Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber.
Parallel translations
- KJV And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
- BSB When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.
- NKJV Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.
- NASB Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber;
- NLT When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Shelah fathered Eber at age thirty, continuing the line from Shem toward Abram. This genealogy traces God's faithful preservation of the chosen line.
Overview
This verse belongs to the post-flood genealogy of Shem in Genesis 11, which narrows steadily from all humanity toward Abram. Eber is significant as the likely root of the term 'Hebrew.' Each link in this chain shows God quietly guiding history toward the promised seed who would ultimately come in Christ (Luke 3:35-36).
Cross-references & the web
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Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 11:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.