Genealogy from Shem to Abram in the Bible

The biblical genealogy from Shem to Abram traces the lineage through which God's covenant promises would be carried forward, ultimately leading to the Messiah ^{[9, 15]}. Shem, whose name means "name" or "renown," was one of Noah's three sons, often listed first, though he may not have been the eldest ^{[1, 2, 5, 8]}. He and his wife were among the eight people saved in the ark during the flood ^[2]. Noah prophesied Shem's preeminence over Canaan ^[2].

The book of Genesis provides a direct line of descent from Shem to Abram (later Abraham) ^{[11, 13, 16]}. This lineage is crucial for understanding the "city of God" after the flood, much as the line of Seth was before it ^[9]. The generations are as follows:

Shem was 100 years old when he fathered Arphaxad, two years after the flood ^[13]. Shem lived to be 600 years old ^[2].
Arphaxad ^[6].
Shelah ^[16].
Eber, from whom the "children of Eber" (Hebrews) are named ^{[3, 16]}.
Peleg ^[16].
Reu ^[16].
Serug ^[16].
Nahor ^[16].
Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran ^{[10, 12]}. Terah took Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai (Abram's wife) from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran, where he died ^{[4, 7]}.

Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldees, a branch of Shem's descendants ^{[4, 14]}. While Abram is often listed first among Terah's sons, some interpretations suggest this is due to his dignity and importance rather than his birth order, with Haran possibly being the eldest ^[12]. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran after his father's death ^[4]. This genealogy highlights the specific line through which the divine promises would be revealed and fulfilled ^[14].

Sources

Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Shem — (name), the eldest son of Noah. (Genesis 5:32) He was 98 years old, married, and childless at the time of the flood. After it, he, with his father, brothers, sisters-in-law and wife, received the blessing of God, (Genesis 9:1) and entered into the covenant. With the help of his brother Japheth, he covered the nakedness of their father and received the first blessing. (Genesis 9:25-27) He died at the age of 630 years. The portion of the earth occupied by the descendants of Shem, (Genesis 10:21,31) begins at its northwestern extremity with Lydia, and includes Syr”
Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Shem — A name; renown, the first mentioned of the sons of Noah (Gen. 5:32; 6:10). He was probably the eldest of Noah's sons. The words "brother of Japheth the elder" in Gen. 10:21 are more correctly rendered "the elder brother of Japheth," as in the Revised Version. Shem's name is generally mentioned first in the list of Noah's sons. He and his wife were saved in the ark (7:13). Noah foretold his preeminence over Canaan (9:23-27). He died at the age of six hundred years, having been for many years contemporary with Abraham, according to the usual chronology. The Isra”
Genesis “Children were also born to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth. -- Genesis 10:21”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Abraham — (father of a multitude) was the son of Terah, and founder of the great Hebrew nation. (B.C. 1996-1822.) His family, a branch of the descendants of Shem, was settled in Ur of the Chaldees, beyond the Euphrates, where Abraham was born. Terah had two other sons, Nahor and Haran. Haran died before his father in Ur of the Chaldees, leaving a son, Lot; and Terah, taking with him Abram, with Sarai his wife and his grandson Lot, emigrated to Haran in Mesopotamia, where he died. On the death of his father, Abram, then in the 75th year of his age, with Sarai and Lot, ”
Genesis “Genesis 10:1 (NASB) — Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.”
Genesis “Genesis 10:22 (BSB) — The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.”
Genesis “Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. -- Genesis 11:31”
Hitchcock's Bible Names “Hitchcock's Bible Names: Shem — name; renown”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 10.----OF THE GENEALOGY OF SHEM, IN WHOSE LINE THE CITY OF GOD IS PRESERVED TILL THE TIME OF ABRAHAM. (part 1): It is necessary, therefore, to preserve the series of generations descending from Shem, for the sake of exhibiting the city of God after the flood; as before the flood it was exhibited in the series of generations descending from Seth. And therefore does divine Scripture, after exhibiting the earthly city as Babylon or "Confusion," revert to the patriarch Shem. and recapitulate the generations from him to Abraham, speci”
Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 11:22: Now these are the generations of Terah,.... Or the genealogy of his posterity, which is a very short one; for it only gives an account of his three sons as before: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran: and of three grand children, Lot, Milcah, and Iscah, the children of Haran; and chiefly for the sake of Abram it is given, and indeed the above genealogy of Shem, which ends with him; and of whom and whose posterity the remaining part of this book of Genesis treats: and Haran begat Lot: of whom we have some further account in Gen 13:1.”
1 Chronicles (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Chronicles 1:24: 1:24-27 The summary of Shem’s descendants ends with Abraham (cp. Gen 11:10-26).”
Genesis (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Genesis 11:26: And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran - Haran was certainly the eldest son of Terah, and he appears to have been born when Terah was about seventy years of age, and his birth was followed in successive periods with those of Nahor his second, and Abram his youngest son. Many have been greatly puzzled with the account here, supposing because Abram is mentioned first, that therefore he was the eldest son of Terah: but he is only put first by way of dignity. An in stance of this we have already seen, Gen 5:32, where Noah is represented as ha”
Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 11:10: These are the generations of Shem,.... Or a genealogy of the posterity of Shem; not of all of them, only of those of the line which led to Abraham, by which might appear the true line in which the Messiah from Adam through Abraham sprung: Shem was one hundred years old, and begat Arphexad two years after the flood; by which it is pretty plain that he was younger than Japheth; See Gill on Gen 10:21 of Arphaxad his son; see Gill on Gen 10:22.”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 2: Augustine — City of God, Christian Doctrine — CHAP. 12.--OF THE ERA IN ABRAHAM'S LIFE FROM WHICH A NEW PERIOD IN THE HOLY SUCCESSION BEGINS.: Let us now survey the progress of the city of God from the era of the patriarch Abraham, from whose time it begins to be more conspicuous, and the divine promises which are now fulfilled in Christ are more fully revealed. We learn, then, from the intimations of holy Scripture, that Abraham was born in the country of the Chaldeans, a land belonging to the Assyrian empire. Now, even at that time impious superstitions were rife with the Chaldea”
Genesis (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Genesis 11:10: We have here a genealogy, not an endless genealogy, for here it ends in Abram, the friend of God, and leads further to Christ, the promised seed, who was the son of Abram, and from Abram the genealogy of Christ is reckoned (Mat 1:1, etc.); so that put ch. 5, ch. 11, and Mt. 1, together, and you have such an entire genealogy of Jesus Christ as cannot be produced, for aught I know, concerning any person in the world, out of his line, and at such a distance from the fountain-head. And, laying these three genealogies together, we shall find that twice ten, and thric”
Genesis (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 11:10: After describing the division of the one family which sprang from the three sons of Noah, into many nations scattered over the earth and speaking different languages, the narrative returns to Shem, and traces his descendants in a direct line to Terah the father of Abraham. The first five members of this pedigree have already been given in the genealogy of the Shemites; and in that case the object was to point out the connection in which all the descendants of Eber stood to one another. They are repeated here to show the direct descent of the Terahites through”

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