Chapter Ten

Descendants of Noah

Genesis 10:1. Here is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. After the flood, children were born to them. This is a well-known opening for us of a new section, or from the Hebrew text—a new toldoth. Judging from its heading, this section contains the genealogy of the three sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth, that is, an enumeration of the main families of post-flood humanity. The section of biblical proto-history under examination, together with the following chapter 11, constitutes one of the most important documents not only of biblical, but of all human history. It is known by the name “table of nations,” or “ethnographic table,” because it has the aim of clarifying the origin and settlement of primitive humanity across various regions of the ancient world. However, in order to judge this biblical ethnography correctly and not to make inappropriate demands of it, we must bear in mind the following. Genealogical tables among ancient peoples of the East were the most important and widely distributed phenomenon, the principal and almost only history of the past, carefully preserved and transmitted from generation to generation. But by the very character of such documents, they never distinguished themselves by particular fullness and detail, and preserved only what was most remarkable and important in the most condensed form. Hence this biblical genealogical table is undoubtedly a document of deep antiquity, going back to the era of Abraham and beginning, probably, even with the family of Noah himself; secondly, from what has been said it also follows that in that genealogy there is no need to seek a complete list of all families and ethnographic groups, and one should see only an enumeration of those that from the point of view of the Semites deserved mention and preservation in tradition. For this reason it is entirely unfounded to seek in the biblical table mentions of all peoples, and especially to reproach it for omitting such peoples as did not exist not only in the era of Abraham, but even in the period of Moses, the final editor of this table (for example, the inhabitants of America). Furthermore, ancient Eastern genealogies are quite distinctive: sometimes they give an enumeration of individual personal figures, as for instance we saw in the antediluvian genealogy of Cainites and Sethites; sometimes they make a collective designation of entire racial groups; sometimes, finally, they name a given people by the name of the country in which it settled. In the biblical table under our investigation all three of these genealogical methods have their application; the task of criticism is precisely to establish correctly the sense in which this or that proper name is used (genealogical link, term), rather than to regard confusion of concepts as the error of the biblical writer. Having all this in mind and comparing the biblical accounts with data from Assyrian and Egyptian antiquity, scholars of our day are increasingly becoming convinced of the authenticity, reliability, and importance of this biblical table of nations. So, for instance, the well-known French Orientalist Lenormant calls it a document of “the most ancient, most precious, and most complete history of the settlement of peoples in the ancient world” and says that “its authenticity is remarkably confirmed by comparative linguistics and the physical investigation of various nations.” The table of nations pursues three goals: first, it affirms the truth of the unity of the human race, showing that all humanity descended only from these three branches, which in turn issued from one common root; second, it establishes the fact of the kinship of the chosen Hebrew people with other tribes of the same Semitic race, and finally, in a more distant sense, it shows us the destiny of divine providence in the history of the nations of the world. In conclusion, one must say that for correct understanding of the biblical ethnographic table one must constantly keep in mind its starting point and point of departure both as to time and place; from 2 verse of chapter 11 (Gen 11:2) it becomes clear that the starting point in this respect for the biblical writer was the valley of Shinar, at the moment of the scattering of peoples after the Babylonian tower; and if Moses subsequently extended and supplemented this most ancient tradition with data contemporary to him, then he too, faithful to the spirit of the ancient tradition, gave preponderant attention to the inhabitants of regions neighboring the Palestinian land and related to the Hebrews.

Descendants of Japheth

Genesis 10:2. The sons of Japheth: Since Japheth, judging by the preceding context, was not the oldest, but on the contrary the youngest son of Noah, the biblical writer, beginning his table of nations with his descendants, clearly had, not a chronological, but some other purpose; most likely the very one that the preceding prophecy of Noah pointed to regarding the brilliant destiny of Japheth’s descendants, to which it predicted both numerical superiority and qualitative predominance over all descendants of the other progenitors of post-flood humanity. Gomer, We encounter this people once more in the Bible with the prophet Ezekiel, who describes it as neighboring Tubal and Mosoch (Ezek 38:6) and a whole series of other peoples, inhabiting northern Syria and Asia Minor. “The name of the Cimmerians (people) has been found in the cuneiform inscriptions of Ashurbanipal” (Vlastov). Most authoritative commentators identify them with the classical Cimmerians (Odyssey 4:11; 11:13–19), who inhabited the shores of the Caspian and Aral seas and from there subsequently spread westward, into the regions of northern Germany (Cimbri and Teutons) and the islands of Britain. Some draw near the name of the Cimmerians to Crimea the name “Gomer.” Magog, In the same prophet Ezekiel, representatives of this tribe appear as experienced and skilled archers (Ezek 38:2), and it itself is placed in the same vicinity as the above, somewhat more to the north. Given this, most are inclined to see here an indication of the Scythians, who dwelt on the shores of the Azov Sea and within the Caucasus, while some consider Magog to be Armenians. In the Apocalypse, the names of Gog and Magog serve as the embodiment of two forces hostile to God, which before the coming of Antichrist are to make a mutual alliance for war against Christ and His Church (Rev 20:7-10). Bochart sees in the name Gog or Magog the name of the Caucasus, which the Colchians and Armenians called Gog-Hasan, Gog’s fortress. Magog, in all probability, are the Turanians (among the Kalmyks similar names of places are found—Vlastov). Upon the fate of these Scythians was fulfilled the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning their destruction in the valley “of Gog’s multitude” (Ezek 39:11) when they suffered a terrible defeat in the region of Palestine from the army of Psammeticus and from epidemics that broke out among them, as Herodotus testifies (book 1, 105–106). Madai, By this name, according to the unanimous testimony of the sacred books of Persia and India, supported by Assyrian inscriptions, were designated the primitive Aryans who lived in western Asia, namely in Media, from where the greater part of them in time emigrated to the east and received the name of Hindus, while the smaller part remained in place and retained the name of Medes. The prophet Daniel speaks of the kinship of the Medes with the Persians and Aryans in general (Dan 5:28). Javan, No less, if not even more definitively, is this name determined, which in Hittite inscriptions is found in the form Yevanna, in the monuments of the era of Darius Hystaspis—Iavana, in the Sanskrit language—Iavana, in ancient Persian—Iuna. It points to the Greeks, first of all to the Ionians, and from there to all the others. References to such a designation of the Greeks are found in other places of Sacred Scripture as well (Isa 66:19; Ezek 27:13). Elisha, In most translations this name is placed not among the sons, but among the grandsons of Japheth, where it is repeated in our translation as well. And since it, as we shall see later, likewise denotes Greeks, this probably explains its mention here, alongside Javan. Tubal, Meshech Like in the book of Genesis, so in other places of Sacred Scripture, these two peoples are usually joined together and pictured as tributaries of Gog (Ezek 38:2). Once, however, they are joined with Javan (Ezek 27:13), and in two other places their dwelling is determined to be in the north of Palestine. In the annals of Assyrian kings, Muski and Tabal are frequently mentioned as two neighboring peoples, inhabiting Cilicia, and Herodotus speaks of the Tibarenians or Iberians (Iberians) and Moschians, living in the neighborhood of Colchis. Scholars suppose that originally both these peoples inhabited the sources of the Tigris and Euphrates, between Media and Scythia, that is, in Colchis and Iberia, located in the south of the modern Caucasus (Tubal—presumably Iberians or Georgians). and Tiras. The majority of commentators suppose that this name represents the most ancient, abbreviated (and perhaps later corrupted by copyists) form of the name “Thracians,” a branch of Pelasgian population, grouped around the future city of Tyre in Asia Minor. It is supposed that in remote prehistoric times this tribe penetrated into Europe, inhabited Hellas and partly Italy. In ancient Egyptian monuments, Turasch is usually joined with Masnuash, similar to the biblical combination “Tubal and Meshech.” According to Knobel and Lenormant, the biblical Tiras is the same as the classical “Tyrenians”—the most ancient Pelasgian peoples first of ancient Lydia and Phoenicia, thence Greece, and finally Italy.

Genesis 10:3. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, On the basis that modern Jews call Germany “Ashkenaz,” the majority of Jewish commentators see here precisely an indication of the Germans. But in view of the fact that the biblical table has in mind almost exclusively Asian territory, which served as the common cradle of humanity, we must make a serious correction to this opinion. The determination of this nationality is most helped by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 51:27), who, enumerating the peoples that comprised the army of Cyrus, marching to the conquest of Babylon, along with the peoples of Ararat and Minni names Ashkenaz, thereby indicating that this people likewise lived within Armenia or Asia Minor. Not without wit is also the guess that the Black Sea, or by the ancients the Euxine Pontus (Πόντον Ευξεινος or Αξενος), received its name from this people. It is also quite plausible that this people, leaving the territory of its original dwelling, over time settled in Western Europe and here laid the foundation for the population of future Germany. Riphath In another place of the Bible, probably due to the error of copyists, the initial letter of this name was replaced by another, giving rise to “Diphath” (1 Chr 1:6) (only in some manuscripts). Josephus identifies them with the Paphlagonians, dwelling in the northwest of Asia Minor, while the majority of subsequent commentators are inclined to place them in the Riphean Mountains, lying in the north of the Caspian Sea. and Togarmah. This name appears twice more with the prophet Ezekiel, as suppliers of horses and mules for the merchants of Tyre (Ezek 27:14). According to the tradition preserved by Moses of Khoren, the founder of the Armenians was the son of Togarmah, and this decides the question of this people in the sense of identifying it with the Armenians.

Genesis 10:4. The sons of Javan: Elisha, The islands of Elisha with the prophet Ezekiel are praised for their purple and crimson (Ezek 27:7); therefore it is considered almost certain that by this name was called one of the maritime peoples of Greece: Elis, Aeolia, or Greece in general, according to Horace, which was famous for its purple garments. Tarshish, Josephus supposes that Tarsus, the city of Cilicia, is indicated here; but the majority of commentators, with Eusebius at the head, more soundly think that here is a speech about some distant western colony, emigrated from the limits of the Asia Minor metropolis. The principal basis for the latter opinion is the passage from the prophet Jonah, in which it is said that he boarded a ship to sail from Joppa (present-day Jaffa) to the distant Tarshish. And learned geographers point out that the name Tarshish or Tartessus was called one of the most remote of the Phoenician colonies, located in present-day Spain and famous for the wealth of its lead and copper mines. The abundance of metals in Tarshish and the trade in them with Tyre is also indicated by Sacred Scripture (Ezek 27:12; Ps 71:10). Kittim Of all the explanations of this name, the most successful must be considered the opinion of Josephus, identifying biblical Kittim with the ancient historical Kition, the capital of the island of Cyprus. With it agree, apparently, the indications of the prophets Isaiah and Daniel regarding Kittim, that it was a maritime people (Isa 23:1; Dan 11:30). and Dodanim. In all probability this is the Dardanians or Trojans (who gave their name to the Dardanelles Strait), one of the most ancient Asia Minor branches of the Greek people.

Genesis 10:5. From them the island peoples were populated This is a common biblical designation of pagan tribes, dwelling outside Palestine, in the regions of the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian, and Aral seas (Ps 71:10; Isa 41:5; Jer 2:10 and others). The origin of such a designation is easily explained by the naive view of the ancient Hebrews, who, having no conception of other continents and the extent of the seas known to them, were inclined to excessively enlarge the latter and shrink the former, depicting them as some small islands amid continuous waters. For this reason, probably, the name under consideration was most often applied to the coastal dwellers of the greatest of these seas—the Mediterranean, that is, the inhabitants of present-day southern Europe. Saying that from these, that is, the peoples mentioned above, these more distant maritime points of Asia Minor and Europe were populated, the biblical writer by this itself silently assumes, first, that the original population of the peoples named by him was different from these islands, and second, that over time it emigrated from here to these islands, that is, in scientific language, the Bible briefly notes here the fact of the great prehistoric migration of primitive Aryans from the mountains of Armenia and the peaks of the Himalayas first into Asia Minor, and then into southern Europe. Characteristic at this is also the small detail of the Bible, which says that from these the inhabitants of the islands “separated,” that is, not all the native population of a given people left their native land and settled on the islands, but only a certain, separated part of it. in their lands, each in his own language, by their tribes, in their nations. This is the best proof of the breadth and fullness of the enlightened view of the biblical author on the proper classification of peoples; the latter is conducted by him from four main perspectives: geographical (in their lands), dialectical or linguistic (in his own language), racial (by their tribes), and national (in their nations).

Descendants of Ham

Genesis 10:6. The sons of Ham: Ham is named here as the progenitor of four main races, descended from his sons and inhabiting the regions of southern Asia and the headwaters of the Nile. Cush, The ancient Hebrew name of the country “Kush” or “Cush” in the Septuagint translation is ordinarily replaced by the later name “Ethiopia”; but in Assyrian cuneiform monuments, in accord with the Hebrew Bible, it is called the country “Cush,” and the Egyptian name is also related, being “Kes.” From the comparison of biblical parallels it is revealed that there existed two countries with this name: one between Babylon and the Arabian Peninsula (1 Chr 1:8-10; Ps 86:4), another on the northeastern coast of Africa, approximately in the place of modern Nubia, in the direction of Abyssinia (Isa 18:1-2; Ezek 30:4; Nah 3:9). The best explanation of all this is given by the monuments of Assyrian and Egyptian antiquity. According to the testimony of the former, the Cushites or proto-Chaldeans were the primitive peoples who formed the basic substance of the so-called Sumero-Akkadian nation, which laid the foundation of the most ancient Chaldean-Babylonian civilization and culture. In time, these Cushites, forced to yield their territory here to Semites, first migrated to the Arabian steppes, and from there, under Pharaoh the 12th, Usertasen I, were transferred to Egypt (around 2000 BC) and settled in Nubia. Mizraim, In the Bible this word has a very definite sense—it points precisely to Egypt. It is a form of the dual number from the singular Matzor, since it is found in the Bible as a designation of only Lower Egypt (2 Sam 19:24; Isa 19:6). Ebers and other scholars suppose that the dual number gives only the idea of two Egypts: Upper and Lower. Others, however, explain its origin by the double row of boundary walls by which Egypt is separated from the Arabian Peninsula, from the name of which the Asian Semites also called the entire country beginning beyond these walls. The Egyptians themselves called their country the land of Hemi or Kemi, a name somewhat reminiscent of the biblical Ham; however, in recent times on one of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs of the Hittite era (from the era of the Hyksos) an analogous designation of Egypt similar to the biblical term was discovered, in the form “Matzrima.” Put Among the prophets, the tribe of Put is enumerated among African peoples (Jer 46:9; Ezek 30:5; Nah 3:9). According to Josephus and the most ancient contexts, one should think that this is the same as the ancient Egyptian “Pet,” that is, Libya, lying in the northwest of Africa, in the neighborhood of Nubia. and Canaan. The youngest of the sons of Ham, whose descendants remained within Asia and occupied Palestine until the time of its conquest by the Hebrews under Joshua. For more detail on the territory of Canaan, see below, verses 15–19.

Genesis 10:7. The sons of Cush: Seba, This name, though with some difference in spelling (סבא Seba and שבא Sheba), appears in this genealogy and once more in the enumeration of the descendants of Shem; from this arises the difficulty of distinguishing and determining the territory of each group of Sabeans. Most close to the truth appears to be the account of Josephus, determining the location of the Cushite Seba in the north of Nubia, in the region of Meroe (Jewish Antiquities 2:10, 2); though this in no way excludes the supposition that before their migration to Africa these Sabeans dwelt somewhere in Asia, for example, in Yemen or southern Arabia, as blessed Jerome thought. Sacred Scripture favors each of these views, when on the one hand they call Saba a distant southern country (Ps 71:10; Isa 43:3), and on the other connect it with the land of Cush or Ethiopia. Havilah, According to clear testimony from classical writers (Ptolemy, Pliny, Martial, and others), the Havilites inhabited the African coast, bordering the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Josephus Flavius (Jewish Antiquities 1:6, 2) identifies them with the Gaetulians, living in the oases of the Libyan Desert. But equally decisive testimony from the Bible (Gen 2:1) compels us to seek this land within the Tigris and Euphrates. The best reconciliation of these accounts is the supposition that there were two countries with the same name and population: one—Asian, serving as a place of original dwelling, the other—African, resulting from later emigration. Thus the same history repeats here as with the land of “Cush” and the country of “Saba,” when colony and metropolis bear one and the same name and often even exchange roles. Sabtah, According to the supposition of Josephus, by this name was designated the people “Astabari,” inhabiting the part of Ethiopia now called Atbara, but in ancient times called Astabar. According to Ptolemy’s view, here is meant Sabota (or Sabbata), the chief city of Happy Arabia. and Sabteca. According to the pseudo-Jonathan Targum, this is one of the Negro provinces, well known from ancient Egyptian monuments, where it appears in the form Subatok; it lay on the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf, in the region of Carmania. Raamah. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan The determination of Raamah and his sons is most aided by the prophet Ezekiel, who speaks of the merchants of Sheba and Raamah and of the trade of Dedan (Ezek 27:18), which all these peoples carried on with Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia; by these signs scholars suppose that all three aforementioned peoples inhabited the coastal region of Arabia, famous for its natural wealth and offering all conveniences for the development of trade. In Sacred Scripture there are also more particular indications of Sheba, as the chief city of Happy Arabia (1 Sam 10:1; Job 1:15; Ps 71:10; Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20; Ezek 27:22; Joel 3:8), and of Dedan, located on the shore of the Persian Gulf (Isa 21:13; Jer 49:8). Perhaps the biblical Dedan was in the same place as the modern Daden. Thus the entire race of Cushites occupied the southern part of Arabia, the eastern coast of Africa, and the northern part of the Persian Gulf, and many of the tribes of this race set apart considerable portions of their entire number for migration to the regions of Africa, which is why there came to be two countries bearing the same names: one in Asia, the other in Africa.

Nimrod and the First Monarchy

Genesis 10:8. Cush also fathered Nimrod, This does not necessarily mean that Nimrod was the direct son of Cush, but rather serves as proof only that he descended in a direct line from him, belonged to the native Cushites, and consequently lived in Arabian Ethiopia, in the neighborhood of the biblical valley of Shinar. The very name “Nimrod” here is already not collective, but individual, personal; examined philologically, it means “rebel, insurgent, agitator” (from the Hebrew verb marad—to grieve, trouble, rebel, to revolt); therefore some commentators suppose that it was given to him only later, on the basis of his violent activities. he began to be mighty on the earth; The opening words of this phrase already have known analogies in the history of Enosh and Noah; the further biblical term “mighty on the earth,” in Hebrew, gibbor, is likewise familiar to us from the characterization of antediluvian humanity (Nephilim and Gibborim). If there, as we saw (Gen 6:4), this name contained the idea of a giant distinguished by his physical strength and morally dissolute, then clearly, using the same term here, the biblical writer wishes to show that in the person of Nimrod again, for the first time after the flood (he began), there arose the type of the proud giant, celebrated for his mighty deeds throughout his country.

Genesis 10:9. he was a mighty hunter before the Lord [God], and so it is said: “As the mighty hunter Nimrod before the Lord [God]. This entire verse serves as an explanation of the preceding one: having previously pointed to Nimrod’s strength and fame, the biblical writer now defines more precisely the principal means of his glorification and the high degree to which it reached. The means of Nimrod’s wide popularity was his fortunate and bold hunting, while the degree of the height of this popularity is indicated in the words “before the Lord.” These words denote the highest degree of this or that quality, already exceeding human competence and accessible only to God’s evaluation. And that bold and fortunate deeds in hunting, in struggle with wild beasts and monsters, in that rough prehistoric era were valued especially highly and elevated their heroes to a pedestal of glory is testified to by all prehistoric antiquity, beginning with the hero of the Chaldean poem Izdubbar and ending with the mythical deeds of Hercules. As proof of Nimrod’s fame, based on his mighty strength and fortunate hunting, the biblical author refers to the existence even in his time of a special proverb, relying on the mentioned fact. The essence of this proverb consisted in that when one wished to praise and glorify someone especially, then he was compared in strength, daring, and courage with Nimrod.

Genesis 10:10. His kingdom initially consisted of: Here is the very first biblical account of the beginning of political, state life on earth. According to the opinion of most authoritative scholars, the Bible speaks here of the so-called “first Chaldean confederation” in science, that is, of the first union of Chaldean cities, united under the rule of the famous Cushite Nimrod, known also in ancient Chaldean inscriptions under the title “Arba-Lizuna,” that is, lord of four languages. Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. All four cities listed here lay in the valley of Shinar; and this valley, as is evident from the following verse (verse 11), as well as from other places in the Bible (Isa 11:11), denoted the southern part of the Mesopotamian plain, or Babylonia, that is, the very country which in cuneiform inscriptions was called “Sumeria.” Within this Chaldean-Babylonian territory we find the historical traces of the existence of all the above-named cities, and first of all—the capital of that union state, the city of Babylon itself. The ruins of ancient Babylon are discovered on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, near the modern town of Hillah, where a mound with the ruins of a shrine still bears the name “Babil” among the native Arabs. The second ancient Chaldean city “Erech,” or “Arach,” is rightly identified with the Ορχόη of Ptolemy, with Arku of the cuneiform inscriptions, and thus coincides with the modern “Warqa,” lying approximately eight miles south of ancient Babylon. The other two cities: Akkad and Calneh represented, on the contrary, the northern points of the described state: in particular Akkad, probably, was that very city which later gave its name to the entire country “Akkad,” so often mentioned in cuneiform literature. According to the opinion of the well-known English Orientalist George Smith, Akkad was the capital of King Sargon and lay on the bank of the Euphrates, not far from Sippar, to the north of Babylon. The last of the cities named here “Calneh,” or “Kalne,” commentators connect with “Calno” (Russian “Kalne”) in the prophet Isaiah (Isa 10:9) and “Hanne” (Russian “Hane”) in the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek 27:23). Some, following blessed Jerome and Eusebius, seek this city in the place of the later “Ctesiphon,” that is, in the northwest of Babylon; others (Rawlinson) find its traces in the ruins of modern Nippur, in the northeast of the Euphrates. These very four cities, either voluntarily or—more likely—through seizure by Nimrod, formed the first union state, or the most ancient Chaldean-Babylonian kingdom, in which the supreme leading role belonged to the descendants of Ham.

Genesis 10:11. From that land Asshur went out Some commentators take the name “Asshur” here in the sense of the proper name of one of Shem’s sons (verse 22, LXX, Vulgate, Luther, Rosenmüller, and others) and interpret this place in the sense that the Semites, dissatisfied with the despotic rule of Nimrod and the Cushites, preferred to withdraw northward and establish a new kingdom there. But according to the opinion of others (Targum, Delitzsch, Keil, Lange, Philaret, and many others), the name “Asshur” serves here as a common designation of the entire country, depending on which the translation of the text should be somewhat different, namely: “and from that land (Shinar) he (Nimrod) went out into Assyria...” and built Nineveh, At first the support of Nimrod’s dominion was Babylon; now he raises a new center of his rule to the north—the city of Nineveh. This later immense capital of the mighty Assyrian monarchy (Jonah 3:3) lay on the bank of the river Tigris, opposite Mosul, in the region of the excavations of modern Kuyunjik. Rehoboth-Ir, Calah The first of these cities remains unknown to this day, though some are inclined to identify it with the biblical Ellasar or Larsa—according to the cuneiform inscriptions—found at the confluence of the Lower Zab with the Tigris. By the literal translation from the Hebrew, the word Rehoboth-Ir means “city of streets,” giving the impression of its vastness. The name of the city “Calah” is found in the annals of King Ashurnasirpal (883–859 BC), where it is mentioned as a city built by Shalmaneser I. The location of it is determined by scholars to the south of Nineveh, at the confluence of the Upper Zab with the Euphrates, near modern Nimrud. Others, however, prefer to see it in the place of modern Kalah-Sherkat, five miles south of Nineveh.

Genesis 10:12. and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it is a great city. That is, between modern Kuyunjik and Nimrud. In the above-mentioned Assyrian inscriptions the city “Resen” is also mentioned, which is called here “the city of the hunter,” plainly reminding us of the biblical proverb about Nimrod mentioned above. The Bible calls “Resen” a great city and places it in the immediate neighborhood of Nineveh. All this, as well as the fact that Nineveh itself, according to the words of the prophet Jonah, had a span of three days’ journey (Jonah 3:3), gave scholars reason to think that Resen, representing a separate independent city located in the vicinity of great Nineveh, later merged with it and thus lost its own name (Layard and others). Thus in these few lines of the Bible is reproduced the entire initial history of the Chaldean-Babylonian and Babylonian-Assyrian monarchy: in full correspondence with the newly discovered data of the cuneiform monuments, the Bible testifies that the initial emergence of state life occurred in the region of southern Babylonia or Chaldea, where its center was the cities: Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh; that then this life began to flow northward, where it established a new center in the form of Nineveh and the surrounding cities, and that finally the predominant influence of the Cushites in the first Chaldean-Babylonian monarchy gradually had to yield its place to the Semitic element of the Assyrian-Ninevite monarchy.

Genesis 10:13–14. From Mizraim descended In these two verses, the descendants of Ham’s son—Mizraim, that is, the population of various Egyptian-African provinces, are specifically indicated. Ludim, The people of this name is mentioned again with the prophet Isaiah (Isa 66:19), as good archers, and is called together with the tribes of Cush (Cush) and Put (brothers of Mizraim, progenitor of Ludim and others), that is, inhabitants of northwestern Africa. The Targums place this tribe near Egypt itself, in the western direction; and the learned Egyptologist Ebers, having found that in the hieroglyphic texts of ancient Egypt the inhabitants were designated by the name Lutu or Rutu, supposes that this biblical Ludim is none other than the most ancient designation of the aborigines of Egypt. Anamim, According to Ebers, this is the very people known in the monuments as the “Aamu” and which inhabited the eastern part of the Nile Valley and the Sinai Peninsula. Lehabim, It is supposed that this is the very people who in other places of the Bible is called “Ludim,” or even directly “Libya” (2 Chr 12:3; Dan 11:43; Nah 3:9). On this basis the majority identifies it with Libya, lying in the northwest of the Nile, near present-day Algeria. Naphtuhim, The philological analysis of this name reveals that the people bearing it had a connection to the Egyptian deity “Ptah” or “Ptha”; and since this was the chief deity of Memphis, it is rightly concluded that in the tribe “Naphtuhim” one must see the inhabitants of middle Egypt.

Genesis 10:14. Pathrusim, With the same, as well as with a slightly altered (“Petros”) designation, this people appears in many other places of Sacred Scripture, where they are placed between Ethiopia and Mizraim (Isa 11:11) and distinguished from Migdol, Tahpanhes, and Memphis (Jer 44:1; Ezek 29:14). In the cuneiform annals of Esarhaddon we find that upon the conquest of Egypt he took the title of king of Musur, Paturusi, and Kusi. From all this it is concluded with certainty that under Pathrusim one must understand the population of Upper Egypt, living between Mizraim and Ethiopia. Casluhim, from whom the Philistines came, and Caphtorim. “Hasmoneans” (according to the LXX text). By the sense of this text, it appears that “Casluhim” served to form two other peoples: the Philistines and the Caphtorim. But in other places of Sacred Scripture the homeland of the Philistines is quite definitely indicated as “Caphtor” (Deut 2:23; Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7), under which it is most plausibly understood to mean the island of Crete (1 Sam 30:14; Ezek 25:16). Reconciling these two accounts, commentators think that the Bible speaks of two different migrations of the Philistines, of which the most ancient came from Casluhim, that is, from the North African coast of the Mediterranean, while the other, later—from Caphtorim, that is, from the island of Crete. It is certain only that the inhabitants of northwestern Africa, the island of Crete, and the Philistines had much in common in their language, ancient beliefs, and customs, which serves as proof of their genetic kinship. As for the Philistines themselves, inhabiting Palestine and giving it their name, the analysis of their very name (Pleshet—migrant) points to them as migrants or emigrants; and the most ancient popular sagas call them precisely as coming out of Egypt.

Genesis 10:15–18. From Canaan were born: Sidon, his firstborn, In these four verses, the enumeration of the principal Canaanite tribes that inhabited Syria and Palestine, before the conquest of the latter by Joshua, is given. Sidon, by significance if not by birth, is here named the firstborn of Canaan, a wealthy, maritime city, which together with Tyre was the capital of Phoenicia (1 Sam 5:6; 1 Chr 22:4; Isa 23:2). Heth, —the progenitor of the Hittites (Gen 23:3), a powerful Syrian tribe, once terrible even to Egypt itself, which left after itself traces of high culture and an entire rich literature, still largely undeciphered by scholars (Hittite inscriptions). Jebusite, —the Jebusites lived in the hills of Jerusalem, until the days of David, who conquered them (Josh 15:8; Judg 19:10; 2 Sam 5:6; 1 Chr 11:4-5). Amorite, —the Amorites—one of the strongest Canaanite tribes, having on the east side of the Jordan two strong kingdoms—Heshbon and Bashan (Num 21:26). Girgashite, —the Girgashites—known only by name, as fighting with the Hebrews west of the Jordan (Josh 24:11). Hivite, —the Hivites, or, according to Metropolitan Philaret’s reading, “Hittites,” are mentioned again in Josh 24:11; Judg 3:3—they inhabited the foot of Mount Lebanon. Arkite, —the Arkites, or Arkiites, probably inhabitants of the city Arki, found in the place of modern ruins near the small town Tall-Arki, at the foot of the same Lebanon. Sinite, —the Sinites, or “Sinitians,”—a people neighboring the former, inhabiting near the ancient fortress bearing the same name. Arvadite, —the Arvadites lived in Arvad, or Ruad (Josephus), that is, on the Bareyn Islands of our time, as Lenormant thinks; subsequently they formed the nucleus of the population of Phoenicia and imparted to it a passion for navigation and commerce. Zemarite and Hamathite. —the Zemarites and Hamathites—two peoples very little known; it is supposed that the first gave their name to Zimri—a city of northern Phoenicia, the ruins of which are still known by the name Sumra. In like manner, the name Hamathite, in all probability, passed to the city Hammani-Rabba, lying on the river Orontes, near Damascus. Among the Greeks it was called “Epiphaneia”; in modern times it is known by the ancient name “Hama.” Afterward the Canaanites were scattered, That is, under the influence of mutual mixing, conquests, and successive migrations they repeatedly changed their geographic boundaries, thanks to which it is not only extremely difficult, but positively impossible to firmly establish the dwelling of each of them.

Genesis 10:19. and the boundary of the Canaanites was from Sidon to Gerar as far as Gaza, from there to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. Having indicated the reason because of which it was difficult to determine the dwelling of each of the Canaanite tribes, the biblical author makes an indication of a more general character—determines the boundaries of the entire Canaanite territory. On the north such a boundary was the city of Sidon, on the south Gaza and Gerar, a city located between Kadesh and Shur, in the southern region (Gen 20:1). The western boundary was served by the cities: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which together with the omitted here Zoar comprised the so-called Pentapolis, and in place of which subsequently the Dead Sea formed (Gen 14:2). Finally, the eastern boundary was the city of Lasha, under which the majority means the city known to the Greeks as Callirhoe (fountain of beauty), because of its hot sulphur spring waters. Thus, “the settlements of the Hamites encompass all the seacoasts of present-day Persia, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, the Red Sea along the African coast and the Mediterranean Sea in Africa and Syria” (Vlastov).

Genesis 10:20. These are the descendants of Ham, by their tribes, by their languages, in their lands, in their nations. A general conclusion of the genealogy of the Hamites, the sense of which we have explained above (Gen 10:5).

The Descendants of Shem

Genesis 10:21. Shem also had sons, being the father of all the children of Eber, the older brother of Japheth. From here begins the most important genealogy from the biblical perspective—that of the Semites, from among whom came the chosen people of God, the Hebrew nation, which received its name from Eber, and the biblical author does not fail to mention this here.

Genesis 10:22. The sons of Shem: Elam, In the cuneiform monuments of Assyria this country is known by the name leamtu, which means “mountainous” country. Subsequently it came to be called Susiania or Susiana. In this latter many places with Semitic names have been preserved, from which it is rightly concluded that Semitic elements once dominated in ancient Susiania or Elam. Asshur, This descendant of Shem was the progenitor of the Assyrians, one of the most famous peoples of the ancient East. He inhabited the eastern side of the middle course of the Tigris River, between Armenia, Susiania, and Media, and spoke, as is now precisely established, in the Semitic dialect, rather close to the Hebrew language. As we saw above, the Cushites made an invasion into Assyria at a very early date (Gen 10:11), which explains the circumstance that the entire civilization and culture of the Assyrian monarchy stands in undoubted kinship with the Chaldean-Babylonian civilization. Arphaxad, One of the direct ancestors of the Hebrew people. On the basis of cuneiform inscriptions, Schrader and other scholars suppose that this name means a people “bordering the Chaldeans” (arp-kasad), and its dwelling they indicate in the southern, coastal part of the Euphrates valley, the main residence of which was the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, the modern Mugheir. Lud, Following Josephus, here is meant the population of the Asia Minor province of Lydia with its chief city Sardis. But in view of the fact that in the classical era the population of Lydia was rather of Arian than Semitic origin, scholars presume that Semites inhabited this province only in the most remote antiquity, but that subsequently they yielded it to the Aryans. This gradual replacement of one population by another took place chiefly in the era of the Assyrian kings, in the annals of whom one can find some allusions to it. Aram In cuneiform literature it is known in the forms: “Aramu, Arum, Arimu” and denoted the lands lying on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, with the exception of Babylon. The Egyptians called the region between the Euphrates and Habor “Nagaraina,” from which the biblical designation of Mesopotamia as “Aram-Nagaraina” came about. In this region there were a whole series of various states, which is why in the Bible we encounter various combinations of this name: Aram-Soba, Aram-Damascus, Aram-Rehob, and others.

Genesis 10:23. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. All these names belong to the number of little-known peoples. Regarding the first, however, it is supposed with considerable certainty that it gave its name to the country of Uz, from which Job came forth (Job 1:1) and which was located in the southeast of Palestine, along the way to the Arabian Desert; the later Traconitis (compare Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 1:6, 4). Regarding “Hul” opinions differ: Josephus indicates it generally in Armenia; Bochart identifies it with the part of Armenia which bore the name “Cholobotene,” that is, house of Hul (Hul-Bitan); Delitzsch sees here an indication of Syrian Hulatu or perhaps Hule, near the sources of the Jordan River, etc. About the two latter peoples—Gether and Mash—almost nothing is known, unless we reckon the conjecture of Bochart, supported by Metropolitan Philaret, that Mash or Mas gave its name to Mount Masios in Armenia.

Genesis 10:24. Arphaxad begat [Cainan, Cainan begat] Shelah, The words in brackets are omitted in the Hebrew text; but they are found in the most ancient and most authoritative Greek manuscripts, in the Gospel genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 3:36), as well as in the works of Josephus and Moses of Khoren. Shelah begat Eber. —that very patriarch from whose name was subsequently derived the name of the chosen Hebrew people. By itself this name means a man who crossed a river, and consequently contains the idea of the migration of this patriarch from across some river, probably the Euphrates (the word עברי, ibri, Hebrew, in Gen 14:13 in the LXX is translated through ὁ περάτης, “wanderer,” one living on the other side of the Euphrates or having crossed this river).

Genesis 10:25. To Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; According to the reading of the Hebrew text, this name should have the form “Peleg,” which will mean division or branching. What exactly is meant here by division—this is not entirely clear, in view of which some see here an indication of the Babylonian scattering of peoples (Rosenmüller, Keil, Lange), while others—the selection by the sacred biblical writer of that branch of Semites which had the closest relation to the chosen people (Delitzsch). and the name of his brother was Joktan. This latter was the progenitor of a whole series of nomadic tribes, populating the Arabian Peninsula, headed by the Joktanites. In all probability, this was already a secondary population of Arabia, settling in place of the original inhabitants of it Hamites, who were forced to seek themselves new dwellings mainly within the regions of Africa.

Genesis 10:26. Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, In this section is given a rather detailed enumeration of the principal Arabian tribes, most of which can be indicated only presumptively. So Almodad is identified with the Arabian province of Yemen; Sheleph—with Salapenus of Ptolemy, located in lower Arabia; Hazarmaveth with Hadramut, in the southeast of Arabia; Jerah with still existing Arabian tribe Bne-Hilal, which, just like Jerah, points to a connection with the moon, meaning precisely “children of the moon.”

Genesis 10:27. Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, The location of the first may be indicated by Cape Hadram at the Persian Gulf. “Uzal” is thought to be seen in the modern city of Sana in Yemen, which bore in antiquity the name Auzura, from which a special aromatic ointment—myrrh azurite—was produced. Diklah—from the word “dikal,” meaning “palm,” hence “Happy Arabia,” as its principal location.

Genesis 10:28. Obal, Abimael, Sheba, These Sabeans—Semites—should be distinguished from the Sabeans—Hamites (Gen 10:7); they were a trading people of the coastal region of Arabia and had for their capital the city of Mariaba.

Genesis 10:29. Ophir, There is no basis for seeing India here, known in antiquity by this name; but rather, in all probability, here is meant some port in the southwest of Arabia, carrying on trade with India and being as it were a trading colony of it (for example, Aden). Havilah and Jobab. The first probably means the northern region of Yemen, while the second from the Arabic means “desert” and may serve as an indication of the Nejd.

Genesis 10:30. Their dwelling was from Mesha as far as Sephar, a mountain to the east. Under the first of these boundaries is understood the modern desert of Mesalik, neighboring the Irak-Arbi, while under the second the mountainous country of Mihru, where Mount Dhafar or by modern pronunciation Djabal-Shejir rises.

Genesis 10:31. These are the descendants of Shem by their tribes, by their languages, in their lands, by their nations. Genesis 10:32. These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations. From these the nations were scattered upon the earth after the flood.