Discovery BoxGenesis 10:11-32
Context10:11 From that land he went 1 to Assyria, 2 where he built Nineveh, 3 Rehoboth-Ir, 4 Calah, 5 10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. 6
10:13 Mizraim 7 was the father of 8 the Ludites, 9 Anamites, 10 Lehabites, 11 Naphtuhites, 12 10:14 Pathrusites, 13 Casluhites 14 (from whom the Philistines came), 15 and Caphtorites. 16
10:15 Canaan was the father of 17 Sidon his firstborn, 18 Heth, 19 10:16 the Jebusites, 20 Amorites, 21 Girgashites, 22 10:17 Hivites, 23 Arkites, 24 Sinites, 25 10:18 Arvadites, 26 Zemarites, 27 and Hamathites. 28 Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered 10:19 and the borders of Canaan extended 29 from Sidon 30 all the way to 31 Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to 32 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 33 to Shem (the older brother of Japheth), 34 the father of all the sons of Eber.
10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, 35 Asshur, 36 Arphaxad, 37 Lud, 38 and Aram. 39 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 40 10:24 Arphaxad was the father of 41 Shelah, 42 and Shelah was the father of Eber. 43 10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, 44 and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of 45 Almodad, 46 Sheleph, 47 Hazarmaveth, 48 Jerah, 49 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, 50 Diklah, 51 10:28 Obal, 52 Abimael, 53 Sheba, 54 10:29 Ophir, 55 Havilah, 56 and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to 57 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 58 over the earth after the flood.
[10:11] 1 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] 3 sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
[10:11] 4 sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
[10:11] 5 sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
[10:12] 6 tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”
[10:13] 7 sn Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. NRSV).
[10:13] 9 sn The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.
[10:13] 10 sn The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.
[10:13] 11 sn The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.
[10:13] 12 sn The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).
[10:14] 13 sn The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.
[10:14] 14 sn The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.
[10:14] 15 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] 16 sn The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.
[10:15] 18 sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
[10:15] 19 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] 20 sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
[10:16] 21 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] 22 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] 23 sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
[10:17] 24 sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
[10:17] 25 sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
[10:18] 26 sn The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
[10:18] 27 sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
[10:18] 28 sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
[10:19] 30 map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.
[10:19] 31 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:19] 32 tn Heb “as you go.”
[10:21] 33 tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”
[10:21] 34 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] 35 sn The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
[10:22] 36 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] 37 sn The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
[10:22] 38 sn Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
[10:22] 39 sn Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
[10:23] 40 tc The MT reads “Mash”; the LXX and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.”
[10:24] 42 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] 43 sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).
[10:25] 44 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] 46 sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.
[10:26] 47 sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.
[10:26] 48 sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.
[10:26] 49 sn The name Jerah means “moon.”
[10:27] 50 sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
[10:27] 51 sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
[10:28] 52 sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.
[10:28] 53 sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”
[10:28] 54 sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.
[10:29] 55 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).
[10:29] 56 sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.
