The First Book of Moses, called Genesis
Genesis 10
Chapter X · Vol. I, pp. 227–228
1 The generations of Noah. 2 The sons of Japheth. 6 The sons of Ham. 8 Nimrod the first monarch. 21 The sons of Shem.
1 Now these are the agenerations of the sons of Noah; Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
a Historical account, ch. 2.4; 5.1; 6.9. Mat.1.1.
2 The bsons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
b 1 Ch.1.5-7. Eze.38. 2, 6,15; 27.13,19. Is.66. 19. From these sprung the Gomerians, Tartars, Medes, Greeks, Italians, &c.
3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
5 By these were the cisles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
6 Andd the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
d 1 Ch.1. 8-16; 4. 40. Ps.105.23;106.22;78.51. From these sprung the Ethiopians or Cushites, the Egyptians, West Africans, and Canaanites.
7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
8 And Cush begat Nimrod;8 he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
8 i.e. the rebel, Mi.5.6. About 2218.
9 He was a emighty hunter before the Lord; wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.9
e Je. 16. 16. Re. 17. 6. Eze.13.18. ch.6.11; 25.7. 2 Ch.28.22.
9 Nimrod is described as a hunter, an employment that in thinly peopled countries is as necessary for self-defence as for subsistence. There appears from the statement of Moses no good reason for understanding the phrase in a bad sense. Our Lord tells the disciples they should be fishers of men, a phrase as indicative of aggression as hunter. The words before the Lord express God's visible or acknowledged presence in a place or ordinance, chap. 18. 22. Ex. 23. 17, and seem intended to ascribe to Nimrod a religious regard to God in his rural employment as a hunter, as laying the foundation of that energy of character which progressively raised him to the throne of the first empire.—C.
10 And fthe beginning of his kingdom was Babel,1 and Erech, and Accad, and gCalneh, in the hland of Shinar.
12 And Resen, between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
13 And Mizraim4 begat kLudim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
4 Father of the Egyptians, &c.
k 1 Ch.1.11,12. Je.46. 9. Eze.30.5.
15 And nCanaan begat Sidon his first-born, oand Heth,
n 1 Ch. 1.13. Jos.11. 8. Is.23.4.
o ch.15.18-21. Ex.3. 8; 34.11, with Jos.12.8-24. Nu.34.2-15.
16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
18 Andp the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.5
p Eze. 27. 8. Jos.18. 24. 2 Ch. 13. 4. Is.10.9. Eze.47.16,17.
5 The Hittites (from Heth), Jebusites, Amorites, Girgasites, and Hivites, settled in Palestine, and remained there till the exodus. The Arkites settled in the northern part of Lebanon; the Sinites dwelt beside them; the Arvadites occupied the island of Arvad on the Syrian coast; and the Hamathites gave their name to the great city of Hamath.—P.
19 And qthe border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza;6 as thou goest unto rSodom, and Gomorrah, and Adma, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
20 These are the sons7 of Ham,8 after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
7 They peopled Africa and part of the south-west of Asia.
8 Black or burnt.—C.
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber,8 the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.9
A.M. 1786. B.C. 2218.
8 From Eber is derived Hebrews, a distinguishing name of the Jews.—C.
9 2346.
22 The schildren of Shem; Elam,1 and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.2
s 1 Ch. 1.17-27. Ac. 2.9. 2 Ki. 15.19. Job 1.17. From these sprung the Persians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Lydians, and Syrians.
1 Elam colonized the country on the east bank of the Tigris, between Assyria and the Persian Gulf. It was afterwards called Shushan, and by the Greeks Susiana.—P.
2 The country of Aram embraced northern Mesopotamia and north-eastern Syria.—P
23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
25 Andt unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
t 1 Ch. 1.19. ver. 21; ch. 11.1-9.
27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29 And vOphir, and wHavilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
v 2 Ch. 9.10,13. Job 22.24; 25.18.
w 1 Sa. 15.7. ch. 2.11
30 And their dwelling was from Mesha,4 as thou goest unto Sephar, a mount of the east.
4 In Arabia Felix.
Notes
[Ver. 1. This is the commencement of a new document. It contains the genealogy of the nations of the world, and thus forms an introduction to ethnology. Recent researches have tended most remarkably to confirm its strict accuracy, and to illustrate its statements. P.]
Ver. 2. [Japheth was Noah's oldest son. Of his children Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimbri and Celts; Magog of the Scythians and Mongolians; Madai of the Medes; Javan of the Ionians and Greeks; and Meshech of the Muscovites or Russians. P.]
Ver. 5. Europe, Lesser Asia, and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, are these isles of the Gentiles. The Jews called countries situated on the sea-shore, or parted from their own by sea, isles, Je. 47. 4, 'Country (Heb. isles) of Caphtor; 25. 22. To these isles of the Gentiles the gospel promises are peculiarly directed, and on their inhabitants they have been peculiarly fulfilled, Ps. 72. 10; 97. 1; Is. 24. 15; 42. 4, 10, 12; 49. 1; 51. 5; 60. 9; 66. 19; Zep. 2. 11, &c.
Ver. 6. [The word Ham signifies 'warmth;' and Ham's descendants all migrated southward. Of his sons Cush was ancestor of the Ethiopians; Mizraim of the Egyptians; Phut of the Lybians; and Canaan of the Canaanites, of whom there were many sub-tribes. P.]
Ver. 8, 9. Perhaps Nimrod first made himself popular by hunting down the wild beasts which began to infest the country, and then openly, and without fear of God, he usurped the government over his neighbours, and became so cruel an oppressor or persecutor, Je. 16. 16; La. 4. 18; Eze. 13. 18, that his name became a proverb of reproach; comp. 2 Ch. 28. 22.
Ver. 10. [Babel is Babylon; Erech is the ruin Warka, about 90 miles S.E. of Babylon, on the banks of the Euphrates; and Calneh, now called Niffer, is situated about 60 miles N.E. of Erech, in the plain of Mesopotamia. These great cities are now desolate heaps. P.]
Ver. 12. [The ruins of Nineveh cover the plain on the east bank of the Tigris, opposite Mosul. About 60 miles farther south, on the right bank of the Tigris, lie the ruins of Calah. Between the two, 20 miles from Nineveh, are extensive ruins called Nimrud, which are probably identical with Resen. P.]
Ver. 21. The children of Eber are the Hebrews, who being followers of him in his faith and holiness, and the peculiar people of God from whom the Messiah sprung, were the principal descendants of Shem, and those on whom his blessing was chiefly conferred, Nu. 24. 24. What nations these descendants of Noah formed, and what countries they inhabited, may be seen in ch. 9. 25-27.
Ver. 25. [Eber was the progenitor of a large section of the Arabs of Arabia, through Joktân; and of the Hebrews through Peleg. Many of the Arab tribes are still known as Bene-Kahtan, 'children of Joktan.' P.]
Reflections.—How quickly God can repair the most remarkable breaches in external things, and make families increase and spread when he pleaseth! But alas! how soon human pride and lust of dominion revive, notwithstanding the most tremendous judgments of God upon them! Neither floods, nor flames, nor sword, nor famine, nor pestilence, but Jesus' blood and Spirit alone, can extirpate our sinful inclinations. How insatiably do carnal men covet and grasp at power or property! and the more they have, the more they hunt after! But let me remember, that all my hunting after these vanities is against, as well as before, the Lord. How often God prospers the wicked under their energy and industry, and also by the same means provides wealth for his people! But much happier is it to be with Eber, a father of saints, than to be with Ham, a parent of ambitious and tyrannical hunters, or of numerous Canaanites devoted to misery and ruin.