Shem Facts for 9-13 Year Olds

Categories: Noah

• Scholars are not sure whether Shem is Noah’s eldest or youngest son.
• In Genesis 5, Shem is listed first, leading scholars to think he’s the eldest.
• Five chapters later, he is last on the list.
• People give explanations for the differences.
• Some say Shem’s mentioned last in chapter 10 because the genealogy follows his descendants.
• Or, some say he’s the youngest son but is mentioned first because he is the most important one.
• Shem’s name means “name.” It could mean making a name as in “fame,” or a “mark” or a “brand.”
• When Noah is 500 years old, he fathers 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 roughly 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, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
• 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, Noah plants a vineyard and drinks so much that he passes out.
• Ham sees his father’s nakedness in the tent.
• He goes outside and tells his two brothers, Shem and Japheth.
• Shem and Japheth take a garment, lay it on their shoulders, walk backward into the tent, and cover their father.
• Not once do they look at him.
• When Noah awakens, he knows what Ham did.
• For that, Ham is cursed.
• To Shem he says, “Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.
• Canaan is another term for Ham.
• Shem has many sons.
• Abraham is a ninth generation descendant of Shem through his son, Arphaxad.
• According to Genesis 11:10, Shem lives 500 more years after the flood.
• Shem’s descendants are the forefathers of many of the Canaanites.
• More than 26 countries and languages can be traced back to Shem.
• Abram, whose name is later changed to 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 he founded a school in which the Torah was taught.
• Supposedly, Jacob was a student.
• The teaching of Shem’s school provided the basis for the laws of the day.
• Shem is the one who asked God to give the priesthood to Abraham.