Today’s bible study is all about the chapter of Genesis 10 – Nations Descended From Noah. According to scholars this incident roughly took place before 2500 B.C.
I encourage you to get your bibles ready and turn to Genesis 10. Kindly invite the Holy Spirit to guide you as you read Genesis 10 with me. I am using the New King James Version (NKJV) of the Bible, just in case you want to know. All the scripture references that you find in this post are from the NKJV.
In the Bible Study on Genesis 9, we read about God’s rainbow covenant with Noah and with all living beings on the earth. Let us now do a study on Genesis 10 to learn about the nations that descended from Noah. Let us begin!
Genealogy Of Noah’s Sons
1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.
Verse 1 of Genesis 10 gives an introduction to the genealogy of the sons of Noah. He had three sons namely, Shem, Ham and Japheth as we have already seen in the chapters before. Also, in Genesis 9 we read that Noah’s sons populated the whole earth. Noah did not have any more children after the flood. Let us keep reading to see the different nations formed by the sons of Noah.
Japheth’s Descendants
2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
According to Verse 2 of Genesis 10, Japheth had six sons out of which Gomer had three sons and Javan had four sons. Hence, Japheth had a total of seven grandchildren.
The Coastland People Of The Gentiles
5 From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
The coastland people of the Gentiles came from the sons and grandchildren of Japheth. Each lived in their own lands based on the languages they spoke and the families to which they belonged eventually forming their own nations.
Down below is the chart of Japheth’s descendants that I have prepared to make things easier to read along and understand.
Here is the map of the dwelling place of Noah’s descendants. All credits and rights of the map below belong to Cory Baugher of Knowing the Bible.
Ham’s Descendants
6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.
According to Verses 6-7 of Genesis 10, Ham had four sons. One of his sons, Cush further had five sons. Raamah, one of Cush’s sons, had two more sons. According to the map attached above and the amplified version of Genesis 10:6, we see that the Egyptians came from Mizraim.
Nimrod
8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
Verses 8-9 of Genesis 10, say that Cush also begot Nimrod and he began to be mighty on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Hence, there is a saying that goes “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord”.
Verses 10-12 of Genesis 10, talk about the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom. It began at Babel meaning Babylon, Erech, Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar. Nimrod went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah. He also built Resen between Nineveh and Calah. And, Calah was the principal city.
The Philistines And Caphtorim
13 Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).
Verses 13-14 of Genesis 10 say that Mizraim, the son of Ham, begot six sons. From Casluhim came the Philistines and the Caphtorim.
The Canaanites
15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; 16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; 17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 18 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.
Verses 15-18 of Genesis 10 speak about the Canaanites. They are the descendants of Canaan. In Genesis 9:25, we read how Canaan became cursed because of his father Ham concerning Noah’s drunkenness. There were eleven Canaanite families and they were living in different places on the earth.
Here is the overall chart of Ham’s Descendants that I have prepared.
Verses 19-20 talk about the territory which the Canaanites occupied. It went from Sidon towards Gerar and as far as Gaza towards Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim as far as Lasha. Each of the sons of the Ham lived according to their families, languages, lands and nations.
Shem’s Descendants
21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber.
Verse 21 of Genesis 10 tells that Shem also had children and it says that Shem is the ancestral father of all the children of Eber. According to Verse 22-24, Shem had five sons. One of Shem’s sons, named Aram had four sons, whereas Shem’s other son named Arphaxad begot Salah who in turn begot Eber. The amplified version of Genesis 10:23 says that Aram is the ancestor of Syrians.
And here is the chart of Shem’s descendants that I have prepared for you.
Eber’s Sons
25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30 And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.
32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.
Verse 25-29 of Genesis 10, states that Eber begot two sons, namely Peleg and Joktan. Peleg’s name means division because the earth was divided during the time in which Peleg was born. Now Joktan went on to have thirteen sons.
Verses 30-31 talk about the dwelling place of the sons of Joktan and how the sons of Shem were also divided and lived according to their families, languages, lands and nations.
Thus, in verse 32 of Genesis 10, we see that all the descendants of Japheth, Ham and Shem were grouped according to their generations in their respective nations. And from these, the nations were divided on the earth after the great flood.
Conclusion
This brings us to the conclusion of Genesis 10. It is mainly a chapter on genealogies and history. It gives a background of the nations that descended from Noah’s sons. If you are interested in geography, history and ancestry then this chapter could interest you as you could go really deep on this chapter. For example, you could see that the Egyptians came from Mizraim – the son of Ham. From Shem’s son, Aram came the Syrians according to the amplified version. If we do a deep study, probably we could find all the ancestors and how they were spread on the earth to all the other nations. For the sake of the bible study, I have tried to keep things short.
All being said, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter of Genesis. I thoroughly enjoyed writing it.
Until Next Time!