Japheth is Hebrew for fair, and Shem’s name has nothing to do with colour at all. In very dark people the melanocytes are active all the time, producing lots of melanin. Answer: Noah had three sons born to him, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, before God sent a flood to destroy the world (Genesis 5:32). According to Genesis 10, Noah had three sons: * Ham, … Well, in Genesis chapter 9 that we have just been reading about the Noahic Covenant made with Noah and the sons of Noah and the family, and in verses 18 and 19, we read of their emerging from the ark and evidently from the standpoint of the providence of God they had turned now to the seeking after God. That’s why there is really only one Human species, even though there are separate groups with varying ‘racial’ characteristics. The original question was: Japheth means "may he have space" or "may God enlarge." Perhaps Noah’s daughters-in-law were of different races. Can racial differences be explained by all races being descendants of Noah’s family? I have heard the colour differences can be explained by some theory on pigmentation and references to black people having white kids which are not Albino. At first sight, the question why Noah cursed his son Ham doesn’t seem very relevant for Christians nowadays. Shem (Asia) Shem (Heb. EYES & HAIR: If we all came from only Adam and Eve, where did the huge variation in hair and eye colour come from? Noah himself was the first Albino, who was seen as an outcast for having pale skin, blue eyes and white hair. But Ham had disrespected and violated their father by looking at his nakedness. ( see Genesis 10-11). The authors of the Bible didn’t think about “race” in modern terms (we’re talking about a book that refers to southern Sudanese — Cush — as a “smooth-skinned” people, which apparently impressed the writer more than the color of that skin). Carotenoids are found in the outermost layer of skin. The descendants of Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Did Noah Have Triplets? From each of Noah's sons came the three divisions of called the "races". She is particularly interested in design in living things and how living things interact with one another, as well as developing a Biblical understanding of biology. All the tall thin Eskimos have been eliminated by natural selection because man does not evolve to cope with the climate, the climate eliminates any who can’t cope. was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as father of Canaan. Donate here. All three of the wives along with their husbands, father-in-law, and mother-in-law boarded the ark and started humanity again after the flood. However, that did not happen because only a few centuries after the flood, mankind rebelled against God at the Tower of Babel, and God split Noah’s descendants who spoke only one language, into separate language groups and forced them to separate. His sons included Arpachshad, Elam, Asshur, Lud, and Aram. Shem was probably listed first because it was from his line that the Messiah, Jesus Christ, descended. The ‘colour’ names of Noah’s sons indicate there were differences in skin pigmentation levels already present in Noah’s family, which would have been passed onto their immediate descendents, along with any other variations, e.g. The name Ham means dark , and the name Japheth means fair , or light coloured. are switched on or off. Why is race so intertwined with slavery in the USA? But would these represent three different races? Most of the human race is a mid-brown colour, with melanocytes being moderately active. Canaan, the son of Ham and grandson of Noah, settled in the area that would later become Israel, the territory God had promised to the Jews. Historically, it has been taught that Noah’s three sons fathered three basic genetic groups: Shem went to the East, Ham to the South and Japheth to the West. Noah’s firstborn son, Japheth, is listed as the father of Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras (Genesis 10:2). Thanks to recent advances in human genome research we know that body structures and functions are controlled by a large number of genetic switches that turn genes on and off. The covenant made with Noah and future humanity would have been meaningless if only a part of the human race were involved. Out of which of Noah’s three sons did the Chinese race come from? Ask a Question. If Noah's sons (Japheth, Shem, and Ham) are the first white, black, and Asian, what is Noah’s race? Below you will see the sons of Ham Noah’s second son. The inheritance of Israel to the lineage of Jacob's 12 sons. All racial groups have all of these pigments. Melanin is a dark brown pigment, carotenoids are yellow and orange, and haemoglobin is the red pigment in blood. The answer is simple. After the flood, Noah's sons and their wives and offspring repopulated the earth. Illustration of Noah and his three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth constructing the Ark as his wife calls chosen animals using shofar. Japheth was the oldest (Genesis 10:21), and Ham … The three sons of Noah are ancestors to three distinct and sometimes mixed peoples. (Genesis 10:20, NIV). Retrieved from https://www.learnreligions.com/sons-of-noah-701191. This was the first hint in the Bible that the Gentiles would also be blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Lineage of Adam Through Ephraim in Historical Context, Lessons from the Biblical Story of Noah: A Righteous Man, The Story of Noah and the Flood Bible Study Guide, Meet Methuselah: The Oldest Man Who Ever Lived, A Profile of Abraham of the Jewish Nation, M.A., English Composition, Illinois State University, B.S., English Literature, Illinois State University. The covenant made with Noah and future humanity would have been meaningless if only a part of the human race were involved. 9:19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated. For example, very dark people cannot get enough vitamin D if they live in high latitude places with long dark winters, such as northern Europe. Genesis 10:6. Below are comments from The Genesis Record by Henry Morris. 20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: Their descendants spread to the coastlands around the Mediterranean and lived in harmony with Shem's people. the origin of races? Further within each of the sons was the potential to produce all the variations that is evident within the three races of man. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham (Cham), and Japheth, but it is Ham and his lineage that settled Africa and various parts of Arabia.Although that is the case, there is lots of evidence that Ham was not the only black son, but may have had black skin in common with Shem. Illustration of Mesopotamian King Nimrod standing near slaves constructing the Tower of Babel. Of Aram’s sons, Uz is later referred to in the book of Job (Job 1:1). they had family resemblances. PARABLE? The issue is confusing because birth order is usually the same as the order of names listed in the Bible. If you are a white skinned Europeans you may have noticed this on the soles of your feet, where the layer is very thick in all people. Ham means "hot" or "sunburnt." The differences in colour come only from variations in how much pigment is in the skin, and in their distribution within the layers of skin. Total Destruction Thus, the biblical evidence seems to argue for the total destruction of all of humanity, except for the eight people in the ark. Noah was white, he was perfect in his generation, he was a direct descendant of Adam. Would have been the same race as Noah’s wife Naamah. After the Flood, God purposed Noah's sons and their wives and offspring with the task of repopulating the world. Blessed by Noah along with Shem, he fathered seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Also, why are there skeletal differences that enable some races to be better than others in certain types of sport, as well as tell-tale differences in the skull and the shapes and sizes of noses, cheekbones etc.? Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham (Cham), and Japheth, but it is Ham and his lineage that settled Africa and various parts of Arabia.Although that is the case, there is lots of evidence that Ham was not the only black son, but may have had black skin in common with Shem. The exact nature of Ham's transgression and the reason Noah cursed Canaan when … (See our report on the ENCODE project here.) “ The Bible teaches us that humanity is all “one blood” derived from Adam and Eve’s genetic line. Scholars call the language they developed Shemitic or Semitic. For many generations the subgroups only bred amongst themselves, and whatever variations in skin, skeletal and other characteristics they already possessed, became the characteristic features of that people group. Noah, the Bible tells us, had three sons, each of whom (after the great flood) would become the founder of a number of nations or peoples. According to scripture, the brothers were born when Noah was 500 years … Cursed by Noah, his sons were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ~ Gen 9:18-19 . Blessed by Noah along with Shem, he fathered seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. First We Must Understand Scripture Does NOT Say That Noah Had 3 Sons of 3 Different Races. how active the cells are. All races have much the same number of melanocytes, but they vary in how much melanin they produce, i.e. This is an understandable but incorrect idea. A son of Noah; brother of Shem and of Ham. For example, it Nov. 1, 2003; As stories go, this one has all the elements of good soap opera: nudity, sex and dysfunctional families. His wife Samantha maintains this site as well as their missionary outreaches. Bible scholars debate over who was the oldest, middle, and youngest of Noah's sons. The Bible does not say that all races came from Noah and his three sons. Furthermore, in most people the activity of melanocytes can be increased and decreased depending on factors such as exposure to the sun, or changes in hormones. Variations in skin colour were already present in Noah’s family, as indicted in the names of Noah’s sons. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Nimrod also built the ancient city of Nineveh, which later played a part in the story of Jonah. Anthropologists divide all the world's peoples into three races, Caucasian (white), Mongoloid (yellow) and Negroid (black). The sons of Ham are as follows, Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. The curse of Ham and Canaan. Is there only one race of man? "The Legacy of Noah's Sons." It's logical to assume that Noah's three sons and perhaps their wives helped build the ark, which took over 100 years. Would have been the same race as Noah’s wife Naamah. Cush is the father of the black African races. Descendants of Shem and Japheth might be allies, but Ham's people, such as the Egyptians and Philistines, became enemies of the Shemites. The above map shows a table of God's dispersion of the nation's after they migrated from the Tower at Babel. The Generations of Noah or Table of Nations, broadly referred to as Origines Gentium, is a genealogy of the sons of Noah, according to the Hebrew Bible (Genesis 10:9), and their dispersion into many lands after the Flood, focusing on the major known societies. Thus, at the Tower of Babel a large and varied gene pool was split into a number of smaller, less varied gene pools that remained separate for a long time. The vineyard episode in Genesis 9 is fundamentally difficult. One possible outcome would have been for the descendants of the three brothers to have intermarried and over many generations these variations could have been distributed evenly throughout the whole human race. The offspring of Shem inherited the Promised Land, displacing the Canaanites, the descendants of Ham. Abraham's lineage came through Shem, and he is the father of all the Semitic races. ... (Japheth produced a race of Albino blacks). Zavada, Jack. We’re Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japeth, three different colors? The scriptures tell us that Noah had 3 sons (Genesis 5:32) which were on the boat he made during the … However, when the sons are introduced in Genesis 6:10, the passage reads "Shem, Ham, and Japheth." • Are black people the result of a curse on Ham? It is also possible that Noah’s wife was of a different race than Noah. Ham: Son of Noah. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. Jack Zavada is a writer who covers the Bible, theology, and other Christianity topics. Before and during the Flood, there is nothing to indicate Shem, Ham, and Japheth were anything but loyal, respectful sons. “ The Bible teaches us that humanity is all “one blood” derived from Adam and Eve’s genetic line. The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japheth... these three sons of Noah represented the three great races of mankind. Some racial groups tend to have a relatively thick outer layer in other parts of their body, and their skin can have yellowish tinge. However, not everyone responds equally to the same amount of sunlight – some people tan easily, some hardly at all. Rather than just a family tree listing who fathered whom, it details descendants "by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations." The term nations to describe the descendants is a standard English translation of the Hebrew word "goyim", … Gotta love how people twist and turn it. Zavada, Jack. what physical characteristics are considered attractive, and therefore desirable in marriage partners. Misinformation: Black Race Originated from Noah’s Son Ham. Thin, wiry framed people tend to lose heat easily and find it hard to keep warm in very cold climates, but would have an advantage in a hot climate, especially if they needed to be physically active hunter/gatherers. (2020, August 29). in height, body shape, etc. The sons of Aram are listed in Genesis 10:23. There was also a certain amount of social selection, i.e. 18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. Therefore, if this layer is thicker, the skin will appear more yellow. Alternate divisions claim Euro-Asian Japhet, Semitic Shem, and Afro-Asian Ham. He is the author of "Hope for Hurting Singles: A Christian Guide to Overcoming Life's Challenges.". One of Ham's grandsons was Nimrod, a mighty hunter, king over Babel. He fathered the Semitic people, which included the Jews. It turns out that these ‘racial features’ result from variations of features that all human races have, and no racial group has any structure or function that does not exist in another race. Noah’s sons Ham, Shem and Japheth however have several colour clues hidden in their names. https://www.learnreligions.com/sons-of-noah-701191 (accessed February 28, 2021). After disembarking from the ark, Genesis reports, Noah planted a … Genetics prove today that all other races come from black. Noah's son's names were Shem, Ham, and Japheth according to the book of Genesis. The curse of Ham (actually placed upon Ham's son Canaan) occurs in the Book of Genesis, imposed by the patriarch Noah.It occurs in the context of Noah's drunkenness and is provoked by a shameful act perpetrated by Noah's son Ham, who "saw the nakedness of his father". The Wives of Shem, Ham, and Japheth are the wives of the three sons of Noah. 9:21 He drank of the wine and got drunk. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. The Legacy of Noah's Sons. Before I identify the various nations and who they are today, we first need to understand where they came from. Shem (Asia) Shem (Heb. ~ 225 One reason for this is a false perception that different racial characteristics such as skin colour are due to profoundly different genetic make-ups. The people of Cush are the Ethiopians, they were the first Great nation of the African people. So-called “mixed race” people are becoming more common, and they are living proof that there is only one human kind, just as Genesis tells us. Descendents of Noah’s son Ham and his grandson Canaan, the non-Israelite inhabitants of the land of Canaan, are introduced to biblical narrative in Genesis shortly after the story of the flood. Genesis 10:21 says Shem's older brother was Japheth; therefore, Shem had to be born in the middle, making Japheth the oldest. Adam is the father of the white race, no other. Were you helped by this answer? Genesis 9:24 calls Ham Noah's youngest son. MAN & WOMAN: Is there a real definition of man and woman in a world that wants fluid gender? Variations of nose size, head shape, limb proportions, etc. "Name") was Noah's oldest son and part of Noah's family of eight who survived the great flood. An unusual genealogy occurs in Genesis chapter 10. “Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. What colour was he? Zavada, Jack. Melanin is made by specialist pigment producing cells, named melanocytes. 9:20 Noah started out as a farmer, and planted a vineyard. Noah himself was the first Albino, who was seen as an outcast for having pale skin, blue eyes and white hair. Introduction to Noah’s three sons. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) All races come through the blacks, the genetically dominant race and the only race that can produce other recessive races, get over it. Very pale people are prone to get skin cancer if they live in places with strong sunlight. OIL BACTERIA: If oil wasn’t formed until Noah’s Flood why are there bacteria that can break it down? They became known as the Canaanites. Is Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus a parable? They represent different heritages and the different ways God has of dealing with His children. Noah’s 3 Sons. Everything changed after the Flood, as recorded in Genesis 9:20-27: Out of respect for their father, Shem and Japheth had covered his drunken nakedness, earning them Noah's blessing. The answer is clearly, “No.” They all had the same father, and therefore, represented one race. In other words if you weren’t black before you went to Africa you didn’t change after you got there – you died out from skin cancer. Let us be very clear: there is only one human Kind, and it contains only one recognisable species, Homo sapiens, and that species has sub groups that have been labelled ‘races’ based on what have been regarded as distinctive racial characteristics. Therefore, differences between people’s height, limb proportions, head shape, etc., result from the variation in the times when genes for growth of bone, cartilage, muscle, fibrous tissue, etc. A similar parenthetical remark is made when Ham commits the sin;instead of simply referring to Ham, the verse calls him “Ham, the … • What about ‘Stone Age’ people? In spite of this apparently great difference, all skin colours are variations on the same theme. Genesis chapter 10 describes how the present world population was derived from Noah’s three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives (three family groups). Man, apes and monkeys: what are the differences. Shem; Shem was Noah's oldest son. Eber, meaning "the other side," is mentioned in the Table as a great-grandson of Shem. The name Ham means dark, and the name Japheth means fair, or light coloured. Finally, the fact that distinctive racial features are really only small variations of structures and functions that all human beings have has been confirmed in the last couple of centuries as the previously separated people groups started moving around the world and mixing with each other. Japheth means May He Grant Ample Space. This gives another clue as to racial differences – they are mainly variations in the regulation, or control, of a body structure or function, and not the result of one race having a feature while another racial group doesn’t. Yes, and I love the background history of each son’s nation that restarted our human history after the flood . This is natural selection, but it is not evolution. In the case of the skeletal variation mentioned in the question, the regulatory variation in occurs during the growing period. The name Shem is a word that means “name,” in this context relating to ‘he will make a name for himself’. Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives, accompanied Noah and his wife on the ark to escape the flood. Total Destruction Thus, the biblical evidence seems to argue for the total destruction of all of humanity, except for the eight people in the ark. result from small differences in the rates of growth of bone or other support tissue during the growth spurt periods in a person’s life. Their descendants spread to the coastlands around the Mediterranean and lived in harmony with Shem's people. She now works for Creation Research, writing and doing background research for our publications and DVDs, as well as giving presentations. the human race. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. From Noah's Curse to Slavery's Rationale. Over succeeding generations there would also have been some natural selection at work, especially as some of the dispersed groups had to survive in tough climates where their original skin colour and body shape would be a disadvantage. Whenever the names of Noah’s three sons are recorded, Shem is always mentioned first (e.g., Genesis 9:18; 10:2, 21), even though Shem was the second-born (the Bible often lists people according to prominence rather than age). It appears to be just a historical detail from the story about Noah and his sons, as described in the Bible book of Genesis.But this story has been used to justify massive injustice towards certain human races, particularly black people. ***Sorry if I offend anyone with this answer. This etymology, however, is not universally (Canaan), Chaldea (Arpachshad), Assyria (Asshur), part of Persia Genesis For nearly 100 years Noah's family The three most illustrious (PDF dispersion of the nation's after they migrated from the Tower at of those who spread abroad), may not have … 6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. Ham is definitely Hebrew for dark. In Hebrew Adam literally means white man blood in the face red. A CCORDING to the Bible, all humans descended from Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, and before that from Adam and Eve (Genesis 1–11). And so in Chapter 11 of Genesis, we are introduced to Abram, who left Haran to become Abraham, father of the Jewish nation, which produced the promised Savior, Jesus Christ. the human race. To answer this we need to look at the history of the human race after Noah’s flood. Where in the Bible can I find out? In the 30 April-6 May edition of Asaval-Dasavali newspaper, Archpriest Davit Isakadze stated that according to the Bible, the black race originated from Ham, a son of Noah, whose black skin was the punishment for a … Are different human skin colours explained by Adam and Eve having a mix of dominant and recessive genes? List of Nations Descended from Noah's 3 Sons: Shem (Semitic Race) Ham (Turanian Race) Japheth (Aryan Race) Elam (Elamites) Cush (Ethiopia) Gomer (Celts) Asshur (Assyrians) Seba (meroe) Ashkenaz (Nysia, Phrygia) Arphaxad (Chaldeans) Havilah (Arabia) Riphath (Riphaean) Shelah: Sabtah (Sabbatha) Togarmah (Armenia) Eber: Raamah (Persian Gulf) Magog … One of the sons, Ham, became the founder of some groups that settled in Africa, although most of his descendants settled elsewhere, including Babylonia and Assyria in the Middle East. If all human races originated from the sons of Noah, how come there are such big differences between the different races? "The Legacy of Noah's Sons." How did all the different ‘races’ arise (from Noah’s family)? “Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. Later, the only survivors of the flood were Noah and his wife, Noah’s three sons and their wives—eight people in all (Genesis 7:13). Ham: Son of Noah. By Felicia R. Lee. Learn Religions, Aug. 29, 2020, learnreligions.com/sons-of-noah-701191. In fact it is the reverse of evolution because it decreases the gene pool in extreme environments. The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japheth... these three sons of Noah represented the three great races of mankind. In pale people melanocytes are not very active at any time. APE-MAN? ***Sorry if I offend anyone with this answer. Anthropologists divide all the world's peoples into three races, Caucasian (white), Mongoloid (yellow) and Negroid (black). Shem and Japheth received Noah's blessing because they had covered their father's drunken nakedness, while Ham, on the other hand, violated their father by looking at his nakedness. As a result, the descendants of Ham were cursed. Scripture does not give the names of these wives, nor of Noah's wife. In other words black Africans were black before they went to Africa, Caucasians were white before they went to Europe etc. The term Hebrew, which originates from Eber, describes a people who came from the other side of the Euphrates River, from Haran. History 101: And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. From each of them, came a different nation. The “big differences” between human races are actually not so great when you look at them. 20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. Variations in skin colour were already present in Noah’s family, as indicted in the names of Noah’s sons. HUMAN RACE? In most cases it is easy to prove that so called racial features have been preserved not by the environment but human choice. Shem means "fame" or "name." Learn Religions. "Name") was Noah's oldest son and part of Noah's family of eight who survived the great flood. In Genesis 9:27, as in other passages, Japheth occupies the 3rd place in the enumeration of the sons of Noah, but he is really regarded as the 2nd son, Ham being the youngest. 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth. 9:18 The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Ham was the father of Canaan. DEATH: Did God really kill animals to clothe Adam and Eve, or did He create new skins for this purpose? As a result, Ham's descendants were cursed. The most obvious variation across mankind is skin colour, ranging from the black skin of some Africans and Melanesian Islanders to the very pale skin of northern Europeans. Noah’s flood was local. 1 History 1.1 Shem's Children 1.2 Ham's Children 1.3 Japheth's Children The wives of Shem, Ham, and Japheth are … Later, when God rescued the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, he ordered Joshua to wipe out the idolatrous Canaanites and take possession of the land. SONS OF JAPHETHThe sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. The listing of Noah’s descendants is more theological than hereditary, so we must understand that Noah’s descendants existed because of his righteousness. According to scripture, the brothers were born when Noah was 500 years old. Moses, the author of the book of Genesis, was making a point that explained later conflicts in the Bible. If so, consider making a donation so we can keep adding more answers. So whether it’s Adam and Eve or Noah and his sons, Black and black features is the truth.