Damariscotta Baptist Church

 

 

Whoever says the Bible is boring hasn’t really sat down and read it. Even though today we are reading what most people would qualify as a chapter of the Bible, when read would be most apt to make you fall asleep. Genealogies are certainly not the most intriguing of chapters, unless you are into who begat whom. For all extensive purposes, I have to agree, unless….. you are able to read this passage in ancient Hebrew. Then you will discover so many interesting nuances that it becomes like a who’s who jigsaw puzzle where the key to solving the puzzle is established in what Noah proclaimed about his sons in the poem at the end of chapter 9. 

At the end of chapter 9, Noah set out a program of sorts for the destinies of his children. 

He provided blessings and curses that help us know where to put the characters that will emerge in the forthcoming stories. As we read through the Biblical narrative, Noah’s poem tells us which lineage will be well behaved and which lineage messes up.  Of course, like all things in life, there will be surprises. One soon discovers a character you thought should be cursed ending up with a blessing and a character you thought should be blessed bringing a curse down on themself. For what it is worth, Noah provides us with some categories that give us some idea of how things will work out. 

Noah’s poem gives us three slots to put the succeeding generations. 

Slot 1 – Those who were blessed

Slot 2 – Those who were “tenting” with the blessed family Slot 3 – Those who were cursed.

Although Noah doesn’t actually bless Shem, he does bless Yahweh, the Elohim of Shem. This family line will be the one that acknowledges Yahweh and therefore is attached to Him in a significant way. 

Noah asks that God remember Japheth and make his lineage large, thinking that he will become more important than Shem, but Noah follows this up with asking that God allow Japheth’s family line to dwell in the tents of Shem. 

Noah doesn’t even talk about his son Ham, but places Ham’s son, Canaan, in the lowest status, cursed.

This little poem functions as the basis for categorizing all the characters that will emerge from this point forward. 

The reader is set up to go into the Bible and as you read every story, you are to look for some way that this poem is being acted out or subverted through the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. From this point forward, everyone that is part of the story is part of the genealogy of one of these sons. So as we continue to read through the Bible one of the first questions we should ask is what team do the characters belong to? 

Are they on the “S” team? 

The “J” team? 

Or the “H” team? 

The narrative of the Bible now has a way of linking every character back to this poem, or back to the narratives of Genesis 1-11. Now that you know how this works, you should recognize how Chapter 10 of Genesis is one of the most informational chapters in the entire book. 

From this point on, every character we read about can be traced back to Noah’s Family Tree in this chapter and we can begin to understand their story as either what was supposed to happen based on which team they aligned with or you will be surprised. Hopefully that provides enough intrigue for us to read through this Table of Nations and establish the groundwork for who fits where and why.  

Let’s begin with verse one of chapter 10,

1Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood.

First you get seven sons of Japheth.

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

How convenient that Japheth had seven sons? Really? Oh, and next we read of 7 grandsons….3 from the first born and 4 from the fourth born. 

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

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

How interesting that there are 7 of each of them. The next verse provides us with a little clue….

5From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

We are given a list of seven plus seven, and then we are told the nations from this part of the map spread out. How many nations separated out from this list of seven plus seven? 

A lot more than 14. The author is making a point by using patterns of seven. The number seven is a symbol of completion, perfection and holiness. In Biblical usage it is a design for completeness. 

To give you a reference I have provided a map that shows where each son and his ancestors spread out. For Magog and Meshak and so on they would have been in what today is Turkey and Eastern Europe and in the Roman period would have been Asia Minor. This is almost entirely where Paul’s church planting efforts took place. As for Tarshish, no one really knows where Tarshish is, but it’s somewhere past the boot of Italy. Then if you go north you find Ashkanaz and west of that, Madai, which is associated with Armenia kind of parallel with Persia. This whole family is associated with Persia. Where in the Bible does Persia play an important role?

You may recall it’s the empire that allows the exiles to go back home and the place where Queen Esther used her position to stop a plot to kill all the Jews. 

Next we have the sons of Ham….

6The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim (which many English translations don’t translate the word for its meaning, which is Egypt) and Put and Canaan. 

Of these four sons, again we have selectively listed 7 grandsons, 

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

The expectation is that the author would continue with another list of seven something, but instead, he provides a narrative of son #5 of Cush, Nimrod. The Hebrew word nimrod means, “we will rebel.” Great name?! 

Do we live out the meaning of our name or does our name determine how we live? Nimrod is also the name of an ancient Mesopotamina city, which in other Semitic languages doesn’t mean “we will rebel.” The Hebrew spelling is designed to create a parody on the meaning, “we will rebel.” 

8Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 

Nimrod doesn’t hang out in Egypt, 

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

Which, if you look on your map you will find in green, the word Shinar, on the Euphrates River, south of Babylon. 

In just a couple of paragraphs we will be reading a story that takes place in Shinar. Nimrod keeps going across the Tigres and is responsible for founding Assyria. 

11From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 12and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 

Nineveh, the great city? Does that line ring a bell? It’s the opening lines of the book of Jonah. Guess how many times Nineveh is called that great city? Twice. Here, and in the book of Jonah.

To demonstrate how this Table of Nations works, the story of Jonah is a great example of figuring out which team is who and the twists that exist. Jonah is a Shemite, family of Shem, supposed to be good, but he’s the snake. Wait a minute, the Shem family tree is supposed to be the seed of the woman. 

The Ninevites are on Ham’s team, but they were quick to repent and experience God’s mercy and blessing. Go figure. 

Let’s finish the descendants of Ham. 

We get 7 sons of Mizraim….

13Mizraim became the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim 14and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim.

Even though the Philistines are not technically from this lineage, we are told in parentheses they immigrated into the region and became associated with Ham’s team. 

Then comes Canaan… check this out, he has 12 sons, who will become the arch rivals of the 12 sons of Jacob.

15Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth 16and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite 17and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite 18and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. 19The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.

If you look at the map you discover that Canaan’s descendants cover what we know of today as the Gaza strip, down into Egypt and along the northern and western borders of today’s African continent. To this day, that strip of land remains a battle front. In fact, all of these regions will come up in the stories to come. 

This map demonstrates symbolic, ethno-geography. 

It’s a way of thinking about groups of people and regions, where they came from, along with giving them certain character traits matched by their ancestors. 

We finally get to Shem in verse 21. 

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

Even though Shem wasn’t the oldest son, he received his father’s blessing. Another motif that will be carried on throughout the Biblical narrative. 

Shem is also called “the father of all the children of Eber,” who doesn’t appear in the family tree for a while, but the author wants to make a point. Eber is the origin of the word “Hebrew.” The E-B and the R are the root letters, put an H on the beginning and an EW on the end and you have the word “Hebrew.” 

22The sons of Shem were Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram. 23The sons of Aram were Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash. 24Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. 2

Something happens when you get to Eber. Remember this word means “Hebrew.”

5Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 

Peleg means “division,” and some division occurs in the generation of Peleg and the genealogy divides. One leads to Babylon and one leads to Abraham. From this point on the genealogy follows only the brother Joktan. 

26Joktan became the father of Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah 27and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah 28and Obal and Abimael and Sheba 29and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 

30Now their settlement extended from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of the east. 

The descendants of Shem go toward the east. 

Where did Adam and Eve go when they were exiled from the garden? To the east. 

Where did Cain go when he was exiled? To the east. 

In the very next story when everyone goes to Babylon, where do they go? Eastward. 

This is not so much a geographical map as it is a mental map. When people go East of Eden, it all becomes a symbolic kind of place where rebellion happens. 

What will come of all these descendants of Joktan? The answer will be revealed as we continue reading the narrative. For now let’s complete chapter 10.

31These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations.

32These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.

Until reading the notes of and listening to podcasts of ancient Hebrew scholars discussing this chapter and providing meaning to the names and significance to the rest of Scriptures I would have just struggled through reading the names and called it a day. 

Now, from this point in the narrative we have a place to return and wrap our heads around who is who in the big scheme of things. Noah placed Shem’s lineage to be the one that will bring the Messiah. Ham’s lineage will rebel and Japheth may be great in number but will dwell in the tents of Shem. 

None of this will be straight forward. There will be good and bad in each of the lineages. But we have been given a game plan for each narrative we read from now on, beginning with Abraham. We have snakes to look for, rebels to recognize and those who will be faithful to Yahweh. 

The narrative continues today. We are called to recognize the game plan but also to recognize not everyone looks or acts like their lineage delineates, good or bad. The bottom line then and the bottom line now is, who is faithful to Yahweh. 

What is our litmus test to determine this?

Jesus said this, Matthew 22:37-40 from The Message, 

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”