Shem the father of Eber’s sons, and Peleg
Says וּלְשֵׁם יֻלַּד גַּם־הוּא (“and to Shem also, to him, was born”) uses a passive form, one the lexicon cites for 10:21 and 25. Shem is אֲבִי כָּל־בְּנֵי־עֵבֶר (’avi kol-bene-‘ever, “father of all the sons of Eber”); BSB has “forefather.” Then comes אֲחִי יֶפֶת הַגָּדוֹל (’akhi yefet haggadol). In 10:25 שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פֶּלֶג (“the name of the one was Peleg”) is explained by כִּי בְיָמָיו נִפְלְגָה הָאָרֶץ (ki veyamav nifleggah ha’arets, “for in his days the earth was divided”), a passive verb that sounds like the name. Ha’arets can mean the earth, a land, or its people.
Implies Shem is named as father of “all the sons of Eber” before any of his sons, and Eber’s line is followed in two branches. This suggests a selective list that leads to Shem, Eber and, in chapter 11, Abram.
Uncertain The Hebrew can mean “the older brother of Japheth” (BSB) or “the brother of Japheth the elder”; the Greek takes “the elder” with Japheth. For Peleg, the division may be of languages at Babel, a political or ethnic division, the digging of canals (Akkadian palgu, “canal”), or the splitting of continents. The Babel view fits the chapter’s nearness to 11:1–9 but uses a different verb. The canal view rests on one word. The continental view takes ha’arets as the physical earth and the division as of land masses; its objection is that the list around the verse is about peoples and their lands. No lean is taken here.
Claims
- Saysוּלְשֵׁם יֻלַּד גַּם־הוּא (“and to Shem also, to him, was born”) uses a passive form, one the lexicon cites for 10:21 and 25. Shem is אֲבִי כָּל־בְּנֵי־עֵבֶר (’avi kol-bene-‘ever, “father of all the sons of Eber”); BSB has “forefather.” Then comes אֲחִי יֶפֶת הַגָּדוֹל (’akhi yefet haggadol). In 10:25 שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פֶּלֶג (“the name of the one was Peleg”) is explained by כִּי בְיָמָיו נִפְלְגָה הָאָרֶץ (ki veyamav nifleggah ha’arets, “for in his days the earth was divided”), a passive verb that sounds like the name. Ha’arets can mean the earth, a land, or its people.
- ImpliesShem is named as father of “all the sons of Eber” before any of his sons, and Eber’s line is followed in two branches. This suggests a selective list that leads to Shem, Eber and, in chapter 11, Abram.
- UncertainThe Hebrew can mean “the older brother of Japheth” (BSB) or “the brother of Japheth the elder”; the Greek takes “the elder” with Japheth. For Peleg, the division may be of languages at Babel, a political or ethnic division, the digging of canals (Akkadian palgu, “canal”), or the splitting of continents. The Babel view fits the chapter’s nearness to 11:1–9 but uses a different verb. The canal view rests on one word. The continental view takes ha’arets as the physical earth and the division as of land masses; its objection is that the list around the verse is about peoples and their lands. No lean is taken here.
Citations
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 10:21–25 (WLC/OSHB; morph HVPp3ms HTd/Aamsa HVNp3fs)
- BSB public domain Gen 10:21, 25 (BSB)
- BDB CC BY 4.0 BDB 1906, p. 408 (leaf n431, archive.org hebrewenglishlex00browuoft), s.v. H3205 “bear, bring forth, beget”; checked against the printed page (scan)
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 10:21, text and apparatus. LXX: Swete, vol. 1 (1901), p. 16 (leaf n47). Checked against the printed page (scan).
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-11
Open in Reader All notes on this passage