10:15 Canaan was the father of 1 Sidon his firstborn, 2 Heth, 3 10:16 the Jebusites, 4 Amorites, 5 Girgashites, 6 10:17 Hivites, 7 Arkites, 8 Sinites, 9 10:18 Arvadites, 10 Zemarites, 11 and Hamathites. 12 Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended 13 from Sidon 14 all the way to 15 Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to 16 Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 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 17 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 18 the father of all the sons of Eber.
1 tn Heb “fathered.”
2 sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
3 tn Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. NIV), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in Gen 23:3.
4 sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
5 sn Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.
6 sn The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 1:226).
7 sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
8 sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
9 sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
10 sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
11 sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
12 sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
13 tn Heb “were.”
14 map For location see Map1-A1; JP3-F3; JP4-F3.
15 tn Heb “as you go.”
16 tn Heb “as you go.”
17 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
18 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.