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Shem שֵׁם

Male Early Patriarch H8035 3 books

Noah's son, ancestor of Semitic peoples

Biography

Shem was one of the three sons of Noah, along with Ham and Japheth (Gen.5.32; 6.10). He and his wife were among the eight people who survived the great flood in the ark (Gen.7.13). After the flood, Shem and his brothers became the ancestors of the nations that repopulated the earth (Gen.9.18,19; 10.1).

Shem was the ancestor of the Semitic peoples, including the Elamites, Assyrians, Arameans, and Hebrews (Gen.10.21-31). He was also the ancestor of Abraham and, therefore, of the Israelites (Gen.11.10-26; 1Ch.1.17-27). In the New Testament, Shem is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Luk.3.36.

Shem and Japheth showed respect for their father by covering his nakedness when he became drunk (Gen.9.23). As a result, Noah blessed Shem, saying, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem" (Gen.9.26). This blessing implied that Shem's descendants would have a special relationship with God. Shem lived for 600 years (Gen.11.10-11).

Family

Parents

Siblings

Offspring

In Scripture

3 biblical books ; 2 with study content
Genesis 5 verses
  • Genesis 5:32

    "Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

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  • Genesis 6:10

    "Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

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  • Genesis 7:13

    "In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth—the sons of Noah—and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship—"

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  • Genesis 9:18

    "The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan."

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  • Genesis 9:23

    "Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn’t see their father’s nakedness."

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1 Chronicles 3 verses
  • 1 Chronicles 1:4

    "Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

  • 1 Chronicles 1:17

    "The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech."

  • 1 Chronicles 1:24

    "Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah,"

Luke 1 verse
  • Luke 3:36

    "the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,"

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Names & Aliases

Form Language Script Strong's
Named Hebrew שֵׁם H8035
Greek Greek Σήμ G4590
Encyclopedia Article

Shem

ISBE 1915 (Public Domain)
Article Contents1 section

ee sons, Shem is always mentioned first (Ge 9:18; 10:1, etc.); and though "the elder" in "Shem the brother of Japheth the elder" (Ge 10:21 margin) is explained as referring to Shem, this is not the rendering of Onkelos. His five sons peopled the greater part of West Asia's finest tracts, from Elam on the East to the Mediterranean on the West. Though generally regarded as meaning "dusky" (compare the Assyr-Babylonian samu--also Ham--possibly = "black," Japheth, "fair"), it is considered possible that Shem may be the usual Hebrew word for "name" (shem), given him because he was the firstborn--a parallel to the Assyr-Babylonian usage, in which "son," "name" (sumu) are synonyms (W. A. Inscriptions, V, plural 23, 11,29-32abc).

2History, and the Nations Descended from Him

Shem, who is called "the father of all the children of Eber," was born when Noah had attained the age of 500 years (Ge 5:32). Though married at the time of the Flood, Shem was then childless. Aided by Japheth, he covered the nakedness of their father, which Ham, the youngest brother, had revealed to them; but unlike the last, Shem and Japheth, in their filial piety, approached their father walking backward, in order not to look upon him. Two years after the Flood, Shem being then 100 years old, his son Arpachshad was born (Ge 11:10), and was followed by further sons and daughters during the remaining 500 years which preceded Shem's death. Noah's prophetic blessing, on awakening from his wine, may be regarded as having been fulfilled in his descendants, who occupied Syria (Aramaic), Palestine (Canaan), Chaldea (Arpachshad), Assyria (Asshur), part of Persia (Elam), and Arabia (Joktan). In the first three of these, as well as in Elam, Canaanites had settled (if not in the other districts mentioned), but Shemites ruled, at some time or other, over the Canaanites, and Canaan thus became "his servant" (Ge 9:25,26). The tablets found in Cappadocia seem to show that Shemites (Assyrians) had settled in that district also, but this was apparently an unimportant colony. Though designated sons of Shem, some of his descendants (e.g. the Elamites) did not speak a Semitic language, while other nationalities, not his descendants (e.g. the Canaanites), did.

See HAM; JAPHETH; TABLE OF NATIONS.

T. G. Pinches

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