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New defense of Japeth is elder

37818

37818

Well-Known Member
KJB1611reader said:
This is why we look at the context. Yes, in the Heb., it could be both ways and as I pasted from commentary. Shem can't be older.
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Both sides make the context claim.
One either takes one side or the other.
I am persuased of the KJB reading, Genesis 10:21, Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. . . . To be the better reading
 
J

JD731

Well-Known Member
KJB1611reader said:
אחי יפת הגדול [SHEM …] THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH, THE ELDER — (The Hebrew is ambiguous: “the elder” may refer either to Shem or to Japheth). One cannot from here determine whether Japheth was the elder or Shem. Since, however, it states (10:10) “Shem was a hundred years old … two years after the flood” you must admit that Japheth was the elder. Because Noah was 500 years old when he first had children (5:32), and the Flood happened in the six hundredth year of his life (7:11), consequently the eldest of his sons was then one hundred years old, whereas Shem reached his hundredth year only two years after the Flood (and therefore Japheth was the elder of the two) (Genesis Rabbah 37:7).


Scripture notes that Shem was the brother of Japheth the elder to teach us that Japheth, too, was a worthy person. The Bible lists Shem, who was the youngest, before Japheth, who was the elder, out of respect to Shem. Proof that Japheth was the elder lies in Scripture’s stating that Noah was five hundred years old when he begat his first son. There is no room for argument, for it is clear that Noah had no children prior to reaching the age of five hundred. The flood came when Noah was six hundred years old. Therefore if Shem was the eldest he would be one hundred and one years old when Noah and his sons came out of the ark. However, Scripture tells us Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arpachshad two years after the flood (Gen. 11:10). Others say that Shem was the elder brother of Japheth, and it is for this reason that Shem is mentioned first. They explain that Shem was born a few days after Noah entered his five hundredth year, for even a day in a year is considered a year. They say that Noah was born in Iyyar and Shem in Sivan. When the flood came Noah was five hundred and ninety-nine plus a number of days old. Hence Shem was not a full ninety-nine years old when the flood started and was a hundred and one years plus a number of months old when his son Arpachshad was born. The meaning of two years after the flood (Gen. 11:10) therefore is to be interpreted as meaning that Arpachshad was born in the second year following the beginning of the flood. There are also those who maintain that the wife of Shem conceived five months after the start of the flood when the waters started decreasing. Shem was thus one hundred years old when Arpachshad was born. There are ten similar instances in the Book of Kings.
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Gen 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.


I figure by the language of the scripture that these brothers were triplets, three births in one, so to speak. (the trinitarian signature of creation). If not, one can question why the change from the other births recorded in the chapter.

Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

One in three and three in one.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood. Remember, in God's economy the second son is always prominent. The first Adam could not get the job done but the last Adam could.

Since God has a perfect testimony in the KJV, none of the believers ever question what God says. Ham is called in scripture the "younger" and Japheth is called "the elder." By default Shem is the second born. He is the one God used to benefit all the others. The KJV is written on so simple that it reduces divisions. Most others question every thing and believes little.
 
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