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QUESTION #8a : What happened to the descendants of Shem and Eber other than Abraham and his family? Which nations
did they become?
> Y. P.
ANSWER : The 70 nations of the world came from and are named after the 70 descendants of the three sons
of Noah which are listed in Gen. 10:1-32. Of these, 26 were descended from Shem, Noah's youngest son. These are
named in Gen. 10:21-31. For a complete commentary on the identity of these nations in modern terms, see Artscroll's
Bereishis (Genesis), vol.
I, pp. 308-332. Many of the points below are taken from this source.
The Asian continent was originally opportioned by Noah to Shem and his descendants. This included the land that
is now Israel, but they were later forcibly displaced from there by the Canaanite nations, who descended from Ham,
Noah's middle son (Gen. 10:6). (See Rashi's comment on Gen. 12:6.) Shem was the original king of Jerusalem (which
was originally called "Salem"), and he became known as Malkizedek ("Righteous King," Gen. 14:18).
Shem had five sons who became nations:
Elam: Their territory was between Shushan (in Persia) and Media. In the days of Abraham (before Abraham
had children), the nation of Elam had a king named Chedarlaomer (Gen. 14:1). He ruled by force over the five kingdoms
of the metropolis of Sodom and Gomorrah. When those servant kingdoms rebelled against him, Chedarloamer allied
himself with three other kings (including Amraphel = Nimrod) to fight and defeat them, as described in Gen. 14:1-16.
Abraham subsequently fought and defeated the four kings in order to save his nephew Lot, whom they had kidnapped
from Sodom.
Asshur: Asshur became the nation of Assyria, located to the north of Babylon. An individual by this name
is mentioned in Gen. 10:11-12, in the story of the Tower of Babel. Rashi comments that when he saw that his children
were listening to the wicked Nimrod and rebelling against G-d by building the Tower, he departed from them. He
built several cities, including the famous Nineveh, which was known as "a great city unto G-d" (i.e.
dedicated to G-d) (Jonah 3:3).
Arpachshad: According to Josephus, he was the ancestor of the Chaldeans. They first lived in the coastal area
of the lower Euphrates, and later moved inland. Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, was one of their main cities.
Lud: Josephus seems to identify them with the Lydians of Asia Minor.
Aram: These are the Arameans, who lived in the area of Syria, with Damascus as their capital.
Aram had four sons who became nations: Uz, Hul, Gether
and Mash.
Hul: Joshephus identifies this land as Armenia.
Mash: There is a Mount Mash in Mesopotamia that may have been named after this nation.
Arpachshad had one son who became a nation - Shelah. Shelah was the father of Eber (or Ever).
Eber: Eber was the great-grandson of Shem. He, along with Shem, received prophecy and was one of the great
righteous people of the generations. Eber and Shem established an academy of Torah learning. They both outlived
Abraham. Eber became a nation, and he had two sons who became nations - Peleg and Joktan.
Peleg: Abraham was descended by 5 generations from Peleg. The dispersion of the nations from the Tower
of Babel in Babylonia (present-day Iraq), occurred in the year of Peleg's death. (See Rashi's comment on Gen. 10:25.)
There is a city of Palga at the junction of the Euphrates and Chaboras rivers.
Joktan: He had 13 sons who became nations that settled in the area of Arabia. Among these are:
Hazarmaveth: He is identified with Hadarmaveth in Southern Arabia.
Hadoram: Doram is the name of a fortress in Southern Arabia.
Uzal: This is the original name of the San'a, the Arabian name for the capital of Yemen.
Dikalah: Diklah is used to refer to the palm-tree region in Judea.
Obal: The Samaritans refer Obal to the Mt. Eibal region in Samaria, near Shechem.
Sheba: Sheba is mentioned as a distant, wealthy people who were renowned for their gold, precious stones
and frankincense. The Queen of Sheba became famous through her meeting with King Solomon. (I Kings 10:2,10) Some
identify them with the Sabaeans of Southwest Arabia.
Havilah: Havilah is to the southeast of Arabia toward the Persion Gulf and India. There is a place Havilah
in Bahrein on the Persian Gulf.
Jobab: Jobab is identified as the Egyptian coastal city of Jobabiti.
Abraham was personally acquainted with Noah, and he was 58 years old when Noah died at the age of 950. (Note that the numerical
value of Noah's name in Hebrew, No-ach, is 58, hinting that Abraham would be the one to take over Noah's holy work.)
Noah was the third in the line of Oral Tradition of the kabbalistic secrets of creation, and Abraham was the fourth
(Adam - Lemech - Noah - Abraham). Abraham had two brothers, Nahor and Haran. Nahor was the grandfather of Rebecca
(the wife of Isaac) and Laban. Laban was the father of Rachel, Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah, the four wives of Jacob.
The wicked prophet Bilaam (Num., ch. 22-24) was descended from Laban.
Haran was the father of Sarah and Lot. Through his two daughters, Lot fathered the nations of Moab and Ammon after
the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 29-38). The Middle-Eastern nations of Moab and Ammon, which border
on Israel, are the Kenizzite and Kadmonite who are mentioned Gen. 15:19.
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QUESTION #8b : Which Biblical peoples can still be identified?
> K. H.
ANSWER : In general, the African peoples (non-Arabic) are identified as descendants of Ham, and Orientals
are identified as descendants of Yafes [Japheth]. Ham and Yafes were the progenitors of other ancient peoples as
well.
It is important to note that the ruthless king of the Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar, forcibly mixed the original
nations which he conquered so they would lose their independent national identities. For example, the Talmud (Sanhedrin
59b) states that the original Ishmaelites became intermingled with the other nations that were descended from Abraham
and Keturah. Likewise, the original Egyptians, Moabites and Ammonites can no longer be identified. The only peoples
which Nebuchadnezzer did not intermingle were the exiles of Judea, and of course his own Babylonian people. The
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, pointed out that within the modern country of Iraq there are still
a significant number of these ethnic Babylonians.
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QUESTION #8c : In some Rabbinic articles I read Rome is a spiritual descendant of Esau and not genetic. But why
are Arabs and Jews both spiritual and genetic relatives, along with Esau-Edom but not Esau-Rome? If the tribe Magdiel
founded Rome according to Rashi, then does it mean also a genetic and a spiritual descent?
> H. D.
ANSWER : Here are some interesting explanations of the origins of the connection between Rome and Edom,
by Rabbi Moshe Nachmanides ("Ramban"), from his book "Gate of Redemption" (written circa 1263
C.E.). The following translation and annotation is by Rabbi Dr. C. B. Chavel (Shilo Publishing House, New York,
NY, copyright 1978, printing of 1986).
From the First Gate (chapter):
Balaam further saw the rising of the ... empire [Rome]
... Thus it is said, "But ships will come from the coast of Kittim." (Numbers 24:24) [The latter] are
the Romans, according to the words of the Targum [Onkelos]. Although [I have just said that the Kittim are the
Romans], we find Kittim to be one of the children of Javan [Yavan] (Genesis 10:4), [the ancestor of the Greeks].
[Kittim], however, became the head of a large family which [eventually] became a separate nation named for [Kittim],
their ancestor. Thus, we have found in the Torah of Moses, peace be upon him, a clear promise of the future redemption
which is to come upon us.
From the Third Gate:
We, who rely on the opinion of our Rabbis of blessed memory,
believe that we are presently in the exile of Edom (Rome) and that we shall have no respite from it until the coming
of the Messiah. ... The Edomites [the nation around Mount Seir, descended from Esau] were the first to mistakenly
follow after the man who claimed that he was the Messiah. They also ascribed godliness to him. When they came to
the land of Italy, their error spread to the nearby city of Rome. There in the days of Constantine who ruled over
Rome ..., the council under the authority of the bishop [of the city] of Rome determined their belief in him and
established it [as the religion of the empire]. This, above all else, is the main cause and reason that Rome and
Edom are considered as one kingdom although they are different nations. In spite of that [difference], they are
related because of their uniformity of belief which makes them one people and one nation. ... [The Sages of the
Targum] thus explained that Rome is in Grecian Italy and that many of the Edomite people are contained therein.
Hence, [Rome] is called "O daughter of Edom," (Lament. 4:22)
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