Last 5 Days
Descendants of Noah after the Flood
1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 9 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 Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in 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 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.
15 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, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, 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 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, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
Genealogy is a topic shun by some but loved by others. You either love it and dig deeper into it to find “the connections” or avoid it totally and don’t really care much about roots! But roots are important because many places in the Bible give us detail coverage and mention of the genealogies of peoples, especially of the Jewish people. We read about the two genealogies given concerning Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. We read the first record of the generations (genealogy) of Adam to Noah in Genesis Chapter 5 and here in Genesis 10, we read about the generations (genealogy) of Noah’s 3 sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Genesis Chapter 10 gives us a rather thorough and orderly description of the table of nations, of the sons of Noah and their descendants after the flood. Interestingly, the order given in verse 1 was: Shem, Ham and Japheth, (also in Gen. 9:18) but then the genealogy seems to be in the reverse order starting from Japheth. Perhaps the author has a purpose: to zero in on the family line of Shem who is the son of Noah and the ancestor of Abraham, as the story of human history progresses.
When we read the history of the nations, many of the names might not sound familiar, such as the descendant of Japheth found in verses 2-5. But from verse 5, at least we know that they are the coastland peoples; those who live by the sea. So many of them might be the seafarers. Japheth is usually thought of as the “Father of the Europeans” and the “Father of the Japhetic Race” equating the Japhetic nations to Europeans. He is known to be the ancestor of all Indo-European nations. (https://amazingbibletimeline.com/blog/japheth-son-of-noah/)
On the other hand, the names of the descendants of Ham might be quite familiar to us. For example, we should know: Cush, Egypt, Canaan, the Philistines, and many descendants of Canaan. There were a few interesting mentions concerning the sons of Ham. Verses 8-12 focuses on Nimrod, the son of Cush, that he was the first mighty man on earth, a mighty hunter before the Lord. He was also a skilful city builder of famous cities like Babel and Nineveh.
And we might also be familiar with the descendants of Shem, like: Aram, Eber, Peleg and Joktan. Verse 25 gives us the interesting record of the first recorded earthquake (or earth movement) in the history of humankind: “for in his (Peleg) days the earth was divided.”
What does this genealogy tell us? I think it is about the importance of roots. And it fulfils God’s promise to Noah in the Rainbow Covenant, that he will never again destroy the earth by a flood. (Gen. 8:11-16) It is also a restart of humanity through Noah and his three sons. And in next chapter, it zeroes in on the “righteous line” of Seth to Noah that continues to Eber, to Peleg and later to Abraham when God called him out of the land of Ur to go to the promised land of Canaan. (Gen. 11:10-32)
Practically, as Chinese people, we might ask what does this chapter have to do with us? Well, many people have tried to postulate and come up suggestions. In verse 17, we might have a hint: the Bible records Ham as the ancestor of the “Sinites” which probably became the Oriental peoples. (See also, the land of Sinim, Isa. 49:12) (https://www.icr.org/article/how-can-chinese-dynasties-extend-back-many-thousan)
We might not be able to prove this generational connection completely. Whatever it is, we can be glad that regardless of whether we are from the line of Shem, Ham or Japheth, all humankind comes from one ancestry in Adam and in Noah, and we are created by God for a purpose. This chapter reminds me that history is real and traceable, and as the Apostle Paul reminds us, we need to bow our “knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.” (Eph. 3:14-15)
The Bible also clearly reiterates the examples of Enoch and Noah that they walked faithfully with God. (Gen. 5:24; 6:9) We thank God that He is our Creator and Saviour. He does not only want us to have a relationship with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ, He also wants us to have fellowship with Him, to walk with Him and by faith trust Him to lead us daily in our lives.
Dear God, our Creator and Saviour. we thank you that you have not abandon humankind when they sinned against you but have given them a second chance to restart their generations, so that they might again seek to be in relationship with you and walk faithfully before you. Thank you for the lives of Enoch and Noah and people like them who showed the way and gave us hope to walk with you in faith. Thank you that through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have been redeemed to return to you and to live in fellowship with you. Help us treasure this fellowship by setting aside each day to spend time with you, and when we wake up in the morning, our first thought might be you, to hear your voice and follow your leading and guidance for the rest of the day. We thank you and pray these things in Christ’s name. Amen!
