Genesis 11.10-26-Descendants of Shem
Wednesday November 2, 2005
Genesis: Genesis 11:10-26-Descendants of Shem
Lesson # 54
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 3:15.
This evening we will study Genesis 11:10-26, which presents the record of the descendants of Shem.
Genesis 11:10-26 contains a ten-name linear genealogy forming the transition from the Flood to Abraham.
When I say “linear” I mean that this genealogy establishes continuity over stretches of time without narrative to demonstrate the legitimacy of Abraham as the one whom the promised “Seed” Jesus Christ will come.
This genealogy reveals that the Promised “Seed” of Genesis 3:15 will come from the descendants of Shem.
Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”
In Genesis 5, we have seen that the human nature of Jesus Christ would come from the line of Seth and in Genesis 9:24-27, Noah prophesied that Christ would come from the line of Shem.
Genesis 9:24, “When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.”
Genesis 9:25, “So he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.’”
Genesis 9:26, “He also said, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.’”
Genesis 9:27, “May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.”
But now here in Genesis 11:10-26, the Holy Spirit gives us more information revealing that from the line of Shem, Abraham would bring blessing to all the families of the earth dispersed around the globe.
The genealogy of Genesis 11:10-26 concludes with the birth of Abraham the man of faith, who stands in contrast to an unbelieving world.
This genealogy is a “Janus” book, which is a term named after the Roman god of doorways with one head and two faces looking in opposite directions and is a term applied to a literary unit that looks back and forth to unite the units before and after.
The transition passages at the end of each toledhoth in Genesis 4:25-26, 6:1-8, 9:18-29 are Janus sections.
Therefore, the genealogy in Genesis 11:10-26 looks back to the account of Noah and his sons in Genesis 6:9-9:29 mentioning the Flood in Genesis 11:10 and Shem who is mentioned in Genesis 9:27.
It also emphasizes the genealogy of Shem, to whom Noah prophesied that the Messiah would come from in Genesis 9:24-27 and it looks back to the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth in Genesis 10:1-11:9.
The genealogy of Genesis 11:10-26 also looks ahead by concluding with Terah and his family in Genesis 11:26, from which family, Abraham would be born into who would continue the line of Christ and bring blessing to the entire world.
This linear genealogy of Shem overlaps with Shem’s segmented genealogy in Genesis 10:22-25 and they separate at the point of Eber’s sons Peleg and Joktan.
Genesis 10:22, “The sons of Shem were Elam (“eternity”) and Asshur (“happy, successful”) and Arpachshad (“he cursed the breast bottle”) and Lud (“firebrand, travailing”) and Aram (“highland”).”
Genesis 10:23, “The sons of Aram were Uz (“counsel”) and Hul (“circle”) and Gether (“fear”) and Mash (“drawn out”).”
Genesis 10:24, “Arpachshad became the father of Shelah (“sprout”); and Shelah became the father of Eber.”
Genesis 10:25, “Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, (“division”) for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan (“smallness, insignificant”).”
Shem’s genealogy through Joktan in Genesis 10 was followed by the Lord’s judgment of the rebellion of the human race at the Tower of Babel but in Genesis 11:10-26, Shem’s genealogy ends with the promise of Abraham’s birth.
Bruce Waltke, “Shem in Hebrew means, “name” Ironically, the tower builders were seeking to “make a name” but have no names, and the city they built receives the shameful name “Confusion.” God gives the elect of Shem and everlasting name in this genealogy, and above all, He will exalt the name of the faithful descendant Abraham” (Genesis, A Commentary, page 187).
Genesis 11:10, “These are the records of the generations of Shem (“name, renown”). Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad (“he cursed the breast bottle”) two years after the flood.”
“These are the records of the generations of Shem” refers to the genealogy that follows in Genesis 11:10-26 and this is indicated by the noun toledhoth (toh-led-aw) (tw{dl@w{T), “the records of the generations” which is always used as an introduction to what follows.
The noun toledhoth appears ten times in the book of Genesis and is always used in a transitional sense as a heading or title for what is to follow and provides the outline or framework to the book of Genesis.
In Genesis 11:10, the noun toledhoth introduces the fifth section of the book of Genesis.
First section contained the account of the line of the heavens and the earth-transition (2:4-4:26), the second section contained the account of Adam’s line (5:1-6:8), the third section contained the account of Noah’s line (6:9-9:29) and the fourth section contained the account of the line of Noah’s sons (10:1-11:9).
The phrase “two years after the Flood” presents to us the initial chronological setting linking Genesis 6:9-9:29 with Genesis 11:10-26.
This phrase creates a chronological problem since according to Genesis 5:32, Noah was five hundred years old when he fathered his three sons and according to Genesis 7:6, he was six hundred years old at the time of the Flood.
If Shem were the firstborn, his son Arpachshad would have been born the year of the Flood, not two years later.
Leupold presents the solution, “The solution to the phrase is that according to Genesis 10:22, Shem had two other sons before Arpachshad, namely, Elam and Asshur. If then, these three children were born in rapid succession, it would not be a physical impossibility to have Arpachshad ‘begotten’ two years after the Flood” (Exposition of Genesis 1, H.C. Leupold, page 394).
“Arpachshad” was in the direct line leading to Abraham who according to Genesis 10:22 was the third son of Shem and Josephus claims that he was the ancestor of the Chaldeans (Antiquities of the Jews, book 1, chapter 6, paragraph 4).
He is mentioned here alone without his brothers since he was in the line of Christ and not his brothers according to Luke 3:36.
Genesis 11:11, “and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.”
Genesis 11:12, “Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah (“sprout”).”
Nothing appears in secular sources concerning “Shelah” and nothing much is said about him in the Bible except that he was the father Eber who was the ancestor of the Hebrews through Peleg and thirteen Arabian tribes through Joktan.
Luke 3:36 inserts the name “Cainan” between “Arpachshad” and “Shelah” in this genealogy but this name is not mentioned in 1 Chronicles 1:18, nor is “Cainan” given as a son of “Arpachshad” in Genesis 10:24.
The name “Cainan” does not appear in any other ancient versions of the Old Testament, such as the Samaritan, or the Vulgate.
Furthermore, the copyists of the Old Testament were meticulous in maintaining the accuracy of their copies.
The many of the copyists of many of the New Testament manuscripts were not as meticulous as those who copied the Old Testament manuscripts such as the Masorites.
Of course, a copyist’s error in no way takes away from the inerrancy of the Greek New Testament.
The name “Cainan” was inserted into Luke 3:36 because of a copyist error where the copyists inadvertently copied “Cainan” from Luke 3:37 as he was copying Luke 3:36, thus getting two Cainan’s into the list.
Genesis 11:13, “and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.”
Genesis 11:14, “Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber (“emigrants” or “to vanish to the region beyond”).”
Genesis 10:21 emphasizes that Shem is the ancestor of all the children of “Eber” because Abraham and the Israelites are identified as descendants of “Eber,” which would be important to Moses’ readers since they were descendants of Abraham and Israelites.
According to Genesis 10:24 and 11:14, “Eber” was the son of “Shelah” and his name means, “region beyond or over (the river)” indicating the land of Canaan that was beyond the Jordan River.
The term “Hebrew” is from “Eber” which is anglicized Heber in Luke 3:35.
Abraham was called a “Hebrew” according to Genesis 14:13 indicating that he was a descendant of Eber.
The most prominent branch of the Shemites were the “sons of Eber,” since Israel were descendants of Eber.
Genesis 11:15, “and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.”
Genesis 11:16, “Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg (“division”).”
Peleg’s name means, “division” and was thus named because of the Tower of Babel where the Lord geographically “divided” the human race as a result of confusing the universal language and vocabulary they used into many different languages and dialects and this event is recorded in Genesis 11:1-9.
Genesis 11:17, “and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.”
If we compare Genesis 5 and 11, we can see the patriarchal longevity began to decline immediately after the Flood.
For example, Noah lived 950 years, 20 years more than Adam, but Shem lived only 600 years, Arpachshad 438 years, Shelah 433 years and Eber 464 years.
The reason for this decline in age was that the vast transparent water vapor canopy that was above the earth’s atmosphere in the antediluvian period dissipated during the Flood increasing both genetic and somatic mutations significantly.
This water vapor canopy protected the antediluvians from harmful radiation from outer space and contributed greatly to the longevity of the antediluvians.
Therefore, with this water vapor canopy gone, the post-diluvians did not live as long as the antediluvians.
Genesis 11:18, “Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu (reh-oo-“one exercising oversight as a shepherd or as a friend”).”
Archaeological evidence suggests that “Reu” settled in northern Mesopotamia since his name corresponds to later names of towns in the middle Euphrates Valley and we know the descendants of Peleg settled in this area.
Genesis 11:19, “and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.”
Genesis 11:20, “Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug (ser-oog-“branch”).”
“Serug” is an Akkadian place name located approximately forty-five miles west of Haran in Upper Mesopotamia.
Genesis 11:21, “and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.”
Genesis 11:22, “Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor (naw-khor-“snorting”).”
“Nahor” is also attested as a place name in Upper Mesopotamia.
Genesis 11:23, “and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.”
Genesis 11:24, “Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah (the-rakh-“delay”).”
“Terah” is also a place name on the Balikh River near Haran.
“Terah” was the father of Abraham and later settled in Haran where he died.
The name Terhah is associated in literature with the moon-god, and some thus think there exists a direct etymological link between his name and the teraphim, that is, small idolatrous images that were kept in most households.
The fact that “Terah” was an idolater is confirmed by Joshua 24:2.
Joshua 24:2, “Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, "From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods.”
Genesis 11:25, “and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.”
Genesis 11:26, “Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram (“exalted father”), Nahor and Haran (haw-rawn-“mountaineer”).”
Genesis 11:26 is a “segmented” genealogy meaning it displays depth and breadth forming a natural transition to the account of Terah’s descendants.
Terah waited seventy years before he became a father whereas his ancestors from Arpachshad to Nahor fathered their firstborn in their early thirties, thus, Terah has to wait another forty years.
The delay foreshadows Abraham who waited till he was a hundred years old before he had Isaac and Isaac waited till he was sixty before he had a child.
Also, the number seventy is significant since it represents a complete number revealing that God is sovereignly working out His purpose through Terah.
The name “Abram” means, “exalted father,” indicating that he had a noble lineage.
His name later changed by the Lord to “Abraham,” which means, “father of a multitude.”
Abram’s brother “Nahor” was named after their grandfather.
This is the only instance in all the genealogies of Genesis 5, 10 and 11 that we see someone being named after an ancestor indicating that they were a close knit family, which would indicate that it was difficult for Abram to leave his father when the Lord commanded him to (cf. Gen. 12:1; Heb. 11:8).
“Haran” was the youngest of his father’s sons according to Genesis 11:27 and was born at Ur of the Chaldees, and died there at a young age in the presence of his father according to Genesis 11:28 and was also the father of Lot according to Genesis 11:27.