Add parallel Print Page Options

Noah and His Sons

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ·boat [ark] with him were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three men were Noah’s sons, and all the people on earth ·came [spread out; C see the genealogy in ch. 10] from these three sons.

20 Noah ·became a farmer [L was the first man of the ground/soil] and planted a vineyard. 21 When he drank ·wine made from his grapes [L the wine], he became drunk and lay ·naked [uncovered] in his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, looked at his naked father and told his [L two] brothers outside [C an act of disrespect; he should have helped his father, as in the next verse]. 23 Then Shem and Japheth got a coat and, carrying it on both their shoulders, they walked backwards into the tent and covered [L the nakedness of] their father. They turned their faces away so that they did not see their father’s nakedness [C they acted appropriately according to ancient custom].

24 Noah ·was sleeping because of the wine. When he woke up [woke up from his wine] and ·learned [L he knew] what his youngest son, Ham, had done to him, 25 he said,

“May there be a curse on Canaan [C the ancestor and representative of the inhabitants of Palestine that Israel displaced at the time of the conquest of the Promised Land; Josh. 1–12]!
    May he be the lowest ·slave [servant] to his brothers.”

26 Noah also said,

“May the Lord, the God of Shem, be ·praised [blessed]!
    May Canaan be Shem’s ·slave [servant; L Shem is the ancestor of Israel].
27 May God ·give more land to [make space for; C the verb sounds like his name] Japheth.
    May Japheth live in Shem’s tents,
    and may Canaan be their slave [10:2–4; 1 Chr. 1:5–7].”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 ·He lived a total of [L All the days of Noah were] 950 years, and then he died.

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.

Bible Gateway Recommends