This table shows that Yahweh created all peoples (cf. Deut. 32:8; Amos 9:7; Acts 17:26). As the genealogy in chapter 5, this one traces 10 main individuals, and the last one named had three sons.
"The table of nations is a horizontal' genealogy rather than a vertical' one (those in chaps. 5 and 11 are vertical). Its purpose is not primarily to trace ancestry; instead it shows political, geographical, and ethnic affiliations among tribes for various reasons, most notable being holy war. Tribes shown to be kin' would be in league together. Thus this table aligns the predominant tribes in and around the land promised to Israel. These names include founders of tribes, clans, cities, and territories."347
In contrast to the genealogy in chapter 5, this one lists no ages. It contains place and group names, which are spoken of as the ancestors of other places or groups, as well as the names of individuals. God built nations from families. Thus it is quite clearly a selective list, not comprehensive. The writer's selection of material shows that he had particular interest in presenting Israel's neighbors. Israel would deal with, displace, or subjugate many of these peoples, as well as the Canaanites (ch. 9). They all had a common origin. Evidently 70 nations descended from Shem, Ham, and Japheth: 26 from Shem, 30 from Ham, and 14 from Japheth (cf. Deut. 32:8). Seventy became a traditional round number for a large group of descendants.348Jacob's family also comprised 70 people (46:27), which may indicate that Moses viewed Israel as a microcosm of humanity as he presented it here.
Japheth's descendants (vv. 2-5) settled north, east, and west of Ararat.349Their distance from Israel probably explains the brief treatment that they received in this list compared with that of the Hamites and Shemites. The "coastlands"(v. 5) are the inland areas and the northern Mediterranean coastlands on the European shore from Turkey to Spain. The dispersion of the nations "according to . . . language"(v. 5) took place after Babel (ch. 11) all along these coasts as well as elsewhere.350
Ham's family (vv. 6-20) moved east, south, and southwest into Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Africa. Canaan's descendants (vv. 15-21) did not migrate as far south but settled in Palestine.351The length of these Hamite Canaanite lists indicates the importance of these people and places in Israel's later history.
It is possible that Sargon of Agade, whom many secular historians regard as the first ruler of Babylon, may be the Nimrod (meaning "We shall rebel") of verses 8-10.352Many people in ancient times had more than one name. Reference to him probably foreshadows 11:1-9.
"The influx of the Amorites in Canaan is disputed. It does not necessarily follow that the original Amorites, attributed to Hamite descent in Genesis 10, were a Semitic people since the term Amorite' in ancient Near Eastern documents does not serve as a definitive source for designating ethnicity. Moreover, linguistic evidence does not always assure true ethnic derivation."353
Shem's posterity (vv. 21-31) settled to the northeast and southeast of the Canaanites. This branch of the human family is also important in the Genesis record of Israel's history.
"When the two lines of Shem are compared (10:21-31; 11:10-26), there is a striking divergence at the point of Eber's descendants, Peleg and Joktan [v. 25]. In chap. 10 Peleg is dropped altogether after his mention, while the nonelect line of Joktan is detailed. It is left to the second lineage in chap. 11 to trace out Peleg's role as ancestral father of Abraham . . ."354
"This Table of Nations, then, traces affiliation of tribes to show relationships, based on some original physical connections.
"It is clear that the writer is emphasizing the development of these nations that were of primary importance to Israel (yaladsections) within the overall structure of the Table (b'nearrangement)."355
"The three geographical arcs of the branches intersect at the center--that is, Canaan, Israel's future homeland."356
The section reveals that it was God's plan to bless the human race by dividing the family of man by languages, locations, and leaders.357Remember that God formerly blessed the earth by dividing the light from the darkness, the earth from the heavens, and the land from the seas (ch. 1).
"By correlating the number of nations [in ch. 10, i.e., 70] with the number of the seed of Abraham [in 46:27], he [the writer] holds Abraham's seed' before the reader as a new humanity and Abraham himself as a kind of second Adam, the father of many nations' (Ge 17:5)."358
". . . his intention is not to give an exhaustive list but rather a representative list, one which, for him, is obtained in the number seven."359
"The table's figure of seventy' for the world's nations is alluded to by Jesus in the sending forth of the seventy disciples, as recounted by Luke (10:1-16). Here the evangelist emphasizes the mission of the church in its worldwide evangelistic endeavors."360
