Genesis 11:10

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Genesis 11:10 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood.
Genesis 11:10 — American Standard Version

Context — Genesis 11

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
10These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood.

What do historical commentaries say?

John Gill's Exposition
John Gill (1697–1771) · Exposition of the Old and New Testament · 18th-century historical commentary
“These are the generations of Shem, etc.] 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 “<011021>Genesis 10:21”) of Arphaxad his son, (see Gill on “<011022>Genesis 10:22”).”
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Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“- Section IX - The Line to Abram - XXXV. The Line of Abram 18. רעוּ re‛û, Re‘u, “friend;” verb: “feed, delight in, enjoy.” 20. שׂרוּג śerûg, Serug, “vine-shoot.” 22. נחור nāchôr, Nachor, “snorting.” 24. תרה terach, Terach, “delay?” Aramaic. 26. אברם 'abrām, Abram, “high father.” הרן hārān Haran, “mountaineer.” The usual phrase, “These are the generations,” marks the beginning of the fifth document. Accordingly, we now enter upon a new phase of human development. The nations have gradually departed from the living God. They have not, however, stopped at this negative stage of ungodliness. They have fallen into polytheism and idolatry. And the knowledge of the one true God, the Maker,…”
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Tyndale Open Study Notes
Tyndale House Publishers · Tyndale Open Study Notes · Modern study notes
“11:10 This account of Shem’s family resumes the line of Shem from 10:21-32, now with special focus on the line leading to Abram. Only Abram and Israel are heirs to Shem’s God (see 9:26-27; Deut 32:8-9). The Babel story vividly repudiates the culture that Abram was called to abandon (Gen 12:1; 24:6-7). Together with the account of Terah’s descendants (11:27-32), this second account of Shem’s line forms a bridge from the universal history of chs 1–11 to the national history of Israel that begins in ch 12. Abram is the remnant from Babel’s confused world. God called him as an act of grace whereby the fractured world of Babel would be blessed (12:3). • the father of: Or the ancestor of; Hebrew…”
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Related study paths

Sources and verification