Shem
The son of Noah from whom the Semitic peoples are traced, and through whom the line to Abraham runs. When Noah lay drunk and uncovered in his tent, Shem and Japheth walked in backwards with a garment on their shoulders to cover him without looking — and Noah's blessing afterwards was 'Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem.' His descendants in the table of nations include Elam, Asshur, Aram and Arphaxad, from whom Abraham came.
What we know — and how we know it
Where in scripture
Genesis1 ChroniclesLukeNoah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 5:32
Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 6:10
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—
Genesis 7:13
The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.
Genesis 9:18
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.
Genesis 9:23
He said, “Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.
Genesis 9:26 — Blessed by Noah
May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.”
Genesis 9:27
Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
Genesis 10:1
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, a public-domain translation.
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