Genesis 10
Table of Nations
1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
Japheth
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. 5(From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
Ham
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, inShinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.
13 Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
Shem
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek. 24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. 26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country. 31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
32 These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
Snapshot 11: Who's Your Daddy?
Genesis 10
Oh goody, a table. :o( The Bible places a lot of emphasis on family lines up until the time of Christ. If it is important to God, it is important to us. But it a boring read looking at lists of names we do not know. I am attaching a good visual – I picked it because it has an ark on it. Cheesy, but it made me smile.
First, we have Japheth's line. Japheth was not good at naming kids. Gomer just makes me think of Gomer Pyle, but this slightly predates that show. Magog means something bad later in the Bible as one element joining with Satan in Revelations. Bibleheads are not sure if the names are related or not. I would not want the name just in case. But I think the kid who should be most annoyed is Tubal. What a name.
Next, we work our way up the branches of Noah's family tree.
Line of Japeth: Ok, Kittites is awful! Javan's kids end up being maritime people. Very fitting for Noah's family. I wonder if they were told stories from the big boat when they were little. I bet they did. Sounded fun and glamorous, the way old people can make bad days sound.
Line of Ham: He comes up with the names Egypt and Canaan. Pretty cool. Cush, not so much. Sounds like a rapper nickname: Lil' Cush. Cush has Nimrod – another horrible name. Nimrod was a great hunter and started Babylon. He built Nineveh (which we hear about later in Jonah). Canaan also branches out to Sodom and Gomorrah. So, Ham's line is impressive and leads to great evil. Remember he is the one cursed by his dad. Not good.
Line of Shem: Eber is his descendent. Not sure who he is. Looked it up. He is regarded as the founder of the Hebrew race. Eber or Heber to Hebrew. I get it! Another weird reference in Shem's line is to a kid named Peleg because “in his time the earth was divided.” I have no idea what that means. Looking it up. Bibleheads think he lived around the time of the tower of Babel. That makes sense and gives me a little context. I would still call him Pegleg. It is a matter of principle.
They move to the hilly areas near Mesha. I better look for a map or a Circle K because I have no idea where that is. I found a good one with circles on it (no Circle K).
TJ: For those not living in our area, Circle K is a corner store. Many locals give directions using such landmarks. Go down that road and take a right at the Circle K and then a left where that furniture store used to be…. It is a deep connection to a community where people know the history of the place.
TJ: I think it is a shame that Noah cursed a son and it leads to sinful places like Sodom and Gomorrah. I was thinking that the idea of Ham engaging in a homosexual act of some sort does fit into that legacy, though. I would be way off. Just a thought.
