Sermon Tone Analysis

*Genesis 10:1-5…* Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, & Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

3 And the sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, & Togarmah.

4 And the sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

*Commentary*

Genesis 9:19 said that the whole earth’s population came from the three sons of Noah.

Genesis 10, known as the Table of Nations, breaks down the migrations of their descendants.

Verses 1-5 trace the Japhethite lineage.

It is through this line that the Indo-Europeans develop.

Japheth is closely connected with the renowned father of the Greeks (/Iapetos/) and with the ancestor of the Aryans in India (/Iyapeti/).

Japheth’s son Gomer (cf.

Ez. 38:6) is understood by many ancient writers to have settled in the present day area of Crimea just north of the Black Sea.

As Gomer’s descendants moved west, they settled in modern-day Germany and Wales.

Japheth’s second son, Magog (cf.

Ez. 38:2; 39:6), is associated with the region just southeast of the Black Sea known as Georgia.

The Jewish historian Josephus says that Magog was the ancestor of the Scythians.

Madia, the third son of Japheth, is the normal Hebrew word for the Medes (Isa.

13:17) or Media (2 Kings 17:6), east of Assyria and southwest of the Caspian Sea.

The Median empire rose to great prominence during the 7th century BC and following.

The third son of Japheth was Javan, and this is the original name of Ionia which is the same as Greece.

The name refers to the Hellenic race, and Javan and Japheth are considered to be the ancient progenitors of the Greek people.

The fourth and fifth sons of Japheth are Tubal and Meshech, and these names are always found together in the Bible (Ez.

27:13; 32:26; 38:2; 39:1;  Isa 66:19).

Tubal is equivalent to Tibarēni – the modern Russian city of Tobolsk.

Meshech is preserved in the name Muskovi – the former name of Russia – and Moscow.

Ezekiel 38:2 associates Tubal and Meshech with “Rosh” (Hebrew /chief/) from whence “Russia” is derived.

Japheth’s seventh son, Tiras, is identified by Josephus as the Thracians but possibly also to include the Etruscans of Italy.

Ashkenaz, Japheth’s grandson, was known in Jewish circles as one who settled in what would become Germany, and even in the present day German Jews are called Ashkenazi.

His brother, Togarmah, is known to be the ancestor of the ancient Armenians, and this name is etymologically associated with modern-day Turkey.

            The fourth son of Japheth, Javan, had four sons – all of whom are associated with Greece.

The first, Elishah, is identified with Alashiyah on the island of Cyprus.

“Hellas” is a form Elishah from whence Hellenists comes, and Homer’s /Iliad/ mentions this people in the form of Eilesian.

The second son of Javan was Tarshish – identified with Tartessos in Spain and with Carthage in North Africa (cf.

Isa 66:19;  Jer 10:9; Ezek 27:12).

The third son, Kittim, is preserved in the name of Kition which is located on the island of Cyprus.

*Food for Thought*

Genesis 10:5 says, “From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.”

Genesis 10 reports events that occur /after/ Genesis 11 following the Dispersion of people at the Tower of Babel.

These descendants of Japheth spread all over the European continent with branches going eastward into India and Persia.

The Japhethites became an intellectual and philosophical people who later made Europe into the center of philosophical and scientific prominence that made it great and filled our history books with the people we read about.

*Genesis 10:6-7…* The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, & Canaan.

7 And the sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, & Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba & Dedan.

*Commentary*

After tracing the lineage of Japheth in verses 1-5 the narrator turns his attention to Ham.

Though the etymology of Ham is disputed, it depicts various countries surrounding Egypt.

Ham had four sons who are notable: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

Cush, is located in Africa, and it is sometimes translated as Ethiopia in the Bible.

The Cushites, following their forefather Cush, appear to have migrated to the south into Arabia as they made their way across the Red Sea into the modern-day land of Ethiopia.

One ancient source calls this land “Kashi.”

During the reign of Kamose it served as the spine of the Egyptian army, helping to expel a group of raiders known as Hyksos.

The list of children from Ham’s line obviously begins in the south with the African tribes – tribes known to the Greeks as Ethiopians.

The second son of Ham, Mizraim, migrated to the north of his brother Cush.

Mizraim is a word which refers to Egypt, occurring just under 100 times in the Bible.

Egypt is known in Psalm 105:23 as “the land of Ham.”

The word “Mizraim” is actually a Hebrew plural word that refers to a people.

The exact form of this son of Ham is unknown, but Egypt’s first dynasty was founded by Menes – a possible connection with Mizraim.

The third son of Ham was “Put” (Phut).

Put in the Bible is the same as Libya.

Libya is in North Africa, just west of Egypt, and this identification is confirmed by the Jewish historian Josephus.

The Libyans were used as mercenaries in the Egyptian armies (cf.

Ez.27:10).

The fourth son of Ham was Canaan – the same Canaan who was cursed in Genesis 9 for Ham’s having looked upon the nakedness of his father Noah.

Canaan and his progeny migrated to the land of present day Israel and Palestine and also includes ancient Phoenicia on the western shoreline of Palestine.

This cursed son became the father of a large mixture of races due to the fact that the country forms a “bridge” between continents.

Ancient references show that the name itself is a geographic region.

Only in the OT are the Canaanites used in reference to the general inhabitants of that area.

Cush had five sons (Ham’s grandsons), and all of these names are closely related to the area of Arabia.

Seba, Cush’s firstborn, migrated to the region of the Sudan, and his name is reflected in the Sabeans (cf.

Isaiah 45:14).

The second son, Havilah, literally means “sand-land.”

This son was obviously named in memoriam of the beautiful land that surrounded Eden described in Genesis 2:11ff.

This area can fit a handful of locations, but the fact that Havilah is also mentioned under Shem could point to the possibility that these two races blended.

Sabtah went to Arabia, and the ancient city of Sabatah is named for him near the western shore of the Persian Gulf.

Sheba is the name of the ancient kingdom in southwest Arabia whose metropolis is Marib, just outside of modern-day Yemen.

Dedan is associated with modern Ula in northern Arabia – an ancient center of trade which borders on ancient Edom (Ezek 25:13; 27:20).

*Food for Thought*

            The names of Ham’s descendants all point toward the peoples of the Middle East – Egypt, Arabia, Palestine, and North Africa.

It’s no coincidence that these ancient biblical names correspond to modern cities and races of people.

They really did descend from Ham, the son of Noah, the man of God who survived the worldwide Flood.

Their existence today in the corner of the globe in which they live goes to great lengths to prove the validity of the Bible.

These verses seem insignificant to many, but God included them for a reason.

They continue to enlighten us.

*Genesis 10:8-12…* Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech, Accad, & Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11 From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

* *

*Commentary*

Now Cush had five sons in verses 6-7, but he later became the father of another son named Nimrod.

The Babylonian god, Ninurta, the god of hunting and war, may preserve the legend of the former Nimrod.

The very name Nimrod comes from a Hebrew root word meaning “to rebel,” and this seems to fit his life given the biblical account of him.

He represents totalitarian power in his rebellion against God as a “mighty one” – a phrase denoting one who is a valiant warrior.

Verse 9 quotes a proverb of that day which said that Nimrod was a “mighty hunter.”

Though the word for “hunt” here is a word used for hunting animals, it is also a word used for hunting /men/ in the Bible (cf. 1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).

Nimrod’s great prowess as a hunter might have come as a result of his having killed many of the large post-Flood carnivores of the day which threatened humans.

Of course since God had put an inherent fear in animals of man following the Flood (9:2), Nimrod’s reputation for killing them in the face of the Lord may represent his rebellion.

But if Nimrod were just a hunter of animals this would hardly be worth noting given that this would be nothing special.

The phrase “before the LORD” (literally, “in the face of /Yahweh/”) could mean that he was a bold-face murderer in spite of the fact that God had forbade Noah and his descendants from taking another man’s life (Gen.

9:5-6).

It’s no wonder this man became the founder of such brutal empires like Assyria and Babylon.

            Verses 10-12 reveal that Nimrod built at least four cities; four of which were in the land of “Shinar” (Babylon) and four in the land of Assyria.

The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh.

Babel is present day Iraq – the place where rebellion began with the building of the Tower of Babel (cf.

Gen. 11:1-9), and the place where all will end (cf.