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10. The Table of Nations

¹ This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites

² The sons Sons may mean descendants or successors or nations; also in verses 3, 4, 6, 7, 20-23, 29 and 31. 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. Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text and Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Septuagint and 1 Chron. 1:7); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text Dodanites ⁵ (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

The Hamites

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 Father may mean ancestor or predecessor or founder; also in verses 13, 15, 24 and 26. 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.” ¹⁰ The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Or Uruk and Akkad—all of them in Shinar. That is, Babylonia ¹¹ From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Or Nineveh with its city squares 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, Or of the Sidonians, the foremost 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.

The Semites

²¹ Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Or Shem, the older brother of 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. See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 1:17; Hebrew Mash.

²⁴ Arphaxad was the father of Hebrew; Septuagint father of Cainan, and Cainan was the father of Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.

²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, Peleg means division. 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.

11. Out of that land went forth Asshur. It is credible that Asshur was one of the posterity of Shem. And the opinion has been commonly received, that he is here mentioned, because, when he was dwelling, in the neighborhood of Nimrod, he was violently expelled thence. In this manner, Moses would mark the barbarous ferocity of Nimrod. And truly these are the accustomed fruits of a greatness which does not keep within bounds; whence has arisen the old proverb, ‘Great kingdoms are great robberies.’ It is indeed necessary that some should preside over others; but where ambition, and the desire of rising higher than is right, are rampant, they not only draw with them the greatest and most numerous injuries, but also verge closely upon the dissolution of human society. Yet I rather adopt the opinion of those who say that Asshur is not, in this place, the name of a man, but of a country which derived its appellation from him; and thus the sense will be, that Nimrod, not content with his large and opulent kingdom, gave the reins to his cupidity, and pushed the boundaries of his empire even into Assyria, where he also built new cities.³¹⁸³¹⁸     See the marginal reading of the English version — ‘He went out into Assyria.’ The passage in Isaiah (Isaiah 23:13) is alone opposed to this opinion, where he says, ‘Behold the land of the Chaldeans, the people was not, Asshur founded it when they inhabited the deserts, and he reduced it to ruin.’³¹⁹³¹⁹     Bishop Lowth’s translation of the passage is as follows: —
   “Behold the land of the Chaldeans;
This people was of no account;
(The Assyrian founded it for the inhabitants of the desert;
They raised the watch-towers, they set up the palaces thereof;)
This people hath reduced her to ruin.”
   See also his note on this passage, which accords with Calvin’s supposition, that the prophet referred to some subsequent period of history. — Ed. For the prophet seems to say, that cities were built by the Assyrians in Chaldea, whereas previously, its inhabitants were wandering and scattered as in a desert. But it may be, that the prophet speaks of other changes of these kingdoms, which occurred afterwards. For, at the time in which the Assyrians maintained the sovereignty, seeing that they flourished in unbounded wealth, it is credible that Chaldea, which they had subjected to themselves was so adorned and increased by a long peace, that it might seem to have been founded by them. And we know, that when the Chaldeans, in their turn, seized on the empire, Babylon was exalted on the ruins of Nineveh.