Genesis 10:1

Ge 10:1-32. Genealogies.

1. sons of Noah--The historian has not arranged this catalogue according to seniority of birth; for the account begins with the descendants of Japheth, and the line of Ham is given before that of Shem though he is expressly said to be the youngest or younger son of Noah; and Shem was the elder brother of Japheth (Ge 10:21), the true rendering of that passage. generations, &c.--the narrative of the settlement of nations existing in the time of Moses, perhaps only the principal ones; for though the list comprises the sons of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, all their descendants are not enumerated. Those descendants, with one or two exceptions, are described by names indicative of tribes and nations and ending in the Hebrew im, or the English "-ite."

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Introduction

The generations of the sons of Noah, Gen 10:1. Japheth and his descendants, Gen 10:2-4. The isles of the Gentiles, or Europe, peopled by the Japhethites, Gen 10:5. Ham and his posterity, Gen 10:6-20. Nimrod, one of his descendants, a mighty hunter, Gen 10:8, Gen 10:9, founds the first kingdom, Gen 10:10. Nineveh and other cities founded, Gen 10:11, Gen 10:12. The Canaanites in their nine grand branches or families, Gen 10:15-18. Their territories, Gen 10:19. Shem and his posterity, Gen 10:21-31. The earth divided in the days of Peleg, Gen 10:25. The territories of the Shemites, Gen 10:30. The whole earth peopled by the descendants of Noah's three sons, Gen 10:32. Verse 1 Now these are the generations - It is extremely difficult to say what particular nations and people sprang from the three grand divisions of the family of Noah, because the names of many of those ancient people have become changed in the vast lapse of time from the deluge to the Christian era; yet some are so very distinctly marked that they can be easily ascertained, while a few still retain their original names. Moses does not always give the name of the first settler in a country, but rather that of the people from whom the country afterwards derived its name. Thus Mizraim is the dual of Mezer, and could never be the name of an individual. The like may be said of Kittim, Dodanim, Ludim, Ananim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, Philistim, and Caphtorim, which are all plurals, and evidently not the names of individuals, but of families or tribes. See Gen 10:4, Gen 10:6, Gen 10:13, Gen 10:14. In the posterity of Canaan we find whole nations reckoned in the genealogy, instead of the individuals from whom they sprang; thus the Jebusite, Amorite, Girgasite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, and Hamathite, Gen 10:16-18, were evidently whole nations or tribes which inhabited the promised land, and were called Canaanites from Canaan, the son of Ham, who settled there. Moses also, in this genealogy, seems to have introduced even the name of some places that were remarkable in the sacred history, instead of the original settlers. Such as Hazarmaveth, Gen 10:26; and probably Ophir and Havilah, Gen 10:29. But this is not infrequent in the sacred writings, as may be seen 1Chr 2:51, where Salma is called the father of Bethlehem, which certainly never was the name of a man, but of a place sufficiently celebrated in the sacred history; and in 1Chr 4:14, where Joab is called the father of the valley of Charashim, which no person could ever suppose was intended to designate an individual, but the society of craftsmen or artificers who lived there. Eusebius and others state (from what authority we know not) that Noah was commanded of God to make a will and bequeath the whole of the earth to his three sons and their descendants in the following manner: - To Shem, all the East; to Ham, all Africa; to Japheth, the Continent of Europe with its isles, and the northern parts of Asia. See the notes at the end of the preceding chapter, Gen 9:29 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

This chapter shows concerning the three sons of Noah, that of them was the whole earth overspread. No nation but that of the Jews can be sure from which of these seventy it has come. The lists of names of fathers and sons were preserved of the Jews alone, for the sake of the Messiah. Many learned men, however, have, with some probability, shown which of the nations of the earth descended from each of the sons of Noah To the posterity of Japheth were allotted the isles of the gentiles; probably, the island of Britain among the rest. All places beyond the sea from Judea are called isles, Jer 25:22. That promise, Is 42:4, The isles shall wait for his law, speaks of the conversion of the gentiles to the faith of Christ.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain