The Church Fathers on this verse
THEOSIS
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Genesis 10:21Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Of Sem also the father of all the children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.

Douay-Rheims

וּלְשֵׁ֥ם יֻלַּ֖ד גַּם־ה֑וּא אֲבִי֙ כָּל־בְּנֵי־עֵ֔בֶר אֲחִ֖י יֶ֥פֶת הַגָּדֽוֹל׃

Hebrew (Masoretic text)

The Church Fathers on this verse

2 Church Fathers comment on this verse

Dimitri of Rostov

17th centuryChurch Father

Sim fathered five sons, who are listed by Georgi Kedrin in this order: 1. Arphaxad, from whom the Chaldeans and Jews emerged through his great-grandson Eber. 2. Elam, the progenitor of the Elamites and later the Persian people. 3. Assur, the ancestor of the Assyrians. 4. Lud, from whom the Lydians descended. 5. Aram, the forefather of the Syrians and Armenians. The Slavonic Bibles also mention a sixth son of Shem named Cainan, though this is generally regarded as a mistake. According to the Greek historian Kedrin and the Slavonic texts, it is clear that Cainan was not the son, but the grandson of Shem, being Arphaxad's son.

Philaret of Moscow (Drosdow)

19th centuryChurch Father

The progenitor of all the descendants of Eber. Some modern interpretations of the Hebrew have translated this to mean the progenitor of all those from the other side, specifically those residing beyond the Euphrates. However, the original translation, which was prevalent among ancient scholars, is supported by the understanding that the term בני עבר is not entirely interchangeable with the subsequent phrase: אנשי מעבר הנהר (1 Ezra 4:10, 11, 2 Sam. 10:16). Additionally, the name Eber is a well-established figure within this ancestry (Genesis 10:25), which later became a common name (Genesis 14:13, Genesis 40:15, Numbers 24:24), thus there is no necessity to seek an alternative origin or interpretation.

Read more (256 words)

Moses refers to him frequently as the father of the sons of Eber at the outset of the comprehensive lineage of Shem, indicating a transition from the broader narrative to the specific history of the sons of Eber, or, in essence, the Jewish people.

He is noted as the elder sibling of Japheth. The Hebrew can also convey the meaning of brother to Japheth the elder. However, in this context, the language suggests it would be more appropriate to elaborate, for instance, by stating the eldest son of Noah. The implication that Japheth is the firstborn can be drawn through an analysis of the chronological accounts of Noah's life alongside that of Shem (Gen. 5:32, Gen. 7:11, Gen. 11:10). It is possible that in the initial reference, a rounded number is used in place of a more exact figure, similar to how the three sons are mentioned without specifying their birth order; thus, the details of chronology are clarified in the subsequent instances. On the other hand, it is clear that Shem is regarded as the firstborn since he is typically listed first in the enumeration of the siblings (Gen. 5:32, Gen. 6:10, Gen. 7:13, Gen. 9:18, 23, Gen. 10:1). By diverging from this customary sequence and presenting Shem's lineage after that of his brothers, the author intended to emphasize that Shem is indeed the elder sibling of Japheth, whose lineage is introduced before the others, while the third brother is excluded from their mention, having already been distanced from them both by temperament and curse.

Cross references

Passages read together with this verse.