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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 10:21 - 10:32
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The Sons of Shem
v. 21. Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. Shem is here called the father of all the children of Eber, the Hebrews in the wider sense of the word, because Eber, through his sons Peleg and Joktan, was the progenitor of two distinct series of peoples, the Joktanites of Arabia and the Abrahamites, afterward the children of Israel.
v. 22. The children of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. The nations, or tribes, which descended from them were afterward found in the Persian country of Elymais, in Assyria, in Chaldea, in Lydia in Asia Minor, and in Syria, respectively.
v. 23. And the children of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. These names, as found in various accounts, point to the fact that the tribes descending from Aram gradually moved toward the east and northeast.
v. 24. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. The two names Salah (sending forth) and Eber (passing over) may indicate that the emigration of tribes in one large movement, as spoken of in the next Chapter, took place at this time.
v. 25. 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. Eber probably took part in the great Babylonian emigration, or he named his older son Peleg (division), with reference, undoubtedly, to the division and confusion brought about in consequence of the interference of God.
v. 26. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
v. 27. and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
v. 28. and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
v. 29. and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
v. 30. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar, a mount of the east. of the thirteen names in this list several have been preserved in various parts of Arabia, and so the Arabians are the Joktanites, descendants of Shem.
v. 31. These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
v. 32. 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. This is the Lord's own genealogical table, and it has not yet been superseded. The most careful work on the part of archeologists has rather confirmed the Biblical account in every item. All the nations of men that dwell on the earth have come from one blood, Act_17:26.