Who is…
Shem

also known as: Sem (thus his descendants are known as Semites or Semitic)

Hebrew: שֵׁם —transliteration: Shem —meaning: name; renown

Introduction

The first mentioned of this son of Noah is in Genesis 5:32 and 6:10. He was probably the eldest of Noah’s sons.

The words “brother of Japheth the elder” in Genesis 10:21 KJV (Genesis 10:21 NKJV) are perhaps more correctly rendered “the elder brother of Japheth,” as in the New American Standard Bible (Gen. 10:21 NASB, Gen. 10:21 LSB, and Gen. 10:21 ESV) and the Revised King James Version. Shem’s name is generally mentioned first in the list of Noah’s sons.

Life and death

Shem and his wife were saved from Earth’s greatest cataclsym in the ark of safety that he helped build (Gen. 7:1; 7, 13; 8:16-18; 9:18).

His father Noah foretold his preeminence over Canaan (9:23-27).

But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away [literally “backward”], so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants [i.e., The lowest of servants]
He shall be to his brothers.”

He also said,

“Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Shem;
And may Canaan be his [or their] servant.
May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he live in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his [or their] servant.” —Gen. 9:23-27 NASB

Shem died at the age of 600 years, having been for many years contemporary with Abraham, according to the usual chronology.

Shem’s life is remarkable for having spanned the prediluvian world of Adam and the resulting worldwide violence and depravity. He experienced the worldwide Flood judgment, having helped build the great Ark at God’s command (a huge barge filled with survival necessities and breeding pairs of animals), and then experienced post-diluvian world and the repopulation of Earth.

Shem’s Relatives

Father: Noah
Mother: not named
Who was Mrs. Noah? What was she like? Learn about this rarely mentioned, but important woman.
Brothers: Ham, Japheth
Wife: not named
Patriarchal Sons: Aram, Arpakshad (Arpachshad, Arphaxad), Asshur, Elam, Lud
Daughters: not named or numbered
Descendants: Semites/Semitics

Semites (Semitic people)

The descendants of Noah’s son Shem are called Semites. Hundreds of millions of people alive today are his offspring.

Not all Shem's descendants are Abraham’s: Semitic peoples include groups like Assyrians, Babylonians, Arameans, and Elamites (from Shem's other lines), who predate or are parallel to Abraham.

All of Abraham’s named sons and their descendants are Semitic. However, only a portion of them are Jews (children of Israel).

One of Shem’s early descendants was a man named Heber (aka Eber) for whom the Hebrews and the Hebrew language are named.

The Israelite nation sprang from Heber (Genesis 11:10-26; 1 Chronicles 1:24-27).

Semites or Semitic people is the term for descendants of Shem (Sem), especially those who speak (or spoke) the Semitic languages, such as Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac (mostly Syrians), Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya, Tigre, and Maltese. These languages all share some words and roots. Altogether, Semitic languages are spoken today by about 330 million people.