The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. And the sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.
This verse packs two generations into one line: Shem's five sons, then four names belonging to Aram. Why does Shem's family — the line that leads to Abraham — come last in the chapter rather than first?
Shem last in order, first in God's thoughts
Shem's sons come after the lines of Japheth and Ham. One writer sees a pattern here that repeats through the genealogies before Abraham.
H. L. RossierVerse 4 mentions Shem first, although he is not the firstborn. The genealogies of Genesis before Abraham do this often. Yet the lists of Japheth's family and Ham's family come before his (vv. 5-16), just as we see in Genesis 10. In God's eyes Shem, chosen by grace, holds first place. But in the natural order, what is spiritual does not come first.
Arphaxad, hidden in the middle
Of Shem's five sons, one carries the chosen line forward: Arphaxad, whom the ESV spells Arpachshad. Nothing in the list marks him out.
William KellyShem's own sons come next, listed, it seems, in the order of their birth. Arpachshad, the ancestor of the chosen line, stands third — neither first nor last. A name might be placed first or last for special reasons, as happens elsewhere.
A reference work sums up why that third name matters:
Morrish Bible DictionarySon of Shem, born two years after the flood, from whom Abraham descended.
Why four extra names are crowded in
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech are not Shem's sons. They are Aram's sons, and so Shem's grandsons. The list sets them beside Shem's own children, which some readers have taken as an error.
William KellyIn the same genealogy these four sons of Aram stand right alongside the sons of Shem, Aram included. Such lists often use this compressed style, and verse 4 prepares the reader for it. It only looks like a contradiction.
The last of the four carries a different name in Genesis 10:23. A reference work treats the two names as one man:
Morrish Bible DictionaryMash: son of Aram, and grandson of Shem. Genesis 10:23. He is called Meshech in 1 Chronicles 1:17.
Real peoples, real territory
Each of these names became a people with a homeland and a history.
William KellyElam is the first son named. He is the ancestor of the peoples east of Persia proper, who held the province whose capital was Shushan, or Susa. Elam rose to power early, then faded before the energy of Assyria and Babylon. Later, with Persia and Media, it shared the power of the second world-kingdom. Genesis 11 develops Arphaxad's line. The Lydians match Lud, and the Syrians match Aram.
One of Aram's four sons gives his name to the land where Job lived:
The Christian's FriendWe do not know who Job's parents were. But he lived in the land of Uz, so he was one of Shem's descendants (Genesis 10:23). His friends came from the same branch of the human family, the line of Shem.
Asshur: a question the verse settles
Readers have long asked which family Assyria came from. A reference work sorts it out:
Morrish Bible DictionaryIn Genesis 10:11 an older translation seems to say that a son of Ham named Asshur built Nineveh. Then Genesis 10:22 and 1 Chronicles 1:17 name Asshur as a son of Shem. But the margin of Genesis 10:11 reads that "he went out into Assyria," that is, Nimrod went out into Asshur or Assyria (the Hebrew is the same). Micah 5:6 confirms this, linking Assyria and Nimrod together. Assyria goes back to Asshur, or Assur, a son of Shem. Nimrod came later and may have conquered the country.
Names that reappear at the end
These names return in the prophets, attached to events still ahead.
The Bible TreasuryAs to the children of Shem (Genesis 10:22), Elam is the same as Persia. Asshur appears in the judgment that will take place in the last times (Micah 5:6; Isaiah 14:25; Isaiah 30:31), and also in the conspiracy of Psalm 83, and in other places. Arphaxad is one of the ancestors of the Israelites… Asshur displaced Aram, or Syria, which then appears under the title of the king of the North.
Summary
- Order — Shem comes first in God's reckoning and last in the natural listing. Grace does not follow birth order.
- Chosen — Arphaxad sits third of five, with nothing to mark him out, yet Abraham comes from him.
- Compressed — the list folds Aram's four sons in beside Shem's own. That is shorthand, not contradiction.
- Real — Elam is Persia's region, Lud the Lydians, Aram the Syrians, and Uz the country where Job lived.
- Unfinished — Asshur, Elam and Aram return in the prophets, so the list points forward as well as back.