^10:2The sons of Japheth⁴ were Gomer,⁵ Magog,⁶ Madai,⁷ Javan,⁸ Tubal,⁹ Meshech,¹⁰ and Tiras.¹¹^10:3The sons of Gomer were¹² Askenaz,¹³ Riphath,¹⁴ and Togarmah.¹⁵^10:4The sons of Javan were Elishah,¹⁶ Tarshish,¹⁷ the Kittim,¹⁸ and the Dodanim.¹⁹^10:5From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by their nations.

^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.

^10:21And sons were also born⁷² to Shem (the older brother of Japheth),⁷³ the father of all the sons of Eber.

^10:22The sons of Shem were Elam,⁷⁴ Asshur,⁷⁵ Arphaxad,⁷⁶ Lud,⁷⁷ and Aram.⁷⁸^10:23The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.⁷⁹^10:24Arphaxad was the father of⁸⁰ Shelah,⁸¹ and Shelah was the father of Eber.⁸²^10:25Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided,⁸³ and his brother’s name was Joktan. ^10:26Joktan was the father of⁸⁴ Almodad,⁸⁵ Sheleph,⁸⁶ Hazarmaveth,⁸⁷ Jerah,⁸⁸^10:27Hadoram, Uzal,⁸⁹ Diklah,⁹⁰^10:28Obal,⁹¹ Abimael,⁹² Sheba,⁹³^10:29Ophir,⁹⁴ Havilah,⁹⁵ and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. ^10:30Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to⁹⁶ Sephar in the eastern hills. ^10:31These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations.

^10:32These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations, and from these the nations spread⁹⁷ over the earth after the flood.

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

^11:1The whole earth¹ had a common language and a common vocabulary.²^11:2When the people³ moved eastward,⁴ they found a plain in Shinar⁵ and settled there. ^11:3Then they said to one another,⁶ “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”⁷ (They had brick instead of stone and tar⁸ instead of mortar.)⁹^11:4Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens¹⁰ so that¹¹ we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise¹² we will be scattered¹³ across the face of the entire earth.”

^11:5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people¹⁴ had started¹⁵ building. ^11:6And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language¹⁶ they have begun to do this, then¹⁷ nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.¹⁸^11:7Come, let’s go down and confuse¹⁹ their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”²⁰

^11:8So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building²¹ the city. ^11:9That is why its name was called²² Babel²³—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

The Genealogy of Shem

^11:10This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. ^11:11And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other²⁴ sons and daughters.

^11:12When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. ^11:13And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other²⁵ sons and daughters.²⁶

^11:14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. ^11:15And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other²⁷ sons and daughters.

^11:16When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. ^11:17And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

^11:18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. ^11:19And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

^11:20When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. ^11:21And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

^11:22When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. ^11:23And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

^11:24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. ^11:25And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

^11:26When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Record of Terah

^11:27This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. ^11:28Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans,²⁸ while his father Terah was still alive.²⁹^11:29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,³⁰ and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah;³¹ she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. ^11:30But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

^11:31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. ^11:32The lifetime³² of Terah was 205 years, and he³³ died in Haran.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 The title אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת (’elle tolédot, here translated as “This is the account”) here covers 10:1–11:9, which contains the so-called Table of Nations and the account of how the nations came to be dispersed.
2 Sons were born to them. A vertical genealogy such as this encompasses more than the names of sons. The list includes cities, tribes, and even nations. In a loose way, the names in the list have some derivation or connection to the three ancestors.
3 It appears that the Table of Nations is a composite of at least two ancient sources: Some sections begin with the phrase “the sons of” (בְּנֵי, béne) while other sections use “begot” (יָלָד, yalad). It may very well be that the “sons of” list was an old, “bare bones” list that was retained in the family records, while the “begot” sections were editorial inserts by the writer of Genesis, reflecting his special interests. See A. P. Ross, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10—Its Structure,” 137 (1980): ; idem, “The Table of Nations in Genesis 10—Its Content,” 138 (1981): .
4 The Greek form of the name Japheth, Iapetos, is used in Greek tradition for the ancestor of the Greeks.
5 Gomer was the ancestor of the Cimmerians. For a discussion of the Cimmerians see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (), 49–61.
6 For a discussion of various proposals concerning the descendants of Magog see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (), 22–24.
7 Madai was the ancestor of the Medes, who lived east of Assyria.
8 Javan was the father of the Hellenic race, the Ionians who lived in western Asia Minor.
9 Tubal was the ancestor of militaristic tribes that lived north of the Black Sea. For a discussion of ancient references to Tubal see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (), 24–26.
10 Meshech was the ancestor of the people known in Assyrian records as the Musku. For a discussion of ancient references to them see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (), 24–26.
11 Tiras was the ancestor of the Thracians, some of whom possibly became the Pelasgian pirates of the Aegean.
12 The descendants of Gomer were all northern tribes of the Upper Euphrates.
13 Askenaz was the ancestor of a northern branch of Indo-Germanic tribes, possibly Scythians. For discussion see E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (), 63.
14 The descendants of Riphath lived in a district north of the road from Haran to Carchemish.
15 Togarmah is also mentioned in Ezek 38:6, where it refers to Til-garimmu, the capital of Kammanu, which bordered Tabal in eastern Turkey. See E. M. Yamauchi, Foes from the Northern Frontier (), 26, n. 28.
16 The descendants of Elishah populated Cyprus.
17 The descendants of Tarshish settled along the southern coast of what is modern Turkey. However, some identify the site Tarshish (see Jonah 1:3) with Sardinia or Spain.
18 The name Kittim is associated with Cyprus, as well as coastlands east of Rhodes. It is used in later texts to refer to the Romans.
19 Most of the read “Dodanim” here, but 1 Chr 1:7 has “Rodanim,” perhaps referring to the island of Rhodes. But the Qere reading in 1 Chr 1:7 suggests “Dodanim.” Dodona is one of the most ancient and revered spots in ancient Greece.
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.”
72 Heb “And to Shem was born.”
73 Or “whose older brother was Japheth.” Some translations render Japheth as the older brother, understanding the adjective הַגָּדוֹל (haggadol, “older”) as modifying Japheth. However, in Hebrew when a masculine singular definite attributive adjective follows the sequence masculine singular construct noun + proper name, the adjective invariably modifies the noun in construct, not the proper name. Such is the case here. See Deut 11:7; Judg 1:13; 2:7; 3:9; 9:5; 2 Kgs 15:35; 2 Chr 27:3; Neh 3:30; Jer 13:9; 36:10; Ezek 10:19; 11:1.
74 The Hebrew name Elam (עֵילָם, ’elam) means “highland.” The Elamites were a non-Semitic people who lived east of Babylon.
75 Asshur is the name for the Assyrians. Asshur was the region in which Nimrod expanded his power (see v. 11, where the name is also mentioned). When names appear in both sections of a genealogical list, it probably means that there were both Hamites and Shemites living in that region in antiquity, especially if the name is a place name.
76 The descendants of Arphaxad may have lived northeast of Nineveh.
77 Lud may have been the ancestor of the Ludbu, who lived near the Tigris River.
78 Aram became the collective name of the northern tribes living in the steppes of Mesopotamia and speaking Aramaic dialects.
79 The reads “Mash”; the and 1 Chr 1:17 read “Meshech.” Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Little is known about these descendants of Aram.
80 Heb “fathered.”
81 The reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35–36.
82 Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).
83 The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.
84 Heb “fathered.”
85 The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.
86 The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.
87 The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.
88 The name Jerah means “moon.”
89 Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.
90 The name Diklah means “date-palm.”
91 Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.
92 The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”
93 The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.
94 Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).
95 Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.
96 Heb “as you go.”
97 Or “separated.”
1 The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1–9,” 138 (1981): .
2 Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.
3 Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 Or perhaps “from the east” () or “in the east.”
5 Heb “in the land of Shinar.” Shinar is the region of Babylonia.
6 Heb “a man to his neighbor.” The Hebrew idiom may be translated “to each other” or “one to another.”
7 The speech contains two cohortatives of exhortation followed by their respective cognate accusatives: “let us brick bricks” (נִלְבְּנָה לְבֵנִים, nilbbénah lévenim) and “burn for burning” (נִשְׂרְפָה לִשְׂרֵפָה, nisréfah lisrefah). This stresses the intensity of the undertaking; it also reflects the Akkadian text which uses similar constructions (see E. A. Speiser, Genesis [], ).
8 Or “bitumen” (cf. , ).
9 The disjunctive clause gives information parenthetical to the narrative.
10 A translation of “heavens” for שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) fits this context because the Babylonian ziggurats had temples at the top, suggesting they reached to the heavens, the dwelling place of the gods.
11 The form וְנַעֲשֶׂה (véna’aseh, from the verb עשׂה, “do, make”) could be either the imperfect or the cohortative with a vav (ו) conjunction (“and let us make …”). Coming after the previous cohortative, this form expresses purpose.
12 The Hebrew particle פֶּן (pen) expresses a negative purpose; it means “that we be not scattered.”
13 The Hebrew verb פָּוָץ (pavats, translated “scatter”) is a key term in this passage. The focal point of the account is the dispersion (“scattering”) of the nations rather than the Tower of Babel. But the passage also forms a polemic against Babylon, the pride of the east and a cosmopolitan center with a huge ziggurat. To the Hebrews it was a monument to the judgment of God on pride.
14 Heb “the sons of man.” The phrase is intended in this polemic to portray the builders as mere mortals, not the lesser deities that the Babylonians claimed built the city.
15 The Hebrew text simply has בָּנוּ (banu), but since v. 8 says they left off building the city, an ingressive idea (“had started building”) should be understood here.
16 Heb “and one lip to all of them.”
17 Heb “and now.” The foundational clause beginning with הֵן (hen) expresses the condition, and the second clause the result. It could be rendered “If this … then now.”
18 Heb “all that they purpose to do will not be withheld from them.”
19 The cohortatives mirror the cohortatives of the people. They build to ascend the heavens; God comes down to destroy their language. God speaks here to his angelic assembly. See the notes on the word “make” in and “know” in , as well as 10:22–23, where an angel recounts this incident and says “And the Lord our God said to us.… And the Lord went down and we went down with him. And we saw the city and the tower which the sons of men built.” On the chiastic structure of the story, see G. J. Wenham, Genesis (), 1:.
20 Heb “they will not hear, a man the lip of his neighbor.”
21 The infinitive construct לִבְנֹת (livnot, “building”) here serves as the object of the verb “they ceased, stopped,” answering the question of what they stopped doing.
22 The verb has no expressed subject and so can be rendered as a passive in the translation.
23 Babel. Here is the climax of the account, a parody on the pride of Babylon. In the Babylonian literature the name bab-ili meant “the gate of God,” but in Hebrew it sounds like the word for “confusion,” and so retained that connotation. The name “Babel” (בָּבֶל, bavel) and the verb translated “confused” (בָּלַל, balal) form a paronomasia (sound play). For the many wordplays and other rhetorical devices in Genesis, see J. P. Fokkelman, Narrative Art in Genesis ().
24 The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
25 The word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
26 The reading of the is followed in vv. 11–12; the reads, “And [= when] Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Cainan, Arphaxad lived four hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died. And [= when] Cainan had lived one hundred and thirty years, [and] he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah]. And after he fathered [= became the father of] Sala [= Shelah], Cainan lived three hundred and thirty years and fathered [= had] [other] sons and daughters, and [then] he died.” See also the note on “Shelah” in ; the reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35–36.
27 Here and in vv. 16, 19, 21, 23, 25 the word “other” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for stylistic reasons.
28 The phrase of the Chaldeans is a later editorial clarification for the readers, designating the location of Ur. From all evidence there would have been no Chaldeans in existence at this early date; they are known in the time of the neo-Babylonian empire in the first millennium b.c.
29 Heb “upon the face of Terah his father.”
30 The name Sarai (a variant spelling of “Sarah”) means “princess” (or “lady”). Sharratu was the name of the wife of the moon god Sin. The original name may reflect the culture out of which the patriarch was called, for the family did worship other gods in Mesopotamia.
31 The name Milcah means “Queen.” But more to the point here is the fact that Malkatu was a title for Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god. If the women were named after such titles (and there is no evidence that this was the motivation for naming the girls “Princess” or “Queen”), that would not necessarily imply anything about the faith of the two women themselves.
32 Heb “And the days of Terah were.”
33 Heb “Terah”; the pronoun has been substituted for the proper name in the translation for stylistic reasons.