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b) Gen 10:1: Genesis 10, which some scholars call the Table of Nations, expands upon Gen 9:19.[1] It represents God’s concern for all people-groups.[2]
Moses introduced the descendants of each of Noah’s sons with a standard formula: “The sons of X were.” He ended each section by writing, “These are the sons of X according to their clans and languages in their countries by their nations.”[3]
The Table of Nations did not comprise a comprehensive list (Gen 10:5).[4] Instead, it functioned as a carefully crafted theological statement.[5]
In the Bible, the number seven signifies completion or fullness.[6]
Japheth had seven sons and seven grandsons.[7] Among the offspring of Ham are seven sons of Cush and seven sons of Mizraim (Egypt). Shem’s line down to Eber names fourteen descendants.[8]
Overall, the Table of Nations contains seventy names, equivalent to ten multiples of seven.[9]
Several significant differences exist between this genealogy and the ones in Gen 5 and in Gen 11:10–27.[10] In Gen 10, some of the names represent specific men while others signify people-groups or even locations.[11]
Other ancient genealogies, such as that of Hammurabi (reigned 1792–1750 BC), also feature the names of tribes and geographic regions.[12]
Thus, no one’s age appears in the list,[13] as it presents the relationships between various groups rather than focusing upon individuals.[14]
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A “son” (ben) typically refers to a direct descendant. However, the Hebrew language also allows the term to indicate a grandson or the distant offspring of a founding father (Gen 31:17–18, 26–28).[15]
For example, the “sons of Levi” answered Moses’s summons. However, many generations had been born and died since the lifetime of that patriarch (Gen 15:13; Exod 1:1–8; Exod 32:26).
Furthermore, in the Ancient Near East (ANE), the term “son” did not necessarily imply kinship. Participants in treaties employed similar language.[16]
A stela (ca. 1575 BC) discovered at Karnak Temple in Egypt says,[17] “I captured a message of his…upon a letter of papyrus. I found on it, in written words from the ruler of Avaris, ‘the Son of Re: Apophis, sending greetings to my son, the ruler of Cush.’”[18]
In Ugaritic, a language related to Hebrew, the same word (bn) could also refer to a person who lived in a particular city or country.[19]
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The peoples in Gen 10 represented the major groups known to Israel (Gen 11:1).[20] By citing their common ancestry through Noah, this genealogy emphasizes the fundamental unity of those dwelling in the Ancient Near EastE.[21]
Yet, it also distinguishes between them in terms of their geographic locations, ethnicities, and political affiliations.[22]
Similarities of speech occurred across ancestral lines. For example, some of the sons of Ham spoke languages related to those of the sons of Shem.[23]
No hint of people living outside of the Ancient Near East occurs here.[24]
Moses achieved a two-fold purpose. First, he expressed unity through a common ancestor.[25] Then, he described the outcome of the settlement of North Africa, Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and coastal areas of the Mediterranean.[26]
Many commentators concur that the names listed here point to an editor from the first millennium BC, as no extra-biblical record of some of these names appears until that time.[27]
However, it also appears that the author of the Table of Nations used preexisting material. A change in the customary format occurred by the sixth century BC (Cf. 1 Chron 1:5–23).[28]
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Overall, the list consists of a three-part arrangement in accord with Noah’s pronouncement in Gen 9:24–27.[29]
Although some exceptions exist, the Shemites were nomadic, Hamites dwelt in cities, and the sons of Japheth were seafarers.[30]
As often occurs in Genesis, the editor began with the lines which God did not choose before discussing Israel’s ancestor (Gen 4:17–5:32; Gen 25:12–19; Gen 36:9–37:2).[31]
This genealogy begins with, “And this [is] the account of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.”
As we have seen elsewhere in Genesis, “This is the account of” opens a major new section of the text (Gen 2:4; Gen 5:1; Gen 6:9).[32]
By utilizing the passive voice to convey that “sons were born” to Noah’s progeny, this verse depicts the fulfillment of God’s blessing in Gen 9:1.[33]
Image via Wikimedia Commons
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a) Read Gen 10.1. What hints do we have that this list is not a typical biblical genealogy? Why do you think the editor used groups of sevens for a total of seventy names? What is the purpose of the Table of Nations?
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Go to The Descendants of Japheth (Gen 10:2–5)
[Related posts include Ancient Near Eastern Genealogies (Gen 5:1); What Became of the Heavens and the Earth (Gen 2:4–6); Cain Dedicated a City (Gen 4:17); In Adam’s Likeness and Image (Gen 5:3–5); Righteous and Blameless (Gen 6:9–10); A Renewed Mandate (Gen 9:1); The Sons of Noah (Gen 9:18–19); A Slave of Slaves (Gen 9:24–25); Blessed Be the God of Shem (Gen 9:26–27); The Descendants of Japheth (Gen 10:2–5); The Descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6–14); The Descendants of Canaan (Gen 10:15–20); The Descendants of Shem (Gen 10:21–31); Seventy Nations (Gen 10:32); A Plain in Shinar (Gen 11:1–2); Let Us Bake Bricks (Gen 11:3); Jesus Sends Seventy (Two) (Luke 10:1–2); Babel Reversed (Acts 2:9–11); Ancient Literature; and Author and Date of Genesis]
[Click here to go to Chapter 11: The Table of Nations (Gen 9:28–10:32)]
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[1]Walton, Genesis, 367.
[2]Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 161.
[3]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 213.
[4]Walton, Genesis, 367.
[5]Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 162.
[6]Ryken, Wilhoit, and Reid, “Seven,” DBI, 775.
[7]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 213.
[8]Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 164–5.
[9]Ryken, et. al., “Seventy” in DBI, 775.
[10]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 215.
[11]Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 165.
[12]J. J. Finklestein, “The Genealogy of the Hammurapi Dynasty,” JCS 20 (1966): 99, 101, Http://www.caeno.org/pdf/Finkelstein_Bala%20era_Hammurabi.pdf.
[13]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 215.
[14]Walton, Genesis, 368.
[15]H. Haag, “בֵּן” (ben) TDOT, 2:145–59, 150, 152.
[16]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 215.
[17]Pritchard, ANET, 554.
[18]Ka-Mose, “The War Against the Hyksos (Continued),” in ANET (trans. John A. Wilson), 555.
[19]J. Bergman, H. Ringgren, and H. Haag, “בֵּן” (ben), TDOT 2:145–59, 148.
[20]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 214.
[21]Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 163.
[22]B. Oded, “The Table of Nations (Genesis 10) – A Socio-Cultural Approach,” ZAW 98 (1986): 14, Http://www.elamit.net/depot/resources/oded1986.pdf.
[23]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 243.
[24]Walton, Genesis, 368–9.
[25]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 215.
[26]Matthews, Chavalas, and Walton, IVPBBCOT, Gen 10:1.
[27]Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 214.
[28]Oded, “The Table of Nations (Genesis 10) – A Socio-Cultural Approach,” 30, Http://www.elamit.net/depot/resources/oded1986.pdf.
[29]Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 162.
[30]Oded, “The Table of Nations (Genesis 10) – A Socio-Cultural Approach,” 22, 30, Http://www.elamit.net/depot/resources/oded1986.pdf.
[31]Wenham,Genesis 1–15, 214.
[32]Waltke and Fredricks, Genesis: A Commentary, 83.
[33]Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, 330
Redemptive History and Theology 