And Arphaxad begot Salah; and Salah begot Eber.
24. begat Shelah ] R.V. marg. “The Sept. reads begat Cainan, and Cainan begat Shelah.” This addition is followed in Luk 3:36.
Eber ] See note on Gen 10:21. Eber is evidently the most important name in this genealogy. As the grandson of Arpachshad, his name stands geographically in some kind of connexion with Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad and Aram. ber in the Hebrew means “on the other side of.” The ancestors of Israel are described as those who “dwelt of old time beyond the River” ( ber ha-nhr = “on the other side of the Euphrates river”). See Jos 24:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
24 30 (J). Genealogy of Shem
A section from J, who speaks not of peoples, but of individuals of the heroic age. See Gen 11:10-19 (P) for a duplicate mention of “Arpachshad, Peleg.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 24. Salah] The founder of the people of Susiana.
Eber.] See Ge 10:21. The Septuagint add Cainan here, with one hundred and thirty to the chronology.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
24. ArphaxadThe settlement ofhis posterity was in the extensive valley of Shinar, on the Tigris,towards the southern extremity of Mesopotamia, including the countryof Eden and the region on the east side of the river.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Arphaxad begat Salah,…. Or Shelach which signifies “a sending forth”; that is, of waters: it is part of the name of Methuselah, given him by his father, as prophetic of the flood, see Ge 5:21 and Arphaxad, who was born two years after the flood, gives this name to his first born, as commemorative of it: according to some, from him are the Susians g; and in Susiana is found a city called Sele, by Ptolemy h; but this seems not to be a sufficient proof:
and Salah begat Eber; from whom, Josephus i says, the Jews were called Hebrews from the beginning; and which, perhaps, is as good a derivation of their name as can be given, and seems to be confirmed by
Nu 24:24 though some derive it from Abraham’s passing over the rivers in his way from Chaldea into Syria; but be it so, why might not this name be given to Eber, as prophetic of that passage, or of the passage of his posterity over the Euphrates into Canaan, as well as Eber gave to his son Peleg his name, as a prediction of the division of the earth in his time? the Septuagint version of this text inserts a Cainan between Arphaxad and Salah, but is not to be found in any Hebrew copy, nor in the Samaritan, Syriac, and Arabic versions, nor in Josephus, see Lu 3:36.
g Vid. Bochart. Phaleg. l. 2. c. 13. col. 92. h Geograph. l. 6. c. 3. i Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 4.)
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(24) Arphaxad begat Salah.Heb., Shelah. The rest of the chapter is devoted to giving an account of the settlements of the Joktanite Arabs, who formed only one, apparently, of the races sprung from Arphaxad, as in this table even the Hebrews are omitted, although Ebers birth is given with the view of showing that the right of primogeniture belonged not to Joktan, but to Eber. The name Arphaxad, as we have seen (Gen. 10:22), at present defies all explanation. For the rest, see the Tldth Shem, Gen. 11:10-26.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
24. The line of Arphaxad is now specially taken up, as that with which the narrative is mainly concerned . Salah, or Shelah, from , to send forth, one sent; hence Shiloah, or Siloah, sent . Joh 9:7. Eber, or Heber, from , beyond, that is, beyond the river, (Euphrates,) an emigrant . Both of these names seem to point to the migration of the Hebrew people from Aram westward . The name Hebrew, , first occurs in Gen 14:13, in the phrase Abram the Hebrew, and seems to be derived from the same root, meaning “one coming from beyond,” (the river Euphrates,) that is, immigrant, pilgrim. So the Seventy understood the word, and, therefore, translated it , one from beyond . (So Jerome, Theodotion, Chrysostom, Origen, Rosenmuller, Gesenius, Furst, Knobel . ) In later years the term became narrowed to those who came from beyond the Jordan, that is, the Israelites proper, who dwelt west of the Jordan . (Furst . ) The sacred historian is supposed by many to have traced the word Hebrew to the person Eber, making it a patronymic, in styling Shem the “father of all the children of Eber . ” Gen 10:21. (So Gesenius . ) But he calls the Hebrew people sons of Eber simply because the name Eber expresses their character; they were a pilgrim people, going forth by faith to a land that was not their own; wandering there for generations before they obtained possession, yet believing it theirs, (Heb 11:8-9,) and conquering it at last by divine help. They were owners of the land where they dwelt, not by original possession or conquest, but by faith. The word Eber expresses this distinguishing trait of the Hebrew people. Comp. Gen 12:1-2. Thus were they typical of the spiritual Israel, who are pilgrims and strangers here, but seek a heavenly country. Heb 11:13-14. This is the name by which the chosen people were designated by foreigners (see Gen 39:14; Gen 39:17, etc . ) and by the Greek and Roman writers until the term Jew (from Judah) came into use . They called themselves Israelites, except when speaking of themselves to foreigners, or in contrast with foreigners . Gen 40:15; Exo 1:19; Exo 2:11; Exo 2:13. This trait made them a peculiar people .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And Arpachshad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber and to Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.’
The movement from ‘begat’ to ‘born two sons’ is in reverse to the earlier ‘sons of’ becoming ‘begat’ (Gen 10:8). The inclusion of both descriptions in the same sentence, yet in different order, serves to demonstrate that such changes are purely stylistic and not evidence of separate narratives.
“In his days the earth was divided”. Division is mentioned in Gen 10:5 and Gen 10:32, but there the idea is of a gradual division into nations. ‘Division’ is not mentioned in Genesis 11. The meaning may therefore be that ‘the land was divided’ by irrigation channels. Peleg’s name (‘water-courses, division’) may have been given because of this very intention. We can compare Isa 30:25; Isa 32:2; Job 29:6; Job 38:25 where ‘peleg’ means irrigation canals (Assyrian plagu). Alternately the ‘division’ could refer to a dispute between the two sons, resulting in a divided land, like that between Abraham and Lot.
However it is possible that this is suggesting that Genesis 11 and the process of division into nations began at this time, but then why not more directly say that ‘that was when the people were scattered’?
The genealogy of Arpachshad at this point is clearly a genuine genealogy as we understand it (compare Gen 11:10-14) as befits the ancestor of Eber and Abraham. Thus Peleg comes very early on in the period that produced the nations.
Eber – the name means ‘one who emigrates’. He is thought of as the eponymous ancestor of ‘the Hebrews’, and the name appears to be referred to Israel in Num 24:24. But while the term ‘Hebrew’ is referred to Abraham and his descendants, and very much later became in general use connected with the Jews, it was originally essentially used in a context where the term is applied by foreigners who saw them as immigrants and probably mainly used in derision. Israel did not see themselves as ‘the Hebrews’.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 10:24-25. Arphaxad begat Salah Who established himself, as there is great reason to believe, in Susiana: he begat Eber, who begat two sons, the name of one of whom was Peleg, (division,) so called, because the earth was, by mutual compact, divided among these descendants of Noah in his days. This division was made, it is supposed, at the time of Peleg’s birth, more than one hundred years after the flood, when there must have been great numbers upon the earth. Though others are of opinion, that there is no need to confine it to the time of Peleg’s birth, as they think the name might be given him in a prophetic view, as Noah’s and many others were; and consequently, any period of Peleg’s life (suppose when he was a hundred years old, as he lived to be two hundred and thirty nine) may be assigned for that event; in which case there might have been some millions upon the earth at that time; that is, suppose the division to have been made two hundred years after the flood. And there is no reason to suppose, that all the persons here mentioned went to the several countries they possessed at one and the same time: the different plantations, most probably, were made at different times, and by a gradual progression.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Gen 10:24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
Ver. 24. And Arphaxad. ] Held to be the father of the Chaldees.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eber. Whence the name Hebrews (Gen 14:13) = beyond. The people coming from and beyond the “Flood”, i.e. the Euphrates, to Canaan (Jos 24:2, Jos 24:3, Jos 24:14, Jos 24:15).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Salah: Heb. Shelah, Gen 11:12-15
Reciprocal: 1Ch 1:18 – Shelah Luk 3:35 – Sala