Note that I asked the query based on a Personal Book!
> did Abraham meet Shem
I was not able to find any relevant information on your query. Based on general knowledge...
No, Abraham and Shem did not meet either, though they were much closer in time than Abraham and Noah. According to biblical genealogy, Shem (Noah’s son) lived significantly longer than Abraham—Shem died around 502 years after the flood, while Abraham was born roughly 292 years after the flood. This means Shem would have died before Abraham was even born, or at the very least, any overlap in their lifespans would have been minimal or nonexistent depending on which chronological system you follow.
The genealogical records in Genesis show Shem as a crucial link in the lineage leading to Abraham. Shem fathered Arphaxad, who fathered Shelah, and this line eventually led to Terah, Abraham’s father. So while Abraham descended directly from Shem and would have known of him through family history and genealogy, they inhabited different eras of human history. Shem represents the continuation of God’s covenant after the flood, serving as a bridge between Noah’s generation and the patriarchal age in which Abraham lived.
> I agree with your birth figures which would mean Abraham was born whilst Shem was alive. but you state Shem was dead
You’re absolutely right—I contradicted myself, and I appreciate you catching that. Let me correct this.
If Shem died around 502 years after the flood and Abraham was born roughly 292 years after the flood, then Abraham would indeed have been born while Shem was still alive. Shem would have lived approximately 210 years into Abraham’s lifetime. So there would have been a significant overlap in their lives.
However, the biblical text doesn’t record any direct meeting or interaction between them. While Abraham would have lived during Shem’s lifetime and could theoretically have encountered him, Scripture is silent on whether they actually did. Given the geographical distances and the way genealogies are presented in Genesis, it’s unclear whether their paths crossed, even though chronologically it would have been possible.
Thank you for the correction—I should have been more careful with the arithmetic and the logical implications of those dates rather than stating definitively that Shem died before Abraham was born.
