Shem is traditionally identified as Noah's son and the ancestor of the Hebrews. Genesis 10 places the line of Shem among the genealogies that follow the Flood, and Genesis 11 traces Abraham's ancestry through Shem's descendants.
Shem is one of Noah's three sons, alongside Ham and Japheth. The “Table of Nations” in Genesis 10 associates different peoples with the three brothers, although the genealogy is a theological and literary account rather than a modern genetic classification.
The term “Semitic” was later formed from Shem's name and became associated with language groups including Hebrew and Aramaic. In modern scholarship, “Semitic” is primarily a linguistic term, so it should not be treated as a simple biological label for everyone claimed in ancient genealogies.
The biblical genealogy from Shem to Abraham includes figures such as Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, and Terah. The connection to the Hebrews is therefore made through a lineage, not by saying that Shem himself was Hebrew in the later historical sense.