And Cain had relations with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain built a city and named it after his son Enoch.
Parallel translations
- WEB Cain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
- KJV And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.
- NKJV And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Ē´noch. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Ē´noch.
- NASB Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son.
- NLT Cain had sexual relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain founded a city, which he named Enoch, after his son.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Cain fathers Enoch and builds a city named after his son. It shows the beginnings of human culture developing within the line set apart from God.
Overview
Even in exile, Cain's descendants multiply and establish civilization, building the first city. Human ingenuity and culture continue despite the curse, reflecting humanity's God-given creativity. Yet this progress unfolds within Cain's godless line, showing that cultural achievement does not by itself restore fellowship with God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Dan 4:30the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?”
- Eccl 2:4–11I expanded my pursuits. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.
- Ps 49:11Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.
- Gen 11:4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”
- Gen 5:18When Jared was 162 years old, he became the father of Enoch.
- Luke 17:28–29It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.
- Gen 5:22And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
- 2 Sam 18:18During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 4:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.