References (11)
And Noah was 500 years old.
And Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
[For the first time, the Hebr. word ben appears before the age. The phrase literally becomes: 'Noah, a son of 500 years', see also ; ; . Noah's name is also repeated here, which is unique; in previous generations, "he" is used. Here, Noah's formula is interrupted. The end is found only at the end of Noah's continued story in .]
Noah became the father of three sons:
Shem,
Cham (Ham), and
Japheth.
On this very day (literally: on the leg/power of the day) [in the middle of the day, completely open for all to see], Noah (Hebr. Noach) and his [three] sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife and his three daughters-in-law had entered the ark.
[They had begun boarding seven days earlier, and now on the seventh day, when the waters began to rise, they went on board. Both animals and humans are mentioned in pairs (man/woman and male/female, see ; ; ). Polygamy existed in society, but is described in negative terms, see Lamech in .]
Noah's sons who left the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan [who was born later].
Shem and Japheth took a cloth and put it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered their father's nakedness. Both their faces were turned away so that they did not see their father's nakedness.
[What had Ham done? Seeing someone's nakedness is a Hebrew euphemism for a sexual act, see . Since says that Ham "did" something to Noah, it can be interpreted that he not only saw, but also humiliated his father in some way. Some Jewish commentators note that there is no mention of Noah having any more children, so perhaps Ham castrated him. Others have suggested a homosexual act, but different words are used in . The punishment is also very severe, which may indicate that he did not just see. At the same time, nudity is something shameful in Hebrew culture, see ; . Deliberately exposing one's parents was a serious offense, see . What suggests that he "only" saw is that the same word "see" is used about the brothers Shem and Japheth, who did not see and physically covered their father. Verses 22-23 are structured as a chiasm, where the first phrase is "and saw ... his father's nakedness" and it ends with the brothers "and did not see their father's nakedness."]
May God (Elohim) enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in Shem's tents, and let Canaan be their servant."
[Here comes a new "toledot unit" (the fifth of twelve in Gen.). The Hebrew word is used eleven times in Gen., see ; ; ; ; , ; , ; , ; . The chapter provides a genealogy of all the peoples of the earth. The division is not only genealogical but also geographical, linguistic, and historical, see , , .]
This is the continued story of Noah's (Hebr. Noach) sons (their genealogy/family tree – Hebr. ),
Shem,
Ham,
and Japheth.
Sons were born to them [Noah's three sons] after the flood.
[Noah's three sons were:
Japheth – probably the eldest son, see . He was born when Noah was 500 years old, see . Shem (Sem) – probably the middle son. He was 100 years old two years after the flood, see . Since the flood came when Noah was 600 years old, he must have been born when Noah was 502 years old, and is thus two years younger than Japheth. The reason he is mentioned first in all lists, here in and in ; ; ; , is that his family tree leads to Abraham and ultimately to the Messiah, see ! Ham – the youngest son, see . How much younger he is is not stated, but he was born before the flood. In , the order was Shem, Ham, and Japheth. When their genealogy is described below in , the order is reversed with Japheth first (), then Ham (), and finally Shem (). This is a typical chiastic pattern in several parts, which means that the story of the Tower of Babel, see , is framed by Shem's family tree, which continues in .]
[A total of 14 descendants of Japheth are mentioned. The sons of Japheth are mainly the peoples of the north and west, in Asia Minor and on the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. This corresponds to today's Europe and also parts of the northern Middle East.]
The sons of Japheth were:
Gomer [the Cimmerians on the Black Sea; present-day Turkey] and
Magog [around the Black Sea, present-day Georgia] and
Madai [ancestor of the Medes; southwest of the Caspian Sea; the area around present-day Tehran in Iran] and
Javan [the Ionians, the Greeks; Greece] and
Tubal (Hebr. Toval) [people in eastern Asia Minor; present-day central Turkey] and
Meshech [people in eastern Asia Minor] and
Tiras [present-day Italy].
[A total of 26 descendants of Shem are mentioned. The sons of Shem ("Semites") include the Hebrews (descendants of Eber, see ), the Arameans, the Assyrians, and others. The areas they move to are mainly to the east and correspond to Mesopotamia and Arabia. The introduction to Shem is different from that of his brothers Japheth and Ham ( and 6), where it simply says "the sons of Japheth" and "the sons of Ham." Here, this part of the family tree is emphasized by the longer wording "to Shem were born children." It is through Shem, Arppacheshad, Shelach, Eber, and Peleg that Abraham will be born. Already in the introduction, Eber is emphasized as the fourth generation from Noah, the lineage that will lead to Abraham and the Messiah.]
Children were also born to Shem. Shem was the ancestor of all Eber's children [four generations ahead, see , the word means "to cross over" and has given rise to the word "Hebrew"] and Japheth's older brother.
[Literally, the Hebrew sentence ends with "brother Japheth older". It is possible to interpret the Hebrew adjective ha´gadol to mean "Japheth was the older brother". This is how the Greek translation Septuagint and many Jewish rabbis interpret it. Others interpret the phrase as "Japheth's older brother" and that it is Shem who is Japheth's older brother. A similar formulation is found in , where Kenaz is Caleb's younger brother. The Syriac, Latin, and many modern translations choose this interpretation. The Core Bible leans toward and , where it appears that Japheth is the eldest; see also .]
Noah (Hebr. Noach) [his sons were] –
Shem,
Ham, and
Japheth.
[A total of 14 descendants of Japheth are mentioned. The sons of Japheth are mainly the peoples of the north and west, in Asia Minor and on the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. This corresponds to today's Europe and also parts of the northern Middle East.]
The sons of Japheth were:
Gomer [the Cimmerians on the Black Sea; present-day Turkey] and
Magog [around the Black Sea, present-day Georgia] and Madai [ancestor of the Medes; southwest of the Caspian Sea; the area around present-day Tehran in Iran] and
Javan [the Ionians, the Greeks; Greece] and
Tubal (Hebr. Toval) [people in eastern Asia Minor; present-day central Turkey] and
Meshech [people in eastern Asia Minor] and
Tiras [present-day Italy].
