Shem
Shem, Sons of Noah Shem
Born	1557 AM (date disputed)[1]
Children	Elam Asshur Arpachshad Lud Aram
Parents	Noah

Shem Ham and Japheth by James Tissot 1904.

Shem (Hebrew: שם, Modern Shem Tiberian Šēm ; Greek: Σημ Sēm; Arabic: سام Sām; Ge'ez: ሴም, Sēm; "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 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."

Genesis 11:10 records that Shem was still 100 years old at the birth of Arpachshad, (but nearly 101 - see Chronology note,) two years after the flood, making him barely 99 at the time the flood began; and that he lived for another 500 years after this, making his age at death 600 years.

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

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.^[2] One Muslim legend narrates that Shem was one of the people that God made Jesus resurrect as a sign to the Children of Israel.^[3]

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 and Phoenician 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"[link]

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)^[4] - (Elamites, Khuzestanis)^[5]
• Asshur "a step" or "strong" (sons were Mirus and Mokil)^[6] - (Assyrians)
• Arphaxad (sons were Shelach, Anar and Ashcol)^[6] - Chaldeans, 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)^[7] - (Ludim, Lubim, Ludians, Ludu, Lydians, and other related groups in Asia Minor.
• Aram "exalted" (sons were Uz, Chul, Gather and Mash)^[7] - (Aramaeans).

Other proposed lineages from Shem[link]

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[link]

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)." ^[8]

Germanic[link]

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^[who?] that Tuitsch a German patriarch is none other than Shem himself (see Assyrian-German theory).

Hellenistic (Greek)[link]

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."^[9]

Indo-Iranians[link]

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.^[10]

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).^[11]

In Mystery of the Ages, by Dr. James Modlish, it is said that that north-west part of South Asia is inhabited by Shemites.^[12]

Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi, a 19th century Arab historian, states that al-Hind and al-Sind are of Ophir, the son of Joktan.^[13] Isidore of Seville (c. 635) had also made Joktan the ancestor of the natives of north-west part of South Asia; 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."

Racial connotations[link]

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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,^[14] 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 but gives some noticeably different information. The Persian historian Tabari quotes Ibn Abbas (d. 686-8) as saying: "Born to Noah were Shem, whose descendants' colors are a black complexion with a light-brownish undertone (bayādh) and a dark blackish brown (Udmah); Ham, whose descendants' colors are true black (sawād) and a few are a black complexion with a light-brownish undertone (bayādh qalīl); and Japheth, whose descendants are very fair-skinned (al-shuqrah) and olive-skinned (al-humrah)".^[15]

Tabarī repeats this tradition again in the name of Ibn Abbas, but this time has dark, blackish brown (Udmah) and a few are a black complexion with a light-brownish undertone (bayādh qalīl) for Ham. So dark blackish brown (udmah) is used instead of true black (sawād). "Udmah" is described as deep sumra. Ibn Mandhur describes sumrah as wurqah, which is translated as blackness in the color of the earth (sawaad feel-ghabrah), and ranges all the way to true black (sawād).

Al-Tha'aalabi says in his book Fiqh Al-Lughah (Understanding Language) in chapter 13 titled 'The Degrees of Blackness in Humans': "If there is a slight blackness in his/her complexion, he/she is asmar (sumrah). If his/her blackness is more intense with some yellow showing, he/she is as-ham. If his/her blackness is more intense than asmar, he/she is Adam (udmah). If his/her blackness is more intense than that of Adam, he/she is asham. If he/she is is extremely black, he/she is adlam (dalam)."

Bar Hebraeus speaks of Noah dividing the world among his three sons, with Ham getting the Land of the Blacks (sūdān), Shem the Land of the Browns (sumra), and Japheth the Land of the Reds (łuqra).^[16]

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".^[17]

According to ISBE, Shem means "dusky", and Japheth means "fair." ^[18]

According to Armenian tradition, Shem had the region of the "tawny".^[19]

See also[link]

• Finnegans Wake
• Wives aboard the Ark

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up Shem in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Gary Greenberg, author of several books on Egyptian/Hebrew mythology and President of the Biblical Archaeology Society of New York
•  "Sem (Shem)". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.