Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
Parallel translations
- WEB the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
- BSB the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
- NKJV the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
- NASB the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
- NLT Shelah was the son of Cainan. Cainan was the son of Arphaxad. Arphaxad was the son of Shem. Shem was the son of Noah. Noah was the son of Lamech.
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
The line passes through Shem and Noah, survivors of the flood. Jesus descends from those God preserved through judgment.
Overview
Luke names Shem and Noah, through whom humanity continued after the flood. This places Jesus in the line of God's saving preservation of a remnant. The God who rescued Noah ultimately brings the Savior of the world through that same line.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Gen 10:21–22Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
- Gen 5:28–32And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:
- Gen 9:1And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
- Gen 9:26–27And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
- 2 Pet 2:5And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
- Gen 6:22Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.
- Luke 17:27They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
- 1 Pet 3:20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
- Gen 6:8–10But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
- Gen 8:1And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
- Gen 11:10–26These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
- Gen 7:13In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
- Gen 7:23And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
- Heb 11:7By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
- 1 Chr 1:17The sons of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech.
- Ezek 14:14Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
- Gen 9:18And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
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
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 3:36 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.