Shem Facts for 3-8 Year Olds

Categories: Noah

• Scholars are not sure whether Shem is Noah’s eldest or youngest son.
• Shem’s name means “name.”
• When Noah is 500 years old, he becomes a father. He has three sons. Shem, Ham, and Japeth.
• Noah is told by God to build an ark.
• God then tells Noah to go into the ark with his whole household and pairs of all the animals.
• Noah does as God instructs.
• Noah and his sons and their wives all go into the ark.
• Seven days later, God sends rain upon the earth.
• The rain lasts for 40 days.
• Noah is 600 years old by this time, so his sons are about 100.
• When the earth is dry, Noah and his sons and all their wives leave the ark.
• The first thing Noah does is build an altar to give thanks.
• Then God blesses Noah and his sons.
• He also establishes a covenant with them that “never again … shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
• The sign of the covenant will be a rainbow in the sky.
• Sometime later, because Shem respected Noah, Noah blesses Shem: “Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem.”
• Shem has many sons.
• Abraham is a ninth generation descendant of Shem.
• According to Genesis 11:10, Shem lives 500 more years after the flood.
• More than 26 countries and languages can be traced back to Shem.
• Abraham is born when Shem is 390 years old.
• There are many legends involving Shem.
• Some identify him as a prophet.
• Others think he is Melchizedek, the High Priest and King of Salem, who approaches Abraham after rescuing Lot, Abraham’s nephew.
• Other legends claim that Shem founded a school.
• Supposedly, Jacob was a student there.
• The teaching of Shem’s school provided the basis for the laws of the day.