A large hole in my research
"Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber [Shem's Great-grandson]...children were born." Genesis 10:21 (NASB)
Or, put another way:
Also to Name (reputation, memorial), the father of all the children of The Region Beyond...children were born."
Aside from Eber's Grandfather Arphacshad, the Bible mentions four other sons (descendant tribes and kingdoms) of Shem, along with five grandsons, two great grandsons, and 14 great great grandsons.
As much as I'd like to display at least some of the 23 tribes of Shem on the Google Earth Chart, that's a research project all by itself since I never really delved into those branches of the Seed's family tree, and very few of the sources I know of agree with each other.
Maybe as we go along, I can start making educated guesses about some of them, so here's my safest bet:
I already showed you the chart of the sons of Adam down to Noah. Here's another one that covers the generations from Noah to Jacob.
Don't feel like you have to understand every piece of information before you move on, but if you can compare the next two sentences to the chart, and answer two simple questions, you're in good shape to let the story explain why I'm including it:
Noah was born in the year 1056 AA (Age of Adam); Shem was born 500 years later, and lived to be 600.
Arphacshad was born in the year 1658 AA or 2 PD (Post Diluvium (after the flood)).
AA = Age of Adam PD = Post Diluvium (after the flood)
Now for the questions:
Enough Teacher Talk, Lets tell a story:
Ur of the Chaldeans, the ancestral home of Noah, was situated on the southwest edge of Shinar (Sumer). There's no way to tell if Ur was part of the kingdom Nimrod started there, but it's hard to imagine that there was no interaction between the two.
The Sumerians were farmers, and looked down on shepherds, but they had to have meat, animal skins, and wine. Ur, the Chaldeans, had all those things.
I don't know about you, but if I wanted to expand my kingdom to the north, I couldn't think of better neighbors to have in the south than my own cousins, as long as they fueled my ambition.
The dangerous thing about ambition is that it's never satisfied. Look how far north the Sumerians extended themselves. The first rule of empire being grow or die, sooner or later it becomes necessary to turn to your neighbors for additional lebensraum, elbow room.
It took about 300 years from the time the ark landed for the conditions between Shinar and Ur to reach the point of mutual paranoia, and another forty years for paranoia to mature into aggression and rebellion.
Peleg (Division), a second generation Hebrew, joined or maybe even mounted the insurgency that swallowed Babel and scattered the peoples. It's just as possible that the infant race of Hebrews didn't want any part of it, but got caught up in it. Either way, the apparent fallout would be the same.
Peleg only lived for 239 years, making him the first son of Noah to die (Shem lived long enough to see the birth of Jacob). It was the year 340 PD.
Peleg wasn't the only casualty of the events surrounding Babel's fall. Peleg's great-grandson, Nahor died a year later, at the tender age of 148, and conditions must have been too hot for his son, Terah who had lost his own son, Haran.
Terah gathered what was left of his family and beat feet to points north, to a place called, coincidentally or not, Haran, in order to prepare another of his sons to turn south and plant the Seed in the land of Canaan.
Next time: The Sons of Terah Through Nahor
Peace Y'all
*All Hebrews were Semitic, but not all Semites were Hebrew.
"Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber [Shem's Great-grandson]...children were born." Genesis 10:21 (NASB)
Or, put another way:
Also to Name (reputation, memorial), the father of all the children of The Region Beyond...children were born."
Aside from Eber's Grandfather Arphacshad, the Bible mentions four other sons (descendant tribes and kingdoms) of Shem, along with five grandsons, two great grandsons, and 14 great great grandsons.
As much as I'd like to display at least some of the 23 tribes of Shem on the Google Earth Chart, that's a research project all by itself since I never really delved into those branches of the Seed's family tree, and very few of the sources I know of agree with each other.
Maybe as we go along, I can start making educated guesses about some of them, so here's my safest bet:
 |
| From what I can gather, after the confusion of Babel the tribes of Shem lived between Cush and Canaan, and on the Sinai Pennisula. |
***
Teacher Talk: Working with TablesI already showed you the chart of the sons of Adam down to Noah. Here's another one that covers the generations from Noah to Jacob.
Don't feel like you have to understand every piece of information before you move on, but if you can compare the next two sentences to the chart, and answer two simple questions, you're in good shape to let the story explain why I'm including it:
Noah was born in the year 1056 AA (Age of Adam); Shem was born 500 years later, and lived to be 600.
Arphacshad was born in the year 1658 AA or 2 PD (Post Diluvium (after the flood)).
Name
|
Yr Born
|
Yr Died
|
Age
|
Noah
|
1056 AA
|
2006AA/350 PD
|
950
|
Shem
|
1556
|
2156 500
|
600
|
Arphacshad
|
1658 AA / 2 PD
|
2096 440
|
438
|
Shelah
|
1693 37
|
2126 470
|
433
|
Eber
|
1723 67
|
2187 531
|
464
|
Peleg
|
1757 101
|
1996 340
|
239
|
Reu
|
1787 131
|
2026 370
|
239
|
Serug
|
1819 163
|
2049 393
|
230
|
Nahor
|
1849 193
|
1997 341
|
148
|
Terah
|
1878 222
|
2083 427
|
205
|
Abram
|
1953 297
|
2128 472
|
175
|
Ishmael
|
2039 382
|
no record
|
???
|
Isaac
|
2053 397
|
2233 577
|
180
|
Jacob
|
2113 457
|
2260 604
|
147
|
Now for the questions:
- What year AA did the flood hit? [ 1656 ]
- How old was Shem at the time? [ 98 ]
Enough Teacher Talk, Lets tell a story:
Ur of the Chaldeans, the ancestral home of Noah, was situated on the southwest edge of Shinar (Sumer). There's no way to tell if Ur was part of the kingdom Nimrod started there, but it's hard to imagine that there was no interaction between the two.
The Sumerians were farmers, and looked down on shepherds, but they had to have meat, animal skins, and wine. Ur, the Chaldeans, had all those things.
I don't know about you, but if I wanted to expand my kingdom to the north, I couldn't think of better neighbors to have in the south than my own cousins, as long as they fueled my ambition.
The dangerous thing about ambition is that it's never satisfied. Look how far north the Sumerians extended themselves. The first rule of empire being grow or die, sooner or later it becomes necessary to turn to your neighbors for additional lebensraum, elbow room.
 |
| The Four Horsemen ride again...or still. |
It took about 300 years from the time the ark landed for the conditions between Shinar and Ur to reach the point of mutual paranoia, and another forty years for paranoia to mature into aggression and rebellion.
"Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided..." Gen 10:25 (NASB)Eber was the father of the Hebrews.*
Peleg (Division), a second generation Hebrew, joined or maybe even mounted the insurgency that swallowed Babel and scattered the peoples. It's just as possible that the infant race of Hebrews didn't want any part of it, but got caught up in it. Either way, the apparent fallout would be the same.
"Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu; and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters." Gen 11:18-19 (NASB)
Peleg only lived for 239 years, making him the first son of Noah to die (Shem lived long enough to see the birth of Jacob). It was the year 340 PD.
Peleg wasn't the only casualty of the events surrounding Babel's fall. Peleg's great-grandson, Nahor died a year later, at the tender age of 148, and conditions must have been too hot for his son, Terah who had lost his own son, Haran.
"Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans."
Gen 10:28 (NASB)
Terah gathered what was left of his family and beat feet to points north, to a place called, coincidentally or not, Haran, in order to prepare another of his sons to turn south and plant the Seed in the land of Canaan.
Next time: The Sons of Terah Through Nahor
Peace Y'all
*All Hebrews were Semitic, but not all Semites were Hebrew.
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