События в четвертом столетии третьего тысячелетия

Arphaxad, son of Shem, grandson of Noah, being 135 years old, gave birth to Cainan, and after him other sons and daughters. Also, the other forefathers of Christ, remembered in the Gospel of Luke by name and descended from the tribe of Shem (Luke 3:34-36), were each born in their own time, and here, for a quicker remembrance of them, we will propose the following order, starting from Noah to Abraham: Noah begat Shem, Shem begat Arphaxad, Arphaxad begat Cainan, Cainan begat Shelah, Shelah begat Eber, Eber begat Peleg, Peleg begat Raghav, Rahab begat Serukh, Seruch begat Nahor, Nahor begat Terah, Terah begat Abraham. In what year each of them was born, see this in the Chronology. Regarding the forefathers of Christ, who descended from the tribe of Seth and lived before the flood, there is no doubt that they were all just and holy. Regarding these, who after the flood from Noah to Abraham are remembered by name, we cannot say that all of them were righteous, except for two only: Shem and Eber (the righteous Abraham and his tribe will be discussed later). The righteousness of these two is known from the following: Shem, together with Japheth, covered his father’s nakedness, and Eber did not deign to cause undesirable pandemonium, which will be discussed later. There is doubt about the rest, since among them some turned out to be idolaters, such as Serukh, Nahor and Terah, the father of Abraham. Perhaps only those who were born in the days of Noah, that is, Arphaxad, Cainan and Shelah, lived as righteous people. Having been born before Noah’s death, they looked at Noah’s godly life and heard from his lips righteous words instructing in pleasing God. The children benefit greatly from the virtuous life of their fathers and their instructive words, and even more so from such a great man in virtues as the saint of God Noah, whose presence even the fierce beasts in the ship trembled and became meek. How much more should his children and grandchildren fear him! And they did not dare to do anything evil in front of him. After his death, only his great-grandson Eber is called good, while there is no news about the others. You might be interested in: