Genesis 4 · Verse 17

Genesis 4:17

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.
Genesis 4:17, King James Version

Genesis 4:17 in other translations

BSBAnd 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.
WEBCain knew his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Enoch. He built a city, and named the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
ASVAnd 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.
YLTand Cain knoweth his wife, and she conceiveth, and beareth Enoch; and he is building a city, and he calleth the name of the city, according to the name of his son--Enoch.
DARBYAnd Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city; and he called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.
BBEAnd Cain had connection with his wife and she became with child and gave birth to Enoch: and he made a town, and gave the town the name of Enoch after his son.
WebsterAnd Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bore Enoch: and he built a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son Enoch.

What does Genesis 4:17 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 4:17-22
17-22. builded a city--It has been in cities that the human race has ever made the greatest social progress; and several of Cain's descendants distinguished themselves by their inventive genius in the arts.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 17 She - bare Enoch - As חנוך Chanoch signifies instructed, dedicated, or initiated, and especially in sacred things, it may be considered some proof of Cain's repentance, that he appears to have dedicated this son to God, who, in his father's stead, might minister in the sacerdotal office, from which Cain, by his crime, was for ever excluded.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Genesis 4:16-18

Cain cast off all fear of God, and attended no more on God's ordinances. Hypocritical professors, who dissemble and trifle with God, are justly left to themselves to do something grossly scandalous. So they throw off that form of godliness to which they have been a reproach, and of which they deny the power. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and we never find that he came into it again, to his comfort…

Read the full comment on Genesis 4:16-18 →

Genesis 4:17 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיֵּ֤דַעvai.Ye.da'and he knewH3045
קַ֙יִן֙ka.yinCainH7014
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ'ish.Towife hisH802
וַתַּ֖הַרva.Ta.harand she conceivedH2029
וַתֵּ֣לֶדva.Te.ledand she boreH3205
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
חֲנ֑וֹךְcha.NokhEnochH2585
וַֽיְהִי֙vay.Hiand he wasH1961
בֹּ֣נֶהBo.nehbuildingH1129
עִ֔יר'Ira cityH5892
וַיִּקְרָא֙vai.yik.Ra'and he calledH7121
שֵׁ֣םshem[the] name ofH8034
הָעִ֔ירha.'Irthe cityH5892
כְּשֵׁ֖םke.Shemaccording to [the] name ofH8034
בְּנ֥וֹbe.Noson hisH1121
חֲנֽוֹךְ\׃cha.NokhEnochH2585

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Genesis 4:17

  • Daniel 4:30

    The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

  • Ecclesiastes 2:4-11

    I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards: I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits: I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees: I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me: …

  • Psalms 49:11

    Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.

  • Genesis 5:18

    And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch:

  • Luke 17:28-29

    Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.

  • Genesis 11:4

    And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

  • 2 Samuel 18:18

    Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s dale: for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance: and he called the pillar after his own name: and it is called unto this day, Absalom’s place.

  • Genesis 5:22

    And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Enoch.
5:18,22
and he.
11:4; Ec 2:4-11; Da 4:30; Lu 17:28,29
the name.
2Sa 18:18; Ps 49:11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Genesis 4:16

    And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.

  • Genesis 4:17

    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.

  • Genesis 4:18

    And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech.

Read all of Genesis 4

Genesis 4:17 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y conoció Caín á su mujer, la cual concibió y parió á Henoch: y edificó una ciudad, y llamó el nombre de la ciudad del nombre de su hijo, Henoch.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et Caïn connut sa femme, et elle conçut, et enfanta Hénoc; et il bâtit une ville, et appela le nom de la ville d’après le nom de son fils Hénoc.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und Kain erkannte sein Weib, und sie ward schwanger und gebar Hanoch. Und er baute eine Stadt und benannte die Stadt nach dem Namen seines Sohnes Hanoch.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Cognovit autem Cain uxorem suam, quæ concepit, et peperit Henoch: et ædificavit civitatem, vocavitque nomen ejus ex nomine filii sui, Henoch.