^10:6The sons of Ham were Cush,²⁰ Mizraim,²¹ Put,²² and Canaan.²³^10:7The sons of Cush were Seba,²⁴ Havilah,²⁵ Sabtah,²⁶ Raamah,²⁷ and Sabteca.²⁸ The sons of Raamah were Sheba²⁹ and Dedan.³⁰

^10:8Cush was the father of³¹ Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. ^10:9He was a mighty hunter³² before the Lord.³³ (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) ^10:10The primary regions³⁴ of his kingdom were Babel,³⁵ Erech,³⁶ Akkad,³⁷ and Calneh³⁸ in the land of Shinar.³⁹^10:11From that land he went⁴⁰ to Assyria,⁴¹ where he built Nineveh,⁴² Rehoboth-Ir,⁴³ Calah,⁴⁴^10:12and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city Calah.⁴⁵

^10:13Mizraim⁴⁶ was the father of⁴⁷ the Ludites,⁴⁸ Anamites,⁴⁹ Lehabites,⁵⁰ Naphtuhites,⁵¹^10:14Pathrusites,⁵² Casluhites⁵³ (from whom the Philistines came),⁵⁴ and Caphtorites.⁵⁵

^10:15Canaan was the father of⁵⁶ Sidon his firstborn,⁵⁷ Heth,⁵⁸^10:16the Jebusites,⁵⁹ Amorites,⁶⁰ Girgashites,⁶¹^10:17Hivites,⁶² Arkites,⁶³ Sinites,⁶⁴^10:18Arvadites,⁶⁵ Zemarites,⁶⁶ and Hamathites.⁶⁷ Eventually the families of the Canaanites were scattered ^10:19and the borders of Canaan extended⁶⁸ from Sidon⁶⁹ all the way to⁷⁰ Gerar as far as Gaza, and all the way to⁷¹ Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ^10:20These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations.

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Footnotes

20 The descendants of Cush settled in Nubia (Ethiopia).
21 The descendants of Mizraim settled in Upper and Lower Egypt.
22 The descendants of Put settled in Libya.
23 The descendants of Canaan lived in the region of Phoenicia (Palestine).
24 The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
25 The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
26 The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
27 The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
28 The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
29 Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
30 The name Dedan is associated with Ula in northern Arabia.
31 Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.
32 The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).
33 Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yéhvah, “before the Lord [YHWH]”), as a means of expressing the superlative degree. In this case one may translate “Nimrod was the greatest hunter in the world.”
34 Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (), , suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
35 Or “Babylon.”
36 Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
37 Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
38 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. ).
39 Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
40 The subject of the verb translated “went” is probably still Nimrod. However, it has also been interpreted that “Ashur went,” referring to a derivative power.
41 Heb “Asshur.”
42 Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city situated on the Tigris River.
43 The name Rehoboth-Ir means “and broad streets of a city,” perhaps referring to a suburb of Nineveh.
44 Calah (modern Nimrud) was located twenty miles north of Nineveh.
45 Heb “and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; it [i.e., Calah] is the great city.”
46 Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt (cf. ).
47 Heb “fathered.”
48 The Ludites were African tribes west of the Nile Delta.
49 The Anamites lived in North Africa, west of Egypt, near Cyrene.
50 The Lehabites are identified with the Libyans.
51 The Naphtuhites lived in Lower Egypt (the Nile Delta region).
52 The Pathrusites are known in Egyptian as P-to-reshi; they resided in Upper Egypt.
53 The Casluhites lived in Crete and eventually settled east of the Egyptian Delta, between Egypt and Canaan.
54 Several commentators prefer to reverse the order of the words to put this clause after the next word, since the Philistines came from Crete (where the Caphtorites lived). But the table may suggest migration rather than lineage, and the Philistines, like the Israelites, came through the Nile Delta region of Egypt. For further discussion of the origin and migration of the Philistines, see D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 232.
55 The Caphtorites resided in Crete, but in Egyptian literature Caphtor refers to “the region beyond” the Mediterranean.
56 Heb “fathered.”
57 Sidon was the foremost city in Phoenicia; here Sidon may be the name of its founder.
58 Some see a reference to “Hittites” here (cf. ), but this seems unlikely. See the note on the phrase “sons of Heth” in .
59 The Jebusites were the Canaanite inhabitants of ancient Jerusalem.
60 Here Amorites refers to smaller groups of Canaanite inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Palestine, rather than the large waves of Amurru, or western Semites, who migrated to the region.
61 The Girgashites are an otherwise unknown Canaanite tribe, though the name is possibly mentioned in Ugaritic texts (see G. J. Wenham, Genesis [], 1:).
62 The Hivites were Canaanite tribes of a Hurrian origin.
63 The Arkites lived in Arka, a city in Lebanon, north of Sidon.
64 The Sinites lived in Sin, another town in Lebanon.
65 The Arvadites lived in the city Arvad, located on an island near the mainland close to the river El Kebir.
66 The Zemarites lived in the town Sumur, north of Arka.
67 The Hamathites lived in Hamath on the Orontes River.
68 Heb “were.”
69 For location see ; ; .
70 Heb “as you go.”
71 Heb “as you go.”