In Genesis, Shem was Noah’s son whose descendants included the Israelites. Genesis 10 places the peoples descended from Shem in the “generations of Shem,” and Genesis 11 traces the line from Shem through Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, and later ancestors to Abraham.
Shem is one of Noah’s three sons, alongside Ham and Japheth. The biblical Table of Nations in Genesis 10 associates each son’s descendants with different peoples and regions. Shem’s genealogy leads into the story of Terah and Abraham, making it the line connected with the Hebrew patriarchs in Genesis.
The term “Semitic” was later formed from Shem’s name, but modern linguistics uses it for a language-family classification rather than as a simple biblical family label. The Genesis genealogy is a religious and literary account, while modern population and language histories are studied through multiple kinds of evidence.