Shem (שֵ×× "renown; prosperity; name", Standard Hebrew Å em, Tiberian Hebrew Å Ä“m; Greek Σημ, SÄ“m; Arabic ) was one of the sons of Noah in the Bible. He is most popularly regarded as the eldest son, though some traditions regard him as the second son. Genesis 10:21 refers to relative ages of Shem and his brother Japheth, but with sufficient ambiguity in each to have yielded different translations.