The Doctrine of Genealogies

These studies are designed for believers in Jesus Christ only. If you have exercised faith in Christ, then you are in the right place. If you have not, then you need to heed the words of our Lord, Who said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten [or, uniquely-born] Son, so that every [one] believing [or, trusting] in Him shall not perish, but shall be have eternal life! For God did not send His Son into the world so that He should judge the world, but so that the world shall be saved through Him. The one believing [or, trusting] in Him is not judged, but the one not believing has already been judged, because he has not believed in the Name of the only-begotten [or, uniquely-born] Son of God." (John 3:16–18). "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life! No one comes to the Father except through [or, by means of] Me!" (John 14:6).

Every study of the Word of God ought to be preceded by a naming of your sins to God. This restores you to fellowship with God (1John 1:8–10). If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). If there are people around, you would name these sins silently. If there is no one around, then it does not matter if you name them silently or whether you speak aloud.

Topics
The Dead-end Genealogy of Cain	The Promise of Jesus Christ in the Genealogy of Adam	The Types of Genealogies Found in the Bible
Addendum
Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines
The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Genealogy of Adam to Noah	A Map of the Descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth	The Map of Noah's Son's Sons
Noah, His Descendants, and their Distribution	When did the flood occur?	The Genealogies of Genesis
The Meaning of the Names in Abram's Line
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ	The Timeline Set up by the Bible	A More Accurate Chart of the Lifespans of Noah's Ancestors
The Descendants of Adam	R. B. Thieme, Jr. Notes on Genesis 10 and Languages (from Syndein)	Philology from Bible Believers . Org
The Biblical Chronology of Genesis 11

Bob Deffinbaugh1: "If we are honest, that is what most of us do with the genealogies of the Bible-we skip them. In my teaching through the book of Genesis, I must admit I seriously considered doing the same thing, merely passing by Genesis chapter 5. Leupold, in one of the classic commentaries on the book of Genesis has this word of advice to preachers: 'Not every man would venture to use this chapter as a text.' "

J. Vernon McGee2: "The Perizzites, the Hittites, the Jebusites and the electric lights."

Gen. 9:24–27 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant." (ESV)

R. B. Thieme, Jr.3: "The line of Shem (Semitic People) holds spiritual superiority. The line of Japheth (Japhetic People) holds physical superiority (large conquering people). And the line of Ham (Hamitic People) will be the servant of the other brothers (at least the line through Canaan)."

Gary Kukis: "Let me suggest to you, that, if the Bible is true along with all of these logical premises, then a chapter in the Bible like this would logically occur. That Shem, Ham and Japheth could keep track of their own lines (and that one of them would be able to keep track of the lines of his brothers) is possible, logical and likely to happen. This is not some random chapter just thrown in here, as in, Hey, let's just talk about some genealogies for awhile."

Preface:	You may think that nothing could be more boring than reading through the genealogies of the Bible (which is, quite frankly, very boring); but the doctrine of genealogies is quite different. There is a reason for these genealogies that we find in the Bible. Some old guy did not decide, "Hey, here's a good place for a genealogy" and then he just started making up names, one after another.

One more thing to know up front: there are two kinds of genealogies in the Bible: the linear or straight-line genealogy that leads somewhere; and the cluster genealogy, which simply tells you a few generations who have come down from some patriarch.

This study is a combination of new material with material that has been culled out of previously covered chapters of the Bible.

1.	The first genealogy found in the Bible is the dead-end genealogy of Cain. It is the genealogy of death. It appears to be a generation mixed with sin and promise, but it will go nowhere and it will mean nothing. It is one of the only straight-line genealogy that I am aware of that goes nowhere because it is not the line of Christ. There are actually 6 generations which are listed, 6 being the number of man. Gen. 4:17–24

2.	In contrast to Cain's list of descendants, there is listed the genealogy of Adam next, which consists of 3 generations: Adam, Seth and Enosh. Gen. 4:25–26

3.	From the very beginning, Eve understood the importance of giving birth. She looked to each of her sons as being the fulfillment of the promise of God. In the presence of Adam and the woman, the Revealed Lord made this statement to the serpent (Satan): "I will put hostility between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He [Jesus Christ, the Seed of the Woman] will strike your head, and you will strike His heel." (Gen. 3:15). The woman rightly understood that her seed would crush the head of Satan.

4.	In Gen. 5, we follow out the line of Adam all the way to Noah. This is an amazing genealogy, because this genealogy is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Interestingly enough, at that time that I wrote this material, I did not realize that other people have discovered the same thing.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Genealogy of Adam to Noah
Name	Meaning*	Text/Commentary**
Adam	Man
Seth	Appoint	Meaning according to Easton, Fausset and ISBE.
Enosh	Mortal, frail, miserable	As per Hitchcock, Smith and ISBE.
Kenan	Sorrow, dirge, elegy	I come up with the meanings possessor, purchaser here. I don't know from whence this pastor got his meaning of Kenan.
Mahalalel	The blessed God	It is almost unanimous that this name means praise of God (which is close).
Jared	From the verb yarahd, which means Descent, will come down
Enoch	Teaching	Consensus is this means dedicated, consecrated.
Methuselah	His death will bring	There are two disparate meanings here: man of the javelin but, more likely, he dies and it is sent. When named, it would have referred to the flood (which was judgment). When our Lord died on the cross, both salvation and judgment were sent (in the flood, there was an ark, which was the salvation of those who believed).
Lamech	Despairing	I come up with two disparate meanings: a strong man, powerful or poor, made low.
Noah	To bring relief, rest, comfort	Also, the meanings repose; consolation.
*The meaning, according to Chuck Missler.
**Commentary in case there is any disagreement; or additional things to say.
Together, these all mean (according to Missler): "Man [is] appointed [to] mortal sorrow; [but] the blessed God will come down teaching [that] His death will bring [the] despairing, rest."
These definitions were taken from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSb9SPeMkhY which video maker credits Chuck Missler. This is also found here and here.
Taking the revised meanings, we come up with: "Man [is] appointed [to] mortal [ity]; purchased (or, possessed) [by] the Praise of God [Who] will descend [as the] Dedicated [One] (Who will be taken up). He dies and is sent [to the] poor [who are strong in Christ] [bringing them] rest [or, comfort, repose, consolation]." So here we have the gospel of Jesus Christ as well as the history of mankind hidden within the names of the chosen genealogy.

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Even when we correct some of these meanings, and even add in the second meanings, we still have the gospel and human history laid out for us, all in Gen. 5:3–31. Again, the words of the Bible give testimony to the fact that this is the Word of God.

Also recall that the only line in human history followed out from beginning to end is the line of Jesus Christ. By this point in our study, you should have come to realize just how phenomenal and unique the book of Genesis is, and, by extension, the entire Bible.

5.	One of the things which is fascinating is the age of Noah before he bears children. You will note that children were born to these men between the ages of 65 and 187. For whatever reason, it appears that Noah had no children until he was 500 years old. To be specific, Noah sired Seth at age 500 or 501 (which we get by comparing Gen. 5:32 7:6 11:10). If these 3 sons were born around this time period, then Noah's children only know their father, grandfather and great-
grandfather. I am sure that there is a fascinating story here. Did Noah go for hundreds of years without meeting his right woman? Did they marry, but were they unable to have children until later in life? Were there other children, some who died young and/or did some go astray? Whatever the back story is, God knew what He was doing.

6.	All of Noah's ancestors will die off before the flood; the only people from the line of promise still alive at the flood is Noah and his immediate family. Noah's father will know Adam, and Noah will be born before the death of Seth. Except for Adam and Enoch, Noah would have had the opportunity to know all of his ancestors.

7.	Gen. 10 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) gives us a cluster genealogy after the great deluge, where the races of mankind are laid out in reference to their original location and from whom they are descended. Insofar as I know, this chapter of the Bible is unique in human history.

8.	The types of genealogies found in the Bible [this is taken from Gen. 10 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD)]:

1)	Because this is a chapter dealing with genealogical lines, we should note a fascinating peculiarity in the Bible. Somewhere between 5 to 10 authors follow out a specific genealogy, which genealogy could be strung together and take us all the way from Adam to Jesus (which Luke presents). No other lines are followed out in this way. We do not have the line of Moses; we do not have the line of Isaiah. We do not have the line of Jeremiah.

2)	Typically, we have one patriarch and his sons and possibly some of his grandsons (or more) are named. But, no author in the Bible just follows, say, a particular line of Ham out for 5 or 6 or 7 generations and then stops (with the exception of the line of Cain, which is a 6-
generation line). However, for the most part, throughout the Bible, 2, 3 or 4 generations are listed.

3)	There are two types of genealogies found in the Bible. There is the cluster, family or group genealogy, where the father is mentioned, some of his sons are named, some of their sons are named and, on occasion, some of their sons are named (e.g., Gen. 10:2–5 21–31). This is pretty much how the entire line of Japheth is presented in this chapter. Only 1–4 generations are typically listed.

4)	However, there is also the linear or straight-line genealogy when the father is named, then a son of his, then his son, then his son. Only on rare occasions do we find two brothers named in such a line; and these lines typically go on for 7–10 generations (see Gen. 10:24–26a 11:10–24).

5)	Here is the interesting question: how did 9 or so Biblical authors (who did not personally know one another or even live in the same time period) know to list only the linear genealogies that take us from Adam to Noah to Abraham to David to Jesus? If a family typically had 5 to 10 male children, how did they know which line to choose? Why don't we find the occasional odd splintered line from Adam to Noah to Jeffrey to Virgil? Human viewpoint cannot give us a satisfactory answer. However, our understanding of the Bible, that this is the Word of God, written by God the Holy Spirit utilizing the hand of man, explains it. God the Holy Spirit knows the line of Jesus. He knew it in eternity past. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit knows which linear line to follow; and which lines to relegate to a cluster genealogies.

9.	Genesis 10, insofar as I know, is unique in ancient writings. It tells us who all of the patriarchs for the first races and nations that there were and where they all lived. These are broken down in the exegetical study of Gen. 10 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) into 3 distinct lines. I will not repeat all of that information here. A couple of maps will be all that we need to get the gist of this chapter:

A Map of the Descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. Sometimes, it is easier to see some of this on a map, and we have the early settlements of Ham shown on the map above.

Great empires of the past: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia all have strong historical links to the Biblical figures connected with the sons of Noah. Most, if not all, tribes and nations can be traced to these men through their descendants.4

Topics	Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines

The Map of Noah's Son's Sons

The map above is from http://w
ww.isra
el-a-hist
ory-of.c
om/ima
ges/Tabl
eOfNati
ons12.jp
g The names in Green are descend
ants of Ham, those in Red are descendants of Shem and those in Black are descendants of Japheth. This map gives us a quick look of the initial distribution of these 3 sets of people.

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Noah, His Descendants, and their Distribution:

The chart to above came from:

http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/References/OT/Pentateuch/Genesis/09TowerofBabel/_r
esGen10-11/Noah_descendants-3_Sons.jpg

Chapter Outline	Charts, Maps and Short Doctrines

10.	Genesis 11 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) covers 3 topics, but the middle one is the line of Shem, which is covered as a linear genealogy. That line is followed all the way from Shem (the son of Noah) down to Noah, the beginning of the Jewish race. It is this genealogy which actually allows us the reasonably place the great flood in time.

Let's look at this line working backwards from Abraham to the flood (the ages given is the age of the father when he sires this particular son—the person cited above him in the chart):
When did the flood occur?
The Line of Shem	Masoretic (Hebrew) Text	Septuagint (Greek Text)
Abraham	Most seem to agree that Abram was born in or around 2160 b.c.
Terah (Gen. 11:26)	Lived 70 years and then he fathered Abraham. Terah would therefore be born 2230 b.c.	70 years	2230 b.c.
Nahor (Gen. 11:24)	29	2259 b.c.	179	2409 b.c.
Serug (Gen. 11:22)	30	2289 b.c.	130	2539 b.c.
Rue (Gen. 11:20)	32	2321 b.c.	132	2671 b.c.
Peleg (Gen. 11:18)	30	2351 b.c.	130	2801 b.c.
Eber (Gen. 11:16)	34	2385 b.c.	134	2935 b.c.
Shela (Shala) (Gen. 11:14)	30	2415 b.c.	130	3065 b.c.
Cainan (Gen. 11:13 in LXX only; he is also named in the book of Luke)	130	3195 b.c.
Arphaxad (Gen. 11:12)	35	2450 b.c.	130	3325 b.c.
Flood (Gen. 11:10)	2	2452 b.c.	2	3327 b.c.
Shem was born about 100 years before the flood; so, according to Gen. 11:10, that would have been about 2550 b.c. in the Hebrew and 3425 b.c. in the Greek. According to the Hebrew, man is approximately 6000 years old; according to the Greek, man is approximately 7000 years old.
This assumes that there are no missing names in the text and that the numbers given are accurate.
I do not pretend to know which line is accurate or whether Cainan properly belongs in this line or not. Robby Dean argues against Cainan here, which argument I have not summarized, as I don't see it as important. Man being 6000–7000 years old is good enough for me at this point. As I have pointed out many times in the past, this is in complete agreement with normal human population growth estimates. It is the evolutionist who must layer theory upon theory upon theory in order to justify his faith that modern man is 1 million years old.
This is taken from Genesis 11 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD)

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11.	Because I am a great fan of charts, there is an excellent provided which takes us from Adam to Abraham and further:

The Genealogies of Genesis

Gen 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai. And the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

Interestingly enough, this is the first time that we learn anything about the wives. We knew Eve, but we were told virtually nothing about the wives of Noah, Shem, Ham or Japheth (not their names or their origins).

Milcah, Nahor's wife, is also his niece. We will find out in Gen. 20:12 that Sarai is either Abram's half-sister (same father but different mothers) or his niece (the granddaughter of Terah).

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12.	Like the line of Seth, the names found in the line of Shem are also significant:

Over the past few weeks, as I have worked on a group of about 10 lessons, I have been pondering two questions: what does the line of Shem mean, if anything; and what happened during this time period? Somewhere between 300–1200 years go by, and we know that (1) man settled in the Euphrates Valley and built the tower of Babel and that (2) God confused the languages and scattered mankind. There are a few other things which I believe may be implied by the text (specifically, by the genealogy).
Given that Peleg's name is given as being significant in Scripture, let me postulate that, the names of some of these men may have reflected the eras in which they lived (or, the era to which they were born into).
The Meaning of the Names in Abram's Line
Name	BDB Meaning	Smith's Meaning	Discussion
Shem	name	name	Shem may be better defined by his sons and where they ended up: Syria (Aram), Chaldea (Arphaxad), parts of Assyria (Asshur), of Persia (Elam), and of the Arabian peninsula (Joktan). Semitic languages find their origin with Shem.

Perhaps the name Shem became synonymous with the concept of reputation and fame (everyone would have known Shem, for hundreds of years). Maybe this concept became an integral part in the building of the Babel tower: And they said, "Come, let us build us a city and a tower, and its top in the heavens. And let us make a name [= shem] for ourselves, lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole earth." (Gen. 11:4).
Arpachshad	I shall fail as the breast: he cursed the breast-bottle	stronghold of the Chaldees	Also spelled Arphaxad. His name is less defined than the others. Most place him in the Chaldees. Perhaps his name refers to the actual building of this city (however, by my estimation, this would have been too early in time).
Cainan	decree, statute	This is the missing man from the Hebrew text. During his time, man began to set up a governmental system with laws, decrees and statutes, since approximately 300 people would be alive during his generation.
Shelah	sprout	a petition	It was determined that, if there are laws, there must be a system of judicial prudence, where men could go and petition on their own behalf.
Eber	the region beyond	the region beyond	Eber's name suggest that his family had begun to think about the land further out. This suggests that this generation left the mountains and moved into the Euphrates valley. Or, perhaps they began to look outward from the Euphrates valley. Most of his life and that of Arpachshad would have overlapped.
Peleg	division	division	Peleg was alive around the time that the languages were confounded. For him to receive this name at birth, means that he would have been brought up in a family which, for the first time, spoke a different language than the rest of civilization. In his generation, mankind separated into several families. There may have been as many as 300,000 people alive during Peleg's life.
Rue	friend	friend	People had to choose what they would do, when languages were confused. They banded together by language and by clans, calling one another friends (implying a cultural similarity based upon familial similarities).
Serug	branch	branch	Now that these families began to spread apart, Serug was viewed as a branch of the family.
Nahor	snorting	snorting	His name also means hoarse, dry, hot; and may describe the climatic conditions for several decades of the Euphrates valley.
Terah	delay	station	Terah was said to be an idolater in the Bible, and is the reason that Abram had to separate himself from Terah. Because of his idolatry, blessing from God was delayed until Abram.
Abram	exalted father	a high father	Abram is known as the father of the Jewish race.
Quite obviously, this is only a theory, but one which I believe to be solid. For the Hebrew line, the meaning of a man's name reflected the thinking of his father, which reasonably mirrors the world in which he finds himself. Therefore, the names of some of these men tell us something about the world in which they grew up.

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Addendum

This Doctrine was taken from Genesis 4 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).
Over a period of perhaps 3000 years, approximately 9 different men recorded the genealogy of Jesus Christ. They recorded His legal line (from David through Solomon down to Joseph) and his actual line (from David through Nathan to Mary). The line from Adam to Abraham to David (and then to Jesus) is also recorded in the Bible. These various authors did this under the influence of God the Holy Spirit (2Tim. 3:16 2Peter 1:21).
The Genealogy of Jesus Christ
Human Author*	Passage/Commentary/Notable People
Adam or Seth	Gen. 4:25–26 Adam to Seth
Noah or Shem	Gen. 5:1–32 Adam to Seth to Noah to Shem
Abram	Gen. 11:10–27 Shem to Abram
Isaac	Gen. 25:19–26 Abraham (Abram) to Isaac to Jacob
Joseph	Gen. 37:2 46:8–25 Jacob to Judah (along with the rest of the tribes of Israel).
Nathan, Gad, Unknown?	1Chron. 2:3–15 Judah to Perez to Jesse to David.
Ruth	Ruth 4:13–22 From Boaz and Ruth to Jesse to David.
Both the book of Kings and the book of Chronicles follow out the kingly line of David through Solomon down to Josiah and the deportation of the people of Judah; however, this is a history rather than a genealogy, per se (which parallels the genealogy in Matt. 1:7–13). What is followed out in this history is the legal and kingly line of Jesus (which line takes us to Joseph).
This history is continued in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, to Zerubbabel, a descendant of David and the governor of Judah when the people are returned to the land.
Ezra	Ezra 3:8 Ezra takes up the slack and lists a short line leading to Zerubbabel from Israel's captivity.
Nathan, Gad, Unknown?	2Sam. 5:13–14 1Chron. 3:1–5 14:3–4 David to Nathan (who is in Mary's line but not Joseph's) and Solomon, who is in Joseph's line, but not Mary's.
Matthew	Matt. 1:1–16 Abraham to Judah to David to Solomon to Joseph. This is the legal and kingly line of Jesus to His step-father, Joseph.
Luke	Luke 3:23–38 Adam to Noah to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob to Judah to David to Nathan to Mary (the genealogy actually takes us to Joseph, the supposed father of Jesus) to Jesus. This is the line of our Lord's humanity, a direct line from Adam to Mary and then to Jesus—the only complete genealogy recorded in human history.
* I am giving the name of the human author I believe to be responsible for recording this information.
I have not included all of the names in each genealogy, but only the names of those you may already have heard of.
I realize that most of you yawn at the thought of a genealogy; however, nowhere else in the history of man do we have a 4000 year long genealogy given for anyone. We have nothing which comes anywhere near to this (at best, history records a line of kings or rulers over a particular country over a period of several hundred years).

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It is amazing that, over a period of 4000 years, that God called a man, every dozen or so generations, to make certain that the line from the first Adam to the last Adam was recorded in Scripture. It is impossible to overemphasize the fact that this occurs one time in all of human history. God called at least 9 or 10 men out of history to make certain that this line was preserved in writing—men who were separated by hundreds of years in time, men who had very little in common, apart from being believers in Yehowah Elohim.

It takes awhile for something so amazing as this to actually sink in. Of the billions of possible genealogies that could have been followed out, why did the authors of Scripture—with the exception of the line of man (Cain)—know to follow out the genealogies that led from Adam to Jesus?

Matthew and Luke certainly began to recognize the significance of Who Jesus is, and they no doubt went to whatever court records there were in order to get a portion of our Lord's genealogy (from 400 b.c. to their present). However, how did Ruth know to record this genealogy? How did Nathan (or Gad) know? How did Noah or Shem realize that they needed to record their genealogical line? God the Holy Spirit guided them to record an unbroken line from Adam to Jesus, a line whose length and completeness is unduplicated in all human history.

I don't know if you recall, but back in Gen. 2 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD), I recorded the 10 amazing things found in just the first chapter and a half of the Bible. Such things continue throughout the Bible—particularly in the book of Genesis. We quickly read over such things, often ignoring half of the words. Still, in the back of our minds, we often wonder, why the hell is this in the Bible? What's up with all of these begat's? And yet, the recording of these various genealogies produces one of the many unique things about the Bible—an unbroken genealogy from the first Adam to the last Adam. 1Cor. 15:20–22, 45: But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He became the firstfruit of those having fallen asleep. For since death is through man, also through a Man is the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. Therefore, it stands written, "The first man, Adam, became a living soul." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit (and Gen. 2:7).

Here are the lines of each person, with the approximate overlap.
The Timeline Set up by the Bible
0 a.f. [After the Fall] Adam (930 years)

130 a.f. Seth (912 years)

235 a.f. Enosh (905 years)

325 a.f. Kenan (910 years)

395 a.f. Mahalalel (895 years)

460 a.f. Jared (962 years)

622 a.f. Enoch (365 years)

687 a.f. Methuselah (969 years)

874 a.f. Lamech (777 years)

1056 a.f. Noah (950 years) [1656 a.f. flood]
This was taken from Gen. 2 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

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A better and more accurate chart may be found at:

http://www.biblestudy.org/maps/large-chart-life-span-of-patriarchs-from-adam-to-noah.jpg

A More Accurate Chart of the Lifespans of Noah's Ancestors:

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I found a pretty good chart at

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2d/Oldtestamentgenealogy.gif

The Descendants of Adam

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When it comes to matters of ancient history, I defer to R. B. Thieme, Jr., who was a scholar in this field.
R. B. Thieme, Jr. Notes on Genesis 10 and Languages (from Syndein)
{Note: See Chapter 9:25 and following for more on the overall characteristics of the descendants of these three. Basically, the line of Shem (Semitic People) holds spiritual superiority. The line of Japheth (Japhetic People) holds physical superiority (large conquering people). And the line of Ham (Hamitic People) will be the servant of the other brothers (at least the line through Canaan).}
{Note: RBT says there are three basic lines of languages (with many variations within each) in the world today (and there are exceptions and overflows - so general rule):

1. The Indo-European language is basically the language of the line of Japheth (Japhetic people).

2. The Semitic language is basically the language of the line of Shem (Semitic people).

3. The Ural-Altaic (sp) or Altranian sp languages which are basically the languages of the line of Ham (Hamitic people).
Many exceptions: for example, the Finish people speak a Uralian language. So the Fins are a Hamitic peoples but have intermarried with Japhetic peoples and are a great race but very different from the peoples around them.}
From http://syndein.com/Genesis_10.html accessed January 24, 2013.

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What follows was interesting to me. I do not know exactly how factual all of this is, not being an expert in philology, but it is fascinating if true.
Philology from Bible Believers . Org
"Philology," which is the science of the structure and development of language, has discovered three parent groups of languages and peoples: Aryan, Semitic, and Turanian (who are Asiatic and neither Aryan nor Semitic)-Japheth, Shem, and Ham. Family traits are evident in the languages of the different groups as language determines or reflects the way men conceive of things.
The Japhetic or the Indo-Europeans have maintained the evident relationships in their particular family of languages. And the same observation applies to the Semitic languages. Even though they have spread so widely, they have continued to share a certain way of viewing things. Indo-Europeans philosophically with an emphasis on the abstract, and the Semites with their emphasis upon behavior from a more transcendental point of view.
From all over the world, wherever Ham and Canaan are found, the witness is to an entirely practical view of the world, rooted in the present, wise in a canny sort of way, specific, particular, uninterested in the abstract, always inventing new words or new terms for things, interested in particulars rather than categories, earthy, and very largely disinterested in unlikely possibilities.
The family of the Indo-European languages is readily identifiable as a family, as are the Semitic tongues. The Hamites, however, have been so inventive, they devise terms with equal facility and their languages are in such a state of flux that within a few generations, even tribes living just across the river will find themselves scarcely able to converse.
This strange tendency which has prevented the Egyptians, Hittites, Sumerians, Chinese and Central American Indians from developing an alphabetical script may have been Providence, guaranteeing the quick dispersal of Ham all over the world. Many cuneiform scholars have noted the similarities between Sumerian and Chinese. "Civilization has traveled with the sun, from the east, coming west. . . . The oldest civilization is China, . . . And sin has traveled with civilization" (We Have Seen His Star and Have Come to Worship Him, 28:188).
What divided the Hamites in this way was not a difference in language structure, for the philosophy of their languages remained remarkably similar, so that the ways of thinking of the African native, the Chinese peasant, and the American Indian have remained for a very long time comparable: it was the vocabularies which changed.
According to Genesis 10:32, the families of the sons of Noah are divided or separated by languages into tribes and nations. These boundaries also knit them together in their generic group. This is a protective measure to ensure each people would be separate yet interdependent in order to realize the maximum capacity of man with his tremendous creative potential.
Any attempt to unify the world's language, to co-mingle the races or nations with the overt intention of making all men share equally in this potential will only serve to defeat its own purpose in the end. Thus Esperanto, "multiculturalism," gender equality, the UN, WCC and "the brotherhood of all mankind", are artificial, in direct opposition to God's purposes, and in a manner of speaking, a repetition of the hubris of Babel (Genesis 11:1-6 Matthew 24:37-38)
Taken from: http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/bb000319.htm

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The Bible and modern archeology synch up fairly well from around 2300 b.c. and forward. Most modern archeology is based upon 19th century precepts, which have not changed dramatically for over 100 years, even though they were developed before carbon dating. They are also based upon evolutionary theory, where modern man is thought to have been around for about 1 million years, whereas, the Bible has man on this earth for around 6000–7000 years.

I have seen several charts, and this one, The Biblical Chronology of Genesis 11, is one of the clearest and easiest to follow:

This came from http://www.creationism.org/lifespan.jpg Bear in mind that Cainan, who is named in the LXX and in the book of Luke, would add 130 years to everything after Arphaxad. There still could have been an overlap of Shem's life and Abraham's. Also, bear in mind that, there is 875 years difference between the line shown above and that found in the Septuagint (the Greek text). This would have changed the overlap of these generations quite radically. In any case, Shem, Arphaxad, Salah and Eber would have still outlived their sons, grandsons and, in some cases, great grandsons.

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Bibliography
The charts gotten from elsewhere are all sourced.

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