Bible Strands
1 Chronicles 1:4
The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Chronicler records this genealogy for Israel, immediately following the antediluvian patriarchs in 1 Chronicles 1:3 and preceding the detailed listing of Japheth’s descendants in 1 Chronicles 1:5. The passage functions as a structural pivot between the flood narrative and the subsequent dispersion of nations.
The words — The Hebrew text lists נֹ֥חַ (Noach), שֵׁ֖ם (Shem), חָ֥ם (Cham), and יָֽפֶת (Yafet), which literally translate to Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These proper names identify the three specific ancestral lines that constitute the post-flood human population.
The thread — This exact triad appears in Genesis 5:32, where Noah’s fatherhood is first recorded, and in Genesis 9:18, where the same three sons are named as they exit the ark. The Chronicler repeats this formula to anchor Israel’s lineage within the broader biblical account of human origins.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to acknowledge that the post-flood world is structured around three specific lineages. It demands recognition of how ancient genealogical records establish the foundational framework for all subsequent biblical history.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Cross-references
- Genesis 5:32 After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
- Genesis 9:18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.
- Genesis 6:8 Noah, however, found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
- Genesis 7:1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
- Genesis 9:29 So Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
- Isaiah 54:9 “For to Me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you.
- Ezekiel 14:14 then even if these three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—were in it, their righteousness could deliver only themselves, declares the Lord GOD.
- Matthew 24:37 As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
- Luke 3:36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
- Luke 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man: