Gen 11:10-26 | TNotes | STEP | 11:10 This account of Shem’s family resumes the line of Shem from 10:21-32 , now with special focus on the line leading to Abram. Only Abram and Israel are heirs to Shem’s God (see 9:26-27 ; Deut 32:8-9 ). The Babel story vividly repudiates the culture that Abram was called to abandon (Gen 12:1 ; 24:6-7 ). Together with the account of Terah’s descendants (11:27-32 ), this second account of Shem’s line forms a bridge from the universal history of chs 1–11 to the national history of Israel that begins in ch 12 . Abram is the remnant from Babel’s confused world. God called him as an act of grace whereby the fractured world of Babel would be blessed (12:3 ). • the father of: Or the ancestor of; Hebrew genealogies do not necessarily list every single generation.

a11:10►

b10:21-32►

c9:26-27►

dDeut 32:8-9►

eGen 12:1►

f24:6-7►

g11:27-32►

h1–11►

i12►

j12:3►

k11:18►

‏ Genesis 11:10-26

11:10 ^a This account of Shem’s family resumes the line of Shem from 10:21-32 ^b, now with special focus on the line leading to Abram. Only Abram and Israel are heirs to Shem’s God (see 9:26-27 ^c; Deut 32:8-9 ^d). The Babel story vividly repudiates the culture that Abram was called to abandon (Gen 12:1 ^e; 24:6-7 ^f). Together with the account of Terah’s descendants (11:27-32 ^g), this second account of Shem’s line forms a bridge from the universal history of chs 1–11 ^h to the national history of Israel that begins in ch 12 ⁱ. Abram is the remnant from Babel’s confused world. God called him as an act of grace whereby the fractured world of Babel would be blessed (12:3 ^j).

• the father of: Or the ancestor of; Hebrew genealogies do not necessarily list every single generation.
11:18 ^k Peleg: See study note on 10:25.