Japheth, the Elder Brother
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
7/29 Reading Portions: Judges 12; Acts 16; Jeremiah 25; Mark 11
Genesis 10:21, KJV
Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
REMINDER
Anyone who has been reading my devotionals for any length of time knows that I love using both the ESV and KJV as English translations. Quite often both translations are helpful in conveying the meanings of words, both providing a fuller understanding of the words, phrases, sentences, or portions to be translated. There are a few times, here and there, when one of these translations has dropped the ball. Sometimes it’s the KJV. Today, it’s the ESV. The ESV translates the verse in this way:
To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born.
The English Standard Version makes it look like Shem was the oldest. The original language states otherwise and the KJV has it right:
ולשׁם ילד גם־הוא אבי כל־בני־עבר אחי יפת הגדול
We had covered this when considering Genesis 6:10 (see devotional thought here). Yet repetition in spiritual matters is always good, so we’ll consider it again here. Earlier we were told that,
After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis 5:32
We were also told that Ham was Noah’s youngest son:
When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, Genesis 9:24
So, at this point, either Shem or Japheth was born when Noah was 500 years old, or perhaps both; however, in the next chapter we will read of Shem’s age the floodwaters receded:
These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. Genesis 11:10
The rain and floodwaters came when Noah was in his 600th year of life (Gen 7:11). Therefore, Shem was only 97 years old at the start of the flood and 98 when it ended. Japheth was the eldest of the brothers by at least two, possibly three years.
Why is this significant? Many of our great confessions of faith express that we believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments from their original autographs are the inerrant, infallible, inspired Word of God. When we discover inconsistencies like this in our English translations of the Bible, it humbles us to know that we are mere men, and that the best of men is still a fallen descendant of Adam, prone to sin, error, and mistakes. Second, it reminds us that we must be as the Bereans:
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Acts 17:11
Third, it prompts us to extend grace to our brothers and sisters in Christ, for there, but by God’s grace go you and I.