10:1–32 This passage is called the Table of Nations because its list explains the origin of most of the peoples of the ancient Near East. The names correspond to biblical names for major people groups, tribes, and regions (see vv. 31–32). The correspondence between the ancestral names and biblical geography suggests the Table of Nations provides a record of ancient eponymous ancestry (the naming of nations or regions after particular people). The list does not cover all the nations of the earth. Rather, it covers the groups most relevant for biblical history. The listing is also symbolic, as the number of descendants listed for Shem, Ham, and Japheth totals 70. The Table of Nations explains how Noah’s three sons multiplied into the nations of the world known to the author of Genesis Genesis 10:1–32 in its Literary Context LRC:G111 Genesis 10 Genesis Genesis 10:1–32 G:C

Understanding the Table of Nations

10:1 the generations of The Hebrew word used here, toledoth, is used throughout Genesis to refer to genealogical related information. See note on 5:1

Shem, Ham, and Japheth Noah’s three sons. See note on 6:10.

10:2 The sons of Japheth While the descendants of Ham and Shem (vv. 6–31) would have lived near each other in the ancient Near East, the descendants of Japheth are not all found in regions next to each other. These verses probably reflect an Israelite perspective that all the names therein come from across the Mediterranean Sea.

Gomer This name refers to the Cimmerians who seem to be the same people group as the Scythians (compare Ezek 38:6).

Magog This term is used in Ezek 38:2 and Ezek 39:6 to refer to the land of Gog. The region was probably between Armenia and Cappadocia near the Black Sea. See note on Ezek 38:1–39:24.

Madai The Hebrew word used here, madai, refers in the ot to the land of the Medes (Isa 13:17; 2 Kgs 17:6). The Medes lived in the northern part of the Iranian plateau, northeast of the Zagros Mountains and southwest of the Caspian Sea.

Tubal, Meshech These two names often occur together in the ot (e.g., Ezek 27:13; 32:26; 38:2; 39:1) and refer to central and eastern Anatolia (Asia Minor, now Turkey and Armenia).

Tiras This term appears in the work of Jewish historian Josephus in reference to the Thracians (Josephus, Antiquities 1.125). The term could also refer to the Pelasgians mentioned among the Sea Peoples in the records of Pharaoh Merenptah.

10:3 Ashkenaz The reference to Ashkenaz in association with Ararat and Minni in Jer 51:27 makes it likely that this refers to the Scythians. Assyrian cuneiform texts also refer to a group called the Ashkuza, who are probably the same people.

Riphath Called Diphath in the Hebrew text of 1 Chr 1:6. The location under either name remains unidentified.

Togarmah This term seems to refer to Tegarama, north of Haran near Carchemesh.

10:4 Javan This is the generic word for the Hellenic (Greek) peoples used in the ot; it includes the Ionians in western Asia Minor (modern Turkey).

Elishah This term is mentioned in Ezek 27:7 as a source of purple dye. It is possibly to be identified with all or part of Cyprus, which was called “Alashia” in Egyptian, Akkadian, and Ugaritic inscriptions.

Tarshish This could refer to several locations, all of which are westward across the Mediterranean. See Jonah 1:3 and note.

Kittim Refers to people from Cyprus.

Dodanim This likely refers to people from Rhodes.

10:5 the coastland peoples This suggests that all the peoples from the Mediterranean coastal regions (including Greece and Asia Minor) are descended from Japheth.

10:6 the sons of Ham The line of Ham has four branches: Cush, Mizraim (Egypt), Put, and Canaan. All four are probably place names.

Cush This term refers to the African kingdom of Nubia. See note on Gen 2:13.

Egypt The Hebrew word used here, mitsrayim, is used throughout the ot for Egypt.

Put The Hebrew term used here occurs six times in the ot and probably refers to Libya (e.g., Jer 46:9; Ezek 30:5; 38:4–6).

Canaan Noah cursed Canaan because of Ham’s sin (see Gen 9:20–27; note on 9:25). Here Canaan is listed last of Ham’s sons, indicating either his low standing as a result of Noah’s curse or his position as Ham’s fourth and youngest son. Like the other names in this section, Canaan also refers to the land and its people. A detailed list is given in vv. 15–19.

10:7 Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca The names of the five sons of Cush all refer to areas in or on the outskirts of the region known broadly in later antiquity as Arabia.

Sheba The location that this term refers to is debatable, but the most plausible location is in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula.

Dedan This term likely refers to ‘Ula in northern Arabia—an important trading center since ancient times near the border of Edom.

10:8–11 The digression about Nimrod (vv. 8–12) in this section shifts the focus from Upper Egypt and Arabia to Mesopotamia. This represents the first instance of direct ancestral descent (A fathered B) in this section; this indicates that the Table of Nations (ch. 10) concerns more than generational descent.

10:8 Cush Since the Cush who descends from Ham (v. 6) cannot easily be associated with Mesopotamia—the location of the ensuing cities in the Nimrod narrative—this may be a different “Cush” (a homonym).

Nimrod This figure is associated with the founding of the greatest cities of Mesopotamia—Babylon, Uruk, Akkad, Nineveh, and Calah.

10:10 All the places associated with Nimrod are Mesopotamian.

Calneh The location this refers to is unknown.

Shinar This is another name for Babylonia—encompassing the city states of Sumer and Akkad and extending northward to Assyria. This name does not occur in Mesopotamian material but is found many times in records of the Egyptians and Hittites, as well as the Amarna letters. See note on 11:2.

10:11 Nineveh Located on the east bank of the Tigris River.

Rehoboth-Ir The Hebrew text here could be understood as referring to the open places of the city—an area of Nineveh, rather than a separate city.

Calah One of the chief cities of Assyria, along with Nineveh and Asshur. The city’s association with Nimrod is preserved in the site’s medieval and modern name Nimrud. Calah is located on the east bank of the Tigris about 20 miles south of Nineveh.

10:12 Resen This could refer to an unknown town between Nineveh and Calah or be a scribal corruption that was originally a reference to an irrigation system or waterworks.

great city The Hebrew text here could refer to Calah or Nineveh.

10:13–14 The names in vv. 13–14 are plural in Hebrew, suggesting they refer to people groups despite their presentation as the sons of Egypt. The identification of the people groups in v. 13 is uncertain. These names again connect the line of Ham to Egypt (compare v. 6).

10:13 Ludim This group could be the Lydians from Asia Minor (modern Turkey), but the Hebrew term lud used here is also connected elsewhere with North African peoples (Jer 46:9; Ezek 30:5).

Lehabim This could refer to Libyans.

10:14 Pathrusim This refers to people from Upper Egypt (the southern portion), sometimes called Pathros (compare Isa 11:11; Jer 44:1).

Casluhim An unknown people here associated with the origin of the Philistines.

the Philistines Elsewhere in the ot, the Philistines are identified as coming from Caphtor (Amos 9:7; Deut 2:23; Jer 47:4). Thus, it seems that the editorial comment here should instead come after the reference to Caphtor. Alternatively, this could indicate that the Philistines at one point migrated to Caphtor, similar to how the ot mentions Israel as coming from Egypt (e.g., Num 22:11; 2 Kgs 21:15).

Philistines

Caphtorim Caphtor may be identified with Crete; it is the place of origin of the Philistines according to other ot texts (see Amos 9:7).

10:15 Sidon This term refers to the Sidonians of the famous Phoenician city of Sidon.

Heth This reference to the ancestor of the Hittites seems out of place in this verse because the Hittites are from Asia Minor (modern Turkey), not Egypt, Arabia, Phoenicia, or Syria-Palestine, like the other people groups mentioned as the descendants of Canaan. Since the line of Canaan indicates a mixed population of people groups—some of whom migrated into Canaan—this may refer to some of the known Hittite migrations southward.

10:16 the Jebusites This term refers to inhabitants of Jebus, which would become Jerusalem after David’s conquest of the city (1 Chr 11:4–5). Nothing is known of their origin or history.

the Amorites The Hebrew text here probably refers broadly to the Amurru, a nomadic Semitic people group occupying Syria and Canaan in pre-Israelite times.

Amorites The term “Amorite” refers to a West Semitic people, the Amurru, known from Akkadian sources that place them around Babylon about 2000 BC. They migrated westward throughout the Fertile Crescent, including the regions of Phoenicia and Canaan. The term is used in different ways in the ot. In some places, it is used as a generic term for inhabitants of the land of Canaan before the Israelite conquest, like “Canaanites” (e.g., Gen 15:16; Josh 24:15; Judg 6:10; 1 Kgs 21:26). In other places it refers more specifically to a people group who lived in the hill country (Deut 1:19–20; Num 13:29; Josh 11:3) and the Transjordan (Deut 3:8; Josh 12:1–2; Judg 1:36). In one place, Josh 13:4, it may refer specifically to the kingdom of Amurru in northern Lebanon and western Syria.

the Girgashites Little is known about this group. They are regularly mentioned in the lists of Canaanite people groups, but no details are given (Gen 15:21; Deut 7:1; Josh 3:10; 24:11).

10:17 Hivites This Canaanite group is regularly mentioned in the list of pre-Israelite occupants of the promised land (Exod 3:8; Deut 7:1).

the Arkites, the Sinites These people groups inhabited the region north of Sidon (modern Lebanon).

10:18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites These people groups inhabited the region north of Sidon (modern Lebanon).

10:19 Gerar A city of the western Negev region that is in several narratives about the patriarchs. See note on Gen 26:6.

Gaza One of the five major cities of the Philistines (compare note on 1 Sam 4:1).

Sodom, Gomorrah The inclusion of Sodom and Gomorrah here connects these cities characterized by debauchery to the curse of Canaan by Noah and the sin of Ham (Gen 9:22–25). See 13:10.

10:21–31 This list details the line of Shem, outlining Shem’s relationship to Japheth (his brother) and Eber (the lead descendant of the list).

10:21 all the children of Eber The list of the descendants of Shem emphasizes the line of Eber, the eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews (the one whom they are named after).

10:22 Elam Elam was the ancient name for modern Khuzestan (southwestern Iran), located east of Babylon. Its capital was Susa (Esth 1:2–5). It is also the most securely identified easternmost country in the Table of Nations (Gen 10).

Asshur This term refers to Assyria and thus is associated with Mesopotamia.

Arphaxad The ancestor of the Hebrew people, since he is the grandfather of Eber (v. 24).

Lud This term most likely refers to the location of Ludbu of the Assyrians, situated on the Tigris River.

Aram This term refers to a tribal name for the Arameans who came from the steppes of Mesopotamia. Compare Deut 26:5 and note.

10:23 Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash None of these locations or tribes can be identified with any certainty.

10:24 Shelah This location cannot be identified with any certainty.

Eber The Hebrew used here is ever. It seems to be related to the Hebrew word for the Hebrew people (ivrim). Compare note on Gen 10:25.

10:25 Peleg This name can mean “water channel.” Peleg may have come from a region that used irrigation canals. In addition, a place named Palag is known from a text from Ebla dating to 2500 bc. He is the ancestor of Abram (Abraham; 11:18–26; Luke 3:34–35), the forefather of the Israelites, the Hebrew people.

was divided The Hebrew word used here, palag, is a wordplay on the name Peleg. This wordplay could refer to the division and dispersion of languages at Babel (Gen 11).

Joktan The listing of Joktan as the son of Eber indicates that the descendants of Joktan share ancestry with the Israelites.

10:26–29 The identifiable place names listed as descendants of Joktan are located in the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula. However, they do not match Assyrian records of the names of Arabian tribes in the region. Identity and Location of the Nations LRC:G111

10:26 Hazarmaveth This term can be identified with modern Hadramaut in Yemen.

10:29 Ophir This term appears throughout the ot as the name of a place known for its gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28; Job 22:24; Psa 45:9).