Oh brother...

“Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.” Genesis 10:21, AV 1873

“And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.” Genesis 10:21, NKJV

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“Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth*, children were born.” Genesis 10:21, NASB95
* Or the brother of Japheth the elder

“To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born.” Genesis 10:21, ESV

Who be first? Shem or Japheth? ...or doesn't it matter?

Rob

 

So it is an error in the older translations corrected by advancing scholarship.

How would you explain it otherwise?

Rob

 

"Shem, Ham, and Japheth" Ge 5:32; 6:10; 7:13; 9:18; 10:1; 1 Chron 1:4


“And Sem the father of all ye childre of Eber and the eldest brother of Iapheth begat children also.” (Genesis 10:21, Tyndale Bible 1534)


To throw a wrench in things, according to Ge 9, Ham is the youngest.

“Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”” (Genesis 9:23–25, ESV)


Not surprisingly Calvin uses the Geneva bible's translation:

21. Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber. Moses, being about to speak of the sons of Shem, makes a brief introduction, which he had not done in reference to the others. Nor was it without reason; for since this was the race chosen by God, he wished to sever it from other nations by some special mark. This also is the reason why he expressly styles him the ‘father of the sons of Eber,’ and the elder brother of Japheth. For the benediction of Shem does not descend to all his grandchildren indiscriminately, but remains in one family. And although the grandchildren themselves of Eber declined from the true worship of God, so that the Lord might justly have disinherited them; yet the benediction was not extinguished, but only buried for a season, until Abraham was called, in honour of whom this singular dignity is ascribed to the race and name of Eber. For the same cause, mention is made of Japheth, in order that the promise may be confirmed, ‘God shall speak gently unto Japheth, that he may dwell in the tents of Shem.’ Shem is not here called the brother of Ham, inasmuch as the latter was cut off from the fraternal order, and was debarred his own right. Fraternity remained only between Shem and Japheth; because, although they were separated, God had engaged that he would cause them to return from this dissension into union. As it respects the name Eber, they who deny it to be a proper name, but deduce it from the word which signifies to pass over, are more than sufficiently refuted by this passage alone
Calvin, J., & King, J. (2010). Commentary on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis (Ge 10:21).

Not “the brother of Japhet the elder”, but “the eldest brother of Japhet”. The former rendering is preferred by the LXX. Symm. Rashi and Ibn Ezra, J. D. Michaelis, and others, and adopted by our AV. Wright, C. H. H. (1859). Book of Genesis in Hebrew, with Various Readings, Notes, Etc.: Critical Notes (40). London; Edinburgh: Williams and Norgate.

The most reasoned approach for the change from the Tyndale and Geneva's translations is expressed by H.C. Groves,

THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH THE ELDER] According to the idiom of the Hebrew this may also mean the elder brother of Japheth. But as subsequently we are informed, that ‘Shem was one hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood’ (11:10), it follows that Japheth was the elder; for Noah was five hundred years old when he began to have children, and the deluge took place in the six hundredth year of his age. His eldest son must consequently have been one hundred years old at the time of the deluge; whereas we are expressly informed that Shem did not arrive at that age till two years after the deluge (Rashi). The translation of the text is supported by the versions of the Scpt. and Symmachus, and by the later critics, Michaelis, Dathe, Delitzsch. The translation, Shem the elder brother of Japheth, is supported by Knobel, Kalisch, Wright.
Groves, H. C. (1861). A Commentary on the Book of Genesis (148–149). Cambridge: Macmillan and Co.

Then I looked toward my favorite modern commentaries of Genesis.

whose older brother was Japheth. The ambiguous Hebrew could also indicate Shem as the older brother. However, in light of the time frame indicated in Shem’s genealogy (see 11:10 in Book 5), Japheth is likely the older brother.
Waltke, B. K., & Fredricks, C. J. (2001). Genesis: A Commentary (172). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

The oldest brother of Japhet” reflects the modern consensus translation of אחי יפת הגדול. The adjective “oldest” modifies “brother.” LXX, Symmachus, Rashi, possibly the MT, and Cassuto suppose, however, that “oldest” modifies “Japhet.” Combined with the comment that Ham is the youngest, the former view makes the order in the family “Shem, Japhet, Ham” whereas the latter makes it “Japhet, Shem, Ham”; cf. Comment on 9:24.
Wenham, G. J. (1998). Vol. 1: Genesis 1–15. Word Biblical Commentary (228). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

This problem is more complicated than I thought.

Rob

 

A Strict Literalist's Case for Japheth Being the Elder Brother

What follows is the argument of H. C. Groves in his Commentary on the Book of Genesis (1861).

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“After Noah was 500 years old, Noah fathered Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” (Genesis 5:32, ESV)

[100 years later]

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened.” (Genesis 7:11, ESV)

“Then God said to Noah, “Go out from the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you.”
“So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him.” (Genesis 8:15–16, 18, ESV)

[Only Noah, his wife and the three sons with their wives came off the ark]

“These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.” (Genesis 10:1, ESV)

[The children were born after the flood]

“These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.” (Genesis 11:10–11, ESV)

[If Arpachshad was born two years after the flood, Shem would have been 102 years old - if he was the eldest]

Therefore someone else other than Shem must have been born first; {it wasn't Ham - Ge 9:23-25} so it follows that Japheth born first, when Noah was 500 years old.

Rob