Genesis 10:15-21

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.

[10:15]  ¹ tn Heb “fathered.”

[10:15]  ² sn Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.

[10:15]  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.

[10:16]  ⁴ sn The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.

[10:16]  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.

[10:16]  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).

[10:17]  ⁷ sn The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.

[10:17]  ⁸ sn The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.

[10:17]  ⁹ sn The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.

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

[10:18]  ¹¹ sn The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.

[10:18]  ¹² sn The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.

[10:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “were.”

[10:19]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[10:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “as you go.”

[10:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And to Shem was born.”

[10:21]  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.