Illustration created for this project.
Arphaxad
A son of Shem born after the flood, in the line leading to Abraham.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Ancient writers — non-biblical testimony · 1
Scholarly — supported scholarly belief · 1
Family & lineage
Scan by NYPL — Public domain (via Wikimedia Commons)
Ancient writersJosephus names Arphaxad in his paraphrase of the genealogy and explicitly identifies his descendants, the 'Arphaxadites,' with the people 'now called Chaldeans.' This is an ancient non-biblical mention, though it is a retelling of Genesis rather than independent evidence.
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 1.6.4 (1.144), trans. H. St. J. Thackeray, Loeb Classical Library 242 (1930); identifies the Arphaxadites with the Chaldeans, but a retelling of Genesis, not independent evidence.
Name & titles
ScholarlyThe Hebrew name Arpakšad (Arphaxad) has no agreed etymology; a long-standing scholarly proposal parses the final element -kšad as related to Kaśdîm, the Chaldeans, fitting Arphaxad's position in the Shemite line as a notional ancestor of Mesopotamian peoples. Others connect the Arpa- element to the region of Arrapḫa (modern Kirkuk).
Comparative Semitic onomastics; the Kaśdîm/Arrapḫa proposals are discussed in standard commentaries on the Table of Nations (e.g. Westermann, Genesis 1-11).