Shem, Ham and Japheth

There is a question as to the order of birth of Noah's three sons. Illumination can be had by reference to Scripture.

Genesis 10:21 establishes that Japheth is the elder, an adjective which we take to mean" eldest" of the three, not just the two involved in this verse. "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born." The Hebrew word for "elder" here is gadol, a word used 511 times in the Bible, the predominant translation being "great," or some form of it. It is translated 442 times as "great" or forms of it. It is also translated "high," "mighty," and "noble." It is translated "elder" eight times and "eldest" six times. The same word is used in I Samuel 17:13, "And the three eldest [Heb., gadol] sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his, three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah." Verse 28 also refers to Eliab as the eldest (Heb. gadol) of the sons of Jesse.

It appears from the etymology that Japheth was the "great" or "eldest" of Noah's three sons in terms of the order of their birth.

Now Ham is spoken of in the King James Version as the younger. "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him" (Gen. 9:24). Bullinger's Companion Bible suggests that Ham was the younger to Japheth, not Shem, but his proof is lacking. I looked at one of the multi-translation Bibles with four versions, and all except the KJV used "youngest" for "younger."

Tracing the etymology of the Hebrew word translated "younger" in Genesis 9:24 (qatan, little), we find it used 48 times, with translations of "least," "less," "small," "little," and "smallest". It is translated "younger" eleven times and "youngest" twice.

David was referred to as the "youngest" son of Jesse, "And Samuel said unto Jesse. Are here all thy children? And he said. There remaineth yet the youngest [Heb. qatan}, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep" (I Sam. 16:11). David was the qatan of eight sons, and Ham was the qatan of three sons, both of them the "least" or "smallest" in order of birth.

Just as the order of Terah's sons is given in the order of their importance in God's arrangements, so are the sons of Noah. "Terah lived seventy years and begat Abram, Nahor and Haran" (Gen. 11:26). The birth order can be proven to be Haran, Nahor and Abram. Haran was born 41 years before Nahor who was born 20 years before Abram. Nahor married his brother Haran's daughter, Milcah, which suggests, not proves, that Haran was an elder brother to Nahor.

Lot was the son of Haran (61 years older than Abram), and was in all probability as old, if not senior to, Abram. I think most of us consider Lot as younger than Abram, but the specifics are not given in Scripture.

So, based on the etymological evidence given above, and recognizing the divine method of giving preeminence to those chosen by Him, the order of birth of Noah's three sons was Japheth, Shem and Ham. It is given in Scripture as Shem, Ham and Japheth to indicate the preeminence of Shem and his descendants over the other two sons and their descendants.

Shem means "name or renown,” indicating the priority that the Semitic or Shemitic people would have in God's plan. Shem's line can be traced in Genesis 11 through Eber and Terah to Abram. The renown of Shem will be realized when the promises to Abram are fulfilled. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made" (Gal. 3:16).

Japheth means "the extender, or enlargement." Of his descendants it is recorded, "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations" (Gen. 10:5). Peloubet's Bible Dictionary says of Japheth, "The descendants of Japheth occupied the 'isles of the Gentiles,' i.e., the coast lands of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe and Asia Minor—whence they spread northward over the whole continent of Europe and a considerable portion of Asia." These being representative of a portion of the Gentiles, they have access to the promises made to Abraham and his seed by the process of adoption in which they surrender their Gentilism and become adopted into the spiritual family of Israel.

Ham means "black or swarthy or dark colored." It is opined that the descendants of Ham are the black races, "servant of servants to his brethren" (Gen. 9:25) as the curse placed on Ham's descendants by Noah suggests. Some feel that the descendants of Ham include the races of the East (China, India, etc.).

W. H. Carter, in Times and Seasons, page 221, concludes, "It is thus clear beyond doubt that the order of birth was Japheth, Shem and Ham; whilst Shem was two years younger than Japheth, and Ham younger than Shem. The latter was probably named first in Genesis 5:32 because he was the one through whom God's purpose was to develop."

W. H. Carter proves from Genesis 11:10 that Shem was 100 years old when he "begat Arphaxad two years after the flood." He then calculates Noah's age as in his 503rd year when Shem was born, determining by deduction that Japheth was two years older than Shem from the text in Genesis 5:32, "And Noah was five hundred years old [that is, in his 501st year]: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

James Stanton

The Sanctuary-Keeper. October 1989, pgs. 37-38.