June 2 – Table of Nations

Chapter 10 – Table of Nations

Introduction
Chapters 10-11 give us a genealogical record. What we are now given, absent from the genealogy in Genesis 5, is a geographical component. We are told of the names and where they settled. This correlates with what the writer has said in Genesis 9:19, that from the three sons of Noah “the whole earth was populated.” 

The apostle Paul (Acts 17:26) said that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation.” Chapter 10, while serving as a preface to conflict that we know is to come, also reminds us that God’s plan is universal. All of the people groups descend from Noah. All are purposed with filling the earth. Though God will eventually select one group through whom to further the redemptive plan, there is a human connection that all share together. 

Vs. 1-5 (Sons of Japheth)
The descendants of Japheth are named in a brief section. From among his sons, Gomer and Javan are further mentioned according to their own sons. From these “the coastlands of the nations were separated (spread). Into their lands” (v. 5). 

Vs. 6-20 (Sons of Ham)
Four sons of Ham are mentioned: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The genealogy of these names will be recorded again in 1 Chronicles 1. Some of the names will appear regularly as references to regions of the known world. Isaiah 43:3 is an example:

“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.”

Verse 9 begins to tell us of Nimrod, who was “the first on earth to be a mighty man.” Nimrod is identified as a son of Cush, but while the line of Cush generally migrates toward the regions of Africa, Nimrod’s territory points to locations in Asia (indicated in vs. 10-11). Nimrod’s influence in Jewish tradition is not positive. In some rabbinic texts, the tower in Babel is called the “City of Nimrod,” as he is seen as the key instigator of the narrative. Sources also indicate that Nimrod is viewed in Islamic tradition as an antagonist of Abraham. Being described as a “mighty hunter” gives us a picture of one who is poised to conquer, which tradition holds to be true for Nimrod regarding regions of Babylon and Assyria. In scripture, the “land of Nimrod” is associated with Assyria (see Micah 5:6). 

Verse 13 has an interesting parenthetical note that Casluhim (son of Egypt, grandson of Cush) is the forefather of the Philistines. Such a note indicates that the biblical writer knows the centrality of the Philistines to the later story of the Israelites in Canaan. 

Verse 15 begins to tell us about the descendants of another of Ham’s sons: Canaan. Immediately we recognize this as another name that is central to the ongoing story of the Israelites. Looking at the descendants of Canaan in the following verses, we see a listing of the “-ites” that are familiar to us: Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, etc. (see Exodus 3:17; Deuteronomy 7:1 for example). 

Vs. 21-32 (Sons of Shem)
The last section of chapter 10 mentions descendants of Shem, mostly with no additional comment. (The generations of Shem will be recorded again in Genesis 11 with a particular focus on one line of descent.) The one person who receives a special comment is Peleg (v. 25), for “in his days the earth was divided.” In Hebrew, the word peleg means division. The division in the writer’s mind is likely to be a reference to the Babel narrative of chapter 11, although differing interpretations exist. 

Chapter 11 – The Tower and the Descendants of Shem

The first section of chapter 11 (verses 1-9) deal with another event that marks the overarching biblical narrative. This is the last event recorded in what we can consider the first of two sections of Genesis (what some call primordial history). The location is the plain of Shinar, an area in the southern region of modern Iraq.

The stage is set when we are told that all of the people on earth shared one common language. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, as Noah and his sons surely shared a common language which would naturally be passed on to subsequent generations. We should note that we are not given an exact timeline for this event. None of the names in the previously shared genealogy are mentioned. The only dating mechanism available to us is the reference to Peleg, a great great grandson of Shem (see 10:22-25). If this connection is valid, we are four generations from Shem when this event takes place.

“Babylon, as we know, was the centre of the civilization of the ancient world. The Enuma Elish (the central Babylonian creation myth) refers to the building of Babylon and its temple tower. The mighty towers of the Babylonian ziggurats were widely known. From the perspectives of human achievement, Babylon was the summit.”¹

Consider what happens in this narrative, from the human perspective and from the divine. “‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar” (v. 3). This is technology, albeit an ancient form. Human ingenuity has discovered something in creation that can be used to enhance their civilized life. The problem lies not in the technology, but how it would be used. Verse 4 indicates the human aspiration to reach the heavens and make a name for themselves. At a basic level, what the people were striving to do was to transgress the appointed boundaries between God and humanity. The people wanted to reach heaven, but God from the beginning gave earth as the dwelling place for humanity. As Adam and Eve chose to disregard the boundaries set by God, the collective work of humans in Shinar now attempt the same thing. The pride expressed in “make a name for ourselves” confirms that the human heart has gone far from God. 

I find an element of humor in verse 5, as God must “come down” to see the city and the tower. Obviously the project had not reached completion. Nevertheless, we are reminded that our own efforts to do something on a scale of divine order are quite pathetic. Even so, God does not dismiss the building project as a harmless attempt. What God sees is concerning. For Adam and Eve, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a tangible expression of God’s rightful place, a place not to be transgressed by humans. The reason is obvious: we do not have the capacity to fulfill the role of God. When we try, bad things happen. God knows this, which is why God sets boundaries that protect us. As Adam and Eve violated the assigned boundary, so now the people in Shinar attempt the same. 

In verse 6 we find God saying, “nothing they propose to do will be impossible for them.” Such a comment does not mean that God is against progress. We know that God has given humanity great capacity to learn and to develop technologies that support human flourishing. God is not, as we might say, trying to keep us in the Stone Age. Rather, what God sees is the potential for suffering. Disregard for the authority and boundaries of God coupled with limitless capacity to define society is a recipe for human hardship and oppression. 

What might seem on the surface to be a cruel trick by God turns out to be a measure of grace. To restrain humanity in our prideful pursuit, God confuses the language of the people and, as a result, puts a halt on the building project. A further result of God’s action is that people are “dispersed over the face of all the earth” (v. 9). Many have seen in this, probably rightly, an action by which God accomplished what He had intended in Genesis 9:7, when God instructed Noah after the flood to “increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” 

Vs. 10-26 (Shem’s Genealogy)
In this section the descendants of Shem are listed. As we observed in chapter 5, the purpose of this genealogy is not to give a full family tree. Not all of the descendants are equally important to the biblical narrative. Our clue to this, as in chapter 5, is the repeated phrase “and had other sons and daughters.” The Genesis writer will not list here the name of every child, grandchild, and great grandchild of Shem. Rather, the names/generations listed here serve to get us from one high point in the larger narrative to the next high point. The high point (person) we have just left is Noah; the next high point (person) will be one of the three children of Terah. 

Part 1 Conclusion

This brings us to the end of the first part of Genesis. It is easy to see that the second part, taking us to the end of Genesis, is much more involved in the characters and details. The thirty nine chapters yet to come will only cover four generations of people: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Chapter 10 alone covered twice that many generations. We could rightly conclude that Genesis 1-11 have primed us for Genesis 12-50. We have the foundation on which the story of redemption can now be built. We have the understanding of why a redemption story is necessary. We have seen how the human heart is rebellious to our Creator, first demonstrated through Adam, Eve, and Cain, and further express corporately through the generations preceding and succeeding Noah. Most importantly, we see a Creator who refuses to write off His creation, but with extraordinary patience perseveres in expectation that all things can be restored to the original good.

1. Atkinson, D. (1990). The Message of Genesis 1–11: The Dawn of Creation (J. A. Motyer & D. Tidball, Eds.; p. 176). Inter-Varsity Press. ↩︎