The Book of Genesis, Chapter 10

Genesis 10:1-32

Summary

WARNING: Genealogical Content Ahead!

Commentary

Yes, folks, it's another genealogy. The last verse of the chapter states:

"These are the families of Noah’s sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood." (Gen 10:32)

And it's exactly what it says on the tin.

Essentially, in brief, Japheth's sons are many, and their sons are many, and "from [them] the coastland peoples spread" (Gen 10:5). According to wikipedia, the term "Japhetic" was used as an early reference to Caucasian people, and in the field of linguistics it was used to refer to what has come to be known as the Indo-European language group. Japheth is traditionally believed to have fathered the people in those areas.

Ham's descendants were even more in numbers. Again according to wikipedia, Ham's children were understood in ancient days to be the forerunners of East Africa. Interestingly, and somewhat terribly, it has been been suggested that the labelling of the Tutsi tribe of Rwanda as "Hamite", while the Hutu tribe was not, created the belief that the Tutsi tribe was inherently superior, and may have in part led to the genocide.

Of all Ham's descendants mentioned in this chapter, not a one is as awesome as Nimrod. Yes, that's his name, laugh it up. Nimrod is in fact cited as a great warrior, more specifically the first great warrior. He was also such a great hunter that his skills were used in comparison to other awesome things. The authors of the bible are a little sketchy on the details, but,

"[Nimrod] was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord,’ [so is whatever other awesome thing you want to compare to Nimrod's mad hunting skills]." (Gen 10:9 — Sort of.)

Nimrod is also responsible for founding Babel and Ninevah (among other cities I've never heard of). So think twice before you call someone a "nimrod". They might just thank you.

Shem's descendants are believed to have been the forerunners of the Semites. There's a bunch of names here, in the paragraph about Shem, but there's also a fascinating story contained within what appeared at first glance to be a throwaway sentence.

"To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided" (Gen 10:25).

One last time according to wikipedia (at least I'm consistent), the meaning of the phrase "in his days the earth divided" is not really certain. The article states that traditionally it has meant that his life was around the time that the whole Babel experiment failed and the languages of all people were made different and we scurried off to have crumpets or whatever it is the species does when there's a catastrophe of this nature. Also suggested is the patriachal division of the world between the descendants of Noah's sons, but I kind of prefer the first interpretation.

So. "These are the families of Noah’s sons [in brief], according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood." (Gen 10:32 — Sort of.)

Now you know!