Kommentar zu Bereschit 11:10

שם בן מאת שנה SHEM WAS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD when he begat Arpachshad two years after the Flood.

אלה תולדות שם שנתים אחר המבול, we already explained this in connection with Genesis 5,32. Even though the Torah, earlier, listed the descendants of Shem together with those of his brothers, the Torah repeated this now in order to demonstrate the direct linkage to Avraham our patriarch. This is why, on this occasion, only a single one of the sons of Shem, Arpachshad, is mentioned. Avraham is descended in a straight line from Arpachshad. The reason why the Torah adds that Arpachshad was born two years after the deluge is that the information the Torah gave us in 10,21 did not tell us when Arpachshad, apparently the third son of Shem was born. (verse 22). We already mentioned that the reason why the Torah provides us with such data is only to enable us to count from the creation of Adam to the deluge, to the birth of Avraham, the year of the Exodus from Egypt, etc. If the Torah had not been interested in reminding us that the earth (universe) was an original product by G’d, all these numbers would have been relatively meaningless. [if they had related to a human history extending over millions of years as claimed by scientists nowadays. Ed.]

אלה תולדות שם, “these are the descendants of Shem.” You do not find the word death, or “the died,” in connection with any of the descendants of Shem who have been enumerated here [except when the Torah reports that Avram’s father Terach died in Charan (verse 32). Ed.] as you find it mentioned when the Torah enumerated the generations between Adam and Noach. It is possible that the reason is that the kingdom of David (the Messiah) will be descended from them, and in due course the Messiah will be the cause of banishing death altogether. [At this point our author once again indulges in speculation about the timing of that event. Seeing that time has passed and the Messiah did not arrive, I have omitted the rest of this passage. Ed.]