View source for Shem

{{short description|Biblical figure, son of Noah}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Shem
| alt                = 
| image              = Shem02.jpg
| caption            = Portrait from ''[[Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum]]'' (1553) by [[Guillaume Rouillé]]
| birth_date         = 
| birth_place        = 
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| nationality        = 
| other_names        = 
| known_for          = 
| occupation         = 
| parents            = 
| family             = [[Japheth]] and [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] (brothers)
| father             = [[Noah]]
| children           = [[Elam, son of Shem|Elam]]<br />[[Ashur (Bible)|Ashur]]<br />[[Arphaxad]]<br />[[Lud, son of Shem|Lud]]<br />[[Aram, son of Shem|Aram]]
}}
[[File:Shem, Ham and Japheth.jpg|thumb|''Shem, [[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]] and [[Japheth]]'' by [[James Tissot]] {{circa}} 1900. Shem is on the left with a similar skin color to other Biblical figures painted by Tissot.]]

'''Shem''' ({{IPAc-en|ʃ|ɛ|m}}; {{langx|he|שֵׁם}} ''Šēm''; {{langx|ar|سَام|Sām}}){{Efn|{{langx|el|Σήμ}} ''Sḗm''; [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]]: ሴም, ''Sēm''}} is one of the [[sons of Noah]] in the [[Bible]] ([[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 5–11<ref>Genesis 5:32, 6:10; 7:13; 9:18, 23, 26–27; 10; 11:10</ref> and [[1 Chronicles]] 1:4).

The children of Shem are [[Elam (Hebrew Bible)|Elam]], [[Ashur (Bible)|Ashur]], [[Arpachshad|Arphaxad]], [[Lud, son of Shem|Lud]] and [[Aram, son of Shem|Aram]], in addition to unnamed daughters. [[Abraham]], the patriarch of [[Jews]], [[Christians]], and [[Muslims]], is one of the descendants of Arphaxad.

In [[Middle Ages|medieval]] and [[early modern Europe]]an tradition he was considered to be the ancestor of the [[peoples of Asia]],<ref name="Medieval 1983, pp. 375-90">{{cite journal |last=Reynolds |first=Susan |author-link=Susan Reynolds |date=October 1983 |title=Medieval ''Origines Gentium'' and the Community of the Realm |journal=[[History (journal)|History]] |location=[[Chichester|Chichester, West Sussex]] |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |volume=68 |issue=224 |pages=375–390 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.1983.tb02193.x |jstor=24417596}}</ref><ref name="Ivane Javakhishvili 1950, pp. 130">[[Ivane Javakhishvili|Javakhishvili, Ivane]] (1950), ''Historical-Ethnological problems of Georgia, the Caucasus and the Near East''. [[Tbilisi]], pp. 130–135 (in [[Georgian language|Georgian]]).</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kidd |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Kidd |year=2004 |orig-date=1999 |title=British Identities Before Nationalism: Ethnicity and Nationhood in the Atlantic World, 1600-1800 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I2EIlJISeUMC&pg=PA28 |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=0-521-62403-7 |pages=28–31}}</ref> and he gives his name to the title "[[Semites]]" formerly given to West Asian peoples.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/who-are-the-semites/|title=Who Are the Semites?}}</ref>

Islamic literature describes Shem as one of the believing sons of [[Noah]]. Some sources even identify Shem as a prophet in his own right and that he was the next prophet after his father.<ref>Scott B. Noegel and Brannon M. Wheeler (2002). "Shem". In the ''Historical Dictionary of Prophets in Islam and Judaism''. p. 301</ref> 
[[File:Josephustable 3.svg|thumb|Geographic identifications for the Sons of Noah ([[Flavius Josephus]], {{circa|100 AD}}); Shem's sons are in green.]]

==In the Bible==

===Genesis 10===
Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother [[Japheth]], but with sufficient ambiguity to have yielded different English translations. The verse is translated in the [[King James Version]] as: "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of [[Eber]], the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born."<ref name=Gen10-21-KJV>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|10:21 KJV|KJV}}</ref> However, the [[New American Standard Bible]] gives: "Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born".<ref name=Gen10-21-NASB>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|10:21 NASB|NASB}}</ref>

According to Genesis 10:22–31 ([[Jewish Publication Society of America Version|''Jewish Publication Society'' translation of 1917]]):
:''22'' The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram. ''23'' And the sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. ''24'' And Arpachshad begot Shelah; and Shelah begot Eber. ''25'' And 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. ''26'' And Joktan begot Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah; ''27'' and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah; ''28'' and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba; ''29'' and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. ''30'' And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest toward Sephar, unto the mountain of the east. ''31'' These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. ''32'' These 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.<ref name=Gen10-21-31-JPSAV>{{cite book|title=The Holy Scriptures |location=Philadelphia|publisher=The Jewish Publication Society of America|year=1917|chapter=Genesis 10:22–31 |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible_(Jewish_Publication_Society_1917)/Genesis}}</ref>

===Genesis 11===
Genesis 11:10 records that Shem was 100 years old at the birth of [[Arphaxad]], two years after the [[Biblical flood|flood]]; 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 Society'' translation 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. ''13'' And 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

==In later Jewish sources==
The 1st-century historian [[Flavius Josephus]] told a legendary, non-scriptural account that Shem's five sons were the progenitors of the nations of [[Elam]], [[Assyria]], [[Chaldea]], [[Lydia]], and [[Levant]]ine, respectively.<ref>Flavius Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'', trans. William Whiston (University of Cambridge, 1737): book 1, ch. 6, v. 4; online at https://penelope.uchicago.edu/josephus/ant-1.html</ref>

According to some Jewish traditions (e.g., [[B. Talmud]] [[Nedarim (tractate)|Nedarim]] 32b; [[Genesis Rabba]]h 46:7; Genesis Rabbah 56:10; [[Leviticus Rabbah]] 25:6; [[Numbers Rabbah]] 4:8.), Shem is believed to have been [[Melchizedek]], King of Salem, whom Abraham is recorded to have met after the [[Battle of Siddim|Battle of the Four Kings]].<ref>Rubin, Mordechai "Who Was Melchizadek King of Salem? online at https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1326593/jewish/Who-Was-Melchizedek-King-of-Salem.htm</ref>

A rabbinic document that surfaced in the 17th century, claiming to be the lost [[Sefer haYashar (midrash)|Book of Jasher]], provides some names not found in any other source.{{clarify|date=December 2019}}

=={{anchor|Sam}} In Islam==
===Sunni Islam===
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 whom [[God]] had [[Jesus]] resurrect as a sign to the [[Children of Israel]].<ref>''Stories of the Prophets'', Ibn Kathir, ''Story of Jesus''</ref> Early Islamic historians like [[Ibn Ishaq]] and [[Ibn Hisham]] always included Shem's name in the [[Family tree of Muhammad|genealogy of Muhammad]].<ref>Ibn Ishāq, ''Sīrat Rasūl Allāh'', tr. A. Guillaume (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 3</ref>

===Shi'a Islam===
In a [[Shiite]] tradition Imam [[Ja'far al-Sadiq]] has narrated to his companions that [[Jibrael]] visited [[Noah]] close 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..."<ref name="Kulayni">{{cite book |last1=al-Kulayni |first1=Muhammad ibn Ya‘qūb |title=Al-Kafi |date=2015 |publisher=Islamic Seminary Incorporated |location=NY |isbn=9780991430864 |edition=Volume 8 }}</ref>

==In Gnosticism==
The [[Paraphrase of Shem]], which contains ideas unique to other [[Gnosticism|Gnostic]] scriptures,<ref>{{cite book|author-first1=Marvin|author-last1=Meyer|author-link1=Marvin Meyer|author-first2=Willis|author-last2=Barnstone|author-link2=Willis Barnstone|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]]|chapter=The Paraphrase of Shem|quote=The document defies any obvious classification: though gnostic, it shares few features with other Sethian literature|date=June 30, 2009|isbn=9780834824140|page=438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LXf8jPbHA14C&q=Shem%20document}}</ref> states that Shem was the first being on Earth. Unlike traditional [[Sethianism|Sethian]] literature, [[Seth]] is 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 of [[Gnosis#Gnosticism|secret knowledge]] to humanity before the [[Archon (Gnosticism)|forces of darkness]] attempt to destroy the world with a [[Flood myth|great flood]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=[[Marvin Meyer]]|author2=[[Willis Barnstone]]|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=[[Shambhala Publications|Shambhala]]|chapter=The Paraphrase of Shem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1SEFmwEACAAJ|date=June 30, 2009|isbn=9781590306314 |access-date=2022-02-14}}</ref>

==In Mandaeism==
{{See also|Sam Ziwa}}
In [[Mandaeism|Mandaean]] scriptures such as the [[Ginza Rabba]] and [[Qulasta]], Shem is referred to as  ''Šum'' (or Shum; pronounced in [[Modern Mandaic]] as ''Šom'' (Shom)).<ref name="Häberl 2022">{{cite book | last=Häberl | first=Charles | url=https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781800856271 | title=The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire | location=Liverpool | publisher=Liverpool University Press | date=2022 | isbn=978-1-80085-627-1 | page=10| doi=10.3828/9781800856271 | doi-broken-date=12 July 2025 }}</ref>  Shem is sometimes considered to be the progenitor of the [[Mandaeans]] and a prophet.<ref name=BSN>{{cite web|author=Brikhah S. Nasoraia|title=Sacred Text and Esoteric Praxis in Sabian Mandaean Religion|year=2012|url=http://isamveri.org/pdfdrg/D201813/2012_I/2012_I_NASORAIAB.pdf |page=45}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel Stefana|title=The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran|publisher=Oxford At The Clarendon Press|year=1937 |page=186}}</ref>

==Family tree==
{{See also|Abraham's family tree}}

The following family tree contains information from the [[Hebrew Bible]], without data from any other sources.

{{tree chart/start|align=center}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | SHM | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | SHM=Shem}}
{{tree chart| |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | |}}
{{tree chart| ELA | | ASH | | ARP | | LUD | | | | | | ARA | | | | | | |ELA=[[Elam (Hebrew Bible)|Elam]]|ASH=[[Ashur (Bible)|Ashur]]|ARP=[[Arpachshad]]|LUD=[[Lud, son of Shem|Lud]]|ARA=[[Aram, son of Shem|Aram]] }}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |!| | | | |,|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|.| |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | SHE | | UZZ | | HUL | | GET | | MAS |SHE=[[Salah (biblical figure)|Salah]]|UZZ=[[Uz (son of Aram)|Uz]]|HUL=[[Hul]]|GET=[[Gether]]|MAS=[[Mash (biblical figure)|Mash]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | EBE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |EBE=[[Eber]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | PEL | | JOK | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |PEL=[[Peleg]]|JOK=[[Joktan]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | |!| | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | REU | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |REU=[[Reu]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | |!| | | JOK | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |JOK=[[Almodad]]<br>[[Sheleph]]<br>[[Hazarmaveth]]<br>[[Jerah]]<br>[[Hadoram]]<br>[[Uzal]]<br>[[Diklah]]<br>[[Obal]]<br>[[Abimael]]<br>[[Sheba]]<br>[[Ophir (biblical figure)|Ophir]]<br>[[Havilah (son of Joktan)|Havilah]]<br>[[Jobab]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | Srg | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Srg=[[Serug]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | NAH | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||NAH=[[Nahor, son of Serug|Nahor]]}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | |!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{tree chart| | | | | | | TER | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |TER=[[Terah]]}}
{{tree chart| |,|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}
{{tree chart| | Abm |~| Srh | | Nhr | | Hrn | | | | | | | | | | | | |Srh=[[Sarah]]|Abm='''[[Abraham]]'''|Hgr=[[Hagar]]|Nhr=[[Nahor, son of Terah|Nahor]]|Hrn=[[Haran]]}}
{{tree chart/end}}

==In popular culture==
[[File:T and O map Guntherus Ziner 1472.jpg|thumb|right|This [[T and O map]], from the first [[Printing press|printed]] version of [[Isidore of Seville|Isidore]]'s ''[[Etymologiae]]'' ([[Augsburg]] 1472), identifies the three known continents ([[Asia]], [[Europe]] and [[Africa]]) as respectively populated by descendants of ''Sem'' (Shem), ''Iafeth'' (Japheth) and ''Cham'' ([[Ham (son of Noah)|Ham]]).]]
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Year
!Film
!Actor
!Note
|-
|1928
|[[Noah's Ark (1928 film)|''Noah's Ark'']]
|[[Malcolm Waite]]
|Second role
|-
|1936
|[[The Green Pastures (film)|''The Green Pastures'']]
|[[Ray Martin (actor)|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)|''Noah's Ark'']] (miniseries)
|[[Mark Bazeley]]
|
|-
|2007
|[[Noah's Ark (2007 film)|''Noah's Ark'']]
|[[Oscar Cheda]]
|Animation film
|-
| rowspan="2" |2014 
| rowspan="2" |[[Noah (2014 film)|''Noah'']]
|[[Gavin Casalegno]] (juvenile)
| rowspan="2" |
|-
|[[Douglas Booth]] (adult)
|-
|2015
|[[The Ark (film)|''The Ark'']]
|[[Michael Fox (British actor)|Michael Fox]]
|
|}

==See also==
* [[Wives aboard the Ark]]

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
: {{cite book |last1=Kishik |first1=David |title=The Book of Shem: On Genesis before Abraham |year=2018 |publisher=Stanford University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NKmLtAEACAAJ|isbn=9781503606760}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Shem}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{CathEncy|wstitle=Sem (Shem)}}

{{Sons of Noah}}
{{Adam to David}}
{{Adam to Muhammad}}
{{Noah's Ark}}
{{Muslim saints}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shem}}
[[Category:Shem| ]]
[[Category:Bereshit (parashah)]]
[[Category:Bible genealogy]]
[[Category:Book of Genesis people]]
[[Category:Children of Noah]]
[[Category:Ancestors of the Ishmaelites]]
[[Category:Noach (parashah)]]
[[Category:Uthras]]
[[Category:Legendary progenitors]]