Genesis 10:7-12

10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, ¹  Havilah, ²  Sabtah, ³  Raamah, ⁴  and Sabteca. ⁵  The sons of Raamah were Sheba ⁶  and Dedan. ⁷ 

10:8 Cush was the father of ⁸  Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter ⁹  before the Lord. ¹⁰  (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10:10 The primary regions ¹¹  of his kingdom were Babel, ¹²  Erech, ¹³  Akkad, ¹⁴  and Calneh ¹⁵  in the land of Shinar. ¹⁶  10:11 From that land he went ¹⁷  to Assyria, ¹⁸  where he built Nineveh, ¹⁹  Rehoboth-Ir, ²⁰  Calah, ²¹  10:12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah. ²² 

[10:7]  ¹ sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.

[10:7]  ² sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.

[10:7]  ³ sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.

[10:7]  ⁴ sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ⁵ sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.

[10:7]  ⁶ sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.

[10:7]  ⁷ sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.

[10:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.

[10:9]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).

[10:9]  ¹⁶ tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the Lord [YHWH]”), as a means of expressing the superlative degree. In this case one may translate “Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the world.”

[10:10]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn Or “Babylon.”

[10:10]  ²⁴ sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.

[10:10]  ²⁵ sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.

[10:10]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.

[10:11]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Asshur.”

[10:11]  ³¹ sn Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.

[10:11]  ³² sn The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.

[10:11]  ³³ sn Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.

[10:12]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”