Genesis 10:10

tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.

tn Or “Babylon.”

sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.

sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.

tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).

sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.