Atlas Biblica

    person

    Shem

    שֵׁםΣήμ

    Shem, one of Noah's three sons and the ancestor of the Semitic peoples.

    IllustrationGenesis 9Shem and Japheth conceal their father's nakedness without looking at him.
    verses
    17
    first named
    Genesis 5:32
    last named
    Luke 3:36
    period
    the Patriarchs
    tribe
    Early Patriarch

    Description

    Who was Shem?

    In the words of STEPBible TIPNR:

    Shem was one of the three sons of Noah, along with Ham and Japheth (Gen.5.32; 6.10). He and his wife were among the eight people who survived the great flood in the ark (Gen.7.13). After the flood, Shem and his brothers became the ancestors of the nations that repopulated the earth (Gen.9.18,19; 10.1).

    Shem was the ancestor of the Semitic peoples, including the Elamites, Assyrians, Arameans, and Hebrews (Gen.10.21-31). He was also the ancestor of Abraham and, therefore, of the Israelites (Gen.11.10-26; 1Ch.1.17-27). In the New Testament, Shem is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Luk.3.36.

    Shem and Japheth showed respect for their father by covering his nakedness when he became drunk (Gen.9.23). As a result, Noah blessed Shem, saying, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem" (Gen.9.26). This blessing implied that Shem's descendants would have a special relationship with God. Shem lived for 600 years (Gen.11.10-11).

    Relations

    Direct connections

    Every entity the graph places in a stated relation with this one, grouped by the kind of link. Each relation is authored once and its inverse derived, so both ends always agree. Rows marked “registry” come from the identity spine rather than from a verse, and a row marked “which bearer is the source’s decision” is one where the name could have meant more than one person. The last group is not a relation at all — it counts the events two entities stand in together.

    How the graph connects Shem 10 of 17 entities the graph connects to Shem, in 2 groups: kinship 4, events 6. Kinship, company and ground are stated relations; events counts the acts two entities stand in together and is not a relation. Each mark is sized by how many verses name that entity and labelled with the link and the count, so the grouping and the size are both readable without colour. Distance from the centre carries nothing.NoahChild of · 2 events · 47 versesJaphethSibling of · 9 events · 11 versesArpachshadAncestor of · Father of · 2 events · 10 versesHamSibling of · 4 events · 10 versesKinshipSeeing1 event · 255 versesSon1 event · 218 versesJavan1 event · 31 versesCanaan1 event · 9 versesShelah1 event · 8 versesCush1 event · 6 versesEventsShem

    The 10 best-attested of 17 are drawn. All 17 are listed below.

    Ancestor of

    Child of

    Father of

    Sibling of

    Stands in the same events as

    and 7 more, ordered by how many events they share.

    Places

    Where this happens

    A person is placed by the events they take part in, and an event has to clear three things to place them: it must say where it happened, that place must be one the gazetteer can put a coordinate on, and the verse must report it rather than foretell, command or ask it. Nothing anchored here clears all three. Where the text names a setting no gazetteer surveys — a vineyard, a palace, a plot of ground — it is left off rather than guessed at; where a place is named only in a prophecy, the map does not draw what was said to be coming as though it had happened; and a place reached only through a relation is not inherited, because standing beside somebody is not being somewhere.

    No verse Atlas has read as a report puts this person anywhere.

    Not read yet

    The pattern

    Where Shem is named

    Every book of the corpus in the order it is read, each as wide as the chapters it holds. A bar is the verses of that book which write the name, and the flat stretches are as much of the answer as the bars.

    Where the name is written across the corpus. 17 verses across 3 of 66 books; 63 write the name nowhere. OLD TESTAMENT · 39 BOOKSNEW TESTAMENT · 27 BOOKSGENESIS13 VERSES1 CHRONICLES3 VERSESLUKE1 VERSE28 books and 606 chapters with no mentionBOOK WIDTH = CHAPTER COUNT Where the name is written across the corpus. 17 verses across 3 of 66 books; 63 write the name nowhere. OT · 39 BOOKSNT · 27 BOOKSGENESIS13 VERSES1 CHRONICLES3 VERSESLUKE1 VERSE28 books with no mentionBOOK WIDTH = CHAPTER COUNT
    Shem is named in 17 verses, and the name is written 18 times in them — occurrences of the name in the Hebrew or Greek, counted in the versification of the Berean Standard Bible (v5.7). Every book of the corpus is drawn, its width its share of the 1,189 chapters. 63 of the 66 books never write it. A verse that tells of this subject without writing the name is not counted here.

    Read it

    Where to read it

    Every verse of the text carried here that names this entity — 17, across 3 books. The name is written 18 times in them.

    1. Genesis13 verses

      5:326:107:139:189:239:269:2710:110:2110:2210:3111:1011:11

    2. 1 Chronicles3 verses

      1:41:171:24

    3. Luke1 verse

      3:36

    Onward

    Where this page goes

    Not the direct relations above — these are one hop further out, ranked so that a rare shared connection outweighs a common one. Descriptions by STEPBible TIPNR.

    via ArpachshadCainanSon of Arphaxad, ancestor of Jesus (Luke's genealogy)via NaamahJabalSon of Lamech; father of nomadic herdsmen.via NaamahJubalFather of musicians who play the lyre and pipevia NaamahLamechDescendant of Cain; first polygamist mentioned in the Biblevia NoahLamechFather of Noah; lived 777 yearsvia ArpachshadShelahSon of Arpachshad and ancestor of Abrahamvia NaamahTubal-cainDescendant of Cain, first metalworkervia NaamahZillahWife of Lamech; mother of Tubal-Cain and Naamahvia HamCanaanSon of Ham; father of Sidon and Heth
    ElsewhereGenealogy of ShemEvery ancestor and every descendant the text names, both gospel lines where they differ.

    Where they appear

    Chapter by chapter

    Atlas's reading of each chapter this person appears in, in canonical order. One line per chapter, and each leads to the whole of it.

    Sources

    What this rests on