Genesis 11:11

11 After he became the father of Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

Genesis 11:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 11:11

And Shem lived, after he begat Arphaxad, five hundred years,
&c.] So that his whole age was six hundred years, and therefore must live to the times of Abraham, and even throughout the life of that patriarch, or near the end of it; and if he was the same with Melchizedek, as is the general opinion of the Jews, and is embraced by many Christians, they had an interview with each other:

and begat sons and daughters;
of whom we have no account, because the Messiah did not spring from them; the design of this genealogy being to carry down his direct line from Shem to Abraham: it is to be observed, that in the account of the patriarchs, and their children after the flood, it is not added as before the flood, "and he died", their lives being long, that remark is made; but the lives of these being shorter, and gradually decreasing, it is omitted. An Arabic writer ^F24 says, that Shem died in the month Elul, on a Friday, at the close of the year of the world 2758. A Jewish writer ^F25 says, he died in the fifteenth year of Jacob, and that he saw twelve generations; according to Bishop Usher, he died A. M. 2158.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Elmacinus, p. 13. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 258.
F25 R. Gedaliah, Shalshalet, fol. 1. 2.

Genesis 11:11 In-Context

9 This is why it was named Babel, because there the LORD turned the language of the whole earth into babble. From that place the LORD scattered them all over the face of the earth.

10 This is the account of Shem and his descendants. Two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arpachshad.

11 After he became the father of Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 Arpachshad was 35 years old when he became the father of Shelah.

13 After he became the father of Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.