Genesis 10:1

These are the generations. The authenticity of Genesis 10 has been challenged by Bible critics, who brand it either a late document based on faulty information or perhaps a sheer invention. Recent discoveries, however, attest its validity. Without Genesis 10 our knowledge of the origin and interrelationship of the various races would be far less complete than it is. This chapter confirms the words of Paul at Athens, that God “hath made of one blood all nations” (Acts 17:26).

The sons of Noah. The expression, “These are the generations,” appears frequently in Genesis (see Genesis 6:9; 11:10; 25:12, 19; etc.), usually as a title for genealogical information. Noah’s sons are not listed according to age, but according to their relative importance to the Hebrews (see on chapter 5:32). All three sons were born prior to the Flood. Shem means “name” or “fame,” Ham, “warmth,” and Japheth, either “beauty” or “expansion.” The latter meaning for Japheth seems preferable in view of the blessing pronounced upon him by his father (see chapter 9:27). These names probably reflect the feelings of Noah when they were born. The birth of Shem assured Noah of “fame”; there was a particularly “warm” place in his heart for Ham; in Japheth he saw the growth of his family. The names also suggest prophetic foresight. Shem was famed as progenitor of Abraham and thus of the Messiah; Ham’s nature was hot, unbridled, and sensual; Japheth’s descendants are dispersed over several continents. But it is not alone in the names Noah gave his sons that the spirit of inspiration was revealed; it is reflected, as well, in the blessings and the curse pronounced over them (see chapter 9:25-27). The name of Ham appears often as a Jewish name today, in the form of Chaim.

Unto them were sons born. The marked blessing of God upon the survivors of the Flood resulted in the rapid multiplication of the human race (see chapter 9:1; 10:32). The sequence in which the names of Noah’s sons are considered is in harmony with a Hebrew literary device known as “inverted parallelism.” After giving their names in the customary order, “Shem, Ham, and Japheth,” Moses lists the descendants of Japheth first and those of Shem last. Another instance of this device occurs in Matthew 25:2-4.