is indicated as the original reading in NA 28 instead of the close variant, Καιναν. The variant endings (µ/ν) are found in both LXX and NT manuscripts. We will use “Kainan” throughout this article unless a distinction is required. The importance of the spelling variation is briefly discussed in § 1.3 and 2.3. 4 The Masoretic Text (MT) in Gen 11:12–13 reads, “When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.” We will designate the verses in the LXX with Kai- nan’s inclusion between Arpachshad and Shelah as 11:13b–14b.