Genesis 10:4

10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, ¹  Tarshish, ²  the Kittim, ³  and the Dodanim. ⁴ 

Genesis 10:13

10:13 Mizraim ⁵  was the father of ⁶  the Ludites, ⁷  Anamites, ⁸  Lehabites, ⁹  Naphtuhites, ¹⁰ 

Genesis 10:1

The Table of Nations

10:1 This is the account ¹¹  of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons ¹²  were born ¹³  to them after the flood.

Genesis 1:7

1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. ¹⁴  It was so. ¹⁵ 

Genesis 1:11

1:11 God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: ¹⁶  plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, ¹⁷  and ¹⁸  trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” It was so.

Ezekiel 27:10

27:10 Men of Persia, Lud, ¹⁹  and Put were in your army, men of war.

They hung shield and helmet on you; they gave you your splendor.

Ezekiel 30:5

30:5 Ethiopia, Put, Lud, all the foreigners, ²⁰  Libya, and the people ²¹  of the covenant land ²²  will die by the sword along with them.

[10:4]  ¹ sn The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.

[10:4]  ² sn The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.

[10:4]  ³ sn The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.

[10:4]  ⁴ tc Most of the MT mss read “Dodanim” here, but 1 Chr 1:7 has “Rodanim,” perhaps referring to the island of Rhodes. But the Qere reading in 1 Chr 1:7 suggests “Dodanim.” Dodona is one of the most ancient and revered spots in ancient Greece.

[10:13]  ⁵ sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).

[10:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:13]  ⁷ sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.

[10:13]  ⁸ sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.

[10:13]  ⁹ sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.

[10:13]  ¹⁰ sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).

[10:1]  ¹¹ tn The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolÿdot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.

[10:1]  ¹² sn Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.

[10:1]  ¹³ tn It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, bÿne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Structure,” BSac 137 (1980): 340-53; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10 – Its Content,” BSac 138 (1981): 22-34.

[1:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the expanse.”

[1:7]  ¹⁵ tn This statement indicates that it happened the way God designed it, underscoring the connection between word and event.

[1:11]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew construction employs a cognate accusative, where the nominal object (“vegetation”) derives from the verbal root employed. It stresses the abundant productivity that God created.

[1:11]  ¹⁷ sn After their kinds. The Hebrew word translated “kind” (מִין, min) indicates again that God was concerned with defining and dividing time, space, and species. The point is that creation was with order, as opposed to chaos. And what God created and distinguished with boundaries was not to be confused (see Lev 19:19 and Deut 22:9-11).

[1:11]  ¹⁸ tn The conjunction “and” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation to clarify the relationship of the clauses.

[27:10]  ¹⁹ sn See Gen 10:22.

[30:5]  ²⁰ tn The same expression appears in Exod 12:38; Jer 25:20; 50:37; Neh 13:3. It may refer to foreign mercenaries serving in the armies of the nations listed here.

[30:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “sons.”

[30:5]  ²² tn The expression “sons of the covenant land” possibly refers to Jews living in Egypt (Jer 44).