THE HOLIEST
ONE THE HOLIEST BOOK, HOLIEST
Tablet Twenty-Seven
"These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:" (Genesis 11:10)
<1>Any time in the Bible the history of generations of some people is discontinued and some events are described, and then later on the description of the generations of those people is picked up again, it means that those events which were described in-between happened during that generation and are related to them. Also it shows the importance of those events and their relationships with those people.
<2>In these verses, the generations of Shem are picked up again after they were finished in chapter 10. So it shows that the events described in chapter 11 from verses 1 through 9 happened in the period described about Shem's generations and are related to them.
"And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:11)
<3>In chapter 10 only the sons (the likenesses) were described who had been born from them. This again shows that in chapter 10 the emphasis was in showing the likeness of different types that were created on earth.
<4>Now in this chapter, the daughters are also described who had been born unto them.
"And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:" (Genesis 11:12)
<5>The time of becoming mature and being able to have children was shortened. Arphaxad was only thirty-five years old when he "begat Salah." God decided to shorten the lifespan of man to around one hundred twenty years before creating new generations. This occurred in chapter 6 of Genesis, "his days shall be an hundred and twenty years" (Genesis 6:3).
<6>Still in these verses, we can see that man is living much longer than that. As the explanation of the generations of Shem continues, the lifespan shrinks. This shows the Will of the Lord is taking place. But it takes generations before the actual desire of the Lord is achieved. <7>God desires and sets the process in motion but it takes time for His Will to be completely done. In fact the process of creating the new generation started twelve thousand years ago and was complete six thousand years ago. It took six thousand years to reach this human as we know him.
"And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:13)
"And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:" (Genesis 11:14)
"And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:15)
"And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:" (Genesis 11:16)
<8>It was in the time of Eber's sons that a great event happened to humanity.
"And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:17)
"And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:" (Genesis 11:18)
"And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:19)
<9>It was in Peleg's time that "the earth was divided" (Genesis 10:25). This division of the earth destroyed the land that was between North America, Canada, and the northern part of Europe. With this, the land of America was completely isolated from the rest of the world.
"And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:" (Genesis 11:20)
"And Reu lived after be begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:21)
"And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:" (Genesis 11:22)
"And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:23)
"And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:" (Genesis 11:24)
"And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:25)