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First of Three Men Who Replenished the Earth: Part One, Shem

After Noah and his family had been in the ark for one year and the waters had abated, they came out to a world of no inhabitants except themselves. Noah had three sons with their wives who had survived the great flood with him and his wife. Although the Bible doesn’t specifically say which of the sons was oldest, it is commonly assumed that they were born in the order by which they are referred to, as Shem, Ham and Japheth.

“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” (Genesis 9:1KJV)

It is of strong interest to consider where all the races and ethnicities came into being, since all descended from these three couples. Shem’s descendants are followed most closely in Biblical history and from his progeny has developed the vast majority of peoples of the three largest religions on the earth. For this reason, scholars have accredited him as having been the highest in morality of the three sons. These descendants are the founders of Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

Shem was the father of Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The eldest, Elam settled in an area which once bore his name, the country of Elam and is now a part of south western Iran.

Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands.Its culture played a crucial role in the Gutian Empire, especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it, when the Elamite language remained among those in official use. The Elamite language is generally treated as an isolate language. (Elam: surveys of political history and archaeology, E. Carter and M. Stolper, U of Calif. Press, 1984, p. 4)

Scholars also state that Shem was the father of the Semitic races or Shemites.(Book of Jasher, chapter 7, vs. 16)

The original country named Elam, just east of Mesopotamia, was for years found to have residents who were not Shemites and the biblical record was denied by many. However, later excavations proved there had been a nation there called Elam and it’s residents were recognized as Shemites.

Also, an interesting note is that Mesopotamia was inhabited at one time by all three of Noah’s sons descendants.

From later written records, philologists deduce the presence of three linguistic groups - "Japhethites" (known only inferentially from a few place-names); Semites (speaking a language akin to Hebrew and Arabic); and the dominant Sumerians. ( V. G. Childe, What Happened in History, Pelican Books, 1948, p.81)

The scriptures tells us the following:

And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan (Genesis 10:24-25 KJV)

The term, “the earth was divided” has been given several varying meanings. According to the book of Jasher, which is a book questioned as to it’s authenticity by many scholars, gives this remark concerning Peleg:

"It was Peleg who first invented the hedge and the ditch, the wall and bulwark: and who by lot divided the lands among his brethren." (Book of Jasher 2:11)

Many scholars believe it referred to the laid out plan for the three sons of Noah, by Noah himself via inspiration.

It is virtually certain that Abraham and Arab nations as well as those decendants of Jacob were from Shem. Thus came the religion of Islam via Ishmael and Judaism via Isaac. And also, that would place Christianity from Isaac also since it was founded by Jesus, a Jew.

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