Genesis 10:21

_UNTO SHEM ALSO, THE FATHER OF ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER, THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH THE ELDER, EVEN TO HIM WERE_ _ UNTO SHEM ALSO, THE FATHER OF ALL THE CHILDREN OF EBER, THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH THE ELDER, EVEN TO HIM WERE CHILDREN BORN._ Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber. "Father" must be taken here in a general sense for "ancestor;" and "all the children of Eber," viewed literally, would include the descendants of Joktan as well as of Peleg; nay, all the posterity of Peleg, also Ishmael and Esau, as well as the Arabs and Edomites; Jacob and the Israelites. It is better not to consider Eber here as a patronymic, but a preposition, 'beyond,' on 'the other side' - i:e., of the Euphrates. His descendants pushed their wanderings to the banks of the Euphrates, but no further. Shem was the father of all these who were established on the other side of the river. This view sust...

21._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. (320) 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 cau...

15-32 The posterity of Canaan were numerous, rich, and pleasantly seated; yet Canaan was under a Divine curse, and not a curse causeless. Those that are under the curse of God, may, perhaps, thrive and prosper in this world; for we cannot know love or hatred, the blessing or the curse, by what is before us, but by what is within us. The curse of God always works really, and always terribly. Perhaps it is a secret curse, a curse to the soul, and does not work so that others can see it; or a slow curse, and does not work soon; but sinners are reserved by it for a day of wrath Canaan here has a better land than either Shem or Japheth, and yet they have a better lot, for they inherit the blessing. Abram and his seed, God's covenant people, descended from Eber, and from him were called Hebrews. How much better it is to be like Eber, the father of a family of saints and honest men, than the f...

Verse Genesis 10:21. _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....

- 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 _‛_

PART II. THE POST-DILUVIAN AGE OF THE WORLD. CH. 10:1-11:26. FROM THE DELUGE TO THE CALL OF ABRAM. § 5. THE GENERATIONS or THE SONS OF NOAH (CH. 10:1-11:9). I. THE _historical credibility _of the present section has been challenged. 1. On account of a fancied resemblance to the ethnographic mythologies of Greece, the genealogical table of the nations has been relegated to the category of fictitious invention. It has been assigned by many critics to a post-Mosaic decried, to the days of Joshua (Delitzsch), to the age of Hebrew intercourse with the Phenician Canaanites (Knobel), to the era of the exile ...

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...

V. THE GENERATIONS OF THE SONS OF NOAH CHAPTER 10 Shem, Ham, and Japheth and Their Seed _ 1. The sons of Japheth (Genesis 10:2)_ 2. The sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6) 3. The sons of Shem (Genesis 10:21) Here we have the beginning of the nations. God knows them and keeps track of the nations of the earth. The order of the sons of Noah is here changed. Japheth comes first. Ham's place is unchanged. Shem comes last. This order is given in view of Noah's prophecy. Among the descendants of Ham we find Nimrod, a mighty hunter. His name means “Let us rebel.” Here also we find Babel mentioned for the first time. Babylon has for its founder “a mighty one in the earth-a mighty hunter.” Mentioned

GENESIS 10. THE TABLE OF NATIONS. From P and J. To P we may assign Genesis 10:1; Genesis 10:20; Genesis 10:31 f. The rest belongs to J, for the most part to its secondary stratum, with some elements from R. The genealogy, as was customary among the Semites, expresses national rather than individual relationships. The true character of the lists may be seen quite clearly from many of the names, which are names of countries (_e.g._ Cush, Mizraim, Ophir), or cities (_e.g._ Tarshish, Zidon), or peoples (_e.g._ Ludim). It is an attempt to explain the origin of the various nations, before the author proceeds to the special ancestry of Israel. It is of great importance for the Hebrew view of other peoples, alike

SHEM: comes last (ace. to the Structure, which is an Introversion) because his "Generations" occupy the rest of the book. Hence when mentioned with the other two, Shem the youngest comes first. See note Genesis 5:32; Genesis 9:24; Genesis 10:1. THE ELDER, See Genesis 5:32. Shem (N.T. Sem) was the seed-line that Christ would come through (Luke 3:36)....