Shem
Shem is Noah's eldest son who receives the central and most blessed portion of the earth in the division described in Jubilees, establishing the territory later promised to Abraham. Among the patriarchs who survive the great flood and receive the renewed earth, one figure stands out for the privileged inheritance assigned to his line and the explicit promise that divine knowledge would be preserved through his descendants. This emphasis appears most fully in the Book of Jubilees, a work deeply intertwined with the Enochic tradition through its repeated appeals to the revelations given to Enoch and its concern for sacred calendars and cosmic order. In this retelling of Genesis, the division of the habitable world among Noah’s three sons becomes not merely a geographical arrangement but a theological statement about which lineage will maintain the covenant. Jubilees 8 records that Noah first apportioned the earth by lot, and the central and most fertile territories-stretching from the Garden of Eden eastward to the river Gihon and northward through the mountains of Ararat-fell to this son. Jubilees 9 then supplies the detailed boundaries, noting that his share included the regions later associated with the Levant and Mesopotamia, while the colder northern lands and the hotter southern territories went to his brothers. The text underscores that this allotment was accompanied by a solemn blessing: Noah declares that the Lord will be known through this line, establishing an unbroken chain of righteousness from the antediluvian sages through the post-flood era. The same tradition surfaces in the Book of Jasher, which portrays this figure as the custodian of sacred books and astronomical knowledge transmitted from Enoch, thereby linking the post-flood patriarch directly to the earlier visionary literature. Within the broader Enochic corpus, his role thus serves to bridge the pre-flood revelations preserved by Enoch with the covenantal history that will culminate in Abraham, ensuring that the cosmic and moral order revealed to the ancient seer remains active in human affairs.
Biography
- Occupation
- Patriarch
- Father
- Noah
- Era
- Post-Flood
Family
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Division of the Earth to Shem
The Book of Jubilees 8:1-4
Noah divides the earth by lot among his sons. Shem receives the middle of the earth, including the holy land and the Garden of Eden.
1n the twenty-ninth jubilee, in the first week, 1373 A.M. in the beginning thereof Arpachshad took to himself a wife and her name was Rasu'eja, the daughter of Susan, the daughter of Elam, and she bare him a son in the third year in this week, 1375 A.M. and he called his name Kainam.
Shem's Blessing
The Book of Jubilees 7:1-4
Noah blesses Shem above his brothers, saying the Lord will dwell in the dwelling of Shem and that Canaan shall be his servant.
1nd in the seventh week in the first year 1317 A.M. thereof, in this jubilee, Noah planted vines on the mountain on which the ark had rested, named Lubar, one of the Ararat Mountains, and they produced fruit in the fourth year, 1320 A.M. and he guarded their fruit, and gathered it in this year in the seventh month.
Did You Know?
Shem was the favored son of Noah who received the best portion of the earth including the holy land.
The Lord was to dwell in his tents.
In Jubilees 8 Noah apportioned the earth by lot and Shem received central territories from the Garden of Eden to the river Gihon and mountains of Ararat.
The Book of Jasher portrays Shem as custodian of sacred books and astronomical knowledge transmitted from Enoch linking him to earlier visionary literature.
Noah declared that the Lord will be known through Shem's line establishing an unbroken chain of righteousness from antediluvian sages to the post-flood era.