Shem is the son of Noah traditionally associated with the Semitic peoples in Genesis’s genealogy. Genesis 10 lists descendants of Shem, and Genesis 11 continues through Shem’s line to Terah and Abraham. The name “Semitic” was later formed from Shem’s name because of this biblical genealogy.
Genesis 10:21–31 presents Shem as the ancestor of several peoples and includes Eber among his descendants. Eber’s name is traditionally connected with the term “Hebrew,” although the exact historical development of that connection is debated. The genealogy is therefore both a religious text and an important source for later naming traditions.
Modern scholarship uses “Semitic” primarily as a linguistic term for a branch of the Afroasiatic language family, including languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Amharic. It is not a scientifically precise racial category. The biblical association and the modern linguistic classification overlap in name and some historical relationships, but they should not be treated as identical concepts.