The Descendants of Shem

Genesis 10:21-32

“Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.” (Genesis 10:21-22)

Shem is the progenitor of the Semetic peoples. The Bible especially focuses on the descendants of Eber, the Hebrews, as the main group to serve God. Japheth was Shem’s older brother, by a couple of years.

Elam His descendants are mentioned as Babylonian subjects in Ezra 4:9

Asshur is the one who left Babel to build Nineveh and the Assyrian culture, according to Genesis 10:11.

Aram Father of the Aramaens, his descendants spread over a wide area. The Aramaic language still spoken is from his descendants.

“And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.” (Genesis 10:23)

Uz unsure of their exact area, but all the Aramaic peoples moved fairly regularly

Hul his descendants settled north of the Sea of Galilee in the valley of present day lake Hula.

Gether settled in the area south of Damascus,

Mash occupied part of Lebanon

Lud the Ludim or Ludu settled in Asia Minor in the area later known as Lydia.

Arphaxad was the progenitor of the Chaldeans. They initially settled just east of Nineveh.

“And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. 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.” (Genesis 10:24-25)

Salah is not identified except as the father of Eber.

Eber is the source of the Hebrew name and all his descendants are technically Hebrews. There were two main branches of his family.

Peleg A progenitor of the Jews, Syrians, Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites and Middianites. Peleg means division, usually in the sense of physical divisions such as rivers, or canals. His descendants will be examined more closely in a later chapter, as the father of the Jewish people..

Joktan is father of many of the Arab tribes. He is remembered as Yaqtan today, and some of the Arab people can trace their family tree all the way back to him..

“And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east. These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.” (Genesis 10:26-31)

Almodad Arab tribe known to Arab historians as the Almorad.

Sheleph Yemeni tribe known as the Salif in pre Islamic times.

Hazarmaveth populated the valley now known as the Hadramaut in southern Arabia.

Jerah settled close to the Hadramaut in a city known as Jerakon Kome.

Hadoram Southern Arab tribe with few records found.

Uzal or Azal is the ancient name of the modern capital of Yemen.

Diklath was later known as the Tigris to the Greeks

Obal southern Arabian tribe also known to historians as Ebal or Abil.

Abimiel southern Arabian tribe mentioned in Sabean writings

Sheba Unable to identify his descendants.

Ophir Seems to have settled in southwest Arabia around the town of Ma’afir.

Havilah settled on the western side of the Arab peninsula and maintained a separate identity from the Hamitic tribe of Havilah on the Eastern side of the peninsula.

Jobab settled close to modern Mecca.

“These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.” (Genesis 10:32)

Some question the accuracy of the biblical records of the origins of the different races, but records by various groups ranging from the Celts of the British Isles, to the Arab culture support them. Ancient writings have been discovered to corroborate most of it’s claims. Clearly the people who were there and passed the stories on knew more than the archaeologists and anthropologists who came later. It seems unscientific to ignore the ancient records as false because they don’t support modern theories, yet is often done in modern archaeology and anthropology.

The Indians in the Southwest told the Spaniards that most of the ruins scattered across the region had originally been built by the Tewa Indians. For over a hundred years, archeologists insisted that that was just myth and they were built by some other group, but just in the last few years, incontrovertible evidence has surfaced that the old claims were valid. Even myths usually are based on some truth, although it may be hard to discover.