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Nations Grow and Spread

10 ·This is the family history [L These are the generations; 2:4] of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah. After the flood ·these three men had sons [L sons were born to them].

Japheth’s Sons

The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai [C ancestor of the Medes], Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

The sons of Gomer [C ancestor of the Cimmerians] were Ashkenaz [C ancestor of the Scythians], Riphath, and Togarmah.

The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim [C ancestor of the people of Cyprus], and ·Rodanim [L Dodanim; see 1 Chr. 1:7]. ·Those who lived in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea [L The people of the coastlands] ·came [spread] from these sons of Japheth. All the ·families [clans] grew and became different nations, each nation with its own land and its own language.

Ham’s Sons

The sons of Ham [C ancestors of near neighbors and rivals of Israel] were Cush [C ancestor of the Ethiopians], Mizraim [C ancestor of the Egyptians], Put [C perhaps ancestor of the Libyans], and Canaan.

The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.

The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan [C some of their descendants were the people around the Red Sea and southern Arabia].

Cush also had a descendant named Nimrod, who became a very powerful man on earth. He was a ·great [mighty] hunter before the Lord, which is why people say someone is “like Nimrod, a ·great [mighty] hunter before the Lord.” 10 ·At first Nimrod’s kingdom covered [L The beginning of his kingdom was] Babylon, ·Erech [or Uruk], Akkad, and Calneh [C well-known cities in southern Mesopotamia] in the land of ·Babylonia [L Shinar]. 11 From there he went to Assyria [C in northern Mesopotamia], where he built the cities of Nineveh, ·Rehoboth Ir [or that is a great city], and Calah. 12 He also built Resen, the great city between Nineveh and Calah.

13 Mizraim [10:6] was the father of the ·Ludites [C probably the Lydians], Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites, and the ·people of Crete [L Caphtorites]. (The Philistines came from the ·Casluhites [or Caphtorites].)

15 Canaan [C the son of Ham whom Noah cursed; 9:25–27] was the father of Sidon [C name of a famous coastal city in Syria], his first son, and of Heth [C ancestor of the Hittites, important inhabitants of Asia Minor]. 16 He was also the father of the Jebusites [C pre-Israelite inhabitants of Jerusalem], Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites [C peoples who lived in Syria-Palestine before the Israelites]. The ·families [clans] of the Canaanites scattered. 19 Their land reached from Sidon to Gerar as far as Gaza, and then to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

20 All these people were the sons of Ham, and all these ·families [clans] had their own languages, their own lands, and their own nations.

Shem’s Sons

21 Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. One of his descendants was the father of all the sons of Eber [C the Israelites were descended from Shem through Eber].

22 The sons of Shem were Elam [C a country east of Mesopotamia], Asshur [C in northern Mesopotamia], Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram [C north of Israel in Syria].

23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech.

24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, who was the father of Eber. 25 Eber was the father of two sons—one named Peleg [C related to the Hebrew word for “divided”], because the earth was divided during his life, and the other was named Joktan.

26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these people were the sons of Joktan. 30 They lived in the area between Mesha and Sephar in the hill country in the East.

31 These are the people from the ·family [clans] of Shem, arranged by ·families [clans], languages, countries, and nations.

32 This is the list of the ·families [clans] from the sons of Noah, arranged according to their nations. From these ·families [clans] came all the nations who ·spread [branched out] across the earth after the flood.

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