Genesis 10, The Table Of Nations

The world is to be replenished by Noah and his descendants. And so we now have a genealogy describing the growth of Noah's descendants, as we head towards Abraham.

Genesis 10:1-5, Descendants of Japheth

This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras. 
The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim.

(From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

In preparation for the next chapter, we note that verse 5 describes these maritime people with clans that already have many different languages.

The Hebrew word, ben (בֵּן), translated "sons", can mean descendants. The Hebrew allows for the possibility that individual descendants are unnamed and skipped in some lines.

Genesis 10:6-20, Descendants of Ham
The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan.
The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. 
The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." 

The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar.  From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. 

Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The focus of these genealogical lines is on people groups of the ancient Near East, people groups that will later interact with the Israelites in various ways. The descendants of Canaan will occupy the land named after him. Many of these tribes will be direct threats to the Israelites in the days of Moses and Joshua.

Mizraim, in verses 6 and 13, will be the Hebrew name, later, for Egypt. Shinar is Babylonia. The Hebrew word Rechoboth (רְחֹבוֹת) in verse 11 means "squares" and  iyr (עִיר) is "city" so Rechoboth Ir" may refer to "city squares (of Nineveh?)"

Genesis 10:21-32, Descendants of Shem
Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.

The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshech.

Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber.

Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

These are the clans of Noah's sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Walton notes that after we list Noah's three sons we then have 70 people or people groups. (The number 70, like 7, was a special number in Hebrew culture.) Some of these names will be the names of cities or nations.

Unlike the genealogies in chapter 5, the ages of the individuals is not given.

In the free online class in Genesis, Dr. James Allman calls the genealogies in this chapter "horizontal", as they concentrate on filling out descendants of the various sons of Noah. In the next chapter we will follow "vertical" line of descendants as we move from Noah through Shem to Eber and then on to Abram/Abraham. In many cases the lines only go to the third generation, with the exception of Eber. Our genealogy is especially interested in Eber as he will eventually lead us to Abram. (Some suggest that the name "Hebrews" comes from an alteration of the name Eber.)

From the NIV footnotes:

• "Shem, whose older brother was Japheth" might be translated "Shem, the older brother of Japheth."   
• In verses 23 and 24 there are some slight differences in the ancient Hebrew manuscripts.  For example, verse 24 renders the Hebrew text, "Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber," but the Septuagint has "Arphaxad, father of Cainan, and Cainan was the father of Eber".  Apparently Shelah is replaced by Cainan?.

We are given no clues as to what it means for the earth to be "divided" in verse 25.  (The name Peleg means "division".) Was there some great dispersion of people groups, as in the next chapter?  Or was there a significant local earthquake?

Some Hebrew vocabulary

Our Hebrew word for the day is iyr, city, town

עִיר

This chapter names some of the first cities, often identifying them with an individual.

Some Random Thoughts

I have always found these genealogies frustrating.  What is their purpose?  As I grow older and think about my own legacy, I do become more aware of questions about my ancestors and it is clear that this was important to the Israelites. I am more sympathetic to the genealogy sections of the Old Testament ... but still eager to move on to passages that are more interesting!

First published Jan 12, 2023;  updated Jan 11, 2026