CLAIM: This passage states that Shem will be blessed by God. Some theologians debate as to whether this implies that the Messiah would come through the line of the Semitic peoples (e.g. Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Arabians, etc.). Others, however, hold that this is just a general prediction that God will be with Shem, or perhaps, that God will be with Japeth. Which is true?

RESPONSE: The passage states that someone will dwell in the tents of Shem. The NLT and NIV both state that Japheth would dwell in the tents of Shem. However, this is an inference of the interpreter. We don’t know if it is God or Japheth, who will dwell in the tents of Shem. There are, however, a few reasons for believing that this is speaking of God, dwelling with the Semitic people (specifically Israel).

First, Jewish interpreters understood that God would be the subject who would reside with Shem. One ancient Jewish commentary states, “He shall make his Shekinah to dwell in the tabernacles of Shem” (Targum Onkelos). Other ancient Jewish sources concur, “God shall dwell” (Jubilees 7:12, 19; cf. Genesis Rabbah 36.8, Targum Neofiti).^[1] One post-biblical source states, “Even though God enlarges Japheth, the Shekinah rests upon the tents of Shem” (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 10a).^[2]

Second, God is the subject of the previous clause. Kaiser notes, “Hebrew language presumes that the subject of a previous clause will carry over to the next one when no other subject is interjected.”^[3] Grammatically, therefore, we should favor the interpretation that God was promising to dwell with Shem.^[4]

Third, if Japheth was dwelling in the tents of Shem, this would imply military takeover or some other disgrace. Kaiser writes, “This would humiliate Shem, making him little better off than the curse set upon Canaan.”^[5] However, this prediction in Genesis 9 was supposed to imply blessing upon the Shemites—not judgment.

Fourth, this prediction was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus, dwelling among us. Later in history, God did “dwell” in the camps of Israel (Ex. 25:8; 29:45; Lev. 16:16; Num. 35:34). Ultimately, however, the Temple was replaced by God dwelling in human flesh through Jesus. John writes, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” (Jn. 1:14). Literally, the Greek reads, “He built his tent among us.”

^[1] Cited in Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 326.

^[2] Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990).

[3] Walter C. Kaiser, The Messiah in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub., 1995), 44.

^[4] Hamilton objects to this grammatical argument by claiming that this doesn’t work in Genesis 15:6. True. However, looking to the nearest antecedent isn’t an inviolable rule; it is simply a standard hermeneutical principle. Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1-17, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 326.

[5] Walter C. Kaiser, The Messiah in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub., 1995), 45.