Arphaxad: Son of Shem, born the year after the Deluge. He died at the age of
438 years
(Genesis 11:10-13; 1 Chronicles 1:17,18; Luke 3:36) He dwelt in Mesopotamia,
and became, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, the
progenitor of the Chaldeans. The tendency is to recognize in the word
the name of the country nearest the ancient domain of the Chaldeans.
Some regard the word as an Egypticized form of the territorial name
of Ur Kasdim, or Ur of the Chaldees.
