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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
- Eccl 2:4–11I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.
- Ps 49:11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
- Gen 11:4They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
- Gen 5:18Jared lived one hundred sixty-two years, then became the father of Enoch.
- Luke 17:28–29Likewise, even as it was in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
- Gen 5:22After Methuselah’s birth, Enoch walked with God for three hundred years, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
- 2 Sam 18:18Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself the pillar which is in the king’s valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in memory.” He called the pillar after his own name. It is called Absalom’s monument, to this day.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.