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Genesis 5:32 — Word Study

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WLCוַֽיְהִי־ נֹ֕חַ בֶּן־ חֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֣וֹלֶד נֹ֔חַ אֶת־ שֵׁ֖ם אֶת־ חָ֥ם וְאֶת־ יָֽפֶת׃

BSAAfterʼêth NoahNôach [the patriarch who built the ark] washâyâh [five hundred, a significant numerical value] 500châmêsh yearsshâneh oldbên [a period of time, a stage of life] [he]Nôach became the father ofyâlad [to beget, to father] ShemShêm [the eldest son, the ancestor of many Semitic tribes] HamChâm [the son associated with hot southern lands] and JaphethYepheth [the ancestor of many nations, including those living in the Mediterranean region]

Word
Listen & take awayGenesis 5
English ↓ Download MP3 The Berean Standard Bible chapter audio already hosted for the site's Bible section — verse 32 is in this chapter.
Hebrew ↓ Download MP3 The Masoretic text of this chapter, read aloud. Read by Abraham Shmuelof, courtesy of Audio Scriptures International. Chapter divisions by the Academy of Ancient Languages..
Say the word Each Hebrew word carries its transliteration (Ya.fet) — no per-word recordings of the Hebrew exist to link to.
Take it away
Genesis 5:32quick helps
In a sentenceNoah was 500 years old when he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Who is speakingThe narrator recounts the genealogy of Noah.
Where we areThis verse is part of the genealogical account leading to the flood.
The hard wordיָלַד, yalad
Take awayNoah's age marks a significant point in the biblical timeline.
8 commentators on this verse Gill, Jamieson, Poole, Trapp & more — read them › clause subjectנֹחַ verbהָיָה The sentence as the grammar sees it Open the tree ›
How rare are these words?in the Old Testament

Every word here is used elsewhere in the Old Testament.

Bars are logarithmic — אֵת, the commonest word in the Hebrew Bible, stands about 11,000 times, so a linear scale would leave everything else invisible. Click a row to open that word.

Deep Study — Genesis 5:32

Sections marked generated are written from the data on this page rather than by a named author. Everything else — the lexicon entries, the cross references, the manuscript readings, the counts — is quoted from its source unchanged.

Context — The Generations of Noahgenerated

29And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”
30And after he had become the father of Noah, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters.
31So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.
32After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 5:32 provides a brief yet pivotal moment in the genealogy of Noah, highlighting his age and the birth of his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. This lineage is crucial for understanding the post-flood world and the origins of various nations as described in later chapters of Genesis.


Cross References

ReferenceText (BSB)
1Genesis 6:10And Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
2Genesis 7:13On that very day Noah entered the ark, along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his wife, and the three wives of his sons—
3Genesis 9:18–19The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan.
4Genesis 10:1–21This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.
51 Chronicles 1:4–28The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — 6 references, hung on the phrase they belong to


The Key Word יָלַד, vai.Yo.ledgenerated

The Hebrew word יָלַד (yalad) means to bear or beget, specifically referring to the act of giving birth. It is used in contexts of lineage and family, indicating the continuation of a family line. The parsing as a Hiphil verb shows that Noah actively fathered his sons, marking an important generational transition.

This word appears frequently in the Old Testament, often in genealogical contexts, emphasizing the importance of lineage in biblical narratives. The act of begetting is not merely biological; it carries cultural and spiritual significance in the biblical worldview.


How Translations Differ — measured against the Berean Standard Biblegenerated

This study reads the verse in the Berean Standard Bible, so the BSB is the wording every comparison below is made against.


Sentence Structuregenerated

The finite verb יָלַד, yalad governs the sentence, indicating the action of Noah fathering his sons. The structure includes a main clause followed by a series of noun phrases that detail the subjects involved: Noah, his age, and his sons.

The word order emphasizes Noah's age first, establishing a significant milestone in his life before introducing the act of fathering. This arrangement highlights the importance of both his age and the lineage that follows.


Septuagint Backgroundgenerated

The Septuagint uses the Greek word ἐγέννησεν (egennēsen) to translate יָלַד, indicating the act of giving birth. This choice reflects a direct connection to the concept of lineage and ancestry, similar to the Hebrew.

The use of this term in the Septuagint aligns with the narrative focus on genealogical records, emphasizing the continuity of family lines.


In plain words — the whole versegenerated

Genesis 5:32 tells us that Noah was 500 years old when he became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. This verse marks an important moment in the genealogy leading to the flood, emphasizing Noah's role as a patriarch.


Frequently Asked Questionsgenerated

What significance does Noah's age have?

Noah's age of 500 years signifies a key moment in biblical history, marking the beginning of a new generation that would lead to the post-flood world.

Who are the sons of Noah?

The sons of Noah are Shem, Ham, and Japheth, each of whom is considered the ancestor of different nations and peoples.

Why is genealogy important in the Bible?

Genealogy in the Bible serves to establish lineage, fulfill prophecies, and connect significant figures in biblical history.

What can we learn from Noah's story?

Noah's story teaches about faith, obedience, and the importance of family lineage in God's plan for humanity.


Reflection Questionsgenerated

  1. What does Noah's age tell us about the timeline of biblical events?
  2. How do the stories of Noah's sons connect to the broader narrative of the Bible?
  3. In what ways does understanding genealogy enhance our reading of Scripture?
  4. What lessons can we draw from Noah's role as a patriarch?

The early church on this verse — how the Fathers read it

Early commentators, such as Ephrem the Syrian and Bede, reflect on Noah's significance and his role as a model of virtue for his sons.

Ephrem the SyrianCOMMENTARY ON Genesis 6.1.1 c. 306–373
After recounting the ten generations from Adam to Noah, Moses said, “Noah was five hundred years old and begot Shem and Ham and Japheth.” During this entire time Noah was an example to his sons by his virtue,
Early Church Fathers on Genesis 5 →
BedeCommentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron) c. 673–735
Noah indeed, when he was five hundred years old, begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Therefore, Noah was born in the tenth generation, because he both represented and led the lives of those who are perfect in the observance of the Decalogue.
Early Church Fathers on Genesis 5 →

Commentators on this verse — 8 expositors, verse by verse

Each of these wrote on Genesis 5:32 itself, not merely on the chapter around it.

John Gill1697–1771Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Noah was five hundred years old,.... Or "the son of five hundred years" (f); he was in his five hundredth year: it can hardly be thought that he should live to this time a single life, and have

Read John Gill on Genesis 5 →
Robert Jamieson1802–1880Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown's Commentary

And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Noah was five hundred years old.

Read Robert Jamieson on Genesis 5 →
Matthew Poole1624–1679Matthew Poole's Commentary on the Holy Bible

2448 i.e. He began to beget; God in mercy denying him children till that time, that he might not beget them to the destroyer, that he might have no more than should be saved in the ark; or, having before that time begotten others who were now dead, and having the approaching flood in his view, he began again to beget a seminary for the world. Of these three sons here following, the eldest seems to be Japheth, . The second was Shem, as appears because he was but an hundred years old two years after the flood, . The youngest Ham, . But Shem is first named in order of dignity, as being the progenitor of the church, and of Jesus Christ; and because he and his progeny is the principal subject of…

Read Matthew Poole on Genesis 5 →
John Trapp1601–1669Trapp's Complete Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Genesis 5:32 And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.Ver. 32. And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.] Twenty years had he heard from God, that the world should be destroyed, before he had any child. Here was “ the faith and patience of this saint.” At length he hath Japheth first; though Shem be first named, because he was in dignity preferred before his brother, to be grandfather to the Messiah. Now any relation to Christ ennobleth either place or person. If it were an honour to Mark to have been Barnabas’ s sister’ s son, what is it then to be related to the Son of God? Bethlehem, where he was born, though it were least, says Micah; yet it was not the…

Read John Trapp on Genesis 5 →
Charles John Ellicott1819–1905Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(32) Noah was five hundred years old.—No reason is given why Noah had no son until he had attained to so ripe an age, nor, in fact, does it follow that he might not have had other sons, though unworthy of sharing his deliverance. It is remarkable also that neither of the three sons who were with him in the ark had offspring until after the flood. (See Genesis 11:19.) From them have sprung the three great lines into which the human family is divided. Shem means name: that is, fame, glory; and he, as the owner of the birthright, was the progenitor of our Lord. Ham, the dark-coloured, was the ancestor of the Egyptians, Cushites, and other black races of Arabia and Africa. Japheth, the widener…

Read Charles John Ellicott on Genesis 5 →
AdamClarkeAdam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible

Verse 32. Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.] From Genesis 10:21; 1 Chronicles 1:5, c., we learn that Japheth was the eldest son of Noah, but Shem is mentioned first, because it was from him, in a direct line, that the Messiah came. Ham was certainly the youngest of Noah's sons, and from what we read, Genesis 9:22, the worst of them and how he comes to be mentioned out of his natural order is not easy to be accounted for. When the Scriptures design to mark precedency, though the subject be a younger son or brother, he is always mentioned first; so Jacob is named before Esau, his elder brother, and Ephraim before Manasses. See Genesis 28:5; Genesis 48:20. AMONG many important things…

Read AdamClarke on Genesis 5 →
CambridgeThe Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

32. And Noah was, &c.] Noah is thus represented as much older, when he begets his children, than were the other patriarchs, when children were born to them. A hundred years is the interval of time between the birth of Noah’s sons and the Deluge (Genesis 7:6). Compare the mention of three sons born to Lamech, the last name in the Cainite genealogy (Genesis 4:20-24).

Read Cambridge on Genesis 5 →
Daniel Denison Whedon1808–1885Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

32. Noah was five hundred years old — It is not meant that Noah had no children born to him for five centuries. Only those sons are mentioned with whom the narrative is specially concerned.

Read Daniel Denison Whedon on Genesis 5 →

The verse in English, compared — 17 translations, and where they part company

Every translation on this page is a decision someone had to make and commit to. Read down a column and you see one translator's judgement; read across a row and you see the range the Greek actually allows. The BSB is the wording the rest of this page is measured against, so it is listed first.

Modern formal

BSBBerean Standard Bible2020

After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

WEBWorld English Bible2000

Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

MSBMajority Standard Bible2022

After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

NETBNew English Translation2006

After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Tyndale line

KJVKing James Version1611

And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

ASVAmerican Standard Version1901

And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

RVARevised Version, American1894

And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

NWBWebster's Bible1833

And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

GNVGeneva Bible1599

And Noah was fiue hundreth yeere olde. And Noah begate Shem, Ham and Iapheth.

Strictly literal

DBYDarby Translation1890

And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

YLTYoung's Literal Translation1862

And Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

LSVLiteral Standard Version2020

And Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begets Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

ILTInterlinear Literal Translation2000

And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

ULBUnlocked Literal Bible2017

After Noah had lived five hundred years, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

From the Latin

DRADouay-Rheims (Challoner)1899

And Noe, when he was five hundred years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

Simplified

FBVFree Bible Version2020

Noah was 500 before he had Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

BBEBible in Basic English1949

And when Noah was five hundred years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Counted from the translations carried on this site, not from a survey of every English Bible. A rendering shared by many versions is usually inherited rather than independently arrived at — the Tyndale line in particular runs through most of them.


The sentence as the grammar sees it — from the MACULA Hebrew treebank

This is not our own analysis: it is the scholarly syntax tree for the verse, showing how the clause actually holds together.

וַֽandclauseverbיְהִיhe.wassubjectנֹ֕חַNoahnoun phrase · objectבֶּןa.sonnoun phrasenumeral phraseחֲמֵ֥שׁof.fiveמֵא֖וֹתhundred(s)שָׁנָ֑הyear[s]וַandclauseverbיּ֣וֹלֶדhe.fatheredsubjectנֹ֔חַNoahnoun phrase · objectnoun phraseאֶת(et)שֵׁ֖םShemnoun phraseאֶת(et)חָ֥םHamוְandnoun phraseאֶת(et)יָֽפֶתJapheth

Boxes are the grammarian's groupings — clause, noun phrase, prepositional phrase.


The four witnesses to this verse — Masoretic, Septuagint, Samaritan, Qumran

The Masoretic Text is supported by the Samaritan Pentateuch, which has only one word differing: it uses יוליד (to bear) instead of יָלַד. The Septuagint aligns closely with the Masoretic Text in most respects, maintaining the overall structure and meaning.

Masoretic TextLeningrad Codex, c. AD 1008 — the text this page is built on

וַֽיְהִי־ נֹ֕חַ בֶּן־ חֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵא֖וֹת שָׁנָ֑ה וַיּ֣וֹלֶד נֹ֔חַ אֶת־ שֵׁ֖ם אֶת־ חָ֥ם וְאֶת־ יָֽפֶת׃

Septuagintthe Greek the translators chose, word by word
וַֽיְהִי־ἦνנֹ֕חַνωεשָׁנָ֑הἐτῶνוַיּ֣וֹלֶדἐγέννησενנֹ֔חַνωεשֵׁ֖םσημחָ֥םξαμוְאֶת־τὸνיָֽפֶת׃ιαφεθ

9 of the 14 words are matched. This is the word-by-word correspondence, not the Septuagint's own sentence — its word order and its articles are its own.

Samaritan Pentateuchthe Torah as the Samaritan community kept it

ויהי נח בן חמשׁ מאות שׁנה ויוליד את שׁם ואת חם ואת יפת

1 word differs from the Masoretic Text: יוליד (bear)

Four traditions, not one. “On the leather” means the letters physically survive on the scroll, as against letters an editor has supplied to fill a hole in it — a restoration is a scholar’s reading, not a reading of the manuscript. Words in [square brackets] are supplied; the notes count them apart from what survives.


The map of this verse — what each word keeps company with

This is a map of two things, both counted rather than judged. Company kept: which words stand within three words of each of these, anywhere in the Hebrew Bible — the thicker the line, the more often the pair meet compared with chance. Built from: the words a word is made out of, taken from its own Strong’s entry. It is not a map of meaning: nothing here claims two words mean the same thing. Click any circle to see the numbers behind it.

Genesis 5:32הָיָהand he wasand he wasהָיָהנֹחַNoahNoahנֹחַבֵּןa son ofa son ofבֵּןחָמֵשׁfivefiveחָמֵשׁמֵאָהhundredhundredמֵאָהשָׁנָהyear[s]year[s]שָׁנָהיָלַדand he fathand he fatheredיָלַדנֹחַNoahNoahנֹחַאֵתthe object the object markאֵתשֵׁםShemShemשֵׁםאֵתthe object the object markאֵתחָםHamHamחָםאֵתand the objand the object אֵתיֶ֫פֶתJaphethJaphethיֶ֫פֶתאוֹתsign: mirasign: miraculouאוֹתמְנוּחָהrestrestמְנוּחָהבָּנָהto buildto buildבָּנָהשָׁנָהto changeto changeשָׁנָהפָּתָהto open wito open wideפָּתָההָוָאto fallto fallהָוָאשֵׁםnamenameשֵׁםחָםhothotחָםיֶ֫פֶתJaphethJaphethיֶ֫פֶתחָםHamHamחָםמִגְרָשׁpasturepastureמִגְרָשׁעַמּוֹןAmmonAmmonעַמּוֹןרְאוּבֵןReubenReubenרְאוּבֵןכֶּ֫בֶשׂlamblambכֶּ֫בֶשׂאַמָּהcubitcubitאַמָּהאֶ֫לֶףthousandthousandאֶ֫לֶףחֲמִשִּׁיםfiftyfiftyחֲמִשִּׁיםמָלַךְto reignto reignמָלַךְ
meets it a little oftener than chancemeets it far oftener than chancebuilt from the same roottwo words of the verse share ita word of this versea related word

Lexicons — every word in Genesis 5:32

One dossier per word, with every reference work grouped by kind — Hebrew lexicons, morphology, Bible dictionaries, topical chains and the English of the translators themselves. The verse sits at the head of each block with the word under study lit, so you never lose your place. The panel above gives the short answer; this is the long one, and it is the part of the page worth indexing.

Every entry below is the lexicographer's own text. On the Hebrew: Brown-Driver-Briggs entire and its gloss set, Strong's Hebrew Dictionary, and Tyndale House's Translators Brief lexicon. Where a cell says a work has no entry, that work genuinely has none for this word.

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
וַֽיְהִי־vay.hi- and he was H1961 Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singular
3,562× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
The Hebrew word for to be means to exist or come into being. It is used to describe something that happens or comes to pass, like in Genesis where God creates the world.
Amplified meaning
five hundred, a significant numerical value
Tyndale gloss
to be
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Hebrew word הָיָה (hayah) is a primitive root meaning to exist or become, and it encompasses a range of meanings including to happen, occur, and come to pass. It is often used in narrative contexts, particularly in phrases like "and it came to pass." The word can also denote a state of being or existence, and it appears frequently in various forms throughout the Old Testament.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be

Qal

Fall out, happen

occur, take place, come about, come to pass

esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass

וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)

rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה

less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)

Come into being, become

abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come

sq. prep.

become

sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)

sq. pred. adj.

become like

sq. pred. לְ pers.

sq. לְ pred.

oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.

with עַל and לְ

sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of

Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)

exist, be in existence

abide, remain, continue

with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie

as copula, joining subj. & pred.

Read the full entry →
Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H1961 הָיָה fall out, come to pass, become, be .. . . Fall out, happen

. occur, take place, come about, come to pass

. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass . . וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)

. rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה

. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)

. Come into being, become . . abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come

. sq. prep.

. become . sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)

. sq. pred. adj.

. become like

. sq. pred. + לְ pers.

. sq. לְ pred.

. oft. c. לְ pred. + לְ pers.

. with עַל and לְ

. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of

. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming) . exist, be in existence

. abide, remain, continue

Read the full entry →
Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

1961 hayah haw-yaw

a primitive root (compare 1933); to exist, i.e. be or become,

come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or

auxiliary):--beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished,

committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint,

fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit

(one-)self, require, X use.

see HEBREW for 01933

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

הָיָה (ha.yah) — to be.

1) to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out

1a) (Qal)

1a1) ---

1a1a) to happen, fall out, occur, take place, come about, come to pass

1a1b) to come about, come to pass

1a2) to come into being, become

1a2a) to arise, appear, come

1a2b) to become

1a2b1) to become

1a2b2) to become like

1a2b3) to be instituted, be established

1a3) to be

1a3a) to exist, be in existence

1a3b) to abide, remain, continue (with word of place or time)

1a3c) to stand, lie, be in, be at, be situated (with word of locality)

1a3d) to accompany, be with

1b) (Niphal)

1b1) to occur, come to pass, be done, be brought about

1b2) to be done, be finished, be gone

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Conj | V-Qal-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Qal · sequential imperfect third person masculine singular
Hc/Vqw3ms
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ha: The fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; transliterated in this Encyclopedia as "h." It came also to be used for the number 5. For name, etc., see ALPHABET.

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
נֹ֕חַNo.ach Noah H5146 Noun proper masculine
46× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
Noah, the patriarch who built the ark to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the flood, is the namesake of this Hebrew word. He is first mentioned in Genesis 5:29 as the son of Lamech. His story is a crucial part of biblical history.
Amplified meaning
the patriarch who built the ark
Tyndale gloss
Noah
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

נֹחַ (Noach) refers to Noah, a significant biblical figure known for surviving the Flood. The name is associated with the concept of 'rest.' He is the son of Lamech and the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and is first mentioned in Genesis 5:29. The entries consistently identify him as the patriarch who built the ark.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

נֹחַ 46 n.pr.m. Noah

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H5146 נֹחַ Noah

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

5146 Noach no'-akh

the same as 5118; rest; Noach, the patriarch of the

flood:--Noah.

see HEBREW for 05118

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

נֹחַ (no.ach) — Noah.

A man living at the time before the Flood, first mentioned at Gen.5.29;

son of: Lamech (H3929H);

father of: Shem (H8035), Ham (H2526) and Japheth (H3315)

Also named: Nōe (Νῶε "Noah" G3575)

§ Noah = "rest"

son of Lamech, father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth; builder of the ark which saved his family from the destruction of the world which God sent on the world by the flood; became the new seminal head of mankind because his family were the only survivors of the flood

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
N-proper — Noun proper masculine
HNpm
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Noah

Rest, (Heb. Noah) the grandson of Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-29), who was for two hundred and fifty years contemporary with Adam, and the son of Lamech, who was about fifty years old at the time of Adam’s death. This patriarch is rightly regarded as the connecting link between the old and the new world. He is the second great progenitor of the human family.

The words of his father Lamech at his birth (Gen. 5:29) have been regarded as in a sense prophetical, designating Noah as a type of Him who is the true “rest and comfort” of men under the burden of life (Matt.11:28).

He lived five hundred years, and then there were born unto him three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen.…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Rest, comfort, the name of celebrated patriarch who was preserved by Jehovah with his family, by means of the ark, through the deluge, and thus became the second founder of the human race. The history of Noah and the deluge is contained in Ge 5:1-9:29. He was the son of Lamech, and grandson of Methuselah lived six hundred years before the deluge, and three hundred and fifty after it, dying two years before Abram was born. His name may have been given to him by his parents in the hope that he would be the promised "seed of the woman" that should "bruise the serpent’s head." He was in the line of the patriarchs who feared God, and was himself a just man, Eze 14:14,20, and a "preacher of righteousness," 1Pe 3:19,20

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
בֶּן־ben- a son of H1121 Noun common · masculine singular construct
4,943× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
In the Bible, this word means a son or descendant, and can also refer to a grandson, nation, or quality. It appears in 1 Chronicles 24, describing a Levite named Beno. The word is used to show family relationships and inheritance.
Amplified meaning
a period of time, a stage of life
Tyndale gloss
son: child
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

בֵּן (ben) means 'son' or 'male child' and encompasses a wide range of meanings, including descendants, young animals, and even figurative uses like sparks or arrows. It can refer to members of a tribe or class and is used in various contexts throughout the Old Testament, such as in 1 Chronicles 24:26. The word is derived from a root meaning 'to build' and implies a connection to family or lineage.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

בֵּן 4870 n.m. son

son, male child, born of a woman

children (male and female)

youth, young men

the young of animals

of plant shoots

fig. of lifeless things, sparks, stars, arrows

member of a guild, order or class

of animals son of (the) herd

ב׳ as n. relat. followed by word of quality, characteristic, etc.

n. relat. of age

base

בְּנוֹ 1 Ch 24:26, 27 as n.pr.m. in AV, RV, but render: the sons of Jaaziah his son, & the sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son, cf. VB & Be Öt.

done

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H1121a בֵּן son . son, male child, born of a woman

. children (male and female)

. youth, young men

. the young of animals

. of plant shoots

. fig. of lifeless things, sparks, stars, arrows

. . member of a guild, order or class

. of animals son of (the) herd

. ב׳ as n. relat. followed by word of quality, characteristic, etc.

. n. relat. of age

H1121b בְּנוֹ as n. pr. m. in AV, RV, but render: the sons of Jaaziah his son, & the sons of Merari by Jaaziah his son

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

1121 ben bane

from 1129; a son (as a builder of the family name), in the

widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship,

including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition,

etc., (like 1, 251, etc.)):--+ afflicted, age, (Ahoh-)

(Ammon-) (Hachmon-) (Lev-)ite, (anoint-)ed one, appointed to,

(+) arrow, (Assyr-) (Babylon-) (Egypt-) (Grec-)ian, one born,

bough, branch, breed, + (young) bullock, + (young) calf, X

came up in, child, colt, X common, X corn, daughter, X of

first, + firstborn, foal, + very fruitful, + postage, X in, +

kid, + lamb, (+) man, meet, + mighty, + nephew, old, (+)

people, + rebel, + robber, X servant born, X soldier, son, +

spark, + steward, + stranger, X surely, them of, + tumultuous

one, + valiant(-est), whelp, worthy, young (one), youth.

see HEBREW for 01129

see HEBREW for 01

see HEBREW for 0251

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

בֵּן (ben) — son: child.

: child/son

בְּנוֹ (be.no) — Beno.

A man of the tribe of Levi living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ch.24.26;

son of: Jaaziah (H3269);

brother of: Shoham (H7719), Zaccur (H2139I) and Ibri (H5681)

§ Beno = "his son"

the sons of Jaaziah and the sons of Merari by Jaahziah (his son)

בֵּן (ben) — son: descendant/people.

: descendant, people, tribe, nation

A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)

§ : child/son

בֵּן (ben) — son: young animal.

: calf/lamb/young(ANIMAL)

A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)

§ : descendant

בֵּן (ben) — son: type of.

: rebel/son(Belial)

A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)

§ : people/men/nation/tribe

בֵּן (ben) — son.

: [inheriting]son/heir

A sub-meaning of ben (בֵּן ": child" H1121)

בֵּן (ben) — son: warrior.

: warrior/son(strong)

Read the full entry →
Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
N-ms — Noun common · masculine singular construct
HNcmsc
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ov:

(1) In Anglo-Saxon, had the meaning "from," "away from" (as the strengthened form "off" has still), and was not used for genitive or possessive relations, these being expressed by special case-forms. In the Norman period, however, "of" was taken to represent the French de (a use well developed by the time of Chaucer), and in the Elizabethan period both senses of "of" were in common use. But after about 1600 the later force of the word became predominant, and in the earlier sense (which is now practically obsolete) it was replaced by other prepositions. In consequence the King James Version (and in some cases the Revised Version (British and American)) contains many uses of "of" that are no longer familiar--most of them, to be sure, causing no difficulty, but there still being a few responsible for real obscurities.

English usagewhat the translators’ English meant
Webster's Dictionary (1828), Webster's Unabridged (1913), Webster's Dictionary (1806)

OF, preposition ov. [Gr.]

1. From or out of; proceeding from, as the cause, source, means, author or agent bestowing.

I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered to you. 1 Corinthians 11:1.

For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts. Joshua 11:1.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.

Lamentations 3:1.

The whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. Proverbs 16:1.

Go, inquire of the Lord for me. 2 Chronicles 34:2.

That holy thing that shall be born of thee. Luke 1:1.

Hence of is the sign of the genitive case, the case that denotes production; as the son of man, the son proceeding from man, produced from man. This is the primary sense, although we now say, produced by man. 'Part of these were slain; ' that is, a number separate, for part denotes a division; the sense then is, a number from or out of the whole were slain. So also, 'some of these were slain; ' that is…

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
חֲמֵ֥שׁcha.Mesh five H2568 Adj
343× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
This Hebrew word simply means the number five. It is used throughout the Bible to describe quantities of five, such as five loaves of bread in Matthew 14:17. It can also mean a multiple of five.
Tyndale gloss
five
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

חָמֵשׁ (chamesh) means 'five' in Hebrew. It serves as both a cardinal number and can indicate a multiple of five when combined with another number. The word also has an ordinal form, 'fifth.' The entries consistently define this numeral without any noted disagreement.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

חָמֵשׁ, חֲמִשָּׁה 342 n.m. and f. five

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H2568 חָמֵשׁ, חֲמִשָּׁה five

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

2568 chamesh khaw-maysh'

masculine chamishshah {kham-ish-shaw}; a primitive numeral;

five:--fif(-teen), fifth, five (X apiece).

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

חָמֵשׁ (cha.mesh) — five.

1) five

1a) five (cardinal number)

1b) a multiple of five (with another number)

1c) fifth (ordinal number)

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Adj — Adj
HAcbsc
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fiv (chamesh; pente).

See NUMBER.

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
מֵא֖וֹתme.'ot hundred H3967
581× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
Means a hundred, used as a simple number or part of a larger number in the Bible. It appears in various forms, including fractions like one one-hundredth. Found in books like Genesis and Psalms.
Tyndale gloss
hundred
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

מֵאָה (me'ah) means 'hundred' in Hebrew. It can refer to a simple number, a component of a larger number, or a fraction representing one one-hundredth. The entries consistently describe its use as a numeral without significant disagreement.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

מֵאָה 583 n.f. hundred

as simple number

as part of larger number

a hundredth part

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H3967 מֵאָה hundred . as simple number

. as part of larger number

. a hundredth part

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

3967 me'ah may-aw'

or metyah {may-yaw'}; properly, a primitive numeral; a

hundred; also as a multiplicative and a

fraction:--hundred((-fold), -th), + sixscore.

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

מֵאָה (me.ah) — hundred.

1) hundred

1a) as simple number

1b) as part of larger number

1c) as a fraction-one one-hundredth (1/100)

Aramaic equivalent: me.ah (מְאָה "hundred" H3969)

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
HAcfpa
HAcfpa
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hun'-dred (me'-ah; hekaton).

See NUMBER.

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
שָׁנָ֑הsha.Nah year[s] H8141 Noun common · feminine singular absolute
877× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
This word also means a year, like when Abraham was 100 years old in Genesis 21. It is used to describe a period of time, age, or a lifetime.
Tyndale gloss
year
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

שָׁנָה (shaneh) means 'year' and is derived from the root meaning to change or revolve. It encompasses various aspects of time, including divisions of time, measures of age, and even a lifetime. The Aramaic equivalent is שְׁנָה (she.nah), also meaning 'year'.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

שָׁנָה 877 n.f. year (etym. v. √[v.ek.aa])

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H8141 שָׁנָה year (etym. v. √[8138a])

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

8141 shaneh shaw-neh'

(in plura or (feminine) shanah {shaw-naw'}; from 8138; a year

(as a revolution of time):--+ whole age, X long, + old,

year(X -ly).

see HEBREW for 08138

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

שָׁנָה (sha.neh) — year.

1) year

1a) as division of time

1b) as measure of time

1c) as indication of age

1d) a lifetime (of years of life)

Aramaic equivalent: she.nah (שְׁנָה "year" H8140)

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
N-fs — Noun common · feminine singular absolute
HNcfsa
and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
וַיּ֣וֹלֶדvai.Yo.led and he fathered H3205 Verb · Hiphil · sequential imperfect third person masculine singular
496× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
In the Bible, this Hebrew word means to give birth or beget a child, like when Eve gave birth to Cain in Genesis 4:1. It can also mean to help someone give birth, like a midwife. This word is used in many KJV translations, including Genesis and Isaiah.
Amplified meaning
to beget, to father
Tyndale gloss
to beget
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

The Hebrew word יָלַד (*yalad*) means to bear, bring forth, or beget, and it encompasses various forms of childbirth and lineage declaration. It can refer to both the act of giving birth and the role of a midwife. The entries also note its use in contexts of distress and wicked behavior, as well as in reference to birthdays.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

יָלַד 497 vb. bear, bring forth, beget

Qal

bear, bring forth

less often beget

of both parents

Niph. be born

Pi. cause (or help) to bring forth, viz., assist or tend as midwife

Pu. be born

Hiph.

beget (a father a child)

bear

Hoph. day of one's being born = birthday

Hithp. declared their pedigree

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H3205 יָלַד bear, bring forth, beget .. bear, bring forth

. less often beget

. of both parents

. be born

. cause (or help) to bring forth, viz., assist or tend as midwife

. be born

. . beget (a father a child)

. bear

. day of one's being born = birthday

. declared their pedigree

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

3205 yalad yaw-lad'

a primitive root; to bear young; causatively, to beget;

medically, to act as midwife; specifically, to show

lineage:--bear, beget, birth((-day)), born, (make to) bring

forth (children, young), bring up, calve, child, come, be

delivered (of a child), time of delivery, gender, hatch,

labour, (do the office of a) midwife, declare pedigrees, be

the son of, (woman in, woman that) travail(-eth, -ing woman).

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

יָלַד (ya.lad) — to beget.

1) to bear, bringforth, beget, gender, travail

1a) (Qal)

1a1) to bear, bring forth

1a1a) of child birth

1a1b) of distress (simile)

1a1c) of wicked (behaviour)

1a2) to beget

1b) (Niphal) to be born

1c) (Piel)

1c1) to cause or help to bring forth

1c2) to assist or tend as a midwife

1c3) midwife (participle)

1d) (Pual) to be born

1e) (Hiphil)

1e1) to beget (a child)

1e2) to bear (fig. -of wicked bringing forth iniquity)

1f) (Hophal) day of birth, birthday (infinitive)

1g) (Hithpael) to declare one's birth (pedigree)

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
Conj | V-Hiphil-ConsecImperf-3ms — Verb · Hiphil · sequential imperfect third person masculine singular
Hc/Vhw3ms
and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
נֹ֔חַNo.ach Noah H5146 Noun proper masculine
46× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
Noah, the patriarch who built the ark to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the flood, is the namesake of this Hebrew word. He is first mentioned in Genesis 5:29 as the son of Lamech. His story is a crucial part of biblical history.
Tyndale gloss
Noah
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

נֹחַ (Noach) refers to Noah, a significant biblical figure known for surviving the Flood. The name is associated with the concept of 'rest.' He is the son of Lamech and the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and is first mentioned in Genesis 5:29. The entries consistently identify him as the patriarch who built the ark.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

נֹחַ 46 n.pr.m. Noah

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H5146 נֹחַ Noah

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

5146 Noach no'-akh

the same as 5118; rest; Noach, the patriarch of the

flood:--Noah.

see HEBREW for 05118

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

נֹחַ (no.ach) — Noah.

A man living at the time before the Flood, first mentioned at Gen.5.29;

son of: Lamech (H3929H);

father of: Shem (H8035), Ham (H2526) and Japheth (H3315)

Also named: Nōe (Νῶε "Noah" G3575)

§ Noah = "rest"

son of Lamech, father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth; builder of the ark which saved his family from the destruction of the world which God sent on the world by the flood; became the new seminal head of mankind because his family were the only survivors of the flood

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
N-proper — Noun proper masculine
HNpm
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Noah

Rest, (Heb. Noah) the grandson of Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-29), who was for two hundred and fifty years contemporary with Adam, and the son of Lamech, who was about fifty years old at the time of Adam’s death. This patriarch is rightly regarded as the connecting link between the old and the new world. He is the second great progenitor of the human family.

The words of his father Lamech at his birth (Gen. 5:29) have been regarded as in a sense prophetical, designating Noah as a type of Him who is the true “rest and comfort” of men under the burden of life (Matt.11:28).

He lived five hundred years, and then there were born unto him three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth (Gen.…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Rest, comfort, the name of celebrated patriarch who was preserved by Jehovah with his family, by means of the ark, through the deluge, and thus became the second founder of the human race. The history of Noah and the deluge is contained in Ge 5:1-9:29. He was the son of Lamech, and grandson of Methuselah lived six hundred years before the deluge, and three hundred and fifty after it, dying two years before Abram was born. His name may have been given to him by his parents in the hope that he would be the promised "seed of the woman" that should "bruise the serpent’s head." He was in the line of the patriarchs who feared God, and was himself a just man, Eze 14:14,20, and a "preacher of righteousness," 1Pe 3:19,20

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
אֶת־'et- the object marker H853 Particle
10,946× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
In the original Hebrew, this word points out the object of a verb or preposition, like 'namely' or 'even'. It appears in many books, including Genesis and Exodus. It's not directly translated in English, but helps clarify the meaning of sentences.
Tyndale gloss
[Obj.]
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

853 'eth ayth

apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of

entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more

definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or

namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).

see HEBREW for 0226

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

אֵת (et) — [Obj.].

sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative

Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
DirObjM — Particle
HTo
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
שֵׁ֖םshem Shem H8035 Noun proper masculine
17× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
Shem was Noah's eldest son, mentioned in Genesis 5:32, and the ancestor of many Semitic tribes. He had several sons, including Asshur and Aram, and is an important figure in biblical genealogy. Shem's story is part of the early history of humanity.
Amplified meaning
the eldest son, the ancestor of many Semitic tribes
Tyndale gloss
Shem
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

שֵׁם (shem) refers to Shem, the first son of Noah, and is associated with his descendants, the Semitic tribes. The word also means 'name' in Hebrew. It appears in the context of the genealogies in Genesis, specifically noted in Genesis 5:32.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

שֵׁם n.pr.m. first son of Noah

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H8035 שֵׁם first son of Noah

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

8035 Shem shame

the same as 8034; name; Shem, a son of Noah (often includ.

his posterity):--Sem, Shem.

see HEBREW for 08034

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

שֵׁם (shem) — Shem.

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.5.32;

son of: Noah (H5146);

brother of: Ham (H2526) and Japheth (H3315);

father of: Asshur (H0804H), Elam (H5867C), Arpachshad (H0775), Lud (H3865) and Aram (H0758)

Also named: Sēm (Σήμ "Shem" G4590)

§ Shem = "name"

the eldest son of Noah and progenitor of the Semitic tribes

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
N-proper — Noun proper masculine
HNpm
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

shem (shem; Sem):

1. Position in Noah's Family: His Name:

The eldest son of Noah, from whom the Jews, as well as the Semitic ("Shemitic") nations in general have descended. When giving the names of Noah's three sons, Shem is always mentioned first (Ge 9:18; 10:1, etc.); and though "the elder" in "Shem the brother of Japheth the elder" (Ge 10:21 margin) is explained as referring to Shem, this is not the rendering of Onkelos. His five sons peopled the greater part of West Asia's finest tracts, from Elam on the East to the Mediterranean on the West. Though generally regarded as meaning "dusky" (compare the Assyr-Babylonian samu--also Ham--possibly = "black," Japheth, "fair"), it is considered possible that Shem may be the usual Hebrew word for "name" (shem), given him because he was…

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Shem

A name; renown, the first mentioned of the sons of Noah (Gen. 5:32; 6:10). He was probably the eldest of Noah’s sons. The words “brother of Japheth the elder” in Gen. 10:21 are more correctly rendered “the elder brother of Japheth,” as in the Revised Version. Shem’s name is generally mentioned first in the list of Noah’s sons. He and his wife were saved in the ark (7:13). Noah foretold his preeminence over Canaan (9:23-27). He died at the age of six hundred years, having been for many years contemporary with Abraham, according to the usual chronology. The Israelitish nation sprang from him (Gen. 11:10-26; 1 Chr. 1:24-27).

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(name), the eldest son of Noah. (Genesis 5:32) He was 98 years old, married, and childless at the time of the flood. After it, he, with his father, brothers, sisters-in-law and wife, received the blessing of God, (Genesis 9:1) and entered into the covenant. With the help of his brother Japheth, he covered the nakedness of their father and received the first blessing. (Genesis 9:25-27) He died at the age of 630 years. The portion of the earth occupied by the descendants of Shem, (Genesis 10:21,31) begins at its northwestern extremity with Lydia, and includes Syria (Aram), Chaldaea (Arphaxad), parts Of Assyria (Asshur), of Persia (Elam), and of the Arabian peninsula (Joktan).…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

A son of Noah, Ge 5:32 6:10, always named before Ham and Japheth, as the eldest son; or, as some think, because he was the forefather of the Hebrews. In Ge 10:21, the word elder may be applied to Shem, instead of Japheth. He received a blessing from his dying father, Ge 9:26, and of his line the Messiah was born. He had five sons, and their posterity occupied the central regions between Ham and Japheth, and peopled the finest provinces of the East. The languages of some of these nations are still called the Shemitic languages, including the Hebrew, Chalee, Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, etc.; but in this general class are found several languages spoken by nations descended from Ham.

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
אֶת־'et- the object marker H853 Particle
10,946× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
In the original Hebrew, this word points out the object of a verb or preposition, like 'namely' or 'even'. It appears in many books, including Genesis and Exodus. It's not directly translated in English, but helps clarify the meaning of sentences.
Tyndale gloss
[Obj.]
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

853 'eth ayth

apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of

entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more

definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or

namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).

see HEBREW for 0226

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

אֵת (et) — [Obj.].

sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative

Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
HTo — Particle
HTo
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
חָ֥םcham Ham H2526 Noun proper masculine
16× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
Ham was a son of Noah and the name also refers to his descendants or their country, often associated with hot southern lands. This term appears in Genesis 5:32 and 9:18. Ham's story is significant in biblical history.
Amplified meaning
the son associated with hot southern lands
Tyndale gloss
Ham
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

חָם (Cham) refers to Ham, the second son of Noah, and is associated with his descendants, including various peoples from southern lands. The name also serves as a collective term for Egyptians. The word is linked to the idea of heat, reflecting the tropical habitat of the region.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

חָם n.pr.pers.m. and loc.

Ham, 2nd son of Noah

a name (coll.) for Egyptians

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H2526 חָם . Ham, 2nd son of Noah

. a name (coll.) for Egyptians

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

2526 Cham khawm

the same as 2525; hot (from the tropical habitat); Cham, a

son of Noah; also (as a patronymic) his descendants or their

country:--Ham.

see HEBREW for 02525

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

חָם (cham) — Ham.

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.5.32;

son of: Noah (H5146);

brother of: Shem (H8035) and Japheth (H3315);

father of: Canaan (H3667), Cush (H3568), Egypt (H4714) and Put (H6316)

§ Ham = "hot"

1) 2nd son of Noah, father of Canaan and of various peoples which were inhabitants of southern lands

2) in late usage, a collective name for Egyptians

n pr loc

חָם (cham) — Ham.

§ Ham = "hot"

southern lands continaing the descendants of Ham

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
N-proper — Noun proper masculine
HNpm
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Ham

Warm, hot, and hence the south; also an Egyptian word meaning “black”, the youngest son of Noah (Gen. 5:32; comp. 9:22,24). The curse pronounced by Noah against Ham, properly against Canaan his fourth son, was accomplished when the Jews subsequently exterminated the Canaanites.

One of the most important facts recorded in Gen. 10 is the foundation of the earliest monarchy in Babylonia by Nimrod the grandson of Ham (6, 8, 10). The primitive Babylonian empire was thus Hamitic, and of a cognate race with the primitive inhabitants of Arabia and of Ethiopia. (See ACCAD.)

The race of Ham were the most energetic of all the descendants of Noah in the early times of the post-diluvian world.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(hot; sunburnt). The name of one of the three sons of Noah, apparently the second in age. (B.C. 2448.) Of the history of Ham nothing is related except his irreverence to his father and the curse which that patriarch pronounced. The sons of Ham are stated, to have been "Cush and Mizraim and Phut and Canaan." (Genesis 10:6) comp. 1Chr 1:8 Egypt is recognized as the "land of Ham" in the Bible. (Psalms 78:51; 105:23; 106:22) The other settlements of the sons of Ham are discussed under their respective names. The three most illustrious Hamite nations--the Cushites, the Phoenicians and the Egyptians--were greatly mixed with foreign peoples. Their architecture has a solid grandeur that we look for in vain elsewhere. According to the…

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

1. Burnt, swarthy, black, A son of Noah, Ge 5:32 7:13 9:18 10:1. The impiety revealed in his conduct towards his father, drew upon him, or rather, according to the Bible statement, on his son Canaan, a prophetic malediction, Ge 9:20-27. Ham was the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan, that is, the ancestor of the Canaanites, Southern Arabians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, and the Africans in general, Ge 10:6-20.

2. A poetical name for Egypt, Ps 78:51 106:22.

3. An unknown place of the Zuzim, Ge 14:5.

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

hot; heat; brown

and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
וְאֶת־ve.'Et and the object marker H853 Conjunction · particle
10,946× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
In the original Hebrew, this word points out the object of a verb or preposition, like 'namely' or 'even'. It appears in many books, including Genesis and Exodus. It's not directly translated in English, but helps clarify the meaning of sentences.
Tyndale gloss
[Obj.]
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

אֵת (eth) is primarily a grammatical marker in Hebrew, indicating the definite direct object of a verb. It is not translated into English and typically precedes nouns that are definite. The word is derived from a demonstrative sense of entity, related to the Hebrew word for 'self.' Its Aramaic equivalent is יָת (yat).

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H853 אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

853 'eth ayth

apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of

entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more

definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or

namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).

see HEBREW for 0226

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

אֵת (et) — [Obj.].

sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative

Aramaic equivalent: yat (יָת "whom" H3487)

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
HC/To — Conjunction · particle
HC/To
The company it keepswords that stand beside it more often than chance
and he was Noah a son of five hundred year[s] and he fathered Noah the object marker Shem the object marker Ham and the object marker Japheth
יָֽפֶת׃Ya.fet Japheth H3315 Noun proper masculine
11× in the OT scale is logarithmic — the commonest word, אֵת, appears about 11,000×
In plain English
Meaning
Japheth was a son of Noah and the ancestor of many nations, including those living in the Mediterranean region. His name means 'opened' and he's mentioned in Genesis as one of Noah's three sons. Japheth's descendants spread out after the flood.
Amplified meaning
the ancestor of many nations, including those living in the Mediterranean region
Tyndale gloss
Japheth
Hebrew lexiconskeyed to Strong's numbers
Layman’s summary of all Lexicon entries.generated

יֶ֫פֶת (Yepheth) is the name of the third son of Noah, whose descendants are said to have settled in coastal regions of the Mediterranean and parts of Europe and Asia. The name may imply 'expansion' or 'opened.' He is first mentioned in Genesis 5:32 and is the brother of Shem and Ham, and father to several nations.

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon (full)

יֶ֫פֶת n.pr.m. third son of Noah

base

Brown-Driver-Briggs glosses

H3315 יֶ֫פֶת third son of Noah

Strong's Hebrew Dictionary

3315 Yepheth yeh'-feth

from 6601; expansion; Jepheth, a son of Noah; also his

posterity:--Japheth.

see HEBREW for 06601

Translators Brief Hebrew Lexicon

יֶ֫פֶת (ye.phet) — Japheth.

A man living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.5.32;

son of: Noah (H5146);

brother of: Shem (H8035) and Ham (H2526);

father of: Gomer (H1586), Magog (H4031), Madai (H4074), Javan (H3120), Tubal (H8422), Meshech (H4902) and Tiras (H8494)

§ Japheth = "opened"

the 3rd son of Noah whose descendants after the flood settled on the coastal lands of the Mediterranean spreading north into Europe and parts of Asia

Morphologythe parsing behind the code
Berean parsing
N-proper — Noun proper masculine
HNpm
Bible dictionarieson the English sense
Easton's Bible Dictionary

Japheth

Wide spreading: “God shall enlarge Japheth” (Heb. Yaphat Elohim le-Yephet, Gen. 9:27. Some, however, derive the name from yaphah, “to be beautiful;” hence white), one of the sons of Noah, mentioned last in order (Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13), perhaps first by birth (10:21; comp. 9:24). He and his wife were two of the eight saved in the ark (1 Pet. 3:20). He was the progenitor of many tribes inhabiting the east of Europe and the north of Asia (Gen. 10:2-5). An act of filial piety (9:20-27) was the occasion of Noah’s prophecy of the extension of his posterity.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

(enlargement), one of the three sons of Noah. The descendants of Japheth occupied the "isles of the Gentiles," (Genesis 10:5) --i.e. the coast lands of the Mediterranean Sea in Europe and Asia Minor-- whence they spread northward over the whole continent of Europe and a considerable portion of Asia.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

Enlargement, the eldest of Noah’s three sons, Ge 9:24 10:21, born one hundred years before the flood. He was perhaps the Iapetos, whom Greek legends represent as the progenitor of the Greek race. His seven sons, Ge 10:2-5 1Ch 1:5, occupied with their posterity the north of Asia and most of Europe. The probable location of each of the seven is described in its place. In later years the Greeks and Romans subdued large portions of Southern and Western Asia, in accordance with the prediction of Noah, Ge 9:27. The "enlargement" of Japheth now extends over America also.

Nave's Topical Bible

→ Son of Noah Ge 5:32; 6:10; 9:18; 10:21

→ His life preserved at the time of the great flood Ge 7:13; 9:18

→ Prudence of, on the occasion of Noah's drunkenness Ge 9:23,27

→ Descendants of Ge 10:2-5; 1Ch 1:5-7

Sources on this page. Lexicons and dictionaries imported from the CrossWire SWORD modules — Abbott-Smith, Strong's, Dodson, the Intermediate Liddell-Scott-Jones, Robinson and Packard, Webster and Cawdrey. Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Harper, 1889 — Grimm’s Wilke’s Clavis Novi Testamenti, translated, revised and enlarged by Joseph Henry Thayer) is public domain and is set here from the Internet Archive page scan greekenglishlex00grim; it is uncorrected OCR, marked as such on the entry itself, and the Strong’s numbers — which Thayer’s own edition does not carry — were matched by lemma against the other modules on this page. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880) and Moulton and Milligan’s Vocabulary of the Greek Testament (Hodder & Stoughton, 1930, which entered the United States public domain on 1 January 2026) are set from Internet Archive page scans synonymsofnewtes00treniala and vocabularyofgree00mouluoft, and are likewise uncorrected OCR matched to Strong’s numbers by lemma. Trench treats a group of words at once, so the same essay stands on the page of each word it compares. The Mounce Concise Greek-English Dictionary is © 1993 and is used here by permission for non-commercial use, www.teknia.com/greek-dictionary. The full Liddell-Scott-Jones and the Hebrew word data (TAHOT) come from STEPBible.org, CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs is the OpenScriptures digitisation, public domain. Syntax analysis is the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (biblicalhumanities.org); the concordance and morphology are built from the tagged Nestle 1904 text. Septuagint occurrences use the Open Scriptures Septuagint lemma index, derived from CCAT (University of Pennsylvania) and the Rahlfs 1935 dataset by Eliran Wong, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 — used here on a non-commercial ministry site. Greek of Josephus and Barnabas from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0. Commentaries and the Ante-Nicene Fathers are public-domain texts hosted on this site. Everyday Greek from the Duke Databank of Documentary Papyri, CC BY 3.0, with dates and provenance from the Heidelberger Gesamtverzeichnis. Philo and the Apostolic Fathers from Open Greek and Latin (First1KGreek), CC BY-SA 4.0. The apparatus and the fifth Greek column are the SBL Greek New Testament, © 2010 SBL and Logos Bible Software, CC BY 4.0. The Latin is the Clementine Vulgate (public domain); the Syriac New Testament is the ETCBC edition (MIT licence). The Hebrew behind the Greek is computed here from the Septuagint index and TAHOT, not taken from any aligned edition. The translation spread and the per-word edition marks come from the Translators Amalgamated Greek NT (STEPBible, CC BY 4.0); clause roles from the Nestle 1904 Lowfat treebank (CC BY-SA 4.0); place identifications and their confidence from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding (CC BY 4.0), with map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Gospel parallels are computed here from shared uncommon vocabulary, not taken from any printed harmony. Cross references are the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and the subject headings are Nave’s Topical Bible, both public domain. Works under Creative Commons licences are used unchanged apart from markup removal.

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