Irad (, ''Irad'') is a name in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. In the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

, the grandson of

Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...

is Irad. Genesis 4:18, in a genealogical passage about the descendants of Cain, contains the only reference to Irad in the Bible: "To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad was the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael the father of Methushael, and Methushael the father of Lamech" (''New Revised Standard Version''). The lineage of Cain in Genesis 4:17-22 closely parallels the lineage of Cain's brother

Seth Seth, in the Abrahamic religions, was the third son of Adam and Eve. The Hebrew Bible names two of his siblings (although it also states that he had others): his brothers Cain and Abel. According to , Seth was born after Abel's murder by Cain, ...

found in Genesis 5:1-32. In terms of the

Documentary hypothesis The documentary hypothesis (DH) is one of the models used by biblical scholars to explain the origins and composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Book of Genesis, Genesis, Book of Exodus, Exodus, Leviticus, Bo ...

, the genealogy of Cain is attributed to the Jahwist source, while the genealogy of Seth is attributed to the

Priestly source The Priestly source (or simply P) is perhaps the most widely recognized of the sources underlying the Torah, both stylistically and theologically distinct from other material in it. It is considered by most scholars as the latest of all sources, a ...

. The J list and P list contain seven pairs of similar names, and the "Irad" of the Jahwist source is parallel to the "

Jared Jared is a given name of Bible, Biblical derivation. Origin In the Book of Genesis, the Jared (biblical figure), biblical patriarch Jared () was the sixth in the ten pre-Noah's Ark, flood generations between Adam and Noah; he was the son of Maha ...

" of the Priestly source.

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Bereshit (parashah) Persian masculine given names Masculine given names {{Name-stub