Genesis 10
1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations. 6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim. 15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan fathered 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 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. (Genesis 10, ESV Bible)
1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. (Genesis 10:1, ESV Bible)
Family Man
The Bible is full of genealogies. The previous Torah portion contained numerous genealogies tracing Adam's line to Noah. This Torah portion contains genealogies tracing Noah's line to Abram. Bible students sometimes attempt to use these lists of "who begat whom" to establish dates and chronologies by adding up the years in the various lists. The genealogies were never meant for that. They are recorded to map out the relationships between families, not to create a timeline. Biblical genealogies often have missing parts, sometimes skipping several generations.
Genealogies are better used to trace the relationships between different people groups. The genealogy in Genesis to demonstrates that all ethnic groups have a common ancestry. We all go back to Noah. Before Noah, we all go back to Adam. The implication, then, is that all of humanity is actually a large, extended family.
As such, we should set aside prejudice and bigotry against other ethnicities. We are all brothers and sisters in the human family.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Unrolling the Scroll.
The Seventy Nations
The Torah takes a chapter to lay out the family tree of all mankind. Even English readers unfamiliar with Hebrew will recognize several of the names in Genesis to as names of nations that play an important part in biblical history. For example, the sons of Canaan (Canaanites) have a big role in the story. Other names are less obvious to the English reader. Here are a few examples:
Javan = Greece
Kittim = Italy
Cush = Ethiopia
Mitzraim = Egypt
Asshur = Assyria
Zidon = Phoenicia/Sidon
Shem = Semites
Eber = Hebrews
Aram = Arameans
The rabbis teach that the nations of humanity can be divided into seventy families of man. They do not count Israel, "a people who dwels apart," among the seventy. Nevertheless, Israel belongs to the line of Eber.
According to Jewish tradition, an angelic prince presides over each nation. The seventy angels of the nations correspond to the seventy members of the Sanhedrin.
When God confused the languages of the nations at the tower of Babel, He divided their languages into seventy different tongues:
The Holy One, blessed be He, turned to the seventy angels who surround His Throne of Glory and said: "Come, let us descend and confuse the seventy nations and the seventy languages." They then cast lots concerning the various nations. Each angel received a nation but Israel fell to the lot of God, as it is written (in Deuteronomy 32:9), "The LORD's portion is His people." (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer)
Genesis 10 contains seventy-one names. According to some opinions, Nimrod's name should be omitted from the tally. The majority of opinions omit the Philistines who, according to Genesis 10:14, are actually the descendants of the Pathrusim and Casluhim. Figure 2 numbers the nations according to that opinion and divides the nations under the three patriarchal families.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
8 Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (Genesis 10:8-10, ESV Bible)
Nimrod
Nimrod founded the cities of Mesopotamia, which later became the empires of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylon. The Torah calls Nimrod "a mighty hunter before the LORD," which Rashi reads as "against the LORD." Nimrod typifies all evil dictators who set themselves in opposition to God. According to Targum Yonaton, Nimrod begat the line of the Pharaohs. In a sense, he spiritually fathered all the wicked, imperialist leaders bent on world domination, and in that regard, he typifies the antichrist. Tradition says that he set himself up as a deity and designated a place for his worship.
Just as we regard Abraham as the father of our faith, we can regard Nimrod as the father of idolatry. In Jewish legends and folktales, Abraham and Nimrod face off in a series of conflicts. Nimrod the idolater persecutes Abraham the monotheist, but the LORD rescues Abraham from the hand of Nimrod.
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Depths of the Torah, Book One.
32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. (Genesis 10:32, ESV Bible)
Torah For All Nations
The children of Shem, Ham, and Japheth -enumerated in Genesis 10- total seventy sons, the fathers of the seventy nations. When the rabbis speak of seventy nations, they are idiomatically referring to all nations. At the tower of Babel God confused the languages of the nations. Rabbinic literature uses the term "the seventy languages" to refer to all languages of humanity. Perhaps this is the reason the Greek version of the Bible is called the Septuagint, a word that means "seventy." It was the first translation of the Bible into one of the seventy languages of the nations.
Thanks to Alexander the Great's conquests and Roman Hellenism, people spoke Greek as the common trade language throughout the entire Roman Empire. God had enlarged Japheth. A reliable version of the Bible in Greek made it possible for the apostles to take the message of the gospel all over the Greek-speaking world.
The prophets predicted that, in the Messianic Era, the Torah will go forth to all nations. The Septuagint helped set the fulfillment of those prophecies in motion.
The good news of the gospel message brought the children of Japheth into the tents of Shem. The inclusion of Gentiles into the household of Abraham fulfills Noah's prophecy. In the Messiah, there is neither Shemite nor Japhethite, there is neither Canaanite nor free man, there is neither male nor female; "for all are one in Messiah Yeshua" (Galatians 3:28).
References
This section is from teachings from FFOZ Shadows of Messiah, Book One.