Genesis 11 - Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

The descendants of Shem.

Here is a genealogy, or list of names, ending in Abram, the friend of God, and thus leading towards Christ, the promised Seed, who was the son of Abram. Nothing is left upon record but their names and ages; the Holy Ghost seeming to hasten through them to the history of Abram. How little do we know of those that are gone before us in this world, even of those that lived in the same places where we live, as we likewise know little of those who now live in distant places! We have

enough to do to mind our own work. When the earth began to be peopled, men's lives began to shorten; this was the wise disposal of Providence. (Ge 11:27-32)