The list of nations
1 These are the descendants of Noah’s sons. Shem, Ham and Ja pheth; these are their sons who were born after the flood.
2 Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, the Medes, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Ti ras.
3 Gomer’s sons: Ashke naz, Riphath, To gar mah.
4 Ja van’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim, the Dana nites.
5 These were dispersed and peo pled the islands of the nations.
These were Japheth’s sons, according to their countries and each of their languages, according to their tribes and their nations.
6 Ham’s sons: Cush, Misraim, Put, Ca na an.
7 Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sab tah, Ra a mah, Sabteca. Raamah’s sons: Sheba, Dedan.
8 Cush became the father of Nimrod who was the first great ruler on earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter in the eyes of Yah weh, hence the saying, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter in the eyes of Yahweh.”
10 The beginning of his empire was Babel, with Erech and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar.
11 From this country came Ashur, the builder of Nineveh, Reho both-ir, Calah,
12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (this is the great city).
13 Misraim became the father of the people of Lud, of Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh,
14 Pathros, Cusluh and Capthor, from which the Philistines came.
15 Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, the Hittites,
16 and the Jebu sites, the Amorites, Girgashites,
17 Hi vites, Arkites, Si nites,
18 Arvadites, Ze ma rites, Hamathites; later the Cana anite tribes scat tered.
19 The Canaanite frontier stretched from Sidon in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, and as far as Lesha.
20 These were Ham’s sons, according to their tribes and languages, according to their countries and nations.
21 There were also children born to Shem, the ancestor of all the sons of Eber, who are the Hebrews, and the elder brother of Japheth.
22 Shem’s sons: Elam, Asshur, Ar pach shad, Lud, Aram.
23 Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Ge ther and Mash.
24 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber.
25 To Eber were born two sons: the first was called Peleg, because it was in his time that the earth was divided; and his brother was called Joktan.
26 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
27 Hador am, Uzal, Diklah,
28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
29 Ophir, Havilah, Jobab; all these are sons of Jok tan.
30 They occupied a stretch of country from Mesh in the direction of Sephar, to the eastern mountain range.
31 These were Shem’s sons, according to their tribes and languages, and according to their countries and nations.
32 These were the tribes of Noah’s sons, according to their descendants and their nations. From these came the dispersal of the nations over the earth, after the flood.
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Comments Genesis, Chapter 10
• 10.1 Noah’s three sons symbolically represent the three human groups which the Israelites believed formed humankind:
– Their group, blessed by God, the Semites (in cluding Arabs, among others). They called their ancestor Shem, meaning “the Name,” the one who knows and keeps the Name, that is to say, the Presence of God.
– Another group, Japheth, including the people of Europe, who were to form the Greek and Roman empires.
– The other group was that of the African people, especially Mizraim or Egypt and Cush or Ethiopia and also the Canaanites who occupied the Holy Land before its conquest by the Israelites. Since sexual im morality was quite frequent among the Canaanites, a lack of modesty is attributed to their ancestor Ham.
In this list of forefathers, names of legendary heroes are mixed with lists of people and cities as “sons” of this or that race. For example all those mentioned in verses 2-6 are people and tribes, not individuals.