Limitless Word
Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis 5:32 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
  • BSB After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
  • NKJV And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
  • NASB Now after Noah was five hundred years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
  • NLT After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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

At 500 years old Noah fathers Shem, Ham, and Japheth. It introduces Noah's sons, through whom humanity will be repopulated after the flood.

Overview

The genealogy reaches its goal in Noah and his three sons, who will survive the coming flood. From Shem, Ham, and Japheth the post-flood nations will descend. This verse sets the stage for the flood account and the renewal of humanity, with the line of promise continuing through Shem toward Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Gen 6:10Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
  • Gen 10:21Children were also born to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth.
  • Gen 10:32These are the families of the sons of Noah, by their generations, according to their nations. The nations divided from these in the earth after the flood.
  • Gen 7:13In the same day Noah, and Shem, Ham, and Japheth — the sons of Noah — and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered into the ship —
  • Luke 3:36the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,
  • Gen 10:1Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
  • 1 Chr 1:4–28Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
  • Gen 9:22–27Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
  • Gen 9:18–19The sons of Noah who went out from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 5:32YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 5:32 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.