Text -- Genesis 10:20-32 (NET)

10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations. 10:21 And sons were also born to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), the father of all the sons of Eber. 10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 10:24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah was the father of Eber. 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 10:28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 10:29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to Sephar in the eastern hills. 10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations. 10:32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread over the earth after the flood.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 10:21

¹ tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

² tn Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.

NET Notes: Gen 10:22

¹ sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.

² sn Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.

³ sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.

⁴ sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.

⁵ sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.

NET Notes: Gen 10:23

¹ tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”

sn Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Little is known about these descendants of Aram.

NET Notes: Gen 10:24

¹ tn Heb “fathered.”

² tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.

³ sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).

NET Notes: Gen 10:25

¹ tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

NET Notes: Gen 10:26

¹ tn Heb “fathered.”

² sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.

³ sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.

⁴ sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.

⁵ sn The name Jerah means “moon.”

NET Notes: Gen 10:27

¹ sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.

² sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”

NET Notes: Gen 10:28

¹ sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.

² sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”

³ sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.

NET Notes: Gen 10:29

¹ sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).

² sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.

NET Notes: Gen 10:30

¹ tn Heb “as you go.”

NET Notes: Gen 10:32

¹ tn Or “separated.”