Chapter 10

1 The generations of Noah. 2 The sons of Japheth. 6 The sons of Ham. 8 Nimrod the first monarch. 21 The sons of Shem.

1. These are the generations. The authenticity of Gen. 10 has been challenged by Bible critics, who brand it either a late document based on faulty information or perhaps a sheer invention. Recent discoveries, however, attest its validity. Without Gen. 10 our knowledge of the origin and interrelationship of the various races would be far less complete than it is. This chapter confirms the words of Paul at Athens, that God “hath made of one blood all nations” (Acts 17:26).

The sons of Noah. The expression, “These are the generations,” appears frequently in Genesis (see Gen 6:9; 11:10; 25:12, 19; etc.), usually as a title for genealogical information. Noah’s sons are not listed according to age, but according to their relative importance to the Hebrews (see on ch. 5:32). All three sons were born prior to the Flood. Shem means “name” or “fame,” Ham, “warmth,” and Japheth, either “beauty” or “expansion.” The latter meaning for Japheth seems preferable in view of the blessing pronounced upon him by his father (see ch. 9:27). These names probably reflect the feelings of Noah when they were born. The birth of Shem assured Noah of “fame”; there was a particularly “warm” place in his heart for Ham; in Japheth he saw the growth of his family. The names also suggest prophetic foresight. Shem was famed as progenitor of Abraham and thus of the Messiah; Ham’s nature was hot, unbridled, and sensual; Japheth’s descendants are dispersed over several continents. But it is not alone in the names Noah gave his sons that the spirit of inspiration was revealed; it is reflected, as well, in the blessings and the curse pronounced over them (see ch. 9:25–27). The name of Ham appears often as a Jewish name today, in the form of Chaim.

Unto them were sons born. The marked blessing of God upon the survivors of the Flood resulted in the rapid multiplication of the human race (see ch. 9:1; 10:32). The sequence in which the names of Noah’s sons are considered is in harmony with a Hebrew literary device known as “inverted parallelism.” After giving their names in the customary order, “Shem, Ham, and Japheth,” Moses lists the descendants of Japheth first and those of Shem last. Another instance of this device occurs in Matt. 25:2–4.

2. The sons of Japheth; Gomer. Gomer was the ancestor of a people known in Assyrian inscriptions as Gamir or Gimirrai. They are the Cimmerians of ancient Greek literature, and belong to the Indo-European family of nations. According to the Greek author Homer, the Cimmerians lived in Northern Europe. They appeared in the northern provinces of the Assyrian Empire at the time of Sargon II, during the 8th century b.c. They invaded ancient Armenia, but were pushed westward by the Assyrians. An old Assyrian letter comments that none of their interpreters knew the language of the people of Gomer. The Cimmerians overthrew, in turn, the Phrygian and Lydian kingdoms of Asia Minor, but were gradually absorbed by the peoples of Anatolia. Poets of the time speak of the terror inspired in men’s hearts by the Cimmerians. In testimony of their power, a great part of Anatolia once bore the name Gomer. The ancients spoke of the “Cimmerian Bosporos,” and the Armenians still call part of their country Gamir. It is thought that the Crimea bears their name to the present day.

Magog. The identification of this name is difficult. In Eze. 38, 39 Gog, a king of Magog, appears as a cruel enemy of God’s people. From him may have come the barbaric tribe of Gagaia named in a letter from a 15th-century Babylonian king to an Egyptian Pharaoh. This tribe is assumed to have lived somewhere north of the Black Sea, probably in proximity to the descendants of Gomer, a brother of Magog.

Madai. The Medes, or Madai, appear for the first time in Assyrian inscriptions of the 9th century b.c. as a people who lived on the high Iranian plateau to the east of Assyria. After playing a minor role in the history of the ancient world, they appear suddenly in the 7th century b.c. as a powerful nation under King Cyaxares, when in conjunction with the Babylonians they overthrew the Assyrian Empire. When the two allies divided up the shattered empire, the Medes received the northern provinces up to the river Halys in Asia Minor, governing their vast domain from Ecbatana, the Biblical Achmetha (see Ezra 6:2). Cyaxares’ son Astyages was defeated and deposed by the Persian ruler Cyrus, who consolidated the kingdoms of Media and Persia and then overthrew Babylon. For the first time in history world supremacy thus fell into the hands of an Indo-European race.

Javan. The Greeks, or Ionians, descended from Javan. The early Ionians are first mentioned in Hittite records as the inhabitants of the western coastal regions of Asia Minor. This was in the middle of the second millennium b.c., about the time Moses wrote Genesis. In Assyrian inscriptions they are called Jamnai.

Tubal. TheTibarenians of Herodotus and the Tabalaeans of Assyrian cuneiform sources are to be identified with the descendants of Tubal. Tubal is mentioned in inscriptions of the 12th century b.c. as being allied with Muski (Meshech) and Kaski in an attempt to conquer northeastern Mesopotamia. Shalmaneser III refers to Tabal as a country for the first time in the 9th century b.c., whereas inscriptions a century later locate the Tabalaeans as settlers in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of southern Cappadocia. They were later pushed into Armenia, where Greek authors of the classical period came in contact with them.

Geographical Distribution of the Sons of Noah

Meshech. Probably ancestor of the Moschoi of Greek classical writers, the Mushku of Assyrian inscriptions. These inscriptions represent Tabal and Mushku as allies, as in Eze. 38. The Mushku appear in the northern part of Mesopotamia for the first time during the reign of Tiglath-pileser I, about 1100 b.c. A little later they settled in Phrygia, and from thence, under their king Mita, made war on Sargon II, in the 8th century. In his struggle against the Assyrians the last king of Carchemish tried in vain to get help from Mita, king of Meshech. After ruling over northern Anatolia for a time the Mushku lost it, first to the Cimmerians and then to the Lydians.

Tiras. Probably ancestor of the Turseµnoi. This people, named after Tiras, lived on the west coast of Asia Minor, where they were notorious as pirates. Related probably to the Italian Tyrsenians, they appear in Egyptian inscriptions of the late 13th century b.c. under the name Turusha. They played a leading role among the migrating coastal peoples of the pre-Hellenic period.

3. The sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz. First son of Gomer, son of Japheth, Ashkenaz was ancestor of the Indo-European people, the Ashkuza, who lived southeast of Lake Urmiah in the time of Esarhaddon, 7th century b.c. The Ashkenian Lake of Phrygia is named for them. Esarhaddon gave his daughter to the Ashkuza king Bartatua as wife, upon being assured by his sun god that Bartatua would remain loyal to Assyria. Hence we find the Ashkuza joining forces with the Assyrians against the Cimmerians and the Medes. Madyes, Bartatua’s son, tried unsuccessfully to aid the Assyrians when Nineveh was besieged by the Medes and Babylonians. Upon the fall of Assyria the Ashkuza became subject to the Medes. Together with the Indo-European kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Media, they are called up by Jeremiah to destroy Babylon (Jer. 51:27).

Riphath. Because of his relationship to Gomer, Ashkenaz, and Togarmah, Riphath was probably the progenitor of another Indo-European tribe of Cappadocia. His name, however, has not yet been found in ancient inscriptions. Josephus identifies his descendants with the Paphlagonians, who lived west of the lower Halys in Asia Minor and whose capital was Sinope.

Togarmah. Ancestor of the Tagarma or Tagarama, mentioned in Hittite records of the 14th century b.c. They are the Tilgarimmu of Assyrian inscriptions, which locate them in the northern Taurus Mountains. Sennacherib, Sargon’s son, mentions them with the Chilakki, who lived on the Halys in Asia Minor. Both Assyrian kings claim to have conquered their country. Ezekiel states (Eze. 27:14) that mules and horses were brought from their land to the markets of Phoenicia. Togarmah appears in Eze. 38:6 among the allies of Magog. The Armenians trace their genealogy back to Haik, the son of Torgom, and seem therefore to be descendants of Togarmah.

4. The sons of Javan; Elishah. Since Tyre imported its purple cloth from the “isles of Elishah” (Eze. 27:7), probably the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, it would seem likely that the descendants of Javan’s son Elishah should be sought in that region. It is known that Sicily and Sardinia were colonized by Greeks; thus the inhabitants of Sardinia and Sicily were the “sons” of mainland Greece just as Elishah was the son of Javan, progenitor of the Greeks. The similarity of the name Elishah to that part of Greece called Aeolis or Elis and to the name by which the Greeks called their country, “Hellas,” seems to connect Elishah, originally, with mainland Greece.

Tarshish. This name appears frequently in the Bible. According to Isa. 66:19 and Ps. 72:10, Tarshish was a land “afar off.” It had good trade relations with Tyre, which imported silver, iron, tin, and lead from thence (Eze. 27:12). Jonah intended to escape to Tarshish when the Lord sent him to Nineveh (Jonah 1:3). It was, presumably, the remote Phoenician colony in the mining district of southern Spain, the Tartessus of the Greeks and Romans, in the area of the middle and lower Baetis (now Guadalquivir) River. “Tarshish,” meaning “smelter” or “refinery,” was probably the name of several different places with which the Phoenicians and, at times, the Hebrews, carried on a trade in metals, in “ships of Tarshish” (Ps. 48:7; see on 1 Kings 10:22).

Kittim. Many commentators have identified Kittim with Cyprus because a capital of Cyprus was named Kition. This would agree with Isa. 23:1, 12, which speaks of Chittim as being not far from Tyre and Sidon. In Jer. 2:10 and Dan. 11:30 the name Chittim denotes Greeks in general. But its earlier meaning, as in Isaiah, seems to be more circumscribed. It is, therefore, safe to identify Kittim either with Cyprus or with other islands in the vicinity of Greece.

Dodanim. If this spelling is correct, the Greek Dardanians, along the northwestern coast of Asia Minor, must be meant. The LXX, however, reads Rodioi. The parallel list of 1 Chron. 1:7 reads Rodanim in Hebrew, which the KJV translators changed to Dodanim, to agree with the Hebrew spelling in ch. 10:4. The letters d and r in Hebrew are so similar that a scribe may easily have mistaken the r for a d in this verse. If Rodanim was indeed the original spelling of the name, Greeks on the island of Rhodes are probably meant.

5. The isles of the Gentiles. Javan’s descendants, the various Greek tribes mentioned in the preceding verse—the people of Greece and islands adjacent to it, of Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, and Cyprus—went forth to settle the islands and coastal regions of the Mediterranean. This verse indicates that the names given designate only main tribal groups. Apparently, further branching out had occurred by the time of Moses. When Genesis was written the populations of the central and western Mediterranean were subdivided into many different groups, all probably descended from Javan, the fourth son of Japheth.

6. The sons of Ham; Cush. The Hebrew people were more intimately associated with the Hamitic races than with the descendants of Japheth. Cush, or Kush, is ancient Ethiopia, which was in classical times called Nubia. It was not Abyssinia, but included a part of Egypt and a part of the Sudan, extending from the first cataract of the Nile, at Aswan, as far south as Khartoum. In Egyptian inscriptions this land is called Kash, in Assyrian cuneiform texts, Kusu. Cush, however, included not only African Nubia but also the western part of Arabia bordering on the Red Sea. Some of the sons of Cush are known to have settled there. Zerah, the Cushite of 2 Chron. 14:9, and the Cushites of Isa. 45:14, mentioned with the Sabeans as men of stature, are thought to be western Arabians. About the time of Hezekiah, Judah was in contact with the African Cush, or Ethiopia, which is mentioned frequently in the later books of the OT (see 2 Kings 19:9; Esther 1:1; 8:9; Ps. 68:31; etc.).

Mizraim. The Egyptians were descendants of Ham’s second son. The origin of the Hebrew name Mizraim is obscure. Although this word is virtually the same in the Assyrian, Babylonian, Arabian, and Turkish languages as in the Hebrew, a similar native name has never been found in Egyptian inscriptions. The Egyptians called their country either the “Black Land,” designating the fertile strip of soil bordering on both banks of the river Nile in contrast with the desert “Red Land,” or they spoke of it as the “Two Lands,” reflecting an earlier historical division of the country into two separate kingdoms. Whether the word Mizraim, with its Hebrew dual ending, may be a reflection of the expression “Two Lands” is a disputed subject among scholars. Modern Egyptians use the name Misr and the adjective Misri in referring to Egypt.

Phut. Phut has traditionally been identified as the progenitor of the Libyans. This tradition goes back to the time of the LXX, which translated Phut as “Libya.” This identification is probably wrong. Ancient Egyptian inscriptions mention an African land by the name of Punt, Put\a in Babylonian texts, to which from early times Egypt sent expeditions to obtain myrrh trees, leopard skins, ebony, ivory, and other exotic products. Punt, therefore, was probably the African coast of Somaliland and Eritrea and the Phut, or Put, of this text.

Canaan. Hieroglyphic and cuneiform inscriptions of the second millennium b.c. locate Canaan as the region bordering the Mediterranean on the west, Lebanon on the north, and Egypt on the south. It is, furthermore, a collective name for the indigenous population of Palestine, Phoenicia, and the Hittite city states of northern Syria. The Phoenicians and their colonists the Carthaginians of Northern Africa referred to themselves as Canaanites, on their coins, until Roman times (see v. 15). Though Canaan was the son of Ham, the Canaanitic language was Semitic—as the writing of the Canaanites clearly reveals. It seems that they accepted the Semitic language at a very early stage of their history. This was apparently true of the Egyptians also, for their language is strongly Semitic. In fact, the ancient Egyptians, whose Hamitic relationship no scholar will dispute, took over so many Semitic elements into their language that some scholars have classified ancient Egyptian as Semitic. The geographic proximity of the Canaanites to the Semitic nations of the Near East may have been responsible for their acceptance of the Semitic language. Babylonian culture, language, and script were taken over by virtually all peoples who lived between the Euphrates and Egypt, as the Amarna Letters of the 14th century b.c. indicate. On the Amarna Letters, see p. 106.

That a language spoken by a people is not always a clear indication of the race to which they belong is evident from numerous ancient and modern examples. The Arabic conquest of the whole Mediterranean region made Arabic the spoken and written language of Semitic and non-Semitic populations alike, from the Atlantic coast to the Indus.

7. The sons of Cush; Seba. The Jewish historian Josephus identifies Seba with the Nubian kingdom of Meroл an African land situated between the Blue Nile and Atbara rivers. This view may have been correct at the time of Josephus, since the Ethiopians had by then migrated to Africa from southern Arabia. However, Seba was a tribe, originally at least, in the southern part of Arabia. In Ps. 72:10 the most remote nations of Solomon’s time are pictured paying Solomon homage—Seba far to the south, Tarshish to the west, and Sheba to the east. In Isa. 43:3 Seba is referred to as being in close proximity to Cush. Isaiah 45:14 emphasizes the great stature of its people.

Havilah. Aside from the Bible itself Havilah is not mentioned. Various Biblical statements indicate that it was an Arabic tribe not far from Palestine. Genesis 25:18 places Edom’s eastern border at Havilah, which was also the eastern limit of Saul’s campaign against the Amalekites (see 1 Sam. 15:7). For the antediluvian Havilah see on Gen. 2:11.

Sabtah. Some commentators have identified Sabtah with Sabota, the capital city of the south Arabic country of Hadhramaut. Others think it was the same as Ptolemy’s Saphtha on the Persian Gulf. Definite identification is impossible.

Raamah. Inasmuch as the Arabic tribes of Sheba and Dedan were originally located in southwestern Arabia, it is likely that the people of Raamah lived in the same region. Ezekiel mentions Raamah with Sheba, as trading incense, precious stones, and gold in the market places of Tyre. It is probably the tribe of the Rhammanites, located by the Roman geographer Strabo in southwestern Arabia. They are also referred to in a famous Arabian inscription that ascribes praise to the local deity for saving the Minaeans from attacks of Sheba and Haulan, on the way from MaЅin to Raamah.

Sabtechah. Nothing further is known of this son or his descendants. Some have sought to identify their home with Samudake on the Persian Gulf. This is very doubtful, because the Cushite Arabians all seem to have settled in the western part of Arabia.

Sheba. The Sabaeans, descendants of Sheba, are well known both from the Bible and from other sources. In OT times Sheba appears as a wealthy trading nation. It is generally held that it was this country whose queen paid a state visit to Solomon. Later the Sabaeans became the most important people of southern Arabia, in the country now called Yemen. A wealth of inscriptions, the majority as yet unpublished, bears witness to their religion, their history, and the high level of their culture. Through the building of large dams and an extensive irrigation system the Sabaeans greatly increased the fertility and wealth of their country, to the extent that it became known in classical times as Arabia Felix, “Happy Arabia.” The neglect and eventual destruction of these dams brought the gradual eclipse of the Sabaean nation.

Dedan. This grandson of Cush became the ancestor of a South Arabic tribe of which nothing more is known. This tribe must not be confused with that descended from a grandson of Abraham by Keturah that lived at the southern border of Edom in northwestern Arabia (Gen. 25:3; 1 Chron. 1:32; Isa. 21:13; Jer. 25:23; 49:8; Eze. 25:13; 27:15, 20; 38:13).

8. Cush begat Nimrod. Although Nimrod’s name is yet to be found in Babylonian records, Arabs still connect some ancient sites with his name. Birs-Nimrud, for instance, is their name for the ruins of Borsippa; and Nimrud, of Calah. These names must rest on very old traditions, and cannot be attributed to the influence of the Koran alone. So far as currently available historical evidence goes, the earliest inhabitants of Mesopotamia were not Semitic but Sumerian. Little is known as to the origin of the Sumerians. The fact that Nimrod, a Hamite, founded the first city states of Mesopotamia suggests that the Sumerians were possibly Hamitic.

A mighty one. This expression denotes a person renowned for bold and daring deeds. It may also include the connotation of “tyrant.”

9. Before the Lord. The LXX renders this phrase “against the Lord.” Although the hunter Nimrod acted in defiance of God, his mighty deeds made him famous among his contemporaries, and in future generations as well. Babylonian legends about Gilgamesh, who appears frequently on Babylonian reliefs and cylinder seals and in literary documents, may possibly refer to Nimrod. Gilgamesh is usually shown killing lions or other wild beasts with his bare hands. The fact that Nimrod was a Hamite may be the reason why the Babylonians, descendants of Shem, credited his famous deeds to one of their own hunters and purposely forgot his name.

10. The beginning of his kingdom. This may mean either his first kingdom or the beginning of his sovereignty. Nimrod appears in the register of nations as the author of imperialism. Under him society passed from the patriarchal form to the monarchical. He is the first man mentioned in the Bible as the head of a kingdom.

Babel. Nimrod’s first kingdom was Babylon. Having the idea that their city was the earthly reflection of the heavenly dwelling place of their god, the Babylonians gave it the name BabРilu, “the gate of god” (see on ch. 11:9). Babylonian legends equate the founding of the city with the creation of the world. No doubt with this in mind Sargon, an early Semitic king of Mesopotamia, took sacred soil from Babylon for the founding of another city modeled after it. Even in the later period of Assyrian supremacy Babylon did not lose its significance as the center of Mesopotamian culture. Its greatest fame and glory, however, came in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, who made of it the world’s first metropolis. After its destruction by the Persian king Xerxes, Babylon lay partly in ruins (see on Isa. 13:19).

Erech. The Babylonian Uruk, modern Warka. Recent excavations prove this to be one of the oldest cities in existence. The earliest written documents ever to be discovered were found there. Uruk was known to the Babylonians as the vicinity where the mighty deeds of Gilgamesh were performed, a fact which seems to support the suggestion that the Gilgamesh legends were reminiscences of Nimrod’s early accomplishments.

Accad. The seat of the early kings Sargon and Naram-Sin (p. 135). The ruins of this city have not been located, but must be in the neighborhood of Babylon. The ancient Semitic population of Lower Mesopotamia came to be called Accadian, and the Babylonian and Assyrian languages are now referred to, collectively, by the same term.

Calneh. Though Calneh has not yet been identified with certainty, it was probably the same as Nippur, the present Niffer. A large percentage of the known Sumerian texts have been found at this site. It was called by the Sumerians EnlilРki, “the city of [the god] Enlil.” The Babylonians reversed the sequence of the two elements of this name and referred to the city, in their oldest inscriptions, as KiРEnlil, later KiРIllina. This may have given rise to the Hebrew “Calneh.” Next to Babylon, Nippur was the most sacred city of Lower Mesopotamia and boasted important temples. From earliest times to the late Persian period, the city was a center of culture and extensive trade.

Shinar. The afore-mentioned cities lay in the land of Shinar, the term generally used in the OT for Babylonia, comprising Sumer in the south as well as Accad in the north (see Gen. 11:2; 14:1, 9; Joshua 7:21, Heb., “a garment of Shinar”; Isa. 11:11; Zech. 5:11; Dan. 1:2). The name is still somewhat obscure. It was formerly thought to have been derived from the word Sumer, the ancient Sumeria, which lay in the southernmost part of Mesopotamia. More likely, however, it is from Shanhara of certain cuneiform texts, a land whose exact location has not been determined. Some texts seem to indicate that Shanhara was in northern Mesopotamia rather than in the south. Although it is certain that Shinar is Babylonia, the origin of the term is not yet clear.

11. Out of that land went forth Asshur. Even though this translation is possible, the sentence construction in Hebrew favors that given by the RSV, which retains Nimrod as the subject and reads, “From that land he went into Assyria.” In Micah 5:6 Assyria is called “the land of Nimrod.” Nimrod’s move into Assyria and his renewed building activity there constituted an extension of his empire in a northerly direction. What Assyria lacked in geographical size it made up in political power later in its history.

Nineveh. For centuries Nineveh was famous as the capital of Assyria. The Assyrians themselves called it Ninua, apparently dedicating it to the Babylonian goddess Nina. This points to Babylon as Nimrod’s previous home and agrees with the Biblical report that he, the first king of Babylon, was also founder of Nineveh. Excavations have shown that Nineveh was one of the oldest cities of Upper Mesopotamia. Lying at the intersection of busy international trade routes, Nineveh early became an important commercial center. It changed hands repeatedly during the second millennium b.c., belonging in turn to the Babylonians, Hittites, and Mitannians before being brought under Assyrian control in the 14th century b.c. Later, as capital of the Assyrian Empire, it was embellished with magnificent palaces and temples and strongly fortified. In 612 b.c. the city was destroyed by the Medes and Babylonians, and has since then remained a heap of ruins. In its famous library, established by Ashurbanipal, have been found thousands of baked clay tablets containing invaluable historical, religious, and business documents and letters. Above all others, this discovery has enriched our knowledge of ancient Assyria and Babylonia.

Rehoboth. Literally, the “wide places” or “streets of the city.” This probably designates Rкbit-Ninв a suburb of Nineveh mentioned in certain cuneiform texts. Its exact location, however, is still uncertain. Some scholars think it to have been northeast of Nineveh; others, across the river Tigris on the site of modern Mosul.

Calah. The ancient Assyrian city of Kalhu, which lies at the confluence of the Great Zab and Tigris rivers, about 20 miles south of Nineveh. Its present name, Nimrud, perpetuates the memory of its founder. Magnificent palaces were once the pride of this city, which served intermittently as the capital of the Assyrian Empire. In its extensive ruins have been preserved huge stone monuments and some of the finest examples of Assyrian sculpture. The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, on which appears the earliest pictorial representation of an Israelite king and other Hebrews, was found in one of its palaces. The inscription on the obelisk records the payment of tribute by King Jehu of Israel in 841 b.c.

12. Resen. The Bible places Resen between Nineveh and Calah, but its exact site is yet to be discovered.

13. Mizraim begat Ludim. Moses proceeds to the descendants of Ham’s second son, Mizraim, whose name was later given to Egypt. Some commentators assume a scribal error to be responsible for a supposed change from Lubim, the Libyans, to the Ludim, or Lydians. But the name appears in different books of the Bible (1 Chron. 1:11; Isa. 66:19; Jer. 46:9; Eze. 27:10; 30:5); therefore it is impossible to see mistakes in all passages where Ludim, or Lud, occurs. In some of these passages Ludim and Lubim are both mentioned as being distinct and separate peoples. Moreover, the LXX translated Ludim as “Lydians.” This makes plausible an identification with the Lydians of Asia Minor, who must have migrated from Northern Africa to Anatolia at an early stage in their history. They appeared in the plain of Sardis in western Asia Minor before the middle of the second millennium b.c. and gradually spread over half of the country, to the great river Halys. During the Hittite supremacy Lydia was subject to them, but again became a strong, independent kingdom after the collapse of the Hittite Empire in the 13th century b.c. Cyrus conquered Lydia in the 6th century b.c. and incorporated it into the Persian Empire. Its former capital, Sardis, however, remained an important city for many centuries. It was still a flourishing metropolis in the early Christian period, when John wrote his letter to the church there (Rev. 3:1–6).

If, however, the Biblical Ludim are not the historical Lydians, they must have lived somewhere in Northern Africa, in proximity to most of the other descendants of Mizraim. If this be so, we cannot identify the Ludim, for mention is not made of such a people in any ancient record but the Bible.

Anamim. Perhaps the Anamim lived in the great oasis of Egypt called Kenemet (the k sound is frequently represented in Hebrew by the consonant Фayin, with which the name ФAnamim begins). But in 1920 Albright, from Assyrian Anami, made a different identification: Cyrene.

Lehabim. Presumably the Libyans (called in Egyptian inscriptions Rbw, probably pronounced Lebu), attested by very early records as representing the tribes bordering on Egypt to the northwest. Eventually they occupied most of Northern Africa. Apparently in the Bible they are also called “Lubim” (see 2 Chron. 12:3; 16:8; Dan. 11:43; Nahum 3:9). The identification of the Lehabim with the Libyans would constitute one more argument against seeing in the previously discussed Ludim a mistake for Lubim.

Naphtuhim. The identity of this people is uncertain. Perhaps the best suggestion is that it refers to Egyptians of the Nile Delta. In Egyptian inscriptions these people were called NaРpatuЖh, which may be the same as the Biblical Naphtuhim.

14. Pathrusim. The Pathrusim were probably the inhabitants of Upper Egypt. In Isa. 11:11 Pathros is listed between Cush (Nubia) and Mizraim (Egypt). The name Pathros is the Hebrew rendering of the Egyptian PaРtaРres, written in Assyrian inscriptions Paturisi, and meaning “the southland.” Ezekiel 29:14 points to Pathros as the original homeland of the Egyptians. This agrees with their own ancient tradition that the first king Menes, the one who united the nation, came from the old upper Egyptian city of This.

Casluhim. Not yet identified. Whether they may have been the inhabitants of the area bordering on the Mediterranean west of Egypt is uncertain.

Philistim. Because Amos 9:7 declares that the Philistines came from Caphtor, most commentators think that the word “Caphtorim” should be placed before the phrase “out of whom came Philistim.” Inasmuch as Casluh and Caphtor were sons of the same father, some of the Philistine tribes may have originated from Casluh, others from his brother Caphtor. The Philistines who came into Palestine from Crete by way of Asia Minor and Syria may have had their original home in Northern Africa. As inhabitants of the coastal region of southern Palestine they played an important role in Hebrew history. The Philistines are mentioned frequently not only in the Bible but also in Egyptian records as Prst (probably pronounced Puresati). Egyptian reliefs picture their features, dress, and modes of traveling and fighting, thus supplementing information about them given in the Bible. They are also mentioned in cuneiform inscriptions under the name Palastu. The Greeks called the land of Philista Palaistineµ and applied that name to the whole country, which has been known ever since as Palestine (see Isa. 14:29, where Peleshet is translated “Palestine”).

Caphtorim. This people is mentioned also in Deut. 2:23, Jer. 47:4, and Amos 9:7. Egyptian inscriptions of the second millennium b.c. definitely apply the name Keftiu to the first inhabitants of Crete, and also in a wider sense to the coastland peoples of Asia Minor and Greece. This usage of Keftiu suggests Crete and migrations to surrounding coastal regions, which would include Syria and Palestine. The Philistines were remnants of these so-called “peoples of the sea.”

15. Canaan. For some unknown reason Moses omits the enumeration of the descendants of Ham’s third son Phut, and proceeds to Canaan, youngest of the four brothers. The land of Canaan was strategically located on the important “bridge” between Asia and Africa, between the two great river cultures of antiquity, in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The Biblical Canaan was Palestine west of the Jordan, extending north into present Lebanon and Syria.

Sidon his firstborn. The seaport Sidon, known as “great Zidon” at the time of the Hebrew conquest (Joshua 11:8), named in Egyptian hieroglyphic and Mesopotamian cuneiform texts, was the most powerful of the Phoenician city-states from the earliest times. Many Phoenicians then called themselves Sidonians even when they were actually citizens of neighboring cities.

The Sidonians occupied Cyprus and founded colonies in Cilicia and Caria in Asia Minor, on various Greek islands, on Crete, and on the coasts of the Black Sea.

Leadership among the cities of Phoenicia passed from Sidon to its sister city Tyre about 1100 b.c. The Phoenicians were friendly to David and Solomon and to the northern kingdom of Israel as well, but exercised an evil religious influence upon the latter. Esarhaddon claimed to have conquered the island city of Tyre, but Nebuchadnezzar, after capturing mainland Tyre, failed to take the island city after a siege lasting 13 years. As a result Sidon once more played an important role, during the Persian period, but was completely destroyed by Artaxerxes III in 351 b.c. The same fate befell Tyre a few years later, when Alexander took it in 332 b.c., so bringing to a close the long and glorious history of the Phoenician city-states.

Heth. Ancestor of the Hittites, called Kheta by the Egyptians and Hatti in cuneiform texts. The Hittites, with their capital in central Asia Minor, grew into a strong empire in the 17th century b.c. They gained control over much of Asia Minor and Syria, and in extending southward came into conflict city Egypt. This centralized Hittite Empire was later destroyed by the “People of the Sea” and dissolved into many Syrian city-states. The Assyrians called Syria the country of the Hittites. Hittite texts, in both cuneiform and hieroglyphic forms of an Indo-European language, have given us rich information on the history, laws, and culture of this nation. Probably, however, the descendants of Heth were the earlier “proto-Hittites,” whose language was called Hattili (see p. 137).

16. The Jebusite. These inhabitants of pre-Israelitic Jerusalem seem to have been only a small and unimportant tribe, since they are never mentioned outside of the Bible and are confined to Jerusalem in the OT records (see Gen. 15:21; Num. 13:29; Judges 19:10, 11; etc.). Solomon made the remnants of the Jebusites serfs of the crown (1 Kings 9:20).

The Amorite. A powerful group of peoples found from the border of Egypt to Babylonia during the patriarchal age. They were the founders of the First Dynasty of Babylon, of which Hammurabi, the great Babylonian lawgiver, was the most famous king. The available evidence shows that they infiltrated Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine in the early part of the second millennium b.c., and replaced the existing ruling classes in those countries. At the time when the Hebrews invaded the country only remnants of the formerly powerful Amorite populations were encountered (Num. 21:21).

The Girgasite. Mentioned only in the Bible, this people was an indigenous Canaanite tribe of Palestine (Joshua 24:11).

17. The Hivite. Though mentioned 25 times in various OT passages, the Hivites were nevertheless an obscure Canaanite tribe. Some hold that the name Hivite should read “Horite” (Hurrian), as the LXX has it twice, with a change of only one letter in Hebrew. (See pp. 425, 138.)

The Arkite. This people inhabited the Phoenician seaport of Irkata, situated about 16 mi. northeast of Tripoli in the foothills of Lebanon. Pharaoh Thutmose III conquered the whole region during the 15th century b.c. It remained in Egyptian possession for at least 100 years, as the Amarna Letters of the 14th century indicate. King Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria mentions the city as one that paid tribute to him in the 8th century.

The Sinite. This group lived in and about the city of Siannu, which Tiglath-pileser III mentions, together with other tributary Phoenician vassals, in the 8th century b.c. Its exact location is still unknown.

18. The Arvadite. The Arvadites inhabited the ancient city of Arvad, built on an island off the northern coast of Phoenicia. The city appears repeatedly in ancient records of Babylonia, Palestine, and Egypt. Inscriptions of about 1100 b.c. say that Tiglath-pileser I sailed for a whale hunt with the ships of Arvad. The mentioning of the whale as occurring in the Mediterranean Sea during the second millennium b.c. is significant in connection with the story of Jonah, and with the mention of great sea monsters in Ps. 104:26. Ezekiel 27:8, 11 mentions the Arvadites as mariners and brave warriors.

The Zemarite. Also a Phoenician people. Simirra occurs in Assyrian, Palestinian, and Egyptian documents as a wealthy city of merchants. The Egyptian Pharaohs Thutmose III and Seti I conquered the city for Egypt in the 15th and 14th centuries b.c., but during the period of the Assyrian supremacy Simirra, like other Phoenician cities, became tributary to Tiglath-pileser III and his successors.

The Hamathite. Hamath was a famous ancient city situated on the principal river of Syria, the Orontes. It is mentioned in Egyptian as well as in Assyrian documents. Tiglath-pileser III subjugated it, but it soon regained its independence and joined other enemies of Assyria in a long but unsuccessful struggle against that empire.

19. The border of the Canaanites. Not all the borders of the Canaanite area are here given. Only cities at the southern limit of the eastern border are mentioned. (For a more complete discussion of the geographical location of these cities, see on ch. 14:3.) Although the eastern and northern borders are not specifically mentioned, it may safely be assumed that the northern Arabian Desert in the east and the Syrian city of Hamath on the Orontes (see v. 18) in the north marked the limits of the Canaanite area. The Canaanites were scattered all along the Phoenician and Palestinian coasts.

21. The children of Eber. After enumerating the descendants of Japheth and Ham, Moses next lists those of Shem. His first statement concerns the Hebrews, who as descendants of Eber (ch. 11:16–26), were Shemites (or Semites). Recent discoveries make it evident that the Habiru mentioned in Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Syrian, Canaanite, and Egyptian inscriptions were to be found among all of these nations during the second millennium b.c., and that they were apparently related to the Hebrews. There is reason to assume that the Habiru were descendants of Eber as the Hebrews were; also, ancient sources occasionally refer to the Hebrews asHabiru. But it is certain that not all the Habiru mentioned in non-Biblical documents were Hebrews. The exceptionally wide dispersion of the Habiru throughout many countries of the ancient world may have led Moses to make the unusual statement that Shem was “the father of all the children of Eber.”

The brother of Japheth the elder. In Hebrew this phrase permits a translation making Japheth the elder brother of Shem, as the KJV renders it, or Shem “the elder brother of Japheth,” as in the RSV. The KJV is correct (see on ch. 5:32).

22. The children of Shem; Elam. This verse leads the reader to the home of the Semites, Mesopotamia and eastern Arabia. Elam was the region bordering on the lower Tigris in the west and on Media in the northeast. Elam’s ancient capital, Susa, the Biblical Shushan (Dan. 8:2), became, in later times, one of the capitals of the Persian Empire (see, for example, Esther 1:2). Excavations at Susa have brought to light numerous documents written in cuneiform script that allows us to reconstruct their history and religion. Elam’s descendants, Semites, settled very early in that area, but they evidently mingled with others, for their language as known from cuneiform records was not Semitic. It belonged to the Asianic-Armenoid group of languages. The relationship of the later Elamites with other known nations, however, is obscure.

Asshur. Assyria occupied the central part of the Tigris valley, extending in the north to the mountains of Armenia and in the east to the Median plateau. The name of Shem’s son Asshur was in turn taken over by the chief god of the Assyrians, by the oldest capital of the country, Assur, now Kalah-Shergat, and by the nation itself. Assyria appears in historical records from the beginning of the second millennium b.c. until its destruction by the Medes and Babylonians in the latter part of the 7th century. During its most powerful period Assyria was the scourge of all nations. Its cruelty toward conquered foes has never been surpassed. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, and the southern kingdom of Judah itself barely escaped.

Arphaxad. Identified by some commentators with Arrapha, the region between Media and Assyria. It is more likely the ancient country of Arrapachitis, between Lakes Urmia and Van. It was probably named after Arphaxad (Heb. Arpachshad).

Lud. Distinct from the Ludim mentioned in v. 13. Lud can be identified with the country of Lubdi, which appears in the ancient records as a region lying between the upper Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

Aram. Ancestor of the Aramaeans. In the early second millennium b.c. this people occupied the northwestern portion of Mesopotamia, but they spread southward in later times.

The Aramaeans in the north were never united as a nation, but were divided into many small tribes and city-states. The strongest of the Aramaean states, Damascus, was finally conquered by Tiglath-pileser III in 732 b.c. This event marks the end of the political history of the Aramaeans, but by no means the end of their cultural influence upon surrounding nations. They were scattered far and wide among the ancient peoples and passed their language and script on to them. As a result the Aramaic language became, within a very short time, a universal vehicle of communication from the border of India in the east to the Aegean Sea in the west, and from the Caucasus in the north to Ethiopia in the south. For centuries Aramaic remained the most widely used language in the Near East, and was the common tongue of the Jews in Jesus’ day.

Either Aramaean in origin or closely related were the Chaldeans, a south Babylonian tribe living in an area around “Ur of the Chaldees,” who fought the Assyrians, held the throne of Babylon several times in the 8th century b.c. and later founded the great neo-Babylonian dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar II, conqueror of Jerusalem.

23. The children of Aram; Uz. The name Uz was borne not only by Aram’s eldest son but also by the first son of Nahor (ch. 22:21, KJV, “Huz”), and by a grandson of Seir, the ancestor of the Horites. It is therefore difficult to limit Uz to a well-defined region. For the same reason it is not possible to determine Job’s location as an inhabitant of the land Uz (Job 1:1), nor to identify Sasi, the prince of Uz, mentioned by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III. Nothing is known of the Aramaic tribes of Hul, Gether, and Mash.

24. Arphaxad begat Salah. Inasmuch as the line from Arphaxad to Abraham is considered more in detail in ch. 11, Moses says little about it here. He follows it, however, through the first several generations in order to show the descent of the Joktan Arabs, who were cousins of the Hebrews through their common ancestor, Eber.

Eber. On Eber’s possible connection with the Habiru of non-Biblical sources, see on v. 21.

25. Peleg.Peleg means “division.” He was the first-born son of Eber and one of the ancestors of Abraham. Although the text speaks literally of a splitting up of the “earth,” it is more likely that the word “earth” signifies its people, as in chs. 9:19 and 11:1. Moses probably anticipates the events described in the next chapter, the confusion of tongues and the resulting dispersion of peoples. His remarks made in ch. 10:5, 20, and 31 about the diversity of tongues are to be understood in the same way. If the confusion of tongues took place about the time of Peleg’s birth, we can easily understand why he received the name Peleg, “division.” “In his days was the earth divided.”

Joktan. Peleg’s brother Joktan was the ancestor of an important group, the Joktan Arabs. The descent of the western, or Cushite, Arabs is given in v. 7, whereas the genealogy of the Arab descendants of Abraham is given in later chapters of Genesis. A third group of Arabs, described here, seems to have settled in the central, eastern, and southeastern parts of Arabia. Much less is known about them than about the other two Arabian groups.

26. Almodad, and Sheleph. The name Almodad has not yet been found in non-Biblical sources; hence no identification beyond the brief information in this text is possible. Sheleph may have been an Arabic people, the Salapenes, mentioned by Ptolemy.

Hazarmaveth. The Hadramaut of the south Arabic inscriptions, a country rich in incense, myrrh, and aloes. Its ancient population was devoted to the worship of the moon god Sin and his messenger Hol. Nothing is known of the Arabian tribe of Jerah.

27. Hadoram. The south Arabian tribe of the Adramites. Uzal may have been in Yemen. Diklah is still unidentified.

28. Sheba. As already noticed in connection with the explanation of the Cushite Sheba of southern Arabia (v. 7), the Joktanite Sabaeans are probably north Arabians of this name. They are mentioned in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II (8th century b.c.) as allies of the Aribi. Nothing is known of Obal and Abimael.

29. Ophir. Designates both a people and a land. Although mentioned frequently in the OT, its precise location is still unknown. Inasmuch as it took Solomon’s ships three years to complete a voyage from the Red Sea port of Ezion-Geber (1 Kings 9:28; 10:11, 22; etc.), Ophir must have been a rather distant land. Scholars have identified it with a southeastern region of Arabia, with a strip on the eastern coast of the Persian Gulf called Apir by the Elamites, or with India. The products imported from Ophir, gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks, may favor an identification with India rather than with Arabia. If Ophir was in India, it is hard to explain why all the other identifiable descendants of Joktan migrated eastward to the subcontinent of India after Genesis was written, because Moses places all the descendants of Joktan within definite geographical limits (see v. 30). According to another explanation, Ophir of the table of nations was in Arabia, whereas that of Solomon’s expeditions was in India. The latest available evidence, however, based on Egyptian inscriptions, seems to identify Ophir with Punt, which is understood to be the region of Somaliland in East Africa.

Havilah, and Jobab. Neither has as yet been identified.

30. Their dwelling. The places mentioned cannot be identified with certainty. Mesha is perhaps Mesene at the northwestern end of the Persian Gulf, and Sephar is possibly the city Saprapha of Ptolemy and Pliny, now Dofar, on the southeastern coast of Arabia. A high mountain standing in the immediate neighborhood of Dofar, which corresponds to the “mount of the east” mentioned by the Inspired Record, seems to favor this identification.

31. The sons of Shem. The enumeration of Shem’s descendants is concluded in words similar to those of Japheth and Ham in vs. 5 and 20. There is no doubt that the names given in this table of nations refer primarily to tribes and peoples, and but indirectly to individuals.

32. These are the families. The detailed discussion of the names, their identification, and other information about the nations mentioned point to the Biblical table of nations as an ancient and reliable document. Many of the names appear in non-Biblical sources of the first half of the second millennium b.c., some as early as 2000 b.c., or perhaps even earlier. Ancient records being fragmentary, some nations appear only in records of a comparatively late date. The Medes, for instance, do not appear in secular documents earlier than the 9th century b.c. This does not mean that such nations did not exist in earlier times, but rather that records by them or about them have not been found. Some, like the Joktan Arabs, may have had little contact with the nations whose records we do possess. The continuous discovery of ancient historical source material may be expected to shed further light on Gen. 10.

This table proclaims the unity of the human race, declaring that all have descended from a common source. Diverse as they now are in their geographical location, their physical appearance, or their national peculiarities, all can trace their origin back to Noah and his three sons. This list condemns all theories that would trace mankind back to different original parents. The list, furthermore, constitutes evidence supporting the account of the dispersion of races as being due to the confusion of tongues described in the next chapter. Moses (Deut. 32:8) and Paul (Acts 17:26) both affirm that the allocation of territory was made by God.

Ellen G. White comments

1 PP 117

10 8T 213