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Nations Grow and Spread

10 This is the family history of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah. After the flood these three men had sons.

Japheth’s Sons

The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim,[a] and Rodanim. Those who lived in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea came from these sons of Japheth. All the families grew and became different nations, each nation with its own land and its own language.

Ham’s Sons

The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim,[b] Put, and Canaan.

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

The sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

Cush also had a descendant named Nimrod, who became a very powerful man on earth. He was a great hunter before the Lord, which is why people say someone is “like Nimrod, a great hunter before the Lord.” 10 At first Nimrod’s kingdom covered Babylon, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Babylonia. 11 From there he went to Assyria, where he built the cities of Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, and Calah. 12 He also built Resen, the great city between Nineveh and Calah.

13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites, and the people of Crete. (The Philistines came from the Casluhites.)

15 Canaan was the father of Sidon, his first son, and of Heth. 16 He was also the father of the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The families 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 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.

22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

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] 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 of Shem, arranged by families, languages, countries, and nations.

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

Footnotes

  1. 10:4 Kittim His descendants were the people of Cyprus.
  2. 10:6 Mizraim This is another name for Egypt.
  3. 10:25 Peleg This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “divided.”

Nations Descended from Noah

10 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

(A)The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Javan: Elishah, (B)Tarshish, (C)Kittim, and Dodanim. From these (D)the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.

(E)The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.[a] He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was (F)Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in (G)the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 (H)Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom[b] the Philistines came), and (I)Caphtorim.

15 (J)Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth,[c] children were born. 22 The (K)sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered (L)Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 (M)To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,[d] for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 (N)Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, (O)and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 10:8 Or he began to be a mighty man on the earth
  2. Genesis 10:14 Or from where
  3. Genesis 10:21 Or the brother of Japheth the elder
  4. Genesis 10:25 Peleg means division