Arpachshad ben Shem

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Arpachshad or Arphaxad
Birth:	9999 Mesopotamia
Death:	9999 Mesopotamia
Father:	Shem ben Noah
Mother:	Sedeqetelebab
Spouse / partner:	Rasu'aya
Sex:
Edit Facts

• 12th Patriarch of Genesis
• Born 2 Years after Great Flood
• Grandson of Prophet Noah
• Father of Semetic Races (Arabs, Hebrews, Assyrians, et al)

Biography

Arpachshad, (alternatively spelled Arphaxad or Arphacsad), was one of the five sons of Shem, the son of Noah (Genesis 10:22, 24; 11:10-13; 1 Chron. 1:17-18). Arpachshad's brothers were Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram; he is an ancestor of Abraham. He is said by Gen. 11:10 to have been born two years after the Flood, when Shem was 100 years old. He was 35 years old when his son Salah was born, after he lived 403 years and he died at 433 years old (Genesis 11:12-13).

Historical Map

Geographic identifications for the Sons of Noah (Flavius Josephus, c. 100 AD); Japheth's sons shown in red

Genesis 11 Narrative

10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

Hebrew Traditions

Some ancient Jewish sources, particularly Jubilees, point to Arpachshad as the immediate progenitor of Ura and Kesed, who allegedly founded the city of Ur Kesdim (Ur of the Chaldees) on the west bank of the Euphrates (Jub. 9:4; 11:1-7) — the same bank where Ur, identified by Leonard Woolley in 1927 as Ur of the Chaldees, is located.

Until Woolley's identification of Ur, Arpachshad was understood by many Jewish and Muslim scholars to be an area in northern Mesopotamia, Urfa of the Yazidis. This led to the identification of Arpachshad with Urfa-Kasid (due to similarities in the names ארפ־כשד‬ and כשדים‬) - a land associated with the Khaldis, whom Josephus confused with the Chaldeans. Donald B. Redford asserted that Arpachshad is to be identified with Babylon.

Another Arpaxad is referenced in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith as a king of the Medes, and if this supposed Median king is contemporary with the conquest of the Assyrians, he could be identified with Phraortes (c. 665 - 633 BC). If he is contemporary with Nebuchadnezzar II (named as king of the Assyrians in Judith), he might be identified with Cyaxares (r. 625–585 BC).

Marriage and Family

Arpachshad's son is called Shelah, except in the Septuagint, where his son is Cainan (קינן‬), Shelah being Arpachshad's grandson. Cainan is also identified as Arpachshad's son in Luke 3:36 and Jubilees 8:1. The Book of Jubilees additionally identifies Arpachshad's wife as Rasu'aya, the daughter of Susan, who was the son (or daughter in some versions) of Shem's older son Elam. (Arpachshad's mother is named in this source as Sedeqetelebab; for competing traditions on the name of Shem's wife see wives aboard the Ark.)

Children

Offspring of Arpachshad or Arphaxad and Rasu'aya
Name	Birth	Death	Joined with
Salah ben Arphaxad	9999 Mesopotamia	9999 Mesopotamia	Muak bat Kesed

Siblings

Offspring of Shem ben Noah and unknown parent
Name	Birth	Death	Joined with
Elam ben Shem	9999 Mesopotamia	9999 Mesopotamia
Ashur ben Shem	9999 Mesopotamia	9999 Mesopotamia
Arpachshad ben Shem	9999 Mesopotamia	9999 Mesopotamia	Rasu'aya
Lud ben Shem	9999 Mesopotamia	9999 Mesopotamia
Aram ben Shem	9999 MESOPOTAMIA, Babylon	9999 Mesopotamia
daughters of Shem

References

• Book of Genesis 9-11
• 1 Chronicles 1:17-18
• Shem - LDS Bible Dictionary
• Arpachshad - Wikipedia

Footnotes (including sources)

Some information in this article or section has not been verified and may not be reliable.
Please check for any inaccuracies, and modify and cite sources as needed.