Shem is the son of Noah associated with the lineage of Abraham in Genesis.
Genesis 10 presents genealogies descending from Noah’s three sons. Genesis 11 then follows the line from Shem through several generations to Terah, the father of Abram, later called Abraham. This genealogical structure makes Shem the ancestor connected with Abraham’s line within the biblical text.
Genesis does not describe Shem as the founder of a modern ethnic category in the scientific sense. The later term “Semitic,” derived from the name Shem, has been used historically for languages and peoples, but modern linguistic classification is more precise than simply equating every Semitic-speaking population with one genealogical line.
Ham and Japheth also receive genealogical sections in Genesis 10, and their descendants are presented as important peoples in the story’s post-Flood world. The question concerns the line that Genesis 11 traces to Abraham, not a claim about all later populations. The answer is therefore Shem, whose genealogy connects Noah’s family to the patriarchal narratives.