At the beginning of the thirty-third jubilee [1509-1617] they divided the earth into three parts -- for Shem, Ham, and Japheth -- each in his own inheritance. (This happened) in the first year of the first week [1569] while one of us who were sent was staying with them. When he summoned his children, they came to him -- they and their children. He divided the earth into the lots that his three sons would occupy.
Jubilees (also known as Lesser Genesis, Leptogenesis, or the Book of Division) is canonical scripture for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The only complete copies of Jubilees are available in Ge’ez (Classical Ethiopic), here used with permission by the Bible Society of Ethiopia.
The name “Shem” is transliterated in English means “name,” “celebrated,” “distinguished,” “renown.” (Source: Cornwall / Smith 1997 )
It is translated in Spanish Sign Language with a sign that signifies “Arab,” referring to the fact that Shem traditionally is seen as the forefather of Semitic people, including Abraham and his descendants (see Genesis 11:26 et al.) (Source: Steve Parkhurst)
Note that the terms “Semite” and “Semitic” are derived from “Shem.”
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