Later Scripture preserves that line deliberately. First Chronicles 1 repeats the Shem-to-Abraham genealogy. Luke 3 carries the ancestral chain through Shem and the post-Flood generations inside the genealogy of Jesus. That means names that can look like genealogical filler in Genesis eventually become part of the Gospel’s account of Christ’s human ancestry.

The integrated story is: Noah → Shem → post-Flood peoples → Eber and Peleg → the line narrows through Genesis 11 → Terah → Abram → Israel → Jesus. But the narrowing of the line is not God abandoning the other nations. The very next major promise to Abram will aim blessing outward again toward “all families of the earth.” Genesis therefore moves from the many to the one so that blessing can ultimately move from the one back toward the many.

Claims about the exact etymological relationship between Eber and the later term “Hebrew,” or about Peleg’s statement proving a particular geological event, require separate linguistic and historical analysis. The canonical narrative point is more secure: Shem’s line becomes the bridge from the post-Flood nations to Abram.