Shem | |
|---|---|
 Portrait from Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum (1553) by Guillaume Rouillé | |
| Children | Elam Ashur Arphaxad Lud Aram |
| Father | Noah |
| Family | Japheth and Ham (brothers) |
Shem (/ʃɛm/; Hebrew: שֵׁם Šēm; Arabic: سَام, romanized: Sām)[a] is one of the sons of Noah in the Bible (Genesis 5–11[1] and 1 Chronicles 1:4).
The children of Shem are Elam, Ashur, Arpachshad (or Arphaxad), Lud and Aram, in addition to his unnamed daughters. Abraham, the patriarch of Jews, Christians, and Muslims, is one of the descendants of Arphaxad.
In medieval and early modern European tradition he was considered to be the ancestor of the peoples of Asia,[2][3][4] and he gives his name to the title "Semites" formerly given to West Asian peoples.[5]
Islamic literature describes Shem as one of the believing sons of Noah. Some Islamic sources even identify Shem as a prophet in his own right and state that he was the next prophet after his father.[6]
In the Bible
Genesis 10
Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity to have yielded different English translations. The verse is translated in the King James Version as: "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born."[7] 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".[8]
According to Genesis 10:22–31 (Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917):
- 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram. 23 And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. 24 And Arpachshad begot Shelah; and Shelah begot Eber. 25 And unto Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 And Joktan begot 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 toward Sephar, unto the mountain of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations; and of these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.[9]
Genesis 11
Genesis 11:10 records that Shem was 100 years old at the birth of Arphaxad, two years after the flood; and that he lived for another 500 years after this, making his age at death 600 years.
Excerpts from Genesis 11:10–27 (Jewish Publication Society translation of 1917) read:
- 'Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arpachshad two years after the flood. ... Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begot Shelah. 13 And Arpachshad lived after he begot Shelah ... Shelah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. ... Eber lived four and thirty years, and begot Peleg. ... Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. ... Reu lived two and thirty years, and begot Serug. '... Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. ... Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Terah. ... Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. ... and Haran begot Lot.[citation needed]
In later Jewish sources
The 1st-century historian Flavius Josephus told a legendary, non-scriptural account that Shem's five sons were the progenitors of the nations of Elam, Assyria, Chaldea, Lydia, and Levantine, respectively.[10]
According to some Jewish traditions (e.g., B. Talmud Nedarim 32b:6; Genesis Rabbah 26:3; 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.[11]
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.[clarification needed]
In the New Testament
Shem (or Sem) features in Luke's genealogy of Jesus Christ in Luke 3:36: "Arphaxad, who was the son of Shem, who was the son of Noah ...".[12][b] Matthew's genealogy commences with Abraham and therefore Shem is not mentioned.
In Islam
Sunni Islam
Shem is regarded by scholars as the successor to Noah, receiving prophetic knowledge, enlightenment, and leadership of his people. Shem was also one of the people whom God had Jesus resurrect as a sign to the Children of Israel.[14] Early Islamic historians like Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham always included Shem's name in the genealogy of Muhammad.[15]
Shi'a Islam
In a Shiite tradition Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq has narrated to his companions that Jibrael visited Noah close to the time of his death, relaying God's message: "Oh Noah! Your prophethood has expired and your days are complete, so look to the Great Name, the inheritance and effects of the knowledge of prophethood, and hand these over to your son, Sam (Shem), for I do not leave the Earth except that there is a knowledgeable one by which obedience to Me (God) can be recognized..."[16]
In Gnosticism
The Paraphrase of Shem, which contains ideas unique to other Gnostic scriptures,[clarification needed][17] states that Shem was the first being on Earth. Unlike traditional Sethian literature, Seth is not seen as the father of the followers of Gnosticism, rather it is Shem, who receives a divine revelation from a spiritual savior named Derkedeas. Shem later helps bring his universal teaching of secret knowledge to humanity before the forces of darkness attempt to destroy the world with a great flood.[18]
In Mandaeism
In Mandaean scriptures such as the Ginza Rabba and Qulasta, Shem is referred to as Šum (or Shum; pronounced in Modern Mandaic as Šom (Shom)).[19] Shem is sometimes considered to be the progenitor of the Mandaeans and a prophet.[20][21]
Family tree
The following family tree contains information from the Hebrew Bible, without data from any other sources.
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In popular culture
| Year | Film | Actor | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | Noah's Ark | Malcolm Waite | Second role |
| 1936 | The Green Pastures | Ray Martin | All-black cast |
| 1966 | The Bible: In the Beginning... | Peter Heinze | |
| 1988 | Stowaways on the Ark | Stefan Gossler | Named as 'Sam' |
| 1999 | Noah's Ark (miniseries) | Mark Bazeley | |
| 2007 | Noah's Ark | Oscar Cheda | Animation film |
| 2014 | Noah | Gavin Casalegno (juvenile) | |
| Douglas Booth (adult) | |||
| 2015 | The Ark | Michael Fox |
See also
Notes
References
- ^ Genesis 5:32, 6:10; 7:13; 9:18, 23, 26–27; 10; 11:10
- ^ Reynolds, Susan (October 1983). "Medieval Origines Gentium and the Community of the Realm". History. 68 (224). Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell: 375–390. doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.1983.tb02193.x. JSTOR 24417596.
- ^ Javakhishvili, Ivane (1950), Historical-Ethnological problems of Georgia, the Caucasus and the Near East. Tbilisi, pp. 130–135 (in Georgian).
- ^ Kidd, Colin (2004) [1999]. British Identities Before Nationalism: Ethnicity and Nationhood in the Atlantic World, 1600-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 28–31. ISBN 0-521-62403-7.
- ^ "Who Are the Semites?".
- ^ Scott B. Noegel and Brannon M. Wheeler (2002). "Shem", in the Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism. p. 301
- ^ Genesis 10:21 KJV
- ^ Genesis 10:21 NASB
- ^ "Genesis 10:22–31". The Holy Scriptures. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America. 1917.
- ^ Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, trans. William Whiston (University of Cambridge, 1737): book 1, ch. 6, v. 4; online at https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-1.html
- ^ Rubin, Mordechai "Who Was Melchizadek King of Salem? online at https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1326593/jewish/Who-Was-Melchizedek-King-of-Salem.htm
- ^ Luke 3:36: 21st Century King James Version of the Holy Bible
- ^ Luke 3:36
- ^ Stories of the Prophets, Ibn Kathir, Story of Jesus
- ^ Ibn Ishāq, Sīrat Rasūl Allāh, tr. A. Guillaume (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 3
- ^ al-Kulayni, Muhammad ibn Ya‘qūb (2015). Al-Kafi (Volume 8 ed.). NY: Islamic Seminary Incorporated. ISBN 9780991430864.
- ^ Meyer, Marvin; Barnstone, Willis (June 30, 2009). "The Paraphrase of Shem". The Gnostic Bible. Shambhala. p. 438. ISBN 9780834824140.
The document defies any obvious classification: though gnostic, it shares few features with other Sethian literature
- ^ Marvin Meyer; Willis Barnstone (June 30, 2009). "The Paraphrase of Shem". The Gnostic Bible. Shambhala. ISBN 9781590306314. Retrieved 2022-02-14.
- ^ Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. p. 10. doi:10.3828/9781800856271 (inactive 12 July 2025). ISBN 978-1-80085-627-1.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link) - ^ Brikhah S. Nasoraia (2012). "Sacred Text and Esoteric Praxis in Sabian Mandaean Religion" (PDF). p. 45.
- ^ Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran. Oxford At The Clarendon Press. p. 186.
Bibliography
- Kishik, David (2018). The Book of Shem: On Genesis before Abraham. Stanford University Press. ISBN 9781503606760.
External links
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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