Shem
Shem | |
|---|---|
 Shem, son of Noah, 16th-century depiction byGuillaume Rouillé | |
| Children | Elam Ashur Arphaxad Lud Aram Daughters |
| Parent |
|
| Family | JaphethandHam(brothers) |
Shem(/ʃɛm/;Hebrew:שֵׁםŠēm;Arabic:سَام,romanized:Sām)[a]was one of thesons of Noahin theBible(Genesis5–11[1]and1 Chronicles1:4).
The children of Shem wereElam,Ashur,Arphaxad,LudandAram,in addition to unnamed daughters.Abraham,the patriarch ofJews,Christians,andMuslims,was one of the descendants of Arphaxad.
Inmedievalandearly modern Europeantradition he was considered to be the ancestor of thepeoples 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 ofNoah.Some sources even identify Shem as a prophet in his own right and that he was the next prophet after his father.[6]
In the Bible[edit]
Genesis 10[edit]
Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brotherJapheth,but with sufficient ambiguity to have yielded different English translations. The verse is translated in theKing James Versionas: "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children ofEber,the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. "[7]However, theNew American Standard Biblegives: "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 Societytranslation of 1917):
- 22The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.23And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.24And Arpachshad begot Shelah; and Shelah begot Eber.25And 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.26And Joktan begot Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah;27and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah;28and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba;29and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan.30And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest toward Sephar, unto the mountain of the east.31These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.32These 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[edit]
Genesis 11:10 records that Shem was 100 years old at the birth ofArphaxad,two years after theflood;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 Societytranslation of 1917):
- 'Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arpachshad two years after the flood.... Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begot Shelah.13And 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.
In later Jewish sources[edit]
The 1st-century historianFlavius Josephustold a legendary, non-scriptural account that Shem's five sons were the progenitors of the nations ofElam,Assyria,Chaldea,Lydia,andLevantine,respectively.[10]
According to some Jewish traditions (e.g.,B. TalmudNedarim32b;Genesis Rabbah46:7; Genesis Rabbah 56:10;Leviticus Rabbah25:6;Numbers Rabbah4:8.), Shem is believed to have beenMelchizedek,King of Salem, whom Abraham is recorded to have met after theBattle of the Four Kings.[citation needed]
A rabbinic document that surfaced in the 17th century, claiming to be the lostBook of Jasher,provides some names not found in any other source.[clarification needed]
In Islam[edit]
Sunni Islam[edit]
Shem is regarded by scholars to be the successor to Noah, receiving prophetic knowledge, enlightenment, and leadership of his people. Shem was also one of the people whomGodhadJesusresurrect as a sign to theChildren of Israel.[11]Early Islamic historians likeIbn IshaqandIbn Hishamalways included Shem's name in the genealogy ofMuhammad.[12]
Shi'a Islam[edit]
In aShiitetradition ImamJa'far al-Sadiqhas narrated to his companions thatJibraelvisitedNoahclose 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..."[13]
In Gnosticism[edit]
TheParaphrase of Shem,which contains ideas unique to otherGnosticscriptures,[14]states that Shem was the first being on Earth. Unlike traditionalSethianliterature,Sethis 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 ofsecret knowledgeto humanity before theforces of darknessattempt to destroy the world with agreat flood.[15]
In Mandaeism[edit]
InMandaeanscriptures such as theGinza RabbaandQolasta,Shem is referred to asŠum(or Shum; pronounced inModern MandaicasŠom(Shom)).[16]Shem is sometimes considered to be the progenitor of theMandaeansand a prophet.[17][18]
Family tree[edit]
The following family tree contains information from theHebrew 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[edit]
| 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[edit]
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^Genesis 5:32, 6:10; 7:13; 9:18, 23, 26–27; 10; 11:10
- ^Reynolds, Susan(October 1983). "MedievalOrigines Gentiumand the Community of the Realm ".History.68(224).Chichester, West Sussex:Wiley-Blackwell:375–390.doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.1983.tb02193.x.JSTOR24417596.
- ^Javakhishvili, Ivane(1950),Historical-Ethnological problems of Georgia, the Caucasus and the Near East.Tbilisi,pp. 130–135 (inGeorgian).
- ^Kidd, Colin(2004) [1999].British Identities Before Nationalism: Ethnicity and Nationhood in the Atlantic World, 1600-1800.Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.pp. 28–31.ISBN0-521-62403-7.
- ^"Who Are the Semites?".
- ^Scott B. Noegel and Brannon M. Wheeler (2002). "Shem". In theHistorical 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 athttps://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-1.html
- ^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.ISBN9780991430864.
- ^Meyer, Marvin;Barnstone, Willis(June 30, 2009). "The Paraphrase of Shem".The Gnostic Bible.Shambhala.p. 438.ISBN9780834824140.
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.ISBN9781590306314.Retrieved2022-02-14.
- ^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 2024-04-22).ISBN978-1-80085-627-1.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (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[edit]
- Kishik, David (2018).The Book of Shem: On Genesis before Abraham.Stanford University Press.ISBN9781503606760.
External links[edit]
- Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)..Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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