Genesis 10
The Table of Nations
1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
The Japhethites
2 The sons of Japheth:
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
4 The sons of Javan:
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. 5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
Like Noah who built the Ark, Noah’s grandson Javan’s sons became the origin of the maritime peoples (5).
# A source (https://bible.org/seriespage/spread-nations-genesis-101-1126) says the descendants of Japheth formed the Indo-European family of nations.
The Hamites
6 The sons of Ham:
Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush:
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.
The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. 11From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.
Ham’s grandson Nimrod became a mighty warrior on the earth and built his kingdom. He was the greatest hunter in the world (9). Babylon was built by Nimrod. “Babylon the great” is mentioned in 7 verses in the book of Revelation (Rev 14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:1-2, 18:10, 18:21)
Rev 14:8 reads A second angel followed and said, “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great,’ which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries.”
From this verse alone we can know Babylon is immoral and adulterous.
The might warrior built the very sinful city that rebelled against God.
Proverbs 16:25 says
25 There is a way that appears to be right,
but in the end it leads to death.
Genesis, the book of all beginnings teaches us how everything began. Here we see how the sinful city began. This world is full of violence. Many people lost their sense of morality. Do not be misled. Overcome the temptation by following Jesus:
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
(Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3)
13 Egypt was the father of
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.
15 Canaan was the father of
Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.
Sodom and Gomarrah were later judged by God due to their sins and wickedness.
20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
# Based on a source (https://bible.org/seriespage/spread-nations-genesis-101-1126),
the nations connected to Ham inhabited northwestern Afria, the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile Crescent from Egypt to Mesopotamia. Some of these nations figured prominently in the biblical story as enemies of Israel, particularly “Babel” (Babylon, 10:10),10 “Mizraim” (Egypt, 10:13), and “Canaan” (10:15).
One thing we notice here is the impact of Noah’s curse upon Ham. In fact this impacted the whole human history over thousands years. What should we say? Choose the way of blessing… and the way is written in the Holy Bible.
The Semites
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem:
Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.
24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
26 Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.
30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.
31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
# Based on a source (https://bible.org/seriespage/spread-nations-genesis-101-1126),
The descendants of Shem (lit. “name”) are the Semitic peoples who inhabited the eastern lands: modern-day Iraq, Iran, and eastern Saudi Arabia. The genealogy of Shem split at the sons of “Eber” (10:25).12 From Eber we get the word “Hebrew.” The descendants of Eber’s son “Joktan” are given in 10:26-32, while the descendants of his other son, “Peleg” are found in Genesis 11. It was Peleg’s line which led to Abraham and eventually to the Israelites (11:18-26).13 This is the family that God will be dealing with throughout the entire Old Testament. These are the Hebrews, the nation Israel.
