Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Chronicles 1:4

"Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth." — 1 Chronicles 1:4 (ASV)

Shem, Ham, and Japheth. —There is no doubt that Ham means black, or sunburnt, and Japheth (Heb., Yepheth) is probably the fair-skinned. Shem has been compared with an Assyrian word meaning brownish (sa’mu). Thus the three names appear to allude to differences of racial complexion.

1 Chronicles 1:5–23 is an abridgment of Genesis 10. The proper names represent, not persons, but peoples and countries. By adding them all together, the old Jewish interpreters made a total of seventy nations for the world. The list is a classified summary of the ethnical and geographical knowledge of Hebrew antiquity.