Sermon notes September 21st, 2025

GENESIS 10 &11 

Introduction to Chapter 10

Shem, Ham, and Japheth became the fathers of the nations.

Shem: The Semitic peoples—Jews, Arabs, Babylonians, Assyrians, Arameans, Phoenicians.

Ham: The Hamitic peoples—Ethiopians, Egyptians, Canaanites, Philistines, possibly the African and Oriental peoples, though many scholars view the Orientals as Japhetic.

Japheth: The Japhetic peoples—the Medes, Greeks, Cypriots, etc. Probably the Caucasian people of Europe and of northern Asia. Many scholars would also include the Orientals here.

 

• You’ll notice three references in this chapter to the division of the people. Verse 5 describes the division of the Japhetic tribes into their different areas. Verse 25 tells us that the division of the earth (at Babel) took place in the days of Peleg. Verse 32 serves as an introduction to the Tower of Babel in chapter 11, when the families of the sons of Noah were divided into different nations with different languages.
• Nimrod (vv. 8–10) means rebel. He appears as the first “mighty one on the earth” after the flood (v. 8) and as the first to establish a kingdom (v. 10). He built Babel (Babylon) in rebellion against God, and also Nineveh in Assyria (see v. 11), another enemy of God’s people.
• It is impossible to identify with certainty the places where the various people settled, but the following will prove helpful in later studies.

 

Tarshish (v. 4) — Spain

Kittim (v. 4) — Cyprus

Cush (v. 6) — Ethiopia

Mizraim (v. 6) — Egypt

Put or Phut (v. 6) — Libya

Canaan (v. 6) — Palestine

Asshur (v. 11, KJV) — Assyria

Elam (v. 22) — Persia

Aram (v. 22) — Syria and Mesopotamia

Genesis 10                                                       New King James Version

1   Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.

2   The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 

3   The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 

4   The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 

5   From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

6   The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 

7   The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

8   Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 

9   He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” 

10   And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 

11   From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 

12   and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

13   Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 

14   Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

15   Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; 

16   the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; 

17   the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 

18   the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. 

19   And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 

• This verse defines, in loose geographical descriptions, the approximate borders of the land occupied by the Canaanites. The description of this territory will become important later in Israel's history. God will give the region of the Canaanites to the people of Israel. It will become the Promised Land (Exodus 3:17), and Israel will move into it, conquer its peoples, and take possession of the land and its cities.
• Some of the Canaanite clans listed in the previous verses will be wiped out; others will become servants to God's people Israel. This is partly due to the curse Noah levied against Canaan in Genesis 9:20–25. It is also due to the extraordinary evil which Canaan's descendants participated in (Deuteronomy 9:3–6).

20   These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

21   And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.

 22  The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 

23   The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 

24   Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. 

25   To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 

• Earth divided: The division of the earth in verses 25 and 32 is most likely related to the events of 11:1–9. It does not refer to the splitting apart of the continents, but to the dispersion of peoples at the Tower of Babel. The fact that Peleg’s ancestors are not mentioned as being alive at this time (Noah, Shem, etc.) implies that they had long since died. This is another indication that there are gaps in the genealogy of chapter 11. In 11:16–19 there is a considerable shortening of the life span from Eber to Peleg (from 464 to 239 years), which also suggests a time gap and that Eber may have been a distant ancestor of Peleg.

26   Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 

27   Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 

28   Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 

29   Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 

30   And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.

 31   These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

32  These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

• From the time Noah left the ark to the birth of Abram, a figure central to the "genealogy of the sons of Noah," it was approximately 352 years. This period covers the lineage of Shem, Noah's son, and includes events like the birth of Arphaxad and other patriarchs until Abram’s birth

Genesis 11:1-4                                              New King James Version

1   Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 

2   And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 

3   Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 

4   And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

• In chapter 10, which chronologically comes after chapter 11, mankind was divided according to languages (vv. 5, 20, 31). Now we learn the cause of the divisions. Instead of dispersing over the earth, as God, intended, men built a city and a tower in Shinar (Babylon). They said to one another, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make us a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” So, it was a policy of pride (to make a name for themselves) and defiance (to avoid being scattered). To us the tower may also picture fallen man’s ceaseless effort to reach heaven by his own works instead of receiving salvation as a free gift of grace.

Genesis 11:5-9

5   But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 

6   And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 

7   Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 

• Remember Genesis 10:5 “From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.”  It’s believed this was the work of Nimrod, he was incredibly vain and full of pride and this was one way to control the people by making them speak one language in his kingdom. I believe he was a type of the anti-christ;

 

• The LORD judged the people by confounding their language. This was the beginning of the many different languages which we have in the world today. Pentecost (Acts 2:1–11) was the reverse of Babel in the sense that every man heard the wonderful works of God in his own language. Babel means confusion, the inevitable result of any union that leaves God out or is not according to God.

8   So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 

9   Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

• The LORD judged the people by confounding their language. This was the beginning of the many different languages which we have in the world today. 
• Pentecost (Acts 2:1–11) was the reverse of Babel in the sense that every man heard the wonderful works of God in his own language. Babel means confusion, the inevitable result of any union that leaves God out or is not according to God.

Genesis 11:10-11

10   This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 

• Arphaxad is 98 years old. These verses trace the line of Shem to Abram. Thus, the historical record narrows from the human race to one branch of that race (the Semites) and then to one man (Abram), who becomes the head of the Hebrew nation. The rest of the OT is largely a history of this nation.

11   After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

Genesis 11:12-21

12   Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. 

13   After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

14   Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 

15   After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

16   Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 

17   After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

18   Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 

19   After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

20   Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 

21   After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

22   Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 

23   After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

24   Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 

25   After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

26   Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

• Abram was a mighty man of faith and one of the most important men in history. Three world religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—venerate him. He is mentioned in sixteen books of the OT and eleven books of the NT. His name means “exalted father” or, as changed to Abraham, “father of a multitude.”

27   This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 

28   And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 

29   Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 

30   But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 

• Ur of the Chaldeans (v. 31), in Mesopotamia, was a center of pagan idolatry. Terah and his family traveled northwest to Haran, in route to the land of Canaan.

32  So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.