Understanding the Table of Nations

Genesis 10 is known as the “Table of Nations.” It is often understood as a genealogical listing of the peoples of the ancient Near East that extend from Noah’s sons after the flood. But Genesis 10 concerns more than individuals in a genealogy. Tribal names and regional place names also appear in the list.

The Table of Nations is structured as a mixture of the two types of Old Testament genealogies. Linear genealogies focus on one person in each generation—they connect one individual to one specific ancestor in a previous generation. Vertical or segmented genealogies concern more than one person per generation—they depict relationships within a generation and from one generation to another.

This combining of genealogy types in the Table of Nations seems to result in what can be called an eponymous ancestry. An eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place or tribe is named (or is thought to have been named).

The Table is not meant to be exhaustive or global—there is no accounting for much of the world. As with the rest of the Old Testament, the Table focuses on the ancient Near East. It shows deliberate patterning and a theologically significant numerical total. Of the seven sons of Japheth, two are singled out to note their respective seven grandsons, yielding a total of 14 names under Japheth. Ham has 30 descendants, and Shem has 26, yielding a total of 70. Israel is not mentioned in the list for reasons that become apparent in Genesis 11 and Deuteronomy 32:8–9. These nations do not represent Yahweh’s people and inheritance—this status belongs to Israel, but the chosen nation does not begin until after the Tower of Babel incident (Gen 11). The 70 nations are theologically significant since Canaanite religion believed that its high god, El, and his wife, Athirat, had 70 sons. Deuteronomy 32:8–9 (compare Deut 4:19–20) shows God disinheriting the nations and allowing for them to come under the authority of other gods (“sons of God”).

Michael S. Heiser

Further Reading

Understanding the Table of Nations

Deuteronomy 32:8 and the Sons of God

Genealogies DOT: P

Subsequent History DOT: P

Deuteronomy 32:8 Deuteronomy (JPS)

Status: Ship It

Author: Steven E. Runge

1st Edit: Britt Rogers

2nd Edit: Elizabeth Vince

Copy Edit: Rebecca Brant

Final Approval: Mike Grigoni

Second Final Approval: John D. Barry (4/13/2016)