Interesting Facts

• Salah’s birth year is subject to some variation between the accounts. Genesis indicates he was born 35 years after Arphaxad. However, Jubilees states Arphaxad married Melka and begat Shelah in the fourth year after their marriage, which occurred in the thirtieth jubilee.
• Salah is identified as the father of Eber.
• The book of Jasher refers to him as Shelach.
• Jubilees also refers to him as Shelah, explaining that Arphaxad named him thus, saying, ‘Truly I have been sent’.
• Salah lived for 403 years after begetting Eber, and had other sons and daughters according to Genesis.
• Jasher records that Shelach died in the eighteenth year of the lives of Jacob and Esau, having lived for 433 years.

Genealogy

• Salah/Shelach/Shelah was the son of Arphaxad.
• Arphaxad was one of the sons of Shem, born two years after the flood.
• Shem was one of the three sons of Noah who had children after the flood.
• According to Jubilees, Arphaxad’s wife and Shelah’s mother was Melka, the daughter of Madai, the son of Japheth. However, Genesis does not name Salah’s mother.
• Salah/Shelach/Shelah married Mu’ak, the daughter of Kesed, who was his father’s brother, in the one and thirtieth jubilee.
• Salah/Shelach/Shelah begat Eber.
• Genesis also states that Salah begat other sons and daughters after Eber.

Historical Context

Salah/Shelach/Shelah lived in the generations following the flood, a period marked by the repopulation and dispersal of Noah’s descendants. During his lifetime, the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth began to establish themselves in different regions of the earth. According to Jubilees, the division of the earth into three parts for Noah’s sons occurred during the lifetime of Peleg, Salah’s grandson. Salah would have witnessed the initial stages of this post-diluvian world, including the building of cities, and the development of distinct familial and possibly linguistic groups. The instructions given by Noah to his descendants to observe righteousness and avoid the sins that led to the flood would have been a significant cultural influence during this era. Furthermore, the account in Jubilees of Kainam, Salah’s cousin, transcribing the teachings of the Watchers regarding celestial omens suggests a period where knowledge and potentially forbidden practices were being rediscovered or newly introduced.

Narrative

The narrative surrounding Salah/Shelach/Shelah within the provided sources is primarily genealogical. His birth is recorded in both Genesis and Jubilees, with slight discrepancies in the timing relative to Arphaxad’s age and marriage. Jubilees offers a reason for his name, attributing it to Arphaxad’s statement about being ‘sent’. He is significant as the father of Eber, a key figure in the lineage leading to Abraham. Jasher notes his death at a considerable age, within the lifetime of his great-grandsons, Jacob and Esau. While no specific actions or dialogues are attributed directly to Salah/Shelach/Shelah, his existence forms a crucial link in the patriarchal line from Noah through Shem and Arphaxad, contributing to the unfolding story of the generations after the flood. His marriage to his father’s brother’s daughter, Mu’ak, is noted in Jubilees, providing a detail about familial connections in that era. Overall, Salah’s place in the narrative is foundational, establishing a vital stage in the genealogy that precedes the later narratives of Abraham and his descendants.