SEMITAS
Descendants of Shem (see SEM), who received a special blessing (cf. Gen. 9:26, 27).
Through this blessing, God revealed himself through the descendants of Shem, through Abraham; the sons of Japheth (the Gentiles) receive the blessing through Shem.
The lands occupied by the descendants of Shem extend from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean. Shem had five sons:
Elam: whose descendants originally settled in the province of Persia, whose capital was Susa.
Ashur, strictly Assyria, but in whose extended sense may have included Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans.
Arphaxad is recognized by Josephus and other authors as the father of the Chaldeans. His name is supposedly preserved in the Arrapachitis province in northern Assyria.
Lud, who according to Josephus was the father of the Lydians of Asia Minor (they are different from the Lud and Ludim of Africa).
Aram, the name of Syria, but referring more especially to the highlands of Lebanon (Gen. 5:32; 9:18-27; 10:21-31; 11:10, 11; 1 Chron. 17:24).