Genesis 10:6-20

6. The Line of Ham (Genesis 10:6-20).

6 And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan. 7 And the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamab: Sheba, and Dedan. 8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah; wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Jehovah. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 Out of that land he went forth into Assyria, and builded Nineveh, and Rehoboth-lr, and Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (the same is the great city). 13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 14 and Pathrusim, and Casluhim (whence went forth the Philistines), and Caphtorim. 15 And Canaan begat Sidon his first-born, and Heth, 16 and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite, 17 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 Canaanite spread abroad. 19 And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as thou goest toward Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and eboiim, unto Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.

Cush: Nubia, the region below the First Cataract of the Nile, misnamed Ethiopia by the Greeks. Seba: distinguished from Sheba by spelling; early geographers mention a city named Saba on the African coast of the Red Sea, but the identification is uncertain. Havilah: in central Arabia. Cf. Genesis 10:29, under the Line of Shem. Sabtah: definite location impossible as yet: Greek geographer Pliny mentions Sabota, a name that corresponds to Shabwat of the South Arabian inscriptions, on southeast coast of Arabia or on African Coast of Red Sea. Raamah: probably in southeastern Arabia. Two divisions of Raamah were Sheba, the land of the Sabaeans in Yemen (cf. Genesis 10:28), and Dedan, probably a people of northwestern Arabia along the Red Sea. Nimrod, the mighty hunter-' (see infra).

Mizraim: Egypt, extending northeast almost to Gaza. Ludim: in North Africa (served as bowmen in the armies of Egypt and Tyre [Isaiah 66:19; Ezekiel 27:10; Ezekiel 30:5]; probably not the Ludim [Lydians] of the Line of Shem [Genesis 10:22].) Lehabim: probably Lybians, on southern shore of the Mediterranean, west of Egypt, Naphtuhim: identification uncertain; perhaps in the vicinity of Memphis, or in the Egyptian Delta, people of lower or northern Egypt. Pathrusim: identified with Pathros (Ezekiel 29:14, Jeremiah 44:15), people of Southern or Upper Egypt, from Aswan to the head of the Delya. Casluhim: people from whom the Philistines were descended (Genesis 10:14); probably occupied northern coast of Africa, near Gulf of Sidra (inlet of Tripolitanian coast). Caphtorim: The people of Crete (Amos 9:7).

Put or Phut: late name for North African district lying west and south of the Nile Delta; however, its precise location is disputed. Some identify it with Cyrenaica on the North African Coast.

Canaan: originally used of the land of the Phoenicians and Canaanites of Syria and Palestine. We have here a list of the important Canaanite groups. Sidon: famous Phoenician city on west coast of Asia Minor; mentioned in the Amarna letters; the greatest of the Phoenician coastal cities until surpassed by its daughter Tyre. Heth: father of the Hittites whose political and cultural center was Hattusas, in the bend of the Halys River, In the days of Abraham they were settled in the Hebron area. Jebusites: their stronghold was Jebus, the name which was finally incorporated into the name Jerusalem. The city was captured by David and made the capital of united Israel (cf. 1 Kings 9:20). Amorites: occupied the hill country on either side of the Jordan. (Cf. Exodus 33:2; Genesis 14:7; Genesis 14:13; Deuteronomy 1:44; Deuteronomy 3:8; Numbers 21:34-35). They later settled in Mesopotamia where one of their leaders, Hammurabi, in Babylon, became famous as an able king and lawgiver, Girgashites. Nothing more is known of them as yet. Hivites: mentioned in connection with Shechem (Genesis 33:18; Genesis 34:2), Gibeon (Joshua 9), and Mount Hermon (Joshua 11:3), and Hamath (Judges 3:5). (Cf. also 1 Kings 9:20-22). Arkites: inhabitants of the Phoenician city of Arqa, at the foot of the Lebanons. Sinites: Assyrian records mention the people of Siannu on the shore of the sea (Mediterranean) along with the cities or Arqa and Simirra. Arvadites: people of Arvad, most northerly of Phoenician cities, 125 miles north of Tyre. Zemarites: location not definitely established: Amarna letters mention city of Sumur, and mention of Simirra occurs in Assyrian records of Tiglath-Pileser III. Hamathites: people of Hamath, a city on the Orontes River in Syria; at one time it formed the northern boundary of Israel (2 Samuel 8:9, 1 Kings 8:65, 2 Kings 14:25). Note that the land of the Phoenicians and Canaanites is described as extending from Sidon on the north to Gaza on the south, and inward as far as the Dead Sea. Note also that the people known as Hamites rose to prominence early in history, having settled generally in northern Africa and southwestern Asia. Israel had closer contacts with the Hamites than with the more remote Japhetic peoples.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

See Genesis 10:21-32.