GENESIS 10:1-32

INTRODUCTION TO THE TABLE OF NATIONS

10:1 Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.

This genealogy, beginning with the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth is primarily ethnographic—that is, it deals with nations and peoples rather than with individuals; some individuals are mentioned, but they are important as ancestors for groups.

The late Dr. William F. Albright, universally acknowledged as the world’s leading authority on the archaeology of the Near East, though himself not a believer, said concerning the records of the generations found in the tenth chapter of Genesis: It stands absolutely alone in ancient literature, without a remote parallel, even among the Greeks, where we find the closest approach to a distribution of peoples in genealogical framework…The table of nations as found in Genesis chapter 10 remains an astonishingly accurate document.

It is clear from this text that Noah’s sons did not have any children until after the Flood. The following table of nations shows how they multiplied and repopulated the earth.

God made a covenant with Noah never again to depopulate the earth again until the end comes.

God is committed to supporting human life on earth. He gives skill to scientists and doctors in their efforts to control and even eradicate disease. Where divine judgment is deserved and the status quo is shaken, divine mercy and faithfulness act to stop total destruction.

JAPHETH’S DESCENDANTS

10:2-5 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim. From these the peoples coastal regions were separated into their lands, each with its own language, according to their clans within their nations.

The term “sons” is used loosely in this section, because it not only includes individuals but obvious ethnic names of people groups.

The descendants of Japheth are recorded as the ones to populate the Aegean region and other parts west.

Noah had prophesied that God would enlarge Japheth and this is seen to have been fulfilled, for his descendants inhabit vast portions of the earth.

The prophets and the psalmists looked forward to the establishment of God’s righteous rule over the whole earth, which the devil had usurped from Adam at the fall.

HAM’S DESCENDANTS

10:6-20 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.

The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.  He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord."  The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.  From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 

Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites.

Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 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.  These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

Much more space is devoted to the line of Ham than to Japheth’s because many of those grouped among the descendants of Ham were close neighbors of Israel or were among those who affected Israel in a big way.

Moses goes into great detail concerning one particular descendant of Cush, Nimrod. Nimrod was a leader, one who was powerful and influential, a “mighty warrior on the earth”. He is also characterized as “a mighty hunter before the Lord.”

There are four things about Nimrod that are worth of note.

1. The name “Nimrod” means, “We shall rebel,” which may suggest that he was behind the rebellion against God that led to construction of the Tower of Babel.

2. The description, “a mighty one on the earth,” reminds us of the Nephilim and the violent days before the Flood.

3. His connection with “Babel” prepares us for Genesis 11.

4. He had a name for being a “mighty hunter before the Lord”.

The Jerusalem Targum (the Aramaic translations of the Bible) says: Nimrod was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord., for he was a hunter of the sons of men, and he said to them, “Depart from the judgment of the Lord, and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod!”

The final prominent line of Ham is the line of Canaan. Moses is anticipating God’s word to Abraham concerning Canaan and the later conquest of the land by Israel. Canaan became known by Israel as the Promised Land. As part of their curse by God the Canaanite people who were not destroyed by the conquest became the slaves of Israel.

If one traces back far enough, he will find that practically every basic device or system needed for man’s physical sustenance or convenience originated with a people group in the line of Ham.

1. They were the original explorers and settlers of practically all parts of the world, following the dispersion at Babel.

2. They were the first cultivators of most of the basic food staples of the world as well as the first ones to domesticate most animals.

3. They developed most of the basic types of structural forms and building tools and materials.

4. They were the first to develop most of the usual fabrics for clothing and the various sewing and weaving devices.

5. They discovered and invented a wide variety of medicines and surgical practices and instruments.

6. They invented most of the concepts of basic practical mathematics, as well as surveying and navigation.

7. The machinery of commerce and trade—money, banks, postal systems, and so forth—was developed by them.

8. They developed paper, ink, block and movable printing, and other accouterments of writing and communication.