Shem

[The Librarian]

Shem
Shem,Ham and Japheth by James Tissot.
Children	Elam Asshur Aram Arpachshad Lud
Parents	Noah

Shem, Sons of Noah

Shem (/ʃɛm/; Hebrew: שֵׁם Šēm[a]) "renown; prosperity; name") was one of the sons of Noah in the Hebrew Bible as well as in Islamic literature. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each to have yielded different translations. The verse is translated in the KJV as "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.". However, the New American Standard Bible gives, "Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born."

The children of Shem were Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram, in addition to daughters. Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews and Arabs, was one of the descendants of Arphaxad.

Islamic literature describes Shem as one of the believing sons of Noah. Some sources even identify Shem as a prophet in his own right and that he was the next prophet after his father.[1]

Shem is mentioned several times in Genesis 5-11[2] as well as 1 Chronicles 1:4.

The following family tree contains information from the Hebrew Bible, without data from any other sources. According to Luke 3, an additional figure named Cainan is the son of Arpachshad and the father of Shelah.

Shem

Elam

Ashur

Arpachshad

Lud

Aram

Salah

Uz

Hul

Gether

Mash

Eber

Peleg

Joktan

Reu

Almodad Sheleph Hazarmaveth Jerah Hadoram Uzal Diklah Obal Abimael Sheba Ophir Havilah Jobab

Serug

Nahor

Terah

Abraham

Sarah

Nahor

Haran

 

 

Genesis 11:10 records that Shem was 100 years old at the birth of Arpachshad two years after the flood, making him 98 at the time of the flood; and that he lived for another 500 years after this, making his age at death 600 years.

The children of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Aram, Arpachshad and Lud, in addition to daughters. Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrews and Arabs, was one of the descendants of Arpachshad.

The 1st century historian Flavius Josephus, among many others, recounted the tradition that these five sons were the progenitors of the nations of Elam, Assyria, Syria, Chaldea, and Lydia, respectively.

Terms like "Semite" and "Hamite" are less common now, and may sometimes even be perceived as offensive, because of their "racial" connotations. The adjectival forms "Semitic" and "Hamitic" are more common, though the vague term 'Hamitic' dropped out of mainstream academic use in the 1960s. Semitic is still a commonly used term for the Semitic languages, as a subset of the Afro-Asiatic languages, denoting the common linguistic heritage of Arabic, Aramaic, Akkadian, Ethiopic, Hebrew andPhoenician languages.

'Semitic' also appears in the phrase "anti-Semitic" to refer to racial, ethnic or cultural prejudice aimed exclusively at Jews.

According to some Jewish traditions (e.g., B. Talmud Nedarim 32b; Genesis Rabbah 46:7; Genesis Rabbah 56:10; Leviticus Rabbah 25:6; Numbers Rabbah 4:8.), Shem is believed to have been Melchizedek, King of Salem whom Abraham is recorded to have met after the battle of the four kings.

In a few of the many extra-biblical sources that describe him, Shem is also credited with killing Nimrod, son of Cush.

Shem is mentioned in Genesis 5:32, 6:10; 7:13; 9:18,23,26-27; 10; 11:10; also in 1 Chronicles 1:4.

Genealogies according to "Book of Jasher"

Geographic identifications of Flavius Josephus, c. 100 AD; Japheth's sons shown in red, Ham's sons in blue, Shem's sons in green.

A rabbinic document that surfaced in the 17th century, claiming to be the lost "Book of Jasher" provides some names not found in any other source. Some have reconstructed more complete genealogies based on this information as follows:

• Shem. Also Sem. Literal meanings are named or renown (father of the Semitic races - Shemites). The sons of Shem were:
• Elam "eternity" (sons were Shushan, Machul and Harmon) - (Elamites, Khuzestanis)
• Asshur "a step" or "strong" (sons were Mirus and Mokil) - (Assyrians)
• Arphaxad (sons were Shelach, Anar and Ashcol) - Hebrews (Israelites, Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Ishmaelites, And Qahtanites)
• Ziezi - son of Shem and a grandson of Noah. His name is mentioned in the excerpt Ziezi ex quo vulgares meaning "Ziezi, of whom the Bulgars" but being regarded by some as the first European reference to the Bulgars as a people. (Ancient Thracians, Ancient Bulgarians, Thracians)
• Lud "strife" (sons were Pethor and Bizayon)  - (Ludim, Lubim, Ludians, Ludu, Lydians, and other related groups in Asia Minor.
• Aram "exalted" (sons were Uz, Chul, Gather and Mash) - (Aramaeans).

Other proposed lineages from Shem

According to The Bible, Genesis 10:22-31

22 The children of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad and Lud and Aram. 23 And the children of Aram; Uz and Hul, and Gether and Mash. 24 And Arphaxad begat Salah and Salah begat Eber. 25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah. 27 And Hadoram, and Uzal and Diklah, 28 And Obal, and Abimael and Sheba, 29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. 30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east 31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

From Genesis 11: 10-31

Shem begat Arphaxad ( and begat sons and daughters), Arphaxad begat Salah (+sons & daughters), Salah begat Eber (+sons & daughters), Eber begat Peleg (+sons & daughters), and Peleg begat Reu (+sons & daughters), and Reu begat Serug (+sons & daughters), and Serug begat Nahor, and Nahor begat Terah (+sons & daughters), and Terah begat Abram (his wife was Sarai) ,Nahor, and Haran, and Haran begat Lot.

Europeans

Some believe that from Shem descend the whole of the European peoples. Ernest L. Martin writes, "...[The] Shemite tribes (people who were descendants of Shem and including some peoples who came from Abraham) later colonized the whole of southern Europe and replaced the people of JAVAN and his four descendants. JAVAN'S people were pushed mainly into the northern areas of Europe where in turn they migrated farther east into Asia (along with GOMER the firstborn son of JAPHETH and his descendants). Indeed, in prophecies dealing also with the End-Time, we find the people of JAVAN no longer in Europe, but they are now associated with TUBAL [Ezekiel 38: & 39 end time prophecy] (another son of JAPHETH) who became an eastern Mongolian type of people...though the name JAVAN still retained its geographical hold on the southern region of Europe, particularly in Greece)...It is not uncommon for people to give a name to a region and then the original people move on to other areas (or are killed off) and the original geographical name becomes associated with completely different people"

Germanic

Some scholars have claimed that the Anglo-Saxons are the descendants of Shem. "Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons [b. 849 A.D.] was... the son [descendant] of Sem [Shem]" (Church Historians of England, vol. 2, p. 443). Proponents of this theory also claim that Alfred the Great was a descendant of Shem because he claimed to descend from Sceafa, a marooned man who came to Britain on a boat after a flood.[citation needed]

Le Petit, a writer in 1601 mentioned King Adel, said to be descendant of Shem, ruler of Britain having 3 children that migrated to India.

Further, it is said that Tuitsch a German patriarch is none other than Shem himself (see Assyrian-German theory).

Hellenistic (Greek)

A text from the Islamic world claims that the Greeks derived from Shem: Tabari II:11 "Shem, the son of Noah was the father of the Arabs, the Persians, and the Greeks;..."

In the Chronicles of George the Monk and Symeon Logothetes, the following genealogy occurs: "To the lot of Shem fell the Orient, and his share extended lengthwise as far as India and breadthwise (from east to south) as far as Phinocorura, including Persia and Bactria, as well as Syria, Media (which lies beside the Euphrates River), Babylon, Cordyna, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Arabia the Ancient, Elymais, India, Arabia the Mighty, Coelesyria, Commagene, and all Phoenicia."

Indo-Iranians

According to Abulgazi, Shem's original land was Iran while Japheth's was the country called "Kuttup Shamach," said to be the name of the regions between the Caspian Sea and India.

According to Armenian tradition, Dr. Hales is quoted saying, "To the sons of Shem was alloted the middle region of the earth viz., Palestine, Syria, Assyria, Samaria (Shinar?) Babel (or Babylonia), Persia and Hedjaz (Arabia).

In Mystery of the Ages, by Dr. James Modlish, it is said that India is inhabited by Shemites.

Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi, a 19th century Arab historian, states that al-Hind and al-Sind [(Sindh)Pakistan] are of Ophir, the son of Joktan. Isidore of Seville (c. 635) had also made Joktan the ancestor of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis; his material was based on earlier enumerations made by Jerome and Josephus, who had stated that Joktan's descendants "inhabited from Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it."

African

In Genesis, while Sheba and Seba are listed among descendants of Cush son of Ham in 10:7, another Sheba is listed as a son of Joktan, son of Eber in 10:28. These names are associated with Semitic tribes on both sides of the Red Sea in Yemen andEritrea (See Sabaeans). This situation may reflect a combined Hamito-Semitic ancestry postulated for Ethiopian peoples.

Racial connotations

Some writers have associated Noah's sons with different skin colors or alleged races. For instance the Jewish text Pirqei R. Eliezer, depicts God as dividing the earth among Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and attributing different skin colors to them (literally, —blessing" them with different skin colors): light colored skin for the Japhetites, medium dark or brown for the Semites, and very dark or black for the Hamites.

This passage from  Pirqei R. Eliezer, a writing which was composed in Israel after the Islamic conquest, is paralleled in an Arabic text of approximately the same period. The historian abar? (d. 923) quotes Ibn Abbas (d. 686-8) as saying:

Quote

Born to Noah were Shem, whose descendants were tawny-white (bay? wa-adma); Ham, whose descendants were black with hardly any whiteness (saw?d wa-bay? qal?l); and Japheth, whose descendants were reddish-white (al-?uqra wal- umra.)[12]

Genesis 5:32 32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham and Japhet.

The tradition is repeated in the 13th century by the Christian Ibn al-Ibr? (Bar Hebraeus), known for the fidelity with which he reproduces earlier writers. Again in another work, Bar Hebraeus speaks of Noah dividing the world among his three sons, with Ham getting the Land of the Blacks (s?d?n), Shem the Land of the Browns (sumra), and Japheth the Land of the Reds (?uqra).[13]

"According to ISBE, Shem means "dusky", and Japheth means "fair." (McKissick, Beyond Roots. P. 108).[14]

According to Armenian tradition, Shem had the region of the tawny.[15]

Josiah Priest (1788–1851) believed that Shem, because he was a descendant in the Adamic line, and because "Adam" means reddish in Hebrew, that Shem too was of the "reddish race". Further, he believed that because Christ was a descendant in the line of Shem, that Christ was of "copper-colored stock".[16]

 References

1.  Book of Jasher Chapter 7:15
2. http://www.freemaninstitute.com/RTGham.htm
3.  a b Book of Jasher Chapter 7:16
4.  a b Book of Jasher Chapter 7:17
5.  Prophetic Geography and the Time of the End, emphasis added
6.  Serge A. Zenkovsky's, Cited from In Serge A. Zenkovsky's, Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales, Medieval Russia's Epics, Chronicles, and Tales, Revised and Enlarged Edition. (NY: Meridian Books, 1974)
7.  P. 94, Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan
8.  P. 27 Assyria: Her Manners and Customs, Arts and Arms: Restored from Her Monuments By Philip
9.  Mystery of the Ages, by Dr. James Modlish
10.  p. 1769 A dictionary of the Bible comprising its antiquities, biography, geography, and natural history. by William Smith, John Mee Fuller
11.  [The names of Noah's sons were prophetic. Shem signifies name or renown (the Scriptures have been given to us through the family of Shem, and Christ was of that family); Ham signifies hot or black (his descendants mainly peopled Africa); and Japheth signifies either fair or enlarged (his descendants are the white-faced Europeans, who have gone forth and established colonies in all the other grand divisions of the globe).]
12.  [Tarikh al- abar?, ed. M.J. de Goeje, 1:199. A little later (p. 220) abar? repeats this tradition, again in the name of Ibn Abbas, but this time has —tawny with hardly any whiteness" (udma wa-bay? qal?l) for Ham instead of —black with hardly any whiteness." My translation of abar?"s color terms follows Lane, who notes that applied to human complexion adam means —tawny or dark-complexioned, syn. asmar," umra means whiteness, and ?uqra implies some mix of red and white, the common classification for a light-skinned complexion (Lane, An Arabic-English Lexicon, pp. 37a, 640c [see also 642a, a mar], and 1581b).]
13.  [M. Sprengling and W.C. Graham, ed., Barhebraeus' Scholia on the Old Testament, pp. 34-35 and 44-45. Bar Hebraeus' father was a Jewish convert to Christianity (thus the name). The quotation is from J.B. Segal, The Encyclopedia of Islam, second edition, 3:805, s.v. Ibn al- Ibr?.]
14.  McKissick, Beyond Roots. P. 108)
15.  P. 162 Christmastide: Its History, Festivities, and Carols By William Sandys
16.  The Forging of Races: Race and Scripture in the Protestant Atlantic World, 1600-2000 By Colin Kidd