17. The sons of Shem] These occupied the middle geographical “zone.”
Elam] is the name of a land and nation north of the Persian Gulf and east of Babylonia, and is often referred to in the Old Testament. Though settled by Semites at a very early date, it was subsequently, circa 2280 B.C., possessed by a non-Semitic race, who even extended their power over Babylonia itself. The inclusion of Elam among the Semites is doubtless due to its proximity to Asshur, and, though not strictly correct, is very natural.
Asshur] The Assyrians, who are so frequently referred to in the Old Testament, were mainly, if not entirely Semitic: a martial and ruthless people whose conquests in the 14th–7th centuries have made them world-famous.
Arpachshad] a somewhat obscure name. In the last part (chshad) the same consonants occur as in the name “Chasdim,” the “Chaldees” of the Old Testament. Possibly two names have been run together, the second being that of the Chaldees or Chaldeans, a Semitic race who from circa 900 B.C. dominated Babylonia, assimilating with the earlier Semitic inhabitants. This conjecture has some support in the surprising fact that the Chaldeans are not otherwise mentioned in the table; it is opposed by the fact that Arpachshad occurs elsewhere, verse 24; Genesis x. 24, xi. 10 ff.
Lud] the name suggests the Lydians, but how this non-Semitic people situated on the west coast of Asia Minor comes to be included with Asshur and Aram as a son of Shem is a mystery. Possibly therefore a Semitic region, called Lubdu, between Tigris and Euphrates is meant.
Aram] the “Syrians” of the Authorized Version; better called Arameans. They were widely settled in the lands to the north and north-east of Palestine, with important centres in Damascus (Syria proper) and the north of the Euphrates valley (the Aram-Naharaim of the Old Testament). So great and lasting was their influence on Israel that the Aramean dialect eventually superseded Hebrew and was the ordinary language of Palestine in the time of Christ.
Uz] From Genesis x. 23 it appears that in Chronicles the words “And the children of Aram[¹]” have dropped out, so that “Uz” etc. appear as the immediate descendants of Shem.
[¹] The Alexandrine MS. (A) of the LXX. has the words.
Neither Uz nor the three following names have been satisfactorily identified. For “Meshech” Genesis x. 23 (Hebrew but not LXX.) reads “Mash.”
18–23 (= Genesis x. 24–29).
Appendix to the Sons of Shem.
South Arabian Tribes.