Genesis 10:6

Amplified Bible

the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim [from whom descended the Egyptians], Put, and Canaan;

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
The children of Ham, Chus: and Mizraim, and Phut, and Chanaan.

Easy-to-Read Version
Ham's sons were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

Revised Standard Version
The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli the sones of Cham weren Thus, and Mesraym, and Futh, and Chanaan.

King James Version (1611)
And the sonnes of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

King James Version
And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The childre of Ham are these: Thus, Misraim, Phut and Canaan.

THE MESSAGE
The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, Canaan.

New American Standard Bible
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

American Standard Version
And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

Bible in Basic English
And the sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.

Update Bible Version
And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

World English Bible
The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

New English Translation
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

New King James Version
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, [fn] and Canaan.

Contemporary English Version
Ham's descendants had their own languages, tribes, and land. They were Ethiopia, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. Cush was the ancestor of Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. Raamah was the ancestor of Sheba and Dedan. Cush was also the ancestor of Nimrod, a mighty warrior whose strength came from the Lord . Nimrod is the reason for the saying, "You hunt like Nimrod with the strength of the Lord !" Nimrod first ruled in Babylon, Erech, and Accad, all of which were in Babylonia. From there Nimrod went to Assyria and built the great city of Nineveh. He also built Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, as well as Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah. Egypt was the ancestor of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines. Canaan's sons were Sidon and Heth. He was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanites spread from the territory of Sidon and went as far as Gaza in the direction of Gerar. They also went as far as Lasha in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim.

Complete Jewish Bible
The sons of Ham were Kush, Mitzrayim, Put and Kena‘an.

Darby Translation
And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Moreouer, ye sonnes of Ham were Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

George Lamsa Translation
And the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

Good News Translation
The sons of Ham—Cush, Egypt, Libya, and Canaan—were the ancestors of the peoples who bear their names.

Hebrew Names Version
The sons of Ham: Kush, Mitzrayim, Put, and Kana`an.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

New Living Translation
The descendants of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

New Life Bible
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

New Revised Standard
The descendants of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the sons of Cham, Chus, and Mesrain, Phud, and Chanaan.

English Revised Version
And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

Berean Standard Bible
The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, the sons of Ham: Cush and Mizraim and Phut and Canaan.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and Chanaan.

Lexham English Bible
And the sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

Literal Translation
And Ham's sons were Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.

English Standard Version
The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

New Century Version
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

Christian Standard Bible®
Ham's sons: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.

Young's Literal Translation
And sons of Ham [are] Cush, and Mitzraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

Contextual Overview

⁶the sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim [from whom descended the Egyptians], Put, and Canaan;⁷the sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah; Sheba and Dedan. ⁸Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. ⁹He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD." ¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [in Babylonia]. ¹¹From that land Nimrod went to Assyria, and built Nineveh, and Rehoboth-Ir, and Calah, ¹²and [Nimrod built] Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; all these [combined to form] the great city [Nineveh]. ¹³Mizraim [the ancestor of the Egyptians] became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim ¹⁴and Pathrusim and Casluhim—from whom came the Philistines—and Caphtorim.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 1676, bc 2228

And the: Genesis 9:22, 1 Chronicles 1:8-16, 1 Chronicles 4:40, Psalms 78:51, Psalms 105:23, Psalms 105:27, Psalms 106:22

Ham: Ham signifies burnt or black; and this name was peculiarly significant of the regions allotted to his family. To the Cushites, or descendants of Cush, were allotted the hot southern regions of Asia, along the shores of the Persian Gulf, Susiana or Chusistan, etc.; to the sons of Canaan, Palestine and Syria; to the sons of Mizraim, Egypt and Libya, in Africa.

Cush: Isaiah 11:11

Phut: Jeremiah 46:9, *marg. Ezekiel 27:10

Reciprocal: Genesis 2:13 - Ethiopia Genesis 7:13 - and Shem Genesis 9:18 - Ham Genesis 10:20 - General Joshua 13:3 - five Lords 2 Chronicles 12:3 - Ethiopians Ezekiel 38:5 - Libya Nahum 3:9 - Put Habakkuk 3:7 - Cushan

Cross-References

Genesis 9:22
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw [by accident] the nakedness of his father, and [to his father's shame] told his two brothers outside.

Genesis 10:8
Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.

Genesis 10:16
and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite

1 Chronicles 4:40
They found rich, good pasture, and the [cleared] land was wide, quiet, and peaceful; for those who had lived there previously came from Ham [and had left it a better place for those who came after them].

Psalms 78:51
He killed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.

Psalms 105:23
Israel also came into Egypt; Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

Psalms 105:27
They exhibited His wondrous signs among them, Great miracles in the land of Ham (Egypt).

Psalms 106:22
Wonders in the land of Ham, Awesome things at the Red Sea.

Isaiah 11:11
Then it will happen on that day that the Lord Will again acquire with His hand a second time The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, from [Lower] Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush (Ethiopia), from Elam [in Persia], from Shinar [Babylonia], from Hamath [in Aram], And from the coastlands bordering the [Mediterranean] Sea.

Jeremiah 46:9
Charge, you horses, And drive like madmen, you chariots! Let the warriors go forward: Ethiopia and Put (Libya) who handle the shield, And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the sons of Ham,.... Next to the sons of Japheth, the sons of Ham are reckoned; these, Josephus z says, possessed the land from Syria, and the mountains of Amanus and Lebanon; laying hold on whatever was towards the sea, claiming to themselves the countries unto the ocean, whose names, some of them, are entirely lost, and others so greatly changed and deflected into other tongues, that they can scarcely be known, and few whose names are preserved entire; and the same observation will hold good of others. Four of the sons of Ham are mentioned,

Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan; the first of these, Cush, Josephus a says, has suffered no loss by time; for the Ethiopians, whose prince he was, are to this day by themselves, and all in Asia, called Chusaeans: but though this word Cush, as used in Scripture, is generally rendered by us Ethiopia, this must not be understood of Ethiopia in Africa, but in Arabia; and indeed is always to be understood of one part of Arabia, and which was near to the land of Judea; so Moses's wife is called an Ethiopian, when she was an Arabian, or of Midian, Numbers 12:1 and Chusan and Midian are mentioned together, Habakkuk 3:7 see 2Ki 19:9 2Ch 14:9 and Bochart b has shown, by various arguments, that the land of Cush was Arabia; and so the Targum of Jonathan interprets it here Arabia. There was a city called Cutha in Erac, a province in the country of Babylon c, where Nimrod the son of Cush settled, which probably was called so from his father's name. Here the eastern writers say d Abraham was born, and is the same place mentioned in 2 Kings 17:24. The second son of Ham was Mizraim, the same with the Misor of Sanchoniatho e, and the Menes of Herodotus f, the first king of Egypt, and the builder of the city of Memphis in Egypt, called by the Turks to this day Mitzir g. Mitzraim is a name by which Egypt is frequently called in Scripture, and this man was the father of the Egyptians; and because Egypt was inhabited by a son of Ham, it is sometimes called the land of Ham,

Psalms 105:23. The word is of the dual number, and serves to express Egypt by, which was divided into two parts, lower and upper Egypt. Josephus says h, we call Egypt, Mestres, and all the Egyptians that inhabit it, Mestraeans; so the country is called by Cedrenus i, Mestre; and Kairo, a principal city in it, is to this day by the Arabians called Al-messer, as Dr. Shaw k relates. The third son of Ham is Phut; of whom Josephus l says, that he founded Libya, calling the inhabitants of it after his name, Phuteans; and observes, that there is a river in the country of the Moors of his name; and that many of the Greek historians, who make mention of this river, also make mention of a country adjacent to it, called Phute: mention is made of this river as in Mauritania, both by Pliny m and Ptolemy n and by the latter of a city called Putea: this Phut is the Apollo Pythius of the Heathens, as some think. The last son of Ham is Canaan, the father of the Canaanites, a people well known in Scripture. Concerning these sons of Ham, there is a famous fragment of Eupolemus preserved in Eusebius o; and is this;

"the Babylonians say, that the first was Belus, called Cronus or Saturn (that is, Noah), and of him was begotten another Belus and Chanaan (it should be read Cham), and he (i.e. Ham) begat Chanaan, the father of the Phoenicians; and of him another son, Chus, was begotten, whom the Greeks call Asbolos, the father of the Ethiopians, and the brother of Mestraim, the father of the Egyptians.''

z Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect 1.) a Ibid. b Phaleg. l. 4. c. 2. c Vid. Hyde Hist. Relig. Pers. c. 2. p. 39, 40. d Vid. Hyde Hist. Relig. Pers. c. 2. p. 72. e Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 1. p. 36. f Enterpe sive, l. 2. c. 4. 99. g See Cumberland's Sanchoniatho, p. 59. h Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect 1.) i Apud Grotium de vera Christ. Relig. l. 1. p. 8. & Ainsworth in loc. k Travels, ch. 3. p. 294. Ed. 2. l Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect 1.) m Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 1. n Geograph. l. 4. c. 1, 3. o Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 17. p. 419.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

- XXXII. Ham

6. מצרים mı̂tsrayı̂m, “Mitsraim.” מצר mētser, “straitness, limit, pressure.” מצור mātsôr, “distress, siege, mound, bulwark; Egypt.” מצרים mı̂tsrayı̂m, “perhaps double Egypt, lower and upper.” פוּט pûṭ, “Put, troubled.”

7. סבא s^ebā', “Seba, drinking (man, Ethiopian).” סבתה sabtâh, “Sabtah.” רעמה ra‛mâh, “Ra‘mah, shaking, trembling.” סבתכא sabt^ekā', “Sabtekha.” שׁבא shēbā', “Sheba, captive?” דדן d^edān, “Dedan, going slowly?”

8. נמרד nı̂mrod, “Nimrod, strong, rebel.”

10. בבל bābel, “Babel; related: pour, mingle, confound.” ארך 'erek, “Erek, length.” אכד 'akad, “Akkad, fortress.” כלנה kalneh, “Kalneh.” שׁנער shı̂n‛ār, “Shin‘ar.”

11. נינוה nı̂yn^evēh, “Nineveh, dwelling?” עיר רחבח r^echobot 'ı̂yr, “Rechoboth ‘ir, streets of a city.” כלח kelach, “Kelach, completion, end, age.”

12. רסן resen, “Resen, bridle, bit.”

13. לוּדים lûdı̂ym, “Ludim, born?” ענמים ‛ǎnāmı̂ym, “‘Anamim, possession, sheep. להבים lı̂hābı̂ym, “Lehabim, fiery, flaming?” נפתהים naptuchı̂ym, “Naphtuchim, opening.”

14. פתרסים patrusı̂ym, “Pathrusim.” כסלחים kasluchı̂ym, “Kasluchim.” פלשׁתים p^elı̂shtı̂ym, “Pelishtim”, Αλλόφυλοι Allophuloi, “related: break, scatter; Aethiopic “migrate.” כפתרים kaptorı̂ym, “Kaphtorim; related: crown, capital.”

15. צידון tsı̂ydon, “Tsidon, hunting.” צת chēt, “Cheth, breaking, affrighting.”

16. יבוּסי y^ebûsı̂y, “Jebusi; related: tread.” אמרי 'emorı̂y, “Emori; related: Say, be high.” גגשׁי gı̂rgāshı̂y, “Girgashi; related: clay, clod.”

17. צוּי chı̂vı̂y, “Chivvi; related: live.” ערקי ‛arqı̂y, “‘Arqi; related: gnaw, sting.” סיני sı̂ynı̂y, “Sini; related: mud, clay.”

18. ארודי 'arvādı̂y, “Arvadi; related: roam, ramble.” צמרי; ts^emārı̂y, “Tsemari; noun: wool; verb: cover.” חמתי chāmātı̂y, “Chamathi; noun: fastness; verb: guard.”

19. גרר gerār, “Gerar; related: draw, saw, abide.” עזה 'azâh, ‘Azzah, strong.” סדם s^edom, “Sodom; related: shut, stop.” עמרה 'amorâh, “‘Amorah; noun: sheaf; verb: bind.” אדמה 'admâh, “Admah; adjective: red; noun: soil.” צבים tseboyı̂m, “Tseboim, gazelles; verb: go forth, shine.” לשׁע lesha‛, “Lesha; verb: pierce, cleave.”

Genesis 10:6

And the sons of Ham. - Ham the youngest of the three brothers Genesis 9:24, is placed here because he agrees with Japheth in becoming estranged from the true God, and because the last place as the more important is reserved for Shem. As the name of Japheth is preserved in the Ιαπετος Iapetos of the Greeks, so Chain is supposed to appear in Chemi of the Coptic, χημία cheemia of Plutarch, Chine of the Rosetta Stone, an old name of Egypt. This country is also called the land of Ham in Scripture Psalms 78:51; Psalms 105:23, Psalms 105:27; Psalms 106:22. But this term was of more comprehensive import, as we find some ancient inhabitants of a region in the south of Judah, said to have come from Ham 1 Chronicles 4:40. Thirty primitive nations sprang from Ham. Of these, only four were immediate descendants.

(15) Kush has left traces of his name perhaps in the Caucasus, the Caspian, and the Cossaei of Khusistan. There is an allusion in Amos (Amos 9:7) to his migration to the land south of Egypt which bears his name. This name is preserved in Gheez, the name of the ancient language of the people, and some say even in Habesh. It is possible, that some of the Kushites went toward India. To Ethiopia, however, the name generally refers in Scripture. The Ethiopians were called by Homer (Odyssey I. 23), ἔσχατοι ἀνδρῶν eschatoi andrōn, “remotest of men.”

(16) Mizraim is the ordinary name for Egypt in the Hebrew scriptures. The singular form, Mazor, is found in later books 2 Kings 19:24; Isaiah 19:6; Isaiah 37:25.

(17) Put has with one consent been placed beyond Egypt, in the north of the continent of Africa. He is mentioned along with Lubim as the helper of Nineveh (Nab. Isaiah 3:9), and with Kush, as forming part of the army of Neko Jeremiah 46:9. His descendants penetrated far westward. A river bearing the name of Phutes has been mentioned in Mauretania, and an inland country is designated by the name of Futa. The name may be preserved also in Buto, the capital of lower Egypt, on the Sebennytic mouth of the Nile.

(18) Kenaan settled in the country called after his name. There are some grounds for believing that this land was previously inhabited by Shemites, as the land was Shemitic. If so, the Kenaanites came in as intruders, and followed the language of their predecessors. But of this hereafter.

Genesis 10:7

Kush had five sons and two grandsons, who were reckoned among the founders of nations.

(19) Seba is associated with Kush Isaiah 43:3; Isaiah 45:14. Josephus (Ant. I. 6, 2; II. 10, 2) places him in Meroe, a country almost insulated by the Nile and its branches, the Astapus (Blue Nile) and Astaboras (Atbarah).

(20) Havilah occurs as the name of a country in the antediluvian times. The present Havilah may refer to a tribe in Africa, called Avalitae, lying south of Bab-el-mandeb, which corresponds very well with the situation of Kush and Seba. This nation, however, may also have a representative in the Χαυλοταῖοι Chaulotaioi of Strabo (xvi. 728), situated on the Persian Gulf, where some other Kushites were to be found. The fragments of this nation may have separated by migration, and left its name in both localities.

(21) Sabtah, Josephus finds in the Astaborans of Ethiopia, others in Sabota, a town in southwest Arabia.

(22) Ramah is traced in Rhegma on the southeast of Arabia.

(23) Sabteka is the third name, beginning with the same syllable. Such names are frequent from the Persian Gulf to the coast of Africa. Some find this place on the coast of Abyssinia, others in Samydake on the east side of the Persian Gulf. From Ramah are two tribes descended.

(24) Sheba, and (25) Dedan, lying in the south of Arabia or on the Persian Gulf. Daden, an island in the gulf, now Barhein, may represent the latter.

Genesis 10:8-12

In this episode Genesis 10:8-12, the author turns aside from the table of nations to notice the origin of the first great empires that were established on the earth. “And Kush begat Nimrod.” The author had before enumerated the sons of Kush, who were heads of nations. Here he singles out one of his sons or descendants, who became the first potentate of whom we have any record. He notices his qualities for rising to this position among men. “He began to be a mighty one in the land. He was mighty in hunting, before the Lord.” Hunting is a comprehensive term, indicating the taking of any species of animal, whether of the air, the sea, or the land. Nimrod’s distinction in this respect was so great as to become proverbial. The expression, “before the Lord,” intimates, not merely that the Lord was cognizant of his proceedings, for he knoweth all things, but that Nimrod himself made no secret his designs, pursued them with a bold front and a high hand, and at the same time was aware of the name and will of Yahweh. This defiant air gives a new character to his hunting, which seems to have extended even to man, as the term is sometimes so applied (1 Samuel 24:12 (1 Samuel 24:11), Jeremiah 16:16). His name, which literally means “we shall rebel,” is in keeping with the practice of an arbitrary and violent control over men’s persons and property.

Genesis 10:10

The beginning or first seat and the extent of his kingdom among men are then described. It consists of four towns - Babel and Erek and Akkad and Kalneh, in the land of Shinar. The number four is characteristic of Nimrod’s kingdom. It is the mark of the four quarters of the earth, of universality in point of extent, and therefore of ambition. The site of Babel (Babylon) has been discovered in certain ruins near Hillah, chiefly on the opposite or eastern bank of the Euphrates, where there is a square mound called Babil by the natives. Erek has been traced also on the east bank of the Euphrates, about one hundred miles southeast of Babil, or half way between the city and the confluence of the rivers. It is the Orchoe of the Greeks, and the ruins now bear the name of Urka, or Warka. This name appears as Huruk on the cuneiform inscriptions of the place. Akkad, in the Septuagint. Archad, Col. Taylor finds in Akkerkoof, north of Babel, and about nine miles west of the Tigris, where it approaches the Euphrates. Here there is a hill or mound of ruins called Tel Nimrud. Rawlinson finds the name Akkad frequent in the inscriptions, and mentions Kingi Akkad as part of the kingdom of Urukh, but without identifying the site. Kalneh, Kalno, Isaiah 10:9; Kanneh, Ezekiel 27:23, is regarded by Jerome, and the Targum of Jonathan, as the same with Ktesiphon on the Tigris, in the district of Chalonitis. Its ruins are near Takti Kesra. Rawlinson identifies it with Niffer, but without assigning satisfactory grounds. The sites of these towns fix that of Shinar, which is evidently the lower part of Mesopotamia, or, more precisely, the country west of the Tigris, and south of Is, or Hit, on the Euphrates, and Samara on the Tigris. It is otherwise called Babylonia and Chaldaea.

Genesis 10:11, Genesis 10:12

Out of that land came he forth to Asshur. - This may be otherwise rendered, “out of that land came forth Asshur.” The probabilities in favor of the former translations are the following: First. The discourse relates to Nimrod. Second. The words admit of it. Third. The word Asshur has occurred hitherto only as the name of a country. Fourth. Asshur, the person, was considerably older than Nimrod, and had probably given name to Asshur before Nimrod’s projects began. Fifth. Asshur would have been as great a man as Nimrod, if he had founded Nineveh and its contiguous towns; which does not appear from the text. Sixth. “The beginning of his kingdom” implies the addition to it contained in these verses. Seventh. And the phrases “in the land of Shinar, out of that land,” and the need of some definite locality for the second four cities, are in favor of the former rendering.

Asshur was a country intersected by the Tigris. It included the part of Mesopotamia north of Shinar, and the region between the Tigris and Mount Zagros. Its extension westward is undefined by any natural boundary, and seems to have varied at different times. Nineveh was a well-known city of antiquity, situated opposite Mosul on the Tigris. The country in which it was placed is called by Strabo Aturia, a variation seemingly of Asshur. It’s remains are now marked by the names Nebbi-yunus and Koyunjik. Rehoboth-ir, the city broadway or market, has not been identified. Kelah is said to be now marked by the ruin called Nimrud. This lies on the left bank of the Tigris, near its confluence with the greater Zab, Its name seems to be preserved in the Calachene of Strabo. It was about twenty miles south of Nineveh. It is possible, however, so far as we can conjecture from conflicting authorities, that Kelah may be Kileh Sherghat, about fifty miles south of Mosul, on the right bank of the Tigris. Resen is placed by the text, between Nineveh and Kelah, and is therefore probably represented by Selamiyeh, a village about half way between Koyunjik and Nimrud. If Kelah, however, be Kileh Sherghat, Resen will coincide with Nimrud. “That is the great city.”

This refers most readily to Resen, and will suit very well if it be Nimrud, which was evidently extensive. It may, however, refer to Nineveh. This completion of Nimrod’s kingdom, we see, contains also four cities. The Babylonian and Assyrian monarchies were akin in origin, and allied in their history and in their fall. They were too near each other to be independent, and their mutual jealousies at length brought about the ruin of the northern capital. A Kushite, and therefore a Hamite, founded this first world-monarchy or tyranny. Another Hamite power arose simultaneously in Egypt. A branch of the Kushites seem to have gone eastward, and spread over India. But another branch spread through the South of Arabia, and, crossing into Africa, came into contact, sometimes into alliance, and sometimes into collision with the Egyptian monarchy. The eastern empire is noticed particularly, because it intruded into Shemitic ground, and aimed continually at extending its sway over the nations descended from Shem.

Genesis 10:13-14

Mizraim has seven sons, from whom are derived eight nations.

(26) the Ludim are probably mentioned in Isaiah 66:19, in connection with Tarshish and Put; in Jeremiah 46:9, in connection with Kush and Put; and in Ezekiel 27:10; Ezekiel 30:5, in connection with Put. In all these instances the name is in the singular, but in our text in the plural, expressly denoting the nation of which Lud was the progenitor. The Ludim were distinguished for the use of the bow. They were, doubtless, an African tribe, related to the Egyptians, and well known to the prophets, though their country cannot now be pointed out. Josephus intimates that they were destroyed, as well as other tribes descended from Mizraim, in the Ethiopic war of the time of Moses; but they still existed in the times of Ezekiel. Movers finds them in the Lewatah, a tribe of Berbers. Others place them in Mauretania. Pliny mentions a river Laud in Tingitana.

(27) the Anamim are not elsewhere mentioned.

(28) the Lehabim are generally identified with the Lubim 2Ch 12:3; 2 Chronicles 16:8; Daniel 2:43; Nahum 3:9, who are introduced in connection with the Kushim. They are probably the Libyans, who lay to the west of Egypt, and, extending from the Mediterranean indefinitely to the south, came into contact with the Kushites of Abyssinia.

(29) the Naphtuhim Bochart places in Nephthys, near Pelusium on the Lake Sirbonis. Others find a trace of them in Napata, a town of Meroe. This agrees with the indications of Josephus and the Targum of Jonathan.

(30) the Pathrusim have their place in Pathros, a name of upper Egypt or the Thebais. It is arranged by Isaiah Isaiah 2:11 between Egypt and Kush.

(31) the Kasluhim are supposed by some to be represented by the Colchians, whom Herodotus (ii. 104) traces to Egypt. It is possible the Colchians may have been a colony from them. But their original seat must have been somewhere on the coast of the Red Sea.

(32) Philistim, who came from (31). The Philistines dwelt on the coast of the Mediterranean, from the border of Egypt to Joppa. They had five principal cities, - Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. They gave the name פלשׁת p^eleshet, Pelesheth, to the whole of Kenaan, from which is derived the Greek name Παλαιστὶνη Palaistinee “Palaestina.” They are stated by the text to be a colony or offshoot of the Kasluhim.

(33) Kaphtorim. From Jeremiah 47:4, it appears that Kaphtor was a coastland. From Amos 9:7, we learn that the Philistines came from this land. Hence, we conclude that the Kaphtorim dwelt on the coast of the Red Sea, adjacent to the Kasluchim, and left their name, perhaps, in Koptos and Αἴγυπτος Aiguptos. Cappadocia, Crete, and Cyprus only slightly resemble the name, and have no other recommendation. The Kasluhim may have been their southern neighbors, and thus the Philistines may have occupied a part of Kaphtor, before their settlement on the coast of the Great Sea, within the borders of Kenaan, where they would, of course, be another tribe (ἀλλόφυλοι allophuloi). This account of these descendants of Mizraim agrees best with the hint of Josephus, that many of them bordered on the Ethiopians; and perished, or perhaps were forced to migrate, in the Ethiopic or other wars (i. 6, 3). Thus, it appears that the descendants of Mizraim were settled in Africa, with the exception of the Philistines, who migrated into the country to which they gave their name.

Genesis 10:15-19

From Kenaan are descended eleven nations:

(34) Zidon is styled his first-born. The name is retained in the well-known town on the coast of Phoenicia, which is accordingly of the highest antiquity among the cities of that region. The Sidonians were reckoned co-extensive with the Phoenicians, and are mentioned by Homer (Iliad 23:743; Odyssey 4:618).

(35) Heth. This tribe dwelt about Hebron and in the mountains around, and perhaps still further north in the districts extending toward the Euphrates Genesis 23:3; Numbers 13:29; Joshua 1:4. Esau took wives from the Hittites Genesis 26:34-35, and some part of the nation existed even after the captivity Ezra 9:1.

(36) the Jebusite has his chief seat in and around Jerusalem, which was called Jebus, from his chief; and the citadel of which was wrested from him only in the time of David 2 Samuel 5:7.

(37) the Amorite was one of the most important and extensive tribes of Kenaan. Five kings of this nation dwelt in the mountains afterward occupied by Judah Genesis 14:7, Genesis 14:13; Numbers 13:29; Joshua 10:5, and two on the east of the Jordon, in Heshbon and Bashan, north of Moab Numbers 21:13; Deuteronomy 4:47. The eastern Amorites were conquered under Moses, the western under Joshua. A remnant of them were made bondsmen by Solomon 1 Kings 9:20. They survived the captivity Ezra 9:1.

(38) the Girgashite seems to have lain on the west of the Jordan, and the name may be preserved in the reading Γεργεσηνῶν Gergesēnōn, of Matthew 8:28. The town of the Gergesenes is supposed to have been at the southeast of the lake of Gennesaret Genesis 15:21; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 24:11.

(39) the Hivite was found at Shalem, Gibeon, and also at the foot of Hermon and Antilibanus Genesis 34:2; Joshua 9:7; Joshua 11:3; Judges 3:3. The former were also classed under the Amorites Genesis 48:22; 2 Samuel 21:2. With the exception of four cities of the Gibeonites, they were conquered by Joshua Joshua 9:17; Joshua 11:3, Joshua 11:19.

(40) the Arkite probably dwelt near a town called Arke or Caesarea Libani, lying some miles north of Tripolis, at the foot of Lebanon. Its ruins are still extant at Tel Arka.

(41) the Sinite is supposed to have dwelt in Sinna, a town mentioned by Strabo, called Sine by Jerome, and Syn in the fifteenth century (Strab. xvi. 2, 18; Hieron. Quaest. in Gen., Breitenbach, Travels, p. 47), not far from Arke.

(42) the Arvadite dwelt in Arvad, Aradus, now Ruad, a Phoenician town on an island of the same name.

(43) the Zemarite has been traced in the town Σίμυρα Simura, the ruins of which were found by Shaw at the western foot of Lebanon, under the name of Sumra.

(44) the Hamathite was the inhabitant of Hamath, called Hamath Rabbah (the great), by the Greeks Epiphaneia, and at present Hamah. It is situated on the Orontes, and held an important place in the history of Israel. The land of Hamath was of great extent, including the town of Riblab 2 Kings 25:21 and reaching even to Antioch. The entrance of Hamath חמת בוא bô' chamāt, the northern part of the valley between Lebanon and Antilibanus, formed the utmost boundary of Palestine to the north Numbers 13:21; Joshua 13:5; 1 Kings 8:65. Its king was in alliance with David 2 Samuel 8:10.

And afterward were the families of the Kenaanites spread abroad. - After the confusion of tongues were these nations formed; and after the formation of these Kenaanic tribes occurred the dispersion spoken of in the text. We do not know what was the original seat of the Kenaanites; or whether the dispersion here mentioned was violent or not. Its primary result, however, seems to have been their settlement in the country of which the boundaries are next described. It is not improbable that this land was allotted to a portion of the Shemites, and occupied by them when the Kenaanites entered and established themselves among them Genesis 40:15. The Kenaanites probably had the same grasping tendency which displayed itself in Nimrod, their kinsman; and therefore seized upon the country with a high hand, and called it after their name. Their expulsion, on the conquest of the land by the Israelites, and their commercial activity, led to a still further dispersion; as colonies were sent out by them to the distant shores of the Mediterranean, to Asia Minor, Greece, Africa, Spain, and even the British Isles. But it can scarcely be supposed that reference is here made to these subsequent events in their history.

Genesis 10:19

The border of Kenaan, as here described, extends along the coast from Zidon in the direction of (as thou goest unto) Gerar, which lay between Kadesh and Shur Genesis 20:1, and has its name preserved in the Wady el-Jerur, which is nearly in a line connecting Ain el-Weibeh and Suez. It turns at Azzah (Gaza), and passes to the cities of the plain, of which the later history is so memorable. Its terminating point is Lesha, which is generally supposed to be Callirrhoe, to the northeast of the Dead Sea, so called from the hot springs which form a stream flowing into the lake. It is possible, however, that Lesha is only another variation of Laish and Leshem, a city belonging to the Sidonians, and situated near the sources of the Jordan. Thus, we have the western, southern, and eastern border briefly given in this verse. It is manifest, however, that they did not confine themselves to these limits, but “afterward spread abroad” into the adjacent regions. The Hittite went to the northeast; the Amorite crossed the Jordan, and occupied a great part of Peraea; the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite stretched far north of the boundary.

Genesis 10:20

The list of the Hamites is summed up Genesis 10:20 in the usual form. It appears that Ham occupied Africa and a certain portion of Asia along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, in the south of Arabia, about the lower valley of the Frat and Diljah, and perhaps along the south of Asia. In extent of territory, Japheth ultimately far exceeded, as he occupied most of Asia and almost all of Europe and the New World. Ham is next to him, as he inherited Africa and a portion of Asia. Some of his descendants have also been forcibly transplanted to the New Hemisphere. But in point of political contact with Shem, Japheth, in early times, sinks comparatively into the shade, and Ham assumes the prominent place. Babylon, Kush, Egypt, and Kenaan are the powers which come into contact with Shem, in that central line of human history which is traced in the Bible. Hence, it is that in the table of nations special attention is directed to Kush, Nimrod, Mizraim, and to the tribes and borders of Kenaan.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Genesis 10:6. Cush — Who peopled the Arabic nome near the Red Sea in Lower Egypt. Some think the Ethiopians descended from him.

Mizraim — This family certainly peopled Egypt; and both in the East and in the West, Egypt is called Mezr and Mezraim.

Phut — Who first peopled an Egyptian nome or district, bordering on Libya.

Canaan. — He who first peopled the land so called, known also by the name of the Promised Land.