Genesis 10:10-26

10:10 The primary regions ¹  of his kingdom were Babel, ²  Erech, ³  Akkad, ⁴  and Calneh ⁵  in the land of Shinar. ⁶  10:11 From that land he went ⁷  to Assyria, ⁸  where he built Nineveh, ⁹  Rehoboth-Ir, ¹⁰  Calah, ¹¹  10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. ¹² 

10:13 Mizraim ¹³  was the father of ¹⁴  the Ludites, ¹⁵  Anamites, ¹⁶  Lehabites, ¹⁷  Naphtuhites, ¹⁸  10:14 Pathrusites, ¹⁹  Casluhites ²⁰  (from whom the Philistines came), ²¹  and Caphtorites. ²² 

10:15 Canaan was the father of ²³  Sidon his firstborn, ²⁴  Heth, ²⁵  10:16 the Jebusites, ²⁶  Amorites, ²⁷  Girgashites, ²⁸  10:17 Hivites, ²⁹  Arkites, ³⁰  Sinites, ³¹  10:18 Arvadites, ³²  Zemarites, ³³  and Hamathites. ³⁴  Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended ³⁵  from Sidon ³⁶  all the way to ³⁷  Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to ³⁸  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 ³⁹  to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), ⁴⁰  the father of all the sons of Eber.

10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, ⁴¹  Asshur, ⁴²  Arphaxad, ⁴³  Lud, ⁴⁴  and Aram. ⁴⁵  10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ⁴⁶  10:24 Arphaxad was the father of ⁴⁷  Shelah, ⁴⁸  and Shelah was the father of Eber. ⁴⁹  10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, ⁵⁰  and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of ⁵¹  Almodad, ⁵²  Sheleph, ⁵³  Hazarmaveth, ⁵⁴  Jerah, ⁵⁵ 

Genesis 12:1-3

The Obedience of Abram

12:1 Now the Lord said ⁵⁶  to Abram, ⁵⁷ 

“Go out ⁵⁸  from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you. ⁵⁹ 

12:2 Then I will make you ⁶⁰  into a great nation, and I will bless you, ⁶¹ 

and I will make your name great, ⁶² 

so that you will exemplify divine blessing. ⁶³ 

12:3 I will bless those who bless you, ⁶⁴ 

but the one who treats you lightly ⁶⁵  I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another ⁶⁶  by your name.”

Luke 3:23-36

The Genealogy of Jesus

3:23 So ⁶⁷  Jesus, when he began his ministry, ⁶⁸  was about thirty years old. He was ⁶⁹  the son (as was supposed) ⁷⁰  of Joseph, the son ⁷¹  of Heli, 3:24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, 3:25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, 3:26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josech, the son of Joda, 3:27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, ⁷²  the son of Shealtiel, ⁷³  the son of Neri, ⁷⁴  3:28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, 3:29 the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, 3:30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, 3:31 the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, ⁷⁵  the son of David, ⁷⁶  3:32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Sala, ⁷⁷  the son of Nahshon, 3:33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Admin, the son of Arni, ⁷⁸  the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, 3:34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, ⁷⁹  the son of Nahor, 3:35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, 3:36 the son of Cainan, ⁸⁰  the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

[10:10]  ¹ tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.

[10:10]  ² tn Or “Babylon.”

[10:10]  ³ sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.

[10:10]  ⁴ sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.

[10:10]  ⁵ tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).

[10:10]  ⁶ sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.

[10:11]  ⁷ tn The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.

[10:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “Asshur.”

[10:11]  ⁹ sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.

[10:11]  ¹⁰ sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.

[10:11]  ¹¹ sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.

[10:12]  ¹² tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”

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

[10:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:13]  ¹⁵ sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.

[10:13]  ¹⁶ sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.

[10:13]  ¹⁷ sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.

[10:13]  ¹⁸ sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).

[10:14]  ¹⁹ sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.

[10:14]  ²⁰ sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.

[10:14]  ²¹ tn Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.

[10:14]  ²² sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.

[10:15]  ²³ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:15]  ²⁴ sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.

[10:15]  ²⁵ 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.

[10:16]  ²⁶ sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.

[10:16]  ²⁷ 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.

[10:16]  ²⁸ 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).

[10:17]  ²⁹ sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.

[10:17]  ³⁰ sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.

[10:17]  ³¹ sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.

[10:18]  ³² sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.

[10:18]  ³³ sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.

[10:18]  ³⁴ sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.

[10:19]  ³⁵ tn Heb “were.”

[10:19]  ³⁶ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:19]  ³⁷ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:19]  ³⁸ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:21]  ³⁹ tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

[10:21]  ⁴⁰ 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.

[10:22]  ⁴¹ sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.

[10:22]  ⁴² 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.

[10:22]  ⁴³ sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.

[10:22]  ⁴⁴ sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.

[10:22]  ⁴⁵ sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.

[10:23]  ⁴⁶ tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”

[10:24]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:24]  ⁴⁸ 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.

[10:24]  ⁴⁹ sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).

[10:25]  ⁵⁰ 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.

[10:26]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:26]  ⁵² sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.

[10:26]  ⁵³ sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.

[10:26]  ⁵⁴ sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.

[10:26]  ⁵⁵ sn The name Jerah means “moon.”

[12:1]  ⁵⁶ sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2); but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.

[12:1]  ⁵⁷ tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.

[12:1]  ⁵⁸ tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”

[12:1]  ⁵⁹ sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.

[12:2]  ⁶⁰ tn The three first person verbs in v. 2a should be classified as cohortatives. The first two have pronominal suffixes, so the form itself does not indicate a cohortative. The third verb form is clearly cohortative.

[12:2]  ⁶¹ sn I will bless you. The blessing of creation is now carried forward to the patriarch. In the garden God blessed Adam and Eve; in that blessing he gave them (1) a fruitful place, (2) endowed them with fertility to multiply, and (3) made them rulers over creation. That was all ruined at the fall. Now God begins to build his covenant people; in Gen 12-22 he promises to give Abram (1) a land flowing with milk and honey, (2) a great nation without number, and (3) kingship.

[12:2]  ⁶² tn Or “I will make you famous.”

[12:2]  ⁶³ tn Heb “and be a blessing.” The verb form הְיֵה (hÿyeh) is the Qal imperative of the verb הָיָה (hayah). The vav (ו) with the imperative after the cohortatives indicates purpose or consequence. What does it mean for Abram to “be a blessing”? Will he be a channel or source of blessing for others, or a prime example of divine blessing? A similar statement occurs in Zech 8:13, where God assures his people, “You will be a blessing,” in contrast to the past when they “were a curse.” Certainly “curse” here does not refer to Israel being a source of a curse, but rather to the fact that they became a curse-word or byword among the nations, who regarded them as the epitome of an accursed people (see 2 Kgs 22:19; Jer 42:18; 44:8, 12, 22). Therefore the statement “be a blessing” seems to refer to Israel being transformed into a prime example of a blessed people, whose name will be used in blessing formulae, rather than in curses. If the statement “be a blessing” is understood in the same way in Gen 12:2, then it means that God would so bless Abram that other nations would hear of his fame and hold him up as a paradigm of divine blessing in their blessing formulae.

[12:3]  ⁶⁴ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

[12:3]  ⁶⁵ tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

[12:3]  ⁶⁶ tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings on”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[3:23]  ⁶⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the summary nature of the statement.

[3:23]  ⁶⁸ tn The words “his ministry” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the contemporary English reader.

[3:23]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “of age, being.” Due to the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the participle ὤν (wn) has been translated as a finite verb with the pronoun “he” supplied as subject, and a new sentence begun in the translation at this point.

[3:23]  ⁷⁰ sn The parenthetical remark as was supposed makes it clear that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. But a question still remains whose genealogy this is. Mary is nowhere mentioned, so this may simply refer to the line of Joseph, who would have functioned as Jesus’ legal father, much like stepchildren can have when they are adopted by a second parent.

[3:23]  ⁷¹ tc Several of the names in the list have alternate spellings in the ms tradition, but most of these are limited to a few mss. Only significant differences are considered in the notes through v. 38.

[3:27]  ⁷² sn On Zerubbabel see Ezra 2:2.

[3:27]  ⁷³ sn Grk and KJV Salathiel. Most modern English translations use the OT form of the name (Shealtiel, Ezra 3:2).

[3:27]  ⁷⁴ sn Shealtiel, the son of Neri. 1 Chr 3:17 identifies Jeconiah as the father of Shealtiel. The judgment on Jeconiah’s line (Jer 22:30) may be reflected here.

[3:31]  ⁷⁵ sn The use of Nathan here as the son of David is different than Matthew, where Solomon is named. Nathan was David’s third son. It is not entirely clear what causes the difference. Some argue Nathan stresses a prophetic connection, but it is not clear how (through confusion with the prophet Nathan?). Others note the absence of a reference to Jeconiah later, so that here there is a difference to show the canceling out of this line. The differences appear to mean that Matthew’s line is a “royal and physical” line, while Luke has a “royal and legal” line.

[3:31]  ⁷⁶ sn The mention of David begins a series of agreements with Matthew’s line. The OT background is 1 Chr 2:1-15 and Ruth 4:18-22.

[3:32]  ⁷⁷ tc The reading Σαλά (Sala, “Sala”) is found in the best and earliest witnesses (Ì⁴ א* B sy^s sa). Almost all the rest of the mss (א² A D L Θ Ψ 0102 [Ë^1,13] 33 Ï latt sy^p,h bo) have Σαλμών (Salmwn, “Salmon”), an assimilation to Matt 1:4-5 and 1 Chr 2:11 (LXX). “In view of the early tradition that Luke was a Syrian of Antioch it is perhaps significant that the form Σαλά appears to embody a Syriac tradition” (TCGNT 113).

[3:33]  ⁷⁸ tc The number and order of the first few names in this verse varies greatly in the mss. The variants which are most likely to be original based upon external evidence are Amminadab, Aram (A D 33 565 [1424] pm lat); Amminadab, Aram, Joram (K Δ Ψ 700 2542 pm); Adam, Admin, Arni (Ì^4vid א* 1241 pc sa); and Amminadab, Admin, Arni (א² L X [Γ] ˹³ pc). Deciding between these variants is quite difficult. The reading “Amminadab, Aram” is the strongest externally since it is represented by Alexandrian, Western, and Byzantine witnesses, although it is significantly weaker internally because it disrupts the artistic balance of the number of generations and their groups that three names would preserve (see TCGNT 113, fn. 1 for discussion). In this case, the subtle intrinsic arguments that would most likely be overlooked by scribes argues for the reading “Amminadab, Admin, Arni,” although a decision is quite difficult because of the lack of strong external support.

[3:34]  ⁷⁹ sn The list now picks up names from Gen 11:10-26; 5:1-32; 1 Chr 1:1-26, especially 1:24-26.

[3:36]  ⁸⁰ tc It is possible that the name Καϊνάμ (Kainam) should be omitted, since two key mss, Ì^75vid and D, lack it. But the omission may be a motivated reading: This name is not found in the editions of the Hebrew OT, though it is in the LXX, at Gen 11:12 and 10:24. But the witnesses with this reading (or a variation of it) are substantial: א B L ˹ 33 (Καϊνάμ), A Θ Ψ 0102 ˹³ Ï (Καϊνάν, Kainan). The translation above has adopted the more common spelling “Cainan,” although it is based on the reading Καϊνάμ.