Skip to content

Person Old and New Testament

Peleg

Also known as Peleg =ESV, NIV; Phalec =KJV

Peleg, a descendant of Shem and ancestor of Abraham, during whose time the earth was divided. Mentioned in 8 verses across 3 books, first at Genesis 10:25.

Why it matters. Descendant of Shem, ancestor of Abraham

Last reviewed
2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team

About Peleg

Peleg was a descendant of Shem, the son of Noah, and an ancestor of Abraham, according to the genealogies in Gen.10.25, 11:16-19, and 1Ch.1.19,25. He was the son of Eber and the brother of Joktan. Peleg lived 239 years and became the father of Reu at the age of 30. The name Peleg means "division," and Gen.10.25 states that in his days the earth was divided. This event is not described in detail, but it may refer to the division of languages and peoples described in the Tower of Babel story (Gen.11.1-9). Peleg is also mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in Luk.3.35, emphasizing his role in the ancestral line of the Messiah.

Description from STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0, lightly reformatted. This is background reference material, not Scripture and not a FaithGraph editorial claim.

Connections

No reviewed connections yet.

Family

Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.

Parents
Eber
Siblings
Joktan
Children
Reu

Appears in Scripture

Named in 8 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.

Record type: Person. FaithGraph explanations on this page are editorial and are not Scripture.