Interesting Facts

• Kainam was taught writing by his father.
• He sought a place to seize for himself a city.
• Kainam found a writing carved on a rock by former generations.
• He transcribed the writing and sinned because of it.
• The writing contained the teaching of the Watchers concerning omens of celestial bodies.
• Kainam kept the content of the writing secret out of fear of Noah’s anger.

Genealogy

• Kainam was the son of Arphaxad.
• Arphaxad was the son of Shem, who was one of the sons of Noah.
• Kainam was born in the third year of the first week of the twenty-ninth jubilee.
• His mother was Rasu’eja, the daughter of Susan, the daughter of Elam.

Historical Context

The narrative of Kainam unfolds in the generations after the flood. The text notes that the first generation after the flood was born between the years 1658-1680 A.M.. Arphaxad, Kainam’s father, was born two years after the flood. Kainam’s birth in the third year of the first week of the twenty-ninth jubilee corresponds to approximately 1375 A.M. according to the Jubilee chronology provided in the source. This places Kainam’s life in a period when Noah and his sons were still alive and establishing their families and settlements. A significant cultural dynamic of this era, as suggested by Kainam’s discovery, was the existence of knowledge passed down from before the flood, specifically the teachings of the Watchers regarding celestial omens. The text implies a potential disapproval of such knowledge by Noah, as Kainam feared revealing his findings to him. This suggests a tension between the older, potentially corrupted knowledge from before the flood and the new covenant established after it.

Narrative

Kainam’s personal story is marked by an intellectual curiosity that leads to transgression. His father, Arphaxad, taught him how to write, indicating a focus on literacy within their family line. Driven by a desire to establish his own territory, Kainam sought a place to build a city, mirroring the actions of other descendants of Noah in this period. His discovery of ancient writings carved on a rock reveals a connection to pre-flood knowledge. The content of these writings, dealing with the Watchers’ practices of observing celestial omens, proved to be a temptation for Kainam. By transcribing this knowledge, he is said to have sinned, suggesting that these practices were considered illicit or against the divinely ordained way of life after the flood. Kainam’s fear of sharing this discovery with Noah indicates an awareness that his actions were wrong and would likely be met with disapproval by his righteous ancestor. This brief narrative portrays Kainam as an individual who, through his pursuit of knowledge and ambition for his own settlement, encountered and succumbed to the allure of forbidden wisdom from a previous, corrupted age.