Person Old and New Testament
Shem
Also known as Shem =ESV, NIV; Sem =KJV
Shem, one of Noah's three sons and the ancestor of the Semitic peoples. Mentioned in 17 verses across 3 books, first at Genesis 5:32.
Why it matters. Noah's son, ancestor of Semitic peoples
- Primary passages
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team
About Shem
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).
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.
- Children
- AramArpachshadAsshurElamLud
Appears in Scripture
Named in 17 verses across 3 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.