Nations Grow and Spread

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

Japheth’s Sons

² The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai [^Cancestor of the Medes], Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer [^Cancestor of the Cimmerians] were Ashkenaz [^Cancestor of the Scythians], Riphath, and Togarmah.

⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim [^Cancestor of the people of Cyprus], and ·Rodanim [^LDodanim; see 1 Chr. 1:7]. ⁵ ·Those who lived in the lands around the Mediterranean Sea [^LThe 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

⁶ The sons of Ham [^Cancestors of near neighbors and rivals of Israel] were Cush [^Cancestor of the Ethiopians], Mizraim [^Cancestor of the Egyptians], Put [^Cperhaps ancestor of the Libyans], and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca.

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

⁸ Cush also had a descendant named Nimrod, who became a very powerful man on earth. ⁹ 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 [^LThe beginning of his kingdom was] Babylon, ·Erech [or Uruk], Akkad, and Calneh [^Cwell-known cities in southern Mesopotamia] in the land of ·Babylonia [^LShinar]. ¹¹ From there he went to Assyria [^Cin 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 [^Cprobably the Lydians], Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, ¹⁴ Pathrusites, Casluhites, and the ·people of Crete [^LCaphtorites]. (The Philistines came from the ·Casluhites [or Caphtorites].)

¹⁵ Canaan [^Cthe son of Ham whom Noah cursed; 9:25–27] was the father of Sidon [^Cname of a famous coastal city in Syria], his first son, and of Heth [^Cancestor of the Hittites, important inhabitants of Asia Minor]. ¹⁶ He was also the father of the Jebusites [^Cpre-Israelite inhabitants of Jerusalem], Amorites, Girgashites, ¹⁷ Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, ¹⁸ Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites [^Cpeoples 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 [^Cthe Israelites were descended from Shem through Eber].

²² The sons of Shem were Elam [^Ca country east of Mesopotamia], Asshur [^Cin northern Mesopotamia], Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram [^Cnorth 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 [^Crelated 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.