Genesis 9:18

 Genesis 9:18

And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.

a. NLT: The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: And the sons of Noah who are going out of the ark are Shem, and Ham, and Japheth; and Ham is father of Canaan. [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Classic Amplified: The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan [born later]. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: The sons of Noah who came out of the Ark were Shem, Ham, and Japeth, Ham being the father of Canaan. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

1. “And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth…”

a. [And the] sons [Strong: 1121 ben bane from 1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like 1, 251, etc.)):--+ afflicted, age, (Ahoh-) (Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-)ite, (anoint-)ed one, appointed to, (+) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-)ian, one born, bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, + kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+) people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, + spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous one, + valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.]

b. [of] Noah [Strong: 5146 Noach no'-akh the same as 5118; rest; Noach, the patriarch of the flood:--Noah.]

c. [that] went forth] [Strong: 3318 yatsa' yaw-tsaw' a primitive root; to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.:--X after, appear, X assuredly, bear out, X begotten, break out, bring forth (out, up), carry out, come (abroad, out, thereat, without), + be condemned, depart(-ing, -ure), draw forth, in the end, escape, exact, fail, fall (out), fetch forth (out), get away (forth, hence, out), (able to, cause to, let) go abroad (forth, on, out), going out, grow, have forth (out), issue out, lay (lie) out, lead out, pluck out, proceed, pull out, put away, be risen, X scarce, send with commandment, shoot forth, spread, spring out, stand out, X still, X surely, take forth (out), at any time, X to (and fro), utter.]

d. of [Strong: 4480 min min or minniy {min-nee'}; or minney (constructive plural) {min-nay'}; (Isaiah 30:11); for 4482; properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses (as follows):--above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, X neither, X nor, (out) of, over, since, X then, through, X whether, with.]

e. [the] ark [Strong: 8392 tebah tay-baw' perhaps of foreign derivation; a box:--ark.]

f. were [Strong: 1961 hayah haw-yaw a primitive root (Compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.]

g. Shem [Strong: 8035 Shem shame the same as 8034; name; Shem, a son of Noah (often includ. his posterity):--Sem, Shem.]

h. [and] Ham [Strong: 2526 Cham khawm the same as 2525; hot (from the tropical habitat); Cham, a son of Noah; also (as a patronymic) his descendants or their country:--Ham.]

i. [and] Japheth [Strong: 3315 Yepheth yeh'-feth from 6601; expansion; Jepheth, a son of Noah; also his posterity:--Japheth.]

2. “...and Ham is the father of Canaan.”

a. [and] Ham [Strong: 2526 Cham khawm the same as 2525; hot (from the tropical habitat); Cham, a son of Noah; also (as a patronymic) his descendants or their country:--Ham.]

b. [Strong:  1931 huw' hoo of which the feminine (beyond the Pentateuch) is hiyw {he}; a primitive word, the third person pronoun singular, he (she or it); only expressed when emphatic or without a verb; also (intensively) self, or (especially with the article) the same; sometimes (as demonstrative) this or that; occasionally (instead of copula) as or are:--he, as for her, him(-self), it, the same, she (herself), such, that (...it), these, they, this, those, which (is), who.]

[is the] father [Strong: 1 'ab awb a primitive word; father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application):--chief, (fore-)father(-less), X patrimony, principal.]

c. [of] Canaan [Strong: 3667 Kna`an ken-ah'-an from 3665; humiliated; Kenaan, a son a Ham; also the country inhabited by him:--Canaan, merchant, traffick.]

1). All of the sons of Noah were born before the flood. All of them were close to 100 years old.

a). Genesis 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

b). Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

2). Shem is the only son whose age at death is given, the others have to be compared with Shen’s lineage to get any idea of who live when during that time. 

3). Abraham was 75 when his father Terah died in Haran: Genesis 12:4, which means Terah was 130 when Abram was born not 70 as Genesis 11:26 implies. Doing the math reveals Abraham was born 352 years after the flood. This shows some intriguing revelations. Shem at the birth of Abram, would be 450 years old and he would live another 150 years. When Shem dies Abraham was 150 years old.  Abraham lived another 25 years before he died. Shem was 550 years old when Isaac was born, Genesis 21:5; and he died 10 years before Jacob and Esau was born, Genesis 25:26. Shem was 590 years old when Isaac and Rebekah were married. He seems to fall off the Biblical landscape and yet he lived 500 more years after the flood. It is sobering to think that Shem survived the flood and did not have a prominent effect in the after flood culture. Even though he lived for another 502 years after the flood, it is Abraham that has the prominence, not Shem. Using the Biblical timeline and the length of lives the post flood patriarchs lived we have the following information.

 

a). Shem, Noah’s son who lived for 98 years before the flood, lived 502 years after the flood. Abraham was 150 years old when Shem died.

 

b). Arphaxad, Shem’s son, born two years after the flood lived a total of 438 years and died 440 years after the flood. Abraham was 88 when Arphaxad died.

 

c). Salah, Shem’s grandson and Arphaxad’s son, was born 37 years after the flood. He lived a total of 433 years and died 470 years after the flood. Abram was 118 years old when Salah died.

 

4).  According to the Biblical chronology, Shem’s grandson, Salah lived until Abraham was 118 years old. Because the Bible does not give the age breakdown of the descendants of Japheth and Ham like it does with Shem’s we have to compare them. Using those comparisons, if Shem’s grandson Salah was contemporary with Abraham for 118 years it is probable that Ham’s grandson, Nimrod was also contemporary with Abraham. Jewish tradition teaches they were not only contemporaries, but because of Abraham’s faith, they were enemies. In the battle with the four Mesopotamian kings in Genesis 14, in which Abraham “slaughtered” all four. Jewish tradition teaches that Amraphel was none other than Nimrod, and Chedolaomer was none other than Elam, the son of Shem!