Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

Of Sem also, the father of all children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.

And to Shem to him also were sons born; he is the father of all the sons of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.

As to Shem, father of all sons of Eber, brother of Japheth the elder, he hath also begotten:

And Shem, the older brother of Japheth, the father of the children of Eber, had other sons in addition.

Likewise, from Shem, the father of all the sons of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.

Ipsi quoque Sem soboles, etiam ipse fuit pater omnium filiorum Eber, frater Jepheth major.

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber. Moses, being about to speak of the sons of Shem, makes a brief introduction, which he had not done in reference to the others. Nor was it without reason; for since this was the race chosen by God, he wished to sever it from other nations by some special mark. This also is the reason why he expressly styles him the father of the sons of Eber,' and the elder brother of Japheth. [1] For the benediction of Shem does not descend to all his grandchildren indiscriminately, but remains in one family. And although the grandchildren themselves of Eber declined from the true worship of God, so that the Lord might justly have disinherited them; yet the benediction was not extinguished, but only buried for a season, until Abraham was called, in honor of whom this singular dignity is ascribed to the race and name of Eber. For the same cause, mention is made of Japheth, in order that the promise may be confirmed, God shall speak gently unto Japheth, that he may dwell in the tents of Shem.' Shem is not here called the brother of Ham, inasmuch as the latter was cut off from the fraternal order, and was debarred his own right. Fraternity remained only between them and Japheth; because, although they were separated, God had engaged that he would cause them to return from this dissension into union. As it respects the name Eber, they who deny it to be a proper name, but deduce it from the word which signifies to pass over, are more than sufficiently refuted by this passage alone.

Footnotes

1 - In the English translation it is, The brother of Japheth the elder.' The balance of proof seems to lie in favor of the English translation, and gives the seniority to Japheth. Shem is supposed to be placed first, not on account of his age, but because his was the chosen seed. -- Ed.

XXXIII. Shem
21. אבר 'eber, "'Eber, yonder side; verb: pass, cross."
22. עילם 'eylām, "'Elam." עוּל ‛ûl, "suckle." עלם ‛ālam, "hide; be mature." ארפכשׁד 'arpakshad, "Arpakshad." כשׂד ארף 'arp keśed, "boundary of Kesed, or (von-Bohlen) Arjapakshata, beside Aria." ארם 'ǎrām, "Aram, high; verb: be high."
23. עוּץ ‛ûts, "'Uts; verb: counsel; be firm, solid." חוּל chûl, "Chul; verb: rub, twist, writhe, be strong, await." גתר geter, "Gether, bridge?" משׁ meshek, "Mash; related: feel, touch."
24. שׁלח shelach, "Shelach, missile, shoot."
25. פלג peleg, "Peleg; noun: brook, canal; verb: divide." יקטן yāqṭān, "Joctan, small."
26. אלמודד 'almôdād, "Almodad." למד lāmad, "learn." מדד mādad, "measure." שׁלף shelep, "Sheleph; verb: draw out or off." חערמות chatsarmāvet, "Chatsarmaveth, court of death." ירח yerach, "Jerach, moon, month."
27. הדורם hadôrām, Hadoram, "majesty, beauty;" verb: "swell, honor." אוּזל 'ûzāl, Uzal; verb: "go out or away." דקלה dı̂qlâh Diclah, "palm."
28. עובל ‛ôbāl, 'Obal, "bare, bald." אבימאל 'ǎbı̂ymā'ēl, Abimael, "father of Mael" (circumcision).
29. אופיר 'ôpı̂r, Ophir; verb: "break, veil." יובב yôbāb, Jobab; verb: "cry, call."
30. משׁא mēshā', Mesha, שׁאה shā'âh = שׁוא shô', "roar, crash." ספר sepār Sephar, "counting. writing."
From Japheth, who penetrated into the remotest regions, the writer proceeds to Ham, who came into close contact with Shem. From Ham, he passes to Shem, in whom the line of history is to be continued.

Shem is here distinguished by two characteristics - the former referring to a subsequent, the latter to an antecedent event. He is "the father of all the sons of Heber." It is evident from this that the sons of Heber cast luster on the family of Shem, and therefore on the whole human race. It is unnecessary to anticipate the narrative, except so far as to note that the sons of Heber include most of the Arabians, a portion of those who mingled with the race and inhabited the land of Aram, and, most probably, the original element of the population in the land of Kenaan. This characteristic of Shem shows that the table in which it is found was composed after the Hebrews had become conspicuous among the descendants of Shem.
Shem is next distinguished as the "older brother of Japheth"; that is, older than Ham. This interpretation of the words is most agreeable to the Hebrew idiom, and is the only one which affords an important sense. That Shem was the second son appears from the facts that Ham was the youngest Genesis 9:24, that Shem was born in the five hundred and third year of Noah Genesis 11:10, and, therefore, Japheth must have been the one born when Noah was in his five hundredth year Genesis 5:32. The reason for inserting this statement is to prevent the order in which the brothers are introduced in the pedigree from being taken as that of their age, instead of that of the historical relationship subsisting among the nations descended from them.

Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber - It is generally supposed that the Hebrews derived their name from Eber or Heber, son of Shem; but it appears much more likely that they had it from the circumstance of Abraham passing over (for so the word עבר abar signifies) the river Euphrates to come into the land of Canaan. See the history of Abraham, Genesis 14:13 (note).

Unto (i) Shem also, the father of all the children of (k) Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were [children] born.
(i) In his stock the Church was preserved: therefore Moses stops speaking of Japheth and Ham, and speaks of Shem extensively.
(k) Of whom came the Hebrews or Jews.

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber,.... And for the sake of those Shem is particularly said to be the father of, is this genealogy given, and indeed the whole book of Genesis wrote: Eber was the great-grandson of Shem, and is here spoken of by anticipation, and Shem is called not the father of either of his immediate sons, but of the posterity of this man; because the Hebrews sprung from him in his line, among whom the church of God and the true religion were preserved, and from whom the Messiah was to come, as he did: the word Eber, Jarchi interprets, "beyond the river, Euphrates" or "Tigris", or both, as describing the seat of the posterity of Shem; but as this too much straitens them, since they inhabited on both sides, Dr. Hyde (d) has shown that the word used may refer to both, to those beyond these rivers, and to those on this side; see Numbers 24:24.
the brother of Japheth the elder; he was the brother of Ham too, but he is not mentioned because of the behaviour towards his father, and because of the curse that was upon him and his; but Shem's relation to Japheth is expressed to show that they were alike in their disposition; and it may be to signify, that in times to come their posterity would unite in spiritual things, which has been fulfilled already in part, and will be more fully by the coalition of the Jews, the posterity of Shem, and of the Gentiles, the posterity of Japheth, in the Christian church state: and from hence we learn that Japheth was the eldest of Noah's sons, though some render the words, "the elder brother of Japheth" (e); and so make Shem to be the eldest; but as this is contrary to the accents, so to the history: for Noah was five hundred years old when he began to beget sons, Genesis 5:32 he was six hundred when he went into the ark, Genesis 7:11 two years after the flood Shem begat Arphaxad, when he was one hundred years old, and Noah six hundred and two, Genesis 11:10 so that Shem must be born when Noah was five hundred and two years old; and since he begot children, there must be one two years older than Shem, which can be no other than Japheth, since Ham is called his younger son, Genesis 9:24.
even to him were children born, who are reckoned as follow.
(d) Hist. Relig. Pers. c. 2. p. 47, 48. (e) "fratre Japheth majore". V. L. Samar. Syr. Ar. "frater major natu ipsius Japheth", Tigurine version; "fratri Japheti majori", Cocceius; so some in Vatablus.

Unto Shem--The historian introduces him with marked distinction as "the father of Eber," the ancestor of the Hebrews.

Descendants of Shem. - Genesis 10:21. For the construction, vid., Genesis 4:26. Shem is called the father of all the sons of Eber, because two tribes sprang from Eber through Peleg and Joktan, viz., the Abrahamides, and also the Arabian tribe of the Joktanides (Genesis 4:26.). - On the expression, "the brother of Japhet הגּדול," see Genesis 9:24. The names of the five sons of Shem occur elsewhere as the names of the tribes and countries; at the same time, as there is no proof that in any single instance the name was transferred from the country to its earliest inhabitants, no well-grounded objection can be offered to the assumption, which the analogy of the other descendants of Shem renders probable, that they were originally the names of individuals. As the name of a people, Elam denotes the Elymaeans, who stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Caspian Sea, but who are first met with as Persians no longer speaking a Semitic language. Asshur: the Assyrians who settled in the country of Assyria, Ἀτουρία, to the east of the Tigris, but who afterwards spread in the direction of Asia Minor. Arphaxad: the inhabitants of Ἀῤῥαπαχῖχτις in northern Assyria. The explanation given of the name, viz., "fortress of the Chaldeans" (Ewald), "highland of the Chaldeans" (Knobel), "territory of the Chaldeans" (Dietrich), are very questionable. Lud: the Lydians of Asia Minor, whose connection with the Assyrians is confirmed by the names of the ancestors of their kings. Aram: the ancestor of the Aramaeans of Syria and Mesopotamia.

Two things especially are observable in this account of the posterity of Shem. The description of Shem, Genesis 10:21, we have not only his name, Shem, which signifies a name; but two titles to distinguish him by.
He was the father of all the children of Eber. Eber was his great grandson, but why should he be called the father of all his children, rather than of all Arphaxad's or Salah's? Probably because Abraham and his seed, not only descended from Heber, but from him were called Hebrews. Eber himself, we may suppose, was a man eminent for religion in a time of general apostasy; and the holy tongue being commonly called from him the Hebrew, it is probable he retained it in his family in the confusion of Babel, as a special token of God's favour to him. He was the brother of Japheth the elder; by which it appears, that though Shem be commonly put first, yet he was not Noah's first - born, but Japheth was elder. But why should this also be put as part of Shem's description, that he was the brother of Japheth, since that had been said before? Probably this is intended to signify the union of the Gentiles with the Jews in the church. He had mentioned it as Shem's honour, that he was the father of the Hebrews; but lest Japheth's seed should therefore be looked upon as shut out from the church, he here minds us, that he was the brother of Japheth, not in birth only, but in blessing, for Japheth was to dwell in the tents of Shem.
The reason of the name of Peleg, Genesis 10:25, because, in his days, (that is, about the time of his birth) was the earth divided among the children of men that were to inhabit it; either when Noah divided it, by an orderly distribution of it, as Joshua divided the land of Canaan by lot, or when, upon their refusal to comply with that division, God, in justice, divided them by the confusion of tongues.