The Table of Nations

"Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Jepheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim. And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east. These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood." (Genesis 10:1-32)

This list of names is considered by biblical scholars to be "The Table of Nations." It is a passage of scripture that many of us choose to skip over lightly, yet there are some familiar names. I could not begin to give any depth of understanding as to what all of these names mean or of their significance to us. Although I did spend about half a day looking at various names, as far as their derivation, and checked out whatever was available online regarding archaeological information, as well as biblical commentary, that might help us determine why it was important to God to list them here for us. One name in particular, Nimrod, we will save til the next posting, as the 11^th chapter of Genesis goes into more detail about his endeavors. Keep in mind that at this point, prior to our introduction to Abraham and Isaac further along in Genesis, there was no such thing as Jews or a Jewish nation yet. These nations are basically Gentile nations.

So, here is yet another list of particular names taken out of the passage above and what little information I found that was available about them.

Beginning with the sons of Japheth:

Ashkenaz (grandson of Japheth): this is the medieval Hebrew name associated with Germany; thus Germans are thought to be descendants of Ashkenaz. The term "Ashkenazi Jews" can be literally translated as "German Jews."

Togarmah (another grandson of Japeth): Armenians link themselves to Togarmah.

Javan: the Hebrew name for Greece and Elishah (sons of Jepheth): are linked to Greeks, and Hellenistic culture.

Tarshish (son of Japeth): is possibly what we now call England. (Ezekiel 38:13 – "…and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof…") Tarshish is referred to several times in the bible, and is always a place that is a long ways away and accessible only by ship; it is associated with an island. In Ezekiel 27 it is a source of "silver, iron, tin and lead." It is believed that the name Britannia is derived from the word tin. However, another source claims Tarshish to be modern southern Turkey. The other sons of Japheth: Elishah (modern Cyprus), Kittim (also modern Cyprus), Dodanim (possibly the Rodanim of 1 Chronicles 1:7) also known as the island of Rhodes, west of modern Turkey between Cyprus and the mainland of Greece.

Magog, Tubal and Meshech: are grouped together in Ezekiel 38 and 39
("Son of man, set thy face against God, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and tubal, and prophesy against him" 38:2), and are said to have a leader known as Rosh (Russia). These names are linked by biblical scholars to the area known as the Soviet Union; references are made to the Meshech people as "Mushki."

Madai: Persian empire.

Tiras: Tuscans of early Italy.

Thus all the ancestors of Japheth formed what is now known as the Indo-European nations.

Now the sons of Ham:

Cush is also known as Ethiopia.

Seba links to the Sudan.

Sheba and Dedan are Arabia.

Mizraim is synonymous with Egypt (Mizraim is plural signifying upper and lower Egypt that were eventually united).

Phut (sometimes written Put): Libya

Asshur: Assyria.

Sidon: Phoenicia.

Heth: father of the Hittite nation (Genesis 23:10); a significant people all the way to Solomon, establishing a Hittite empire that is of much interest to archaeologists today.

Sinite: the Sinim of Isaiah 49:12 is thought to Sinites located in China or the Orient. The Chinese speak of the Sino-Japanese war (allusion to China). Sinites and Hittites are oriental tribes.

And finally the sons of Shem who continued the Messianic line:

Aram: Aramains (Aramaic, the language used during the time of Jesus, and spoken by Him).

Uz was the homeland of Job (Job 1:1 and Jeremiah 25:20).

Eber is name from which the name Hebrew derives; means to pass over (those that crossed over the river).

Peleg: "in his days was the earth divided." There are two views of what this signifies. One view is that during Peleg's days the continental drift occurred, where the landmass became divided and separated into continents. (The name Peleg means division). Another view is that Peleg may have been named as a memorial of the dividing of nations by the confusion of their languages, orchestrated by God at the Tower of Babel (we will get into that in the next posting). An interesting note is that it is believed that the language at the time was Hebrew; and that only Shem's Messianic line was not affected by the confusing of tongues at Babel; all others had their languages changed instead.

Ophir: is described in the bible as a source of gold. No one has a clue really, where this place really is. Guesses are: Zimbabwe, Australia, Peru, Pakistan, even possibly Atlantis. As I said, no one has a clue.

Jobab: thought to possibly be Job himself, of the book of Job. The book of Job, by the way, is the oldest book in the bible.

Next posting: Nimrod.