Welcome back to our study of the book of Genesis. We concluded chapter 9 a few weeks ago as we zeroed in on the prophetic words that were pronounced concerning the three sons of Noah. The prophecies were given as a result of the incident that took place in Noah’s house after he got drunk with wine and exposed himself.
Today we’ll turn our attention to chapter 10, often referred to as the table of nations.
Genesis 10: Nations Descended From Noah’s three sons
10 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.[a] 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom[b] the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.
15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed.19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,[c] for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
As I was reading a commentary on Genesis 10, I came to find out that the chapter is usually referred to as the Table of Nations and is very unique in the annals of history. Its main purpose is given at the very beginning, in verse 1- we are told that sons were born to Noah. And this information is given so that we know how the entire earth was repopulated after the flood- from these three sons of Noah and their descendants.
A. Overview of the sons of Noah- Shem, Ham, and Japheth
The list recalls the three sons of Noah, beginning with the firstborn, Shem. We’ll later find out that the people of Israel were the descendants of Shem.
I. The Sons of Japheth ( Verses 2-5)
- Descendants listed
Seven sons are named and seven grandsons from only two sons are named when it comes to Japheth. Does that mean that his other 5 sons didn’t have children? I doubt it , but this is a case where the Scripture is only putting an emphasis on those that will have a significant impact on the unfolding of biblical history.
2. Migration and spread of the coastland peoples
We are told that from the sons of Japheth, the coastlands people spread in their lands, each with his own language. It is important to mention that this dispersion took place after the tower of Babel. Because up to this point, all people spoke one and the same language.
II. The Sons of Ham ( Verses 6-20)
Cush is ancient Ethiopia ( not the modern nation), then we have Egypt, Put ( that some have identified as Libya), and finally Canaan. The descendants of Ham occupied areas we’d identify today as Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. As we read the narrative, we are introduced to an interesting character named Nimrod. He is mentioned for a few reasons. First, he founded a string of nations that played an important role in this history of Israel. And secondly, he founded the infamous Babel, a nation that will play a key role in the shaping of history as we’ll see in chapter 11. There is a third reason why he is mentioned, he is referred to as a mighty hunter before the LORD. Contrary to what you may think, this descriptive isn’t saying that Nimrod knew how to hunt games, but rather he was a hunter of men, a ruthless tyrant, conquering other men and building nations. This should ring a bell, it reminds us of the mighty men of renown mentioned in Genesis 6, the Nephilim. I’m not saying that Nimrod was a Nephilim, but he displayed the kind of physical dominance and violence they also were known for, he was a conqueror.
He built four cities in Shinar ( Babylonia) and four more in Assyria. And both Babylon and Assyria became enemies of Israel and were also used by God to chasten his people when they disobeyed HIM.
We are also told that Egypt fathered 7 nations, and from one of them, Casluhim, came the Philistines who will also become a fierce enemy of Israel.
Canaan also fathered 11 people groups and I find it interesting that out of these groups were born Sodom and Gomorrah, territories inhabited by people who were known for their notorious sexual perversion. The Lord later destroyed them for it.
III-Shem’s Descendants ( Verses 21-31)
Shem is usually mentioned first, but in this chapter, he is mentioned last so that the narrative can move right into the story of Babel and the genealogy of Abraham, who is a descendant of Shem. Five sons are mentioned but the main emphasis is on Arphaxad, the grandfather of Eber. Abraham, who is the father of the Hebrew nation, came from the line of Eber, and his account will begin in chapter 12. So we clearly see that the author is already giving us some very important references pertaining to the unfolding of biblical history.
There is another emphasis on the dividing of the earth during the days of Peleg, which actually means division. This is alluding to the dispersion of the nations described in Chapter 11.
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My name is Tayib Salami and I started Tayibs.com for the sole purpose of exploring difficult questions about the Christian faith that most of us shy away from. In 2017, I entered a very dark time in my life and it’s only by the grace of the Living God that I’m still alive today. It led me to really go deeper in my faith and consider a myriad of questions that I never thought about asking myself or others before. Welcome and enjoy the ride with me.