Outline of Chapter 1:

       vv.    1–4        The genealogy from Adam to Noah

       vv.    5–7        The line of Japheth

       vv.    8–16      The line of Ham

       vv.   17–27      The line of Shem

       vv.   28–34      The descendants of Abraham

       vv.   35–37      The line of Esau

       vv.   38–42      The line of Seir

       vv.   43–50      The kings of Edom

       vv.   51–54      The chiefs of Edom

Charts:

       v.     1:3          Lifelines before and after the flood

       v.     1:3          The lines of Seth and Cain

       v.     1:17        Comparing the Septuagint with the Massoretic text (Gen. 22:23 1Chron. 1:17)

       v.     1:18        Comparing the Massoretic text with the Septuagint and the Greek NT (Gen. 22:24–25)

       v.     1:19        Comparing the age of Shem and his descendants after the flood

       v.     1:35        Eliphaz, the son of Esau and Eliphaz, the friend of Job

       v.     1:38        The Horites

       v.     1:39        The lines of Seir and Esau

       v.     1:42        Dishon and Dishan problems

I ntroduction: I must admit to beginning this book with some misgivings. I have just finished Ruth and have exegeted the Bible from Genesis through Ruth, making a few stops here and there along the way. My thinking was to cover the Bible in a roughly chronological order without being too anal about it. For instance, I did not want to cover all 150 psalms in one fell swoop, so I have inserted a psalm here or there if the subject matter of the psalm was pertinent (only in the case of the Psalm of Moses did I place a psalm in perfect chronological and logical order). In the Book of the Judges, even though the last five chapters occurred somewhere in the time period of Judges 1–2, I left them to be covered at the end. However, I realize that at some point, I would have to begin with working on 1Chron. 1, a book beginning with the dreaded genealogies. Interestingly enough, this book was written after the books of Nehemiah and Ezra, although the events recorded in this book occurred prior to the events of those books.

The first question that you would have in beginning the book of Chronicles is What’s up with these first nine chapters? Why on earth do we even have this in the Bible? Isn’t this simply list after list after list of a bunch of old dead guys? C. Kraft gives the illustration of the Gentile student who asks the Jewish student to identify his favorite portion of Scripture. The Jewish student, apparently without hesitation, replied, “The first eight chapters of First Chronicles.” The Gentile was amazed, but as his friend started to give his reasons, he began to understand something of the mysterious attraction of these chapters. ‘From my (Gentile) point of view,’ he reflected, “I have often wondered why God allowed so much space in his Word to be “Wasted” on such trivia. But to a Hebrew (and to many other kinship-oriented societies around the world), genealogical lists of this nature demonstrate in the clearest way the specificity of God’s love and concern that lie at the heart of the gospel.’  One of the most important passages of a book that we will ever read will be the Lamb’s Book of Life wherein we will find our names written. We are there by the grace and love and plan of God and finding our name amidst the millions of other names means that God has a place for us in eternity. What we have in these books of Chronicles are our forefathers, both spiritual and genetic, whom God has seen fit to lovingly recall.

Selman further explains why the people of that day also had an interest: Despite their Jewish heritage, they were too preoccupied with an overwhelming identity crisis and a deep sense of guilt and shame to give much attention to the meaning of God’s love. Tucked away and often ignored in a far-flung corner of the Persian Empire, the largest empire the world had yet seen, they had nagging doubts about whether Israel could ever again really be God’s people. Furthermore, many Jews felt that their present sad state of affairs was God’s will, a punishment for past sins. And yet these seemingly intractable problems are almost certainly the kind of issues that the lists and genealogies of 1Chronicles 1–9 are intended to confront. The sense of belonging and of continuity which they conveyed were clearly gospel or good news as far as the author was concerned. They show that the Chronicler’s generation had not after all been cast off from their historical, geographical, and spiritual moorings. If they would only look back, look around, and look up, they would see that they still belonged to ‘Israel’, and that their present predicament was not hopeless.

Next, what you must wonder, is how in the world can you take a list of names and exegete the passage? Don’t we simply just have name after name after name with a little text inserted here or there? Certainly. However, there is still a lot to be dug out of this. With regards to my own personal study, I require an hour or two per verse. Now, a great deal of that is reading and determining to leave out information which is spurious or just not as pertinent as others have thought, or repetitious. However, the Hebrew, like the Hebrew in narrative, is fairly easy (we actually will go nine verses without a verb).

There is a general textual problem which I might as well address here. In 1Chronicles 1, it appears as though the text was beefed up. The same chapter in the Septuagint is sparse by comparison. There are passages where we simply find the parallel passages in Genesis quoted verbatim, with an occasional scribal error. I don’t know what happened—whether, at some point in time, a scribe had little or nothing to work with, and so embellished this chapter from Genesis—but I suspect that in the original, this chapter is probably two-thirds as long. What we are interested in is the promised line and not all of the excursions which this chapter offers us.

This is not the only problem. You will recall that in previous exegetical approaches that every few verses, there would be a word or two which was in question. When it comes to this portion of Scripture, there will be what will seem to be an average of one or two names per verse which got screwed up. Bear in mind that, just like you, man values these genealogical lists less than almost any other portion of Scripture; therefore, by the time someone would get around to re-doing the manuscript for the early portion of Chronicles, often the manuscript would be severely damaged and even unreadable at times. Therefore, we will find a veritable cornucopia of variant readings and alternate spellings.

What we have throughout Scripture is this particular line which is pursued. Genesis mentions the line of Cain and follows it out a couple of generations; however, it follows the line of Seth all the way to the flood. Noah has three children, and their lines are all followed for a few generations; however, Shem’s line is followed through nine generations to Abraham. The writer follows all of the lines, but he follows the lineage of the non-elect first, and briefly, and then moves to the lineage of the elect, which he follows throughout. In other words, at Noah, we follow Japheth’s line and Ham’s line, for a limited time; however, we eventually move over the Shem’s line, which we follow for many more generations. Abraham’s line will be followed through to David and David’s line will be followed for a couple of generations in the Old Testament. The New Testament will pick up with two genealogies: Matthew traces the line from Abraham to Joseph, and Luke traces the generations backward from Mary to Adam. The promise God made to Satan, before Adam and the woman, in Gen. 3:15 was “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will bruise you on the head and you will bruise him on the heel.” From that point on, mankind watched and waited for the seed of the woman who would bruise Satan on the head (meaning a fatal wound) while Satan would bruise the Seed of the Woman on the heel (a painful, but not deadly wound). Eventually, it became clear that the Seed of the Woman would be the Messiah Who would come and deliver His people and bring peace to this earth. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will be upon His shoulders. And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom. He will establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore, the zeal of Jehovah of the armies will accomplish this (Isa. 9:6–7). The tracing of the generations traces the promise which God made before Adam and the woman to the Christ Child, Who was born in fulfillment of that promise. Once the line comes to Mary and Joseph, and the Messiah is born of Mary, then there is no need to pursue any other genealogy. Just as there was no reason to follow out Cain’s genealogy or Ham’s or Esau’s at any length, once mankind was a witness to the fulfillment of the birth of the Seed of the Woman, then there was no reason for Scripture to follow out the generations of any particular family after that.

Textual criticism is the science of determining what was in the original text and what was not. It is my own opinion that the present version of 1Chron. 1 is somewhat bloated. There are portions of this chapter which are taken word-for-word from the book of Genesis. At the same time, these portions are often presented very differently in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament made sometime between 300–11 b.c. My thinking is that at some point in time, the condition of certain portions of the extent manuscripts was neglected (scribes being probably as enthusiastic about genealogies as you), and that, when it came to restoring the text, a scribe had to go to Genesis to fill in the blanks, so to speak. There appear to have been times where great chunks of 1Chron. 1 were copied directly from Genesis—however, my thinking is that it was by a scribe rather than the original author. Whereas there are a huge number of renderings in the Septuagint which are consummately suspect, due to their occasional freewheeling style of translation, it is pretty darned difficult to screw up the translation of this chapter into any language. Since the translators of the Septuagint had access to manuscripts which were a 1400+ years older than those that we have today, some mind should be paid to what is found and what is not found in the Septuagint. That the author of 1Chronicles used Genesis as a reference book, I have no doubt—that the author copied great chunks of Genesis word-for-word, here I have my doubts. The fact that these same great chunks are not found in the Septuagint confirm my opinion. However, lest you be concerned, I will exegete all that we find in our English Bibles, making certain to point out what came directly from the book of Genesis, as well as comparing said verse to the Septuagint.

Now, I in particular relate well to this book of Chronicles because it is a compilation of other historical documents. When I exegete any book of Scripture, much of my information is culled from other sources. Unlike my pastor, Bob Thieme, who eschewed commentaries, certain commentaries are an integral portion of my study, and are often the source of extended quotes. What I put together on these various books of the Bible would only be a shadow of their present value had I not the shoulders of Thieme, McGee, Keil and Delitzsch and Barnes to stand upon (among hundreds of others). And, whereas I have uncovered two or three reasonably important facts missed by previous exegetes (and have come across a half dozen or more nuances also missed by my predecessors), for everything that I catch on my own, I have hundreds, if not thousands of things, pointed out to me by those who have come before—things that I would not have caught myself.

Most of the historical information on the people mentioned herein came from the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Once in awhile, it came up short, and Douglas’s The New Bible Dictionary would provide a tidbit or two of information which I would have otherwise missed.

You will notice a change in the translation of these verses. In previous books, I have been very pleased with giving three translations for every verse—the first being excessively literal; the second being moderately literal, with less literal renderings in regard to the rendering of conjunctions, number and definite articles; and the third being an extremely loose rendering of the thought. I began in this way with chronicles and then decided that there was no need for three different renderings of each verse.

The Genealogy from Adam to Noah

Gen. 5:4–32 Luke 3:36–38

As we all know, Adam was the first man and he was created directly by God. He was created immediately by God, body, soul and spirit. Adam had three sons who were mentioned by name—Abel, Cain and Seth. Cain was the eldest. After him was born Abel. Abel tended the flocks and Cain was a farmer, a man of the soil. As you will recall from Gen. 4 and Heb. 11:4, both Cain and Abel came before God with their sacrifice. Abel brought the animal sacrifice, which was the accepted worship by man—the animal sacrifice spoke of Christ on the cross and paying the penalty for our sins. What Cain brought to God were the works of his hands. He had slaved in the field over his grains and vegetables and fruits and brought to God that which he had worked to produce. God disregarded this offering. This is, from the very beginning, man approaching God with the works of his own hands received no respect from God. We all know the ending to this story—Cain, after observing Abel kill these animals by slitting their throat, he did the same to Abel out of jealousy, perhaps exclaiming “How’s this for a blood sacrifice?” Interestingly enough, the chronicler does not include Cain or Abel in this line, focusing, instead, on the chosen line of Adam. While Cain was banished by God from his family, Adam and Eve had another male child. And Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him. And to Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then they began to call on the name of Jehovah (Gen. 4:25–26). These first four verses cover all human history from creation to the floor (Gen. 1–6).

Prior to the flood, the life spans of these men was great, which caused an incredible population explosion. They had children what would seem late in life to us, but was early for them. And Seth lived 105 years and he became the father of Enosh...and Enosh lived 90 years and became the father of Kenan...And Kenan lived 70 years and became the father of Mahalalel...and Mahalalel lived sixty-five years and became the father of Jared (Gen. 5:6, 9, 12, 15). Other than this, we know nothing of these early men, other than perhaps the meanings of their names and their ages—Seth lived to be 912, Kenan 910, Mahalalel 895 and Jared 962. You will note that we are not following the line of Cain here, although he (like Seth) married one of his sisters and raised a family as well.

And Jared lived 162 years and became the father of Enoch...And Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah (Gen. 5:18, 21). Jared died at the age of 962, but Enoch did not die. Enoch is much like the church—he was taken by God prior to the flood—prior to God wiping out corrupted mankind with the judgement. Enoch is mentioned as one of the heroes of the faith in Heb. 11:5: By faith, Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, he was pleasing to God.

Methuselah is best known for being the oldest person in Scripture, living 969 years. He was the father of Lamech, who was the father of Noah. Now, it is just easier to see this age thing with sort of a chart:

Methuselah died the year of the flood (and perhaps he died in the flood). Lamech died five years prior to the flood.

This line is sometimes confused with the line of Cain (Gen. 4:17–22), as there are some similarities.

As I hope is obvious, even though there are some names in common, these are simply two different genealogies. Anytime you take two brothers born, say, over 100 years ago, and follow out a branch of each one, there are bound to be some similar names and some identical names. ZPEB: According to some critics, the Cainite Lamech of Genesis 4 and the Sethite Lamech of Genesis 5 were originally identical, with the two genealogies coming from one common legend or source. The J document (ch. 4) preserved one variant list, and the P document (ch. 5) preserved another. However, the differences of spelling and order of names is as striking as the similarities.

It has been assumed, and corroborated by Scripture, that vv. 1–3 are a genealogical descent and that, with v. 4, we then name the three brothers, Shem, Ham and Japheth. This verse is different from the previous three as Shem, Ham and Japheth are all sons of Noah. In fact, the Septuagint says just that—it inserts the phrase sons of Noah. Several modern translations follow suit here (e.g., CEV, REB, NEB, NIV, NLT). Here it is not really a matter of following the Septuagint text over the Massoretic text, but for clarification purposes. A reader in the ancient world would not have needed this clarification.

Actually, it is not clear, at first, if they were born separately or whether they were triplets (stay with me on this). Gen. 5:32: And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth. By comparing this verse to Gen. 9:28–29, Noah was age 600 at the flood. However, Shem is later to said to be 100 when he bore his son Arpachshad two years after the flood (Gen. 11:10), meaning that he was age 98 at the flood, making Noah actually 502 when Shem was born. Therefore, Noah was not exactly 500 when his children were born, but approximately 500, implying that they were born at different times (otherwise, his exact age would have been given, as it was for all of his ancestors). Furthermore, had his wife given birth to triplets, then that fact would have probably been recorded in Scripture, as were the births of the famous twins (Gen. 25:21–26 38:27–30).

It was from Noah’s three sons that all mankind has come. What appears to be the case is that from Ham we have the Blacks and Orientals, from Japheth the Caucasoids, and from Shem, the Jews and Arabs. The notes of the Open Bible instead lists Japheth as the ancestor of the Indo-Europeans; Ham as the ancestor of the Arabians, Egyptians, Libyans and Canaanites; and Shem as the father of the Semitic peoples.

We will approach these three lines as though they were entirely separate. However, do not think for a moment that there was no intermarriage or very limited intermarriage. Barnes tells us that the Hamites and Semites intermingled in Arabia and that the Semites and Japhethites likely intermarried in Cappadocia, the country of Meshech. Barnes adds: ...and this Aramæan admixture may have been the origin of the notion, so prevalent among the Greeks, that the Cappadocians were Syrians.

The Line of Japheth

Gen. 10:2–5

You will note a change in the verbiage with this verse. In this verse, we begin with the masculine plural construct of bên (ן ֵ) [pronounced bane] (we tend to pronounce it behn), which means sons, descendants. Although we are probably speaking of sons in this verse, it is used in both ways in Scripture and will be used in both ways in this book. Strong’s #1121 BDB #119. At this point, the author of Chronicles copies this information directly from the book of Genesis (Gen. 10:2).

We can reasonably assume that the most well-known of the descendants of Japheth are listed here. As in Genesis, the emphasis is more upon geography and culture than it is upon kinship. Exactly who is descended from who and in what order is not as important as simply giving the list of the various nations which came from Japheth (the same will be true of Ham).

Chris is a pleasant name for a male or a female. Gomer is also a male or a female name, although it would not be my first choice for anyone that I liked. Historians have determined that his progeny are the Cimmerians (the Akkadian name is gimmirrai and the Greek is Kimmerioi) and the Cimbri, from who come the Celts. For awhile, they occupied Southern Russia and were forced out by the Scythians and they moved into Asia Minor at the end of the 8th century bc. In the 7th century bc, they conquered Urartus, Phrygia and Lydia and battled Greek cities on the West Coast. The Scythians that they did battle with are probably descended from Magog, his brother (according to Josephus). They occupied the territory North of the Black Sea, which would put them in Western Russia and Poland. Magog figures into prophecy quite heavily in Ezek. 38:2 39:6 and Rev. 20:8.

From Madai comes one of the most famous of the ancient peoples: the Medes. They are Indo-European peoples who populated northwestern Iran and were later absorbed by the Persians. Except for words of theirs taken by other nations, their language has disappeared in antiquity and the records of their distribution are found in the documents of Assyrian rulers who fought against them. It appears that they might have been allied with the Cimmerians and protected from the Scythians in that alliance.

Javan is the Jewish word for Greeks. Javan's famous descendants include the Ionians, who lived in the West Coast of Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia and Syria. Isaiah (in Isa. 66:19) associates Javan with the far-off nations to whom Yahweh's messengers will be dispatched. This associates him with the far-western nations with respect to the Jews at that time. Ezekiel tells us that Javan contributed to the wealth of Tyre (Ezek. 27:13). Daniel associates Javan with Alexander's Greco-Macedonian empire.

Tubal is mentioned several times throughout the Bible and his descendants are thought to have populated the area south of the Black Sea, in what is today Turkey, but then it was called southern Anatolia. The Assyrian empire began to expand to the North and East and began to be in conflict with the tribes of Anatolia from the rise of Ashurnasirpal (circa 870 bc) to onslaught of the Scythians in 679 bc. Their strength and tenacity in battle is shown by resisting these forces for several centuries, remaining in continual, bitter conflict with the Assyrians. The Bible ascribes to Tubal the trading of slaves and metals.

Meshech is often mentioned in conjunction with Tubal and Magog in Biblical and secular literature alike. Some believe that they were Indo-European peoples who populated central Asia Minor, but were later pushed by their enemies southeast of the Black Sea. Many think that these three are the source of the modern Russians. Ezekiel refers to them as traders of slaves and bronze (Ezek. 27:13); when castigating Egypt, Ezekiel tells them that they will inhabit Sheol with uncircumcised barbarians like Meshech and Tubal (Ezek. 32:26); they are grouped again with Tubal in Ezek. 38 and 39 as the anti-God forces from the land of Magog.

Tiras is thought to be the progenitor of the Thracians, and later the Tyrsenoi, a people which occupied the coastal area of the Aegean Sea. There is some disagreement here and others see them as being related to Tarsus and Tarshish and possibly as the ancestor of the Etruscans.

Ashkenaz apparently did not stray too far. According to Jer. 51:27, they lived in Ararat and Armenia during Jeremiah's time. Extra-Biblical Jewish literature indicates that Ashkenaz later became a synonym for Germany. Just as Jews in Spain and Portugal were called Sephartic Jews, Jews in Germany were called Ashkenazim. According to the Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia they likely became the Scythians who were allied with the Manneans in battle against the Assyrians. Their name became a synonym for Barbarian as they were a crude and warlike people who caused unrest in the Assyrian empire. Herodotus recorded their conquest of the Cimmerians (Gomer).

This verse is slightly different than Gen. 10:3. In Gen. 10:3, one of Gomer’s sons is called Riphath—actually, Rîyphath (ת-פי.ר) [pronounced ree-FAHTH]. Strong’s #7384 BDB #937. Here, we have a dawleth (ד) rather than a rêysh (ר). It is easy to see how one might be mistaken for the other in the transmission of the manuscripts. The parallel passage in 1Chronicles calls Riphath, Diphath. There is obviously very little difference. Why wasn't this error caught? The Scribe who copied Genesis is not necessarily the same Scribe who copied 1Chronicles; even if it was, they would likely not have caught the error that they made. Any Scribe who caught the error later was not permitted to change it. However, we do have several manuscripts plus the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate which read Riphath in both passages. Furthermore, this is Riphath in four early printed editions and in the Syriac and the Vulgate. Scofield notes that Riphath and Togarmah were both inhabitants of Asia Minor. The ZPEB gives several possibilities, identifying them with the Ripheaean mountains and the river Rhebas in Bithynia and with the Rhibii, a people who lived eastward of the Caspian Sea which would be in Southern Russia. All of these could be true as it is not necessary for a family to all remain in the same geographical area for the rest of their lives. Certainly their are groups who break off and others who intermarry. What we are examining is general trends.

Togarmah is described by Ezekiel as a nation which traded with Tyre, providing them with Mules, horses and horsemen (Ezek. 27:14). They are called allies of Magog and associated with Gomer, Persia, Cush and Put in Ezek. 38:6. Josephus believed them to be the Phrygians but Assyrian inscriptions refer to a Til-garimmu (Tegarama in Hittite) which could refer to Togarmah. That city was in East Cappadocia, so this would place them possibly North of Palestine and southeast of the Black Sea. This city was destroyed by the Assyrians in 695 b.c.

Word-for-word, this is Gen. 10:4, except that it is Dodanim rather than Rodanim in Genesis (the same problem noted in v. 6 is found here). It is found Dodanim in five early printed editions, as well as in the Septuagint and Vulgate.

Josephus identified Elishah with the Æolians, a Greek peoples and others have associated them with Carthage, a nation in Northern Africa because the name of the Tyrian princess who, according to tradition, founded Carthage had a similar name: Elissa. The ZPEB concludes that due to their supplying purple dyes to the Tyrians and their association with Greece and Kittam, they were likely the inhabitants of islands out in the Aegean Sea or of Sicily and Southern Italy.

Tarshish was the name of a city in the West Mediterranean region near Gibralter in Spain and it is likely equivalent to Tartessus, where Jonah fled when he was told to evangelize Nineveh. They could have also been associated with sea ports around southwestern Italy as Tarshish is closely associated with sea vessels and sea ports. This reputation would have allowed them to occupy a spread-out area like this. When Tarshish is used in connection with ships, it likely does not refer to a geographical origin or destination but to the ships themselves; their large size and sea worthiness.

Kittim is associated with the Island of Cyprus, which Herodotus claims was colonized by the Phœnicians (Shem), the Ethiopians (Ham) and the Greeks (Japheth), which is not unlike what happened on the Isle of Crete. Josephus ties Kittam to a city on the southeast coast of Cyprus, Cition. Jeremiah uses Kittam to refer to generally the seafaring West which would exert dominance over the East. Daniel's reference to the ships of Kittam could refer to the Romans who defeated Antiochus Epiphanes in Egypt in 169 b.c. In fact, the Septuagint, instead of reading ships of Kittam reads Romans. The Apocryphal and Pseudopigraphal literature associate Kittam with the Grecian empire.

Dodanim could very likely be Rodanim (as it is rendered in 1Chron. 1:7), in which case they are associated with the inhabitants of the island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea, right off the coast of Turkey, a stepping stone to Crete and the Mediterranean Sea. If Dodanim is the correct rendering, then we have no idea as to who these people are.

Scripture is often arranged topically rather than chronologically. In Gen. 10, we have the list of nations, the descendants of Noah. In Gen. 11, we have the tower of Babel. The two go together. That is, they time period certainly overlaps. We have these sons of Noah all bearing children, who are bearing children. Although the life span was significantly shortened after the flood, decreasing with each generation, still we have people living for several centuries. All of these people lived in the same area until the tower of Babel, wherein their languages were confused, and they separated at that point. I would guess that those of the same families, as they would be the closest, would have retained the same language and, as a result of the confusion of languages, move into the territories for which they are known. According to the Nelson maps, Gomer, Togarmah and Ashkenaz (progenitor of the Scythians) went north and occupied southern Turkey. Javan, who was the ancestor of the Greeks, occupied the area around the Aegean Sea, certainly along the eastern portion of the Aegean Sea. Nelson also places Madai (the Medes) in northwest Iran, between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

You will note that we do not follow out the other sons of Japheth—just his first and fourth sons’ lines are mentioned.

MacMillan essentially agrees, also placing Japheth, in general, in the north of the Mediterranean Sea. He has Tiras living in Italy, Tarshish west of Italy (apparently occupying the two islands) and Meshech and Togarmah in Turkey. Given that Noah constructed an arc, and that the population in general constructed a tower, it is not inconceivable that those who remained after the flood also constructed ships.

The editor passes over v. 5 of Gen. 10 and goes on to v. 6:

The Line of Ham

Gen. 10:6–20

With regards to language, Gen. 10:6 inserts another conjunction between Egypt and Put. As you will note, the early descendants of Ham were quite impressive. In the Hebrew, Cush is actually kûwsh (ש) [pronounced koosh]. Cush is translated variously as Ethiopia, Cush, Cushi and Cushite (it is all the same word). This same word is used for the son of Ham as well as the southernmost people known to the Hebrews as well as for the land they occupied. They lived in the southern Nile-valley, or Upper Egypt. This would be Ethiopia. Strong’s #3568 BDB #468. Ethiopia is south of Egypt, off the Red Sea. They appear to be associated with Egypt circa the twentieth century bc, but later became independent from the Egyptians around 1000 bc. A few centuries later, they ruled over Egypt and had prepared to do battle with Hezekiah, but they were driven off by the Assyrians in the late 7th century b.c. We can reasonably assume that in most or all cases that the persons named in these genealogies are those who founded the nations which bear their name.

Mizraim is the eponym of Egypt, which we covered in Exodus. Mizraim is Hebrew for Egypt and is translated that way in the RSV.

Josephus claims that Put was the founder of Libya and that the first inhabitants are called the Putites. Put has quite the varied future. Isaiah said that Put (and Tarshish and Lud) would one day here the glory of God in Isa. 64:19. Jeremiah groups Put with Ethiopia and Lud as nations whose warriors would be used in the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 46:9) Ezekiel, on the other hand, both mentions that Put contributed to the wealth of Tyre (Ezek. 27:10) and as a nation which will fall by the sword (Ezek. 30:5). She is grouped with other nations as an object of God's wrath (Ezek. 38:5) and with nations which supported Nineveh (Nahum 3:6–9).

Canaan occupied the promised land before the Jews did and is the source of many peoples who were antagonistic toward the Jews.

Macmillan shows Seba living just south of Cush, and Havilah even more south along the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aden. Dedan is shown as being east of the Red Sea with Raama and Sheba being further south. This verse is almost identical with Gen. 10:7, except Raama ends in an h in Genesis (which would not affect the pronunciation). The first Raama also ends in h in five early printed editions, and the second Raamah lacks the h in two early printed editions.

Seba is a land and a people in Southern Arabia. Some have thought them to be equivalent to Sheba, since the difference between the names is a small dot; but this would not make any sense to list the same person twice. They may have stayed together as brothers and founded, for all intents and purposes, one nation or people. Psalm 72:10 mentions them together. God spoke through Isaiah, saying, "For I the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have Egypt as your ransom; Ethiopia and Seba for you." (Isa. 43:3). Isaiah also indicates that the Sabæans would come to Israel, recognizing the God of Israel is the only God (Isa. 45:14).

Havilah is likely located in the Western portion of Arabia, just North of Yemen. This son of Cush likely received his name after the land mentioned in or near the garden of Eden. Let me quote from ZPEB: Many regard this Havilah of Arabia and that of the Garden of Eden story as two different places. Duh.

Sabta is thought to be a place in Arabia on or near the East coast. Sabteca is thought to be by some a scribal error for Sabtah, but this would not make any sense to name the same group twice. They are associated with Southern Arabia.

Raamah was probably located in Arabia, but exactly where is disputed. They traded with Tyre as did Sheba (Ezek. 27:22).

Since there are other Sheba's in the Bible (Abraham's grandson and a decedent of Joktan), it is hard to identify which is which. Some have even suggested that there had been a blending of the Semitic and Hamitic tribes, which is possible. Whereas some authorities are not sure whether this could refer to one, two or three people, I do not find it difficult to imagine that some kids just got the same name and some families have two children with the same names (Sheba and Dedan were both sons of Raamah and Sheba and Dedan were both sons of Jokshan, a descendant of Abraham). Sheba was a country in Southwest Arabia, where Yemen is today. Camel caravans from Sheba are mentioned twice: once in Job 6:19 and also in 1Kings 10:1–13 (the latter is in connection to the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon). Which Sheba populated this area is not known, but I would think the grandson of Cush.

This verse is identical to Gen. 10:8. We begin here with the Qal perfect of yâlad (ד ַלָי) [pronounced yaw-LAHD], which means to bear, to be born, to bear, to bring forth, to beget. With a male, this could be better rendered sired, fathered. NIV Study Bible correctly suggests that this could read became the father (ancestor, predecessor, or founder) of. Strong’s #3205 BDB #408. It is interesting that Nimrod is not listed with the other sons of Cush. We then have the 3^rd person, masculine singular pronoun and the Hiphil perfect of châlal (ל ַל ָח) [pronounced khaw-LAHL], which means to begin. Strong's #2490 BDB #320. This is followed by to be and then the masculine singular noun gibbôr (ר  ̣) [pronounced gib-BOAR], which means strong man, mighty man, soldier, warrior, combatant, soldier, veteran. Strong’s #1368 BDB #150. This is followed by in the land or on the earth. The final noun is the feminine singular of erets (ץ ∵ר ∵א) [pronounced EH-rets], which means earth (all or a portion), land. It can mean ➊ planet earth (Gen. 18:18, 25 22:18 Job 37:12); ➋ a specific portion of the earth, such as a country, region, or territory (Gen. 11:28, 31 21:21 Psalm 78:12—you will note that in these instances, erets is in the construct and generally translated the land of); ➌ the ground, the soil (Gen. 1:11–12, 30 18:2 33:3 Lev. 19:9). Strong's #776 BDB #75. Since this all occurs after Gen. 6, where we have the corruption of mankind, we might look to Nimrod as being a leader on the earth, his influence being greater than that of the elders who were still alive. It is likely that his influence was instrumental in building the tower of Babel. In any case, Gen. 1:10:9–12 goes into greater detail, where Babel and the construction of several cities are mentioned. The Open Bible suggests that he could be Sargon I of the 24^th century b.c., but that seems far too late in history for Nimrod.

This was taken directly from Gen. 10:13–14. Separating the verses only causes confusion. I couldn’t find most of these sons on either map. It is significant as well that in the Greek Septuagint, vv. 11–16 are not to be found. One possibility is that they do not belong in 1Chronicles.

We definitely have a change at this point. Previously, we were speaking of individuals who may or may not have become nations. Now we are dealing with names which all have the plural Hebrew ending (-im). Now, whether Mizraim just liked naming his kids in the plural or whether this indicates that we are now speaking of groups of peoples who came from Mizraim, I can’t say.

Ludim is not Lud, the son of Shem, and his place in history, along with Anamim and Naphtuhim, are unknown. Some scholars believe that Lubim should be Libya, others claim that we do not know at this time who they are or who they became.

The Pathrusim are mentioned only here and in Genesis—they are the people of Pathros which is in Upper Egypt (they are the people of Pathros).

The Philistines lived in southern Canaan; it is from their name that we get the English designation Palestine. The Philistines are closely associated with Samson, with Saul and with the early reign of David.

The Caphtorim were covered in Deut. 2:23 and Joshua 13:2. There is confusion as the relationship of Casluhim, the Philistines and the Caphtorim, which is discussed in more detail in Joshua 13:2. This deals with the idea that the phrase, who came from there: the Philistines, should have been attached to the Caphtorim. It is covered in even more detail in the Doctrine of the Philistines, found in Judges 14:4.

V. 13 is taken directly from Gen. 10:15. Sidon and Heth are the sons of Canaan and the others which follow are the various tribes which eventually populated Canaan. Sidon is not spoken of as an individual or as the head of a tribe again (except in the 1Chronicles list), but the city he gave his name to is mentioned throughout the Bible. It was once the capitol of ancient Phœnicia. The NIV Study Bible suggests that this could read, of the Sidonians, the foremost. In the Hebrew there is the 3^rd person masculine suffix which would mitigate against that interpretation. However, I should point out that a huge portion of this passage is in question anyway. In my version of the Septuagint (LXX β), about a dozen of these verses are not even found.

From Heth came the Hittites. The Hittites lived in the land of Canaan. Esau's wives are said to have been the daughters of Heth and Jacob was warned by Rebekah against marrying the daughters of Heth (Gen. 27:46). My maps place them in southern Turkey as well.

The Jebusites lived in the hills surrounding Jerusalem. Jebus, later called Jerusalem, was their main city and Jebusite is first used of the present occupants of that area (Gen. 15:21 Ex. 3:8) and then of the former occupants of that area (Ezek. 16:3, 45 Zech. 9:7). No one could drive them out of this area for centuries, so they lived side-by-side the Israelites (Joshua 15:63 Judges 1:21). David finally conquered this city, making it his own. He either restored the name of Jerusalem or the author of Judges (or an editor of Judges), inserted its name in Judges 19:10.

The Amorites lived scattered about the hills surrounding the Jordan. They occupied a large enough territory and exerted enough influence to have their named used as a general term for those who lived in Canaan (Gen. 15:16 48:22 Josh. 24:15). Ezekiel described Jerusalem as the offspring of the Amorite and the Hittite (Ezek. 16:3, 45). The difference between the two might be a northern and a southern area of occupation. Their leaders (Gen. 14:13 Num. 21:21 Deut. 31:4), their stature (Amos 2:9) and their gods (Joshua 24:15 Judges 6:10) are all mentioned in Scripture. The Doctrine of the Amorites was covered back in Gen. 10:16.

The Girgashites have been associated by some with the city Karkisha, found in the cuneiform Hittite texts, but this is not an historical certainty. Israel did defeat them in Deut. 7:1 Joshua 3:10 24:11.

Vv 15–16 is identical with Gen. 17–18b. The author of Genesis provides more information along the way which the author of Chronicles leaves out.

The Hivites lived in the hills of Lebanon (Gen. 10:17 Judges. 3:3) and the Hermon range to the valley which leads to Hamath (Joshua 6:3). They occupied this territory even until the time of David (2Sam. 24:7). They are more closely associated with the Arkites than the other tribes mentioned. It is quite likely that these are also known as the Horites, the mixup being due to a scribal error. Gen. 36:2,20–30 are cited to prove this (Zibeon is called both a Hivite and a Horite). The original difference between the words is vav (waw), ו, and resh, ר, so it is easy to see how a scribal error could have been made. Gen. 34:2 and Joshua 9:7 have various readings of Hittite, Hivite and Horite.

The Arkite inhabited, of all places, the town of Arka (presently, it is Tell ‘Arqa, four miles from the sea and 12 miles northeast of Tripoli, Syria. The city is found in the Assyrian inscriptions under the name Irkatah, described by both Shalmaneser II and Tiglath-Pileser II as rebellious.

Arvad (called Ruâd today) was the northern most Phœnician city, is an island two miles off the coast of Syria (which was ancient Phœnicia) opposite Cypress approximately 50 miles north of Byblos. Despite its diminutive size (less than a mile in circumference), it was heavily fortified and they ruled over some a great deal of the neighboring coast. This city maintained its independence up until the 9th century bc when it was under Tyre's control during the time of Ezekiel (who mentions it in Ezek. 27:8, 11).

Except for the parallel passage in 1Chronicles, the Sinites and the Hamathites are never mentioned again. The Sinites have been variously associated with Sinna on Mount Lebanon (Strabo notes this). We find that their name may have survived in the names Nahr as-Sinn and Sinn addarb and might be related to other peoples in secular history.

The Zemarites likely lived in northern Phœnicia, between Arvad and Tripolis in what is now called Sumra (called Sumur in the Tell el-Amarna letters and Simirra in the Assyrian texts).

The Line of Shem

Gen. 10:21–31 11:10–17