Beginning with Ewald, Wellhausen, and Stade, scholars have hypothesized that Genesis 4, particularly vv. 17–25, functions as a national etiology of the Kenite people, with Cain as their eponymous ancestor. In the past decade, David Carr and John Day, among others, have offered more thorough defenses of this viewpoint. This etiological reading is based on connections between Cain and the Kenites identified in Numbers 24:21–22 and Judges 4:11 as well as similarities between the lifestyles of Cain’s descendants and those of the Kenite people. Scholars who take this position argue that this Kenite etiology developed later in Israel’s history but was incorporated subsequently into the primeval history, thereby transforming it into a story of the first murder. In their view, this redactional understanding helps to account for some of the perceived tensions in the text. This paper will explain how Genesis 4 functions as an etiological narrative for the Kenite people with Cain as its eponymous ancestor. However, it also will argue that an alternative historical tradition regarding its origin is unnecessary since the text can be read coherently in its current literary context. The paper will conclude by addressing the broader implications of this reading both for one’s understanding of the Genesis 4 narrative and for the theology of the book of Genesis.