Bereshis 10
10
1Now these are the toldot of the Bnei Noach: Shem, Cham, and Yephet; and unto them were banim born after the mabbul (flood).
2The Bnei Yephet: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Yavan, and Tuval, and Meshech, and Tiras.
3And the Bnei Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphat, and Togarmah.
4And the Bnei Yavan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5By these were the coastlands of the Goyim divided in their lands; every one after his leshon, after their mishpechot, in their Goyim.
6And the Bnei Cham: Cush, and Mitzrayim, and Put, and Kena'an.
7And the Bnei Cush: Seva, and Chavilah, and Savtah, and Ra'amah, and Savtecha; and the Bnei Raamah: Sheva, and Dedan.
8And Cush fathered Nimrod; he began to be a gibbor in ha'aretz.
9He was a gibbor, a hunter before Hashem; therefore it is said, like Nimrod the gibbor, the hunter before Hashem.
10And the beginning of his kingdom was Bavel, and Erech, and Akkad, and Calneh, in Eretz Shinar.
11Out of that land he went forth to Ashur, and built Nineveh, and Rechovot-Ir, and Kelach,
12And Resen between Nineveh and Kelach; the same is haIr Hagedolah.
13And Mitzrayim fathered Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehavim, and Naphtuchim,
14And Patrusim, and Casluchim, out of whom came Pelishtim (Philistines), and Caphtorim.
15And Kena'an fathered Tzidon his bechor, and Chet,
16And the Yevusi, and the Emori, and the Girgashi,
17And the Chivi, and the Arki, and the Sini,
18And the Arvadi, and the Tzemari, and the Chamati; and afterward were the mishpechot haKena'ani spread abroad.
19And the boundary of the Kena'ani was from Tzidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Azah (Gaza); as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Amora (Gomorrah), and Admah, and Tzevoyim, even unto Lesha.
20These are the Bnei Cham, after their mishpechot, after their leshonot, in their territories, and in their Goyim.
21Also unto Shem avi kol Bnei Ever, and the older brother of Yephet, even to him were offspring born.
22The Bnei Shem: Eilam, and Ashur, and Arpachshad, and Lud, and Aram.
23And Bnei Aram: Utz, and Chul, and Geter, and Mash.
24And Arpachshad fathered Shelach; and Shelach fathered Ever.
25And unto Ever were born two banim: the shem of one was Peleg; for in his days was ha'aretz divided; and his brotherʼs shem was Yoktan.
26And Yoktan fathered Almodad, and Sheleph, and Chatzarmavet, and Yerach,
27And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28And Oval, and Avimael, and Sheva,
29And Ophir, and Chavilah, and Yovav; all these were the Bnei Yoktan.
30And their moshav (dwelling) was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar har hakedem.
31These are the Bnei Shem, after their mishpechot, according to their leshonot, in their territories, after their Goyim.
32These are the mishpechot of the Bnei Noach, after their toldot, in their Goyim; and by these were the Goyim divided/separated in ha'aretz after the mabbul.
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Bereshis 10: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 10
10
Table of the Nations.#Verse 1 is the fourth of the Priestly formulas (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 11:10) that structure Part I of Genesis; it introduces 10:2–11:9, the populating of the world and the building of the city. In a sense, chaps. 4–9 are concerned with the first of the two great commands given to the human race in 1:28, “Be fertile and multiply,” whereas chaps. 10–11 are concerned with the second command, “Fill the earth and subdue it.” (“Subdue it” refers to each nation’s taking the land assigned to it by God.) Gn 9:19 already noted that all nations are descended from the three sons of Noah; the same sentiment is repeated in 10:5, 18, 25, 32; 11:8. The presupposition of the chapter is that every nation has a land assigned to it by God (cf. Dt 32:8–9). The number of the nations is seventy (if one does not count Noah and his sons, and counts Sidon [vv. 15, 19] only once), which is a traditional biblical number (Jgs 8:30; Lk 10:1, 17). According to Gn 46:27 and Ex 1:5, Israel also numbered seventy persons, which shows that it in some sense represents the nations of the earth.This chapter classifies the various peoples known to the ancient Israelites; it is theologically important as stressing the basic family unity of all peoples on earth. It is sometimes called the Table of the Nations. The relationship between the various peoples is based on linguistic, geographic, or political grounds (v. 31). In general, the descendants of Japheth (vv. 2–5) are the peoples of the Indo-European languages to the north and west of Mesopotamia and Syria; the descendants of Ham (vv. 6–20) are the Hamitic-speaking peoples of northern Africa; and the descendants of Shem (vv. 21–31) are the Semitic-speaking peoples of Mesopotamia, Syria and Arabia. But there are many exceptions to this rule; the Semitic-speaking peoples of Canaan are considered descendants of Ham, because at one time they were subject to Hamitic Egypt (vv. 6, 15–19). This chapter is generally considered to be a composite from the Yahwist source (vv. 8–19, 21, 24–30) and the Priestly source (vv. 1–7, 20, 22–23, 31–32). Presumably that is why certain tribes of Arabia are listed under both Ham (v. 7) and Shem (vv. 26–28). 1These are the descendants of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, to whom children were born after the flood.
2#1 Chr 1:5–10. The descendants of Japheth: Gomer,#Gomer: the Cimmerians; Madai: the Medes; Javan: the Greeks. Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras.#Ez 38:2. 3The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz,#Ashkenaz: an Indo-European people, which later became the medieval rabbinic name for Germany. It now designates one of the great divisions of Judaism, Eastern European Yiddish-speaking Jews. Diphath and Togarmah. 4The descendants of Javan: Elishah,#Elishah: Cyprus; the Kittim: certain inhabitants of Cyprus; the Rodanim: the inhabitants of Rhodes. Tarshish, the Kittim and the Rodanim. 5From these branched out the maritime nations.
These are the descendants of Japheth by their lands, each with its own language, according to their clans, by their nations.
6The descendants of Ham: Cush,#Cush: biblical Ethiopia, modern Nubia. Mizraim: Lower (i.e., northern) Egypt; Put: either Punt in East Africa or Libya. Mizraim, Put and Canaan. 7The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
8Cush#Cush: here seems to be Cossea, the country of the Kassites; see note on 2:10–14. Nimrod: possibly Tukulti-Ninurta I (thirteenth century B.C.), the first Assyrian conqueror of Babylonia and a famous city-builder at home. became the father of Nimrod, who was the first to become a mighty warrior on earth. 9He was a mighty hunter in the eyes of the Lord; hence the saying, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter in the eyes of the Lord.” 10His kingdom originated in Babylon, Erech and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar.#Shinar: the land of ancient Babylonia, embracing Sumer and Akkad, present-day southern Iraq, mentioned also in 11:2; 14:1. 11From that land he went forth to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir#Rehoboth-Ir: lit., “wide-streets city,” was probably not the name of another city, but an epithet of Nineveh; cf. Jon 3:3. and Calah, 12as well as Resen, between Nineveh and Calah,#Calah: Assyrian Kalhu, the capital of Assyria in the ninth century B.C. the latter being the principal city.
13#1 Chr 1:11–16. Mizraim became the father of the Ludim, the Anamim, the Lehabim, the Naphtuhim, 14the Pathrusim,#The Pathrusim: the people of Upper (southern) Egypt; cf. Is 11:11; Jer 44:1; Ez 29:14; 30:13. Caphtorim: Crete; for Caphtor as the place of origin of the Philistines, cf. Dt 2:23; Am 9:7; Jer 47:4. the Casluhim, and the Caphtorim from whom the Philistines came.
15Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and of Heth;#Heth: the biblical Hittites; see note on 23:3. 16also of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward, the clans of the Canaanites spread out, 19so that the Canaanite borders extended from Sidon all the way to Gerar, near Gaza, and all the way to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, near Lasha.
20These are the descendants of Ham, according to their clans, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.
21To Shem also, Japheth’s oldest brother and the ancestor of all the children of Eber,#Eber: the eponymous ancestor of the Hebrews, that is, the one to whom they traced their name. children were born. 22#1 Chr 1:17–23. The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud and Aram. 23The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash.
24Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber. 25To Eber two sons were born: the name of the first was Peleg, for in his time the world was divided;#In the Hebrew text there is a play on the name Peleg and the word niplega, “was divided.” and the name of his brother was Joktan.
26Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were descendants of Joktan. 30Their settlements extended all the way from Mesha to Sephar, the eastern hill country.
31These are the descendants of Shem, according to their clans, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.
32These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their origins and by their nations. From these the nations of the earth branched out after the flood.
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