Genesis 10:22

The children of Shem; Elam. This verse leads the reader to the home of the Semites, Mesopotamia and eastern Arabia. Elam was the region bordering on the lower Tigris in the west and on Media in the northeast. Elam’s ancient capital, Susa, the Biblical Shushan (Daniel 8:2), became, in later times, one of the capitals of the Persian Empire (see, for example, Esther 1:2). Excavations at Susa have brought to light numerous documents written in cuneiform script that allows us to reconstruct their history and religion. Elam’s descendants, Semites, settled very early in that area, but they evidently mingled with others, for their language as known from cuneiform records was not Semitic. It belonged to the Asianic-Annenoid group of languages. The relationship of the later Elamites with other known nations, however, is obscure.

Asshur. Assyria occupied the central part of the Tigris valley, extending in the north to the mountains of Armenia and in the east to the Median plateau. The name of Shem’s son Asshur was in turn taken over by the chief god of the Assyrians, by the oldest capital of the country, Assur, now Kalah-Shergat, and by the nation itself. Assyria appears in historical records from the beginning of the second millennium B.C. until its destruction by the Medes and Babylonians in the latter part of the 7th century. During its most powerful period Assyria was the scourge of all nations. Its cruelty toward conquered foes has never been surpassed. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians, and the southern kingdom of Judah itself barely escaped.

Arphaxad. Identified by some commentators with Arrapha, the region between Media and Assyria. It is more likely the ancient country of Arrapachitis, between Lakes Urmia and Van. It was probably named after Arphaxad (Heb. Arpachshad).

Lud. Distinct from the Ludim mentioned in verse 13. Lud can be identified with the country of Lubdu, which appears in the ancient records as a region lying between the upper Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

Aram. Ancestor of the Aramaeans. In the early second millennium B.C. this people occupied the northwestern portion of Mesopotamia, but they spread southward in later times.

The Aramaeans in the north were never united as a nation, but were divided into many small tribes and city-states. The strongest of the Aramaean states, Damascus, was finally conquered by Tiglath-pileser III in 732 B.C. This event marks the end of the political history of the Aramaeans, but by no means the end of their cultural influence upon surrounding nations. They were scattered far and wide among the ancient peoples and passed their language and script on to them. As a result the Aramaic language became, within a very short time, a universal vehicle of communication from the border of India in the east to the Aegean Sea in the west, and from the Caucasus in the north to Ethiopia in the south. For centuries Aramaic remained the most widely used language in the Near East, and was the common tongue of the Jews in Jesus’ day.

Either Aramaean in origin or closely related were the Chaldeans, a south Babylonian tribe living in an area around “Ur of the Chaldees,” who fought the Assyrians, held the throne of Babylon several times in the 8th century B.C. and later founded the great neo-Babylonian dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar II, conqueror of Jerusalem.