Section 15 of 10410:1–32Genesis

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King James VersionGenesis 10:1–32

Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

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

And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.

And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

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

Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,

And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,

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 Canaanites spread abroad.

And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.

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.

And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,

And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,

And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.

And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.

These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

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.

Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.

Scripture text: King James Version, Standardized 1769 text. Public domain in the United States.About this Bible text

Genesis 10:1–32

The Families of the Nations Spread Across the Earth

One family becomes many peoples

Genesis 10 lists the families of Noah's sons by lands, tongues, and nations. The map is not a modern racial chart. It shows shared humanity spreading after the flood and narrowing toward the line that will lead to Abram.

Nimrod and the cities of Shinar sit inside this map and prepare Babel. Peleg's name notices division. Later misuse that racialize Noah's sons to justify slavery is not in this text and must not be read into it.

How this should shape us

Refuse any reading that turns this family map into ranked races or a defense of slavery. The chapter teaches shared origin and spreading peoples, not a hierarchy of human worth.

Teach it back

Explain what Genesis 10 is doing as a table of nations. Include its family-language-land-nation structure, how it prepares Babel and Abram, what can and cannot be known about Nimrod and Peleg, and why the chapter cannot support modern racial hierarchy or an exhaustive scientific migration map.

Explain the section in your own words

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Go deeper

The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.

Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties

How should the table's names be understood?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

How does Genesis evaluate Nimrod?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

What division occurred in Peleg's days?

Best judgment:

How certain? strong

Research trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Supports: Displayed wording, genealogy, embedded notices, repeated summaries, and transition to Babel.

Genesis 10:1–32 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV corpus

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Supports: Generations, families, tongues, lands, nations, Nimrod clauses, Asshur syntax, elder wording, and Peleg's division.

Genesis 10:1–32 forms, lemmas, syntax, names, and verse structure in Gen.xml

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Supports: Difficult names, coastlands, Nimrod grammar, city clauses, Philistine parenthesis, birth-order syntax, and Peleg wording.

Genesis 10:1–32 translator and study notes

Genesis

Supports: Final-form movement, shared humanity, Nimrod and Babel, and narrowing toward Abram.

Genesis commentary, Genesis 10 table of nations and Genesis 11 transition

The Book of Genesis — Introduction Study Guide

Supports: Book placement, source questions, final-form transitions, and relationship of nations to the ancestral story.

Genesis introduction, primeval-history structure and composition

Genealogies of the Book of Genesis: Between History, Tradition, and Theology

Supports: Genealogical genre, Genesis 5 and 10 comparison, blessing, and territorial expansion.

The Biblical Annals 1.1, pp. 5–38 and official English abstract

The Table of the Nations in Genesis 10

Supports: Geographical horizon, structure, seventy-name totality, identifications, source layers, and Genesis 11 relationship.

The Table of the Nations in Genesis 10, fuller T&T Clark chapter pp. 163–187 and complete public synthesis

‘A Mighty Hunter before YHWH’: Genesis 10:9 and the Moral-Theological Evaluation of Nimrod

Supports: Before-YHWH grammar, superlative force, and negative literary evaluation of Nimrod.

Vetus Testamentum 60.1 (2010), pp. 63–68 and official abstract

Nimrod, Mighty Hunter and King—Who Was He?

Supports: Segmented genealogy, Nimrod titles, Mesopotamian city geography, and historical-composite proposal.

Nimrod, Mighty Hunter and King, complete essay and cited Vetus Testamentum 52.3 study

Stories of Origins in the Bible and Ancient Mediterranean Literature

Supports: Genealogically arranged origin-story genre, group identity, people origins, and geographical settlement.

Stories of Origins (2023), official Cambridge description, contents, introduction preview, and 356-page book

The Role of the Philistines in the Old Testament

Supports: Genesis 10:13–14 textual witnesses, Casluhim placement, and competing Philistine-origin proposals.

Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies 4.1 (2019), pp. 42–54, especially pp. 46–48

Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery

Supports: Later racialization of Noah's family lines and slavery-related misuse to reject explicitly.

Noah's Curse (2002), official abstract and chapters 1–5 and 10

Sources for This Section

These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.

Biblical text

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society

USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.

Supports: Displayed wording, genealogy, embedded notices, repeated summaries, and transition to Babel.

Exact location: Genesis 10:1–32 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV corpus

Open source ↗

hebrew text morphology and lemma data

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project

Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026

Supports: Generations, families, tongues, lands, nations, Nimrod clauses, Asshur syntax, elder wording, and Peleg's division.

Exact location: Genesis 10:1–32 forms, lemmas, syntax, names, and verse structure in Gen.xml

Open source ↗

Translation and textual notes

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Biblical Studies Press

Biblical Studies Press, Digital edition accessed 2026

Supports: Difficult names, coastlands, Nimrod grammar, city clauses, Philistine parenthesis, birth-order syntax, and Peleg wording.

Exact location: Genesis 10:1–32 translator and study notes

Open NET Genesis 10 ↗

modern open whole book commentary

Genesis

T. Desmond Alexander

The Gospel Coalition Bible Commentary, 2023

Supports: Final-form movement, shared humanity, Nimrod and Babel, and narrowing toward Abram.

Exact location: Genesis commentary, Genesis 10 table of nations and Genesis 11 transition

Open source ↗

modern critical open study guide

The Book of Genesis — Introduction Study Guide

Joel S. Baden and Yale Bible Study

Yale Divinity School, 2021 course; page inspected 2026

Supports: Book placement, source questions, final-form transitions, and relationship of nations to the ancestral story.

Exact location: Genesis introduction, primeval-history structure and composition

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open genealogy and theology study

Genealogies of the Book of Genesis: Between History, Tradition, and Theology

Dariusz Dziadosz

The Biblical Annals 1.1, 2011; official record published online 2015

Supports: Genealogical genre, Genesis 5 and 10 comparison, blessing, and territorial expansion.

Exact location: The Biblical Annals 1.1, pp. 5–38 and official English abstract

Open source ↗

modern scholarly historical geography and compositional study

The Table of the Nations in Genesis 10

John Day

T&T Clark, From Creation to Abraham: Further Studies in Genesis 1–11, 2022

Supports: Geographical horizon, structure, seventy-name totality, identifications, source layers, and Genesis 11 relationship.

Exact location: The Table of the Nations in Genesis 10, fuller T&T Clark chapter pp. 163–187 and complete public synthesis

Open source ↗

peer reviewed specialist Hebrew and literary study

‘A Mighty Hunter before YHWH’: Genesis 10:9 and the Moral-Theological Evaluation of Nimrod

Mary Katherine Y. H. Hom

Vetus Testamentum 60.1, 2010

Supports: Before-YHWH grammar, superlative force, and negative literary evaluation of Nimrod.

Exact location: Vetus Testamentum 60.1 (2010), pp. 63–68 and official abstract

Open source ↗

modern scholarly historical geography and comparative study

Nimrod, Mighty Hunter and King—Who Was He?

Yigal Levin

TheTorah.com; drawing on Vetus Testamentum 52.3, 2020; updated 2026

Supports: Segmented genealogy, Nimrod titles, Mesopotamian city geography, and historical-composite proposal.

Exact location: Nimrod, Mighty Hunter and King, complete essay and cited Vetus Testamentum 52.3 study

Open source ↗

modern scholarly comparative monograph

Stories of Origins in the Bible and Ancient Mediterranean Literature

Guy Darshan

Cambridge University Press, 2023

Supports: Genealogically arranged origin-story genre, group identity, people origins, and geographical settlement.

Exact location: Stories of Origins (2023), official Cambridge description, contents, introduction preview, and 356-page book

Open source ↗

peer reviewed open textual and historical study

The Role of the Philistines in the Old Testament

Andrew E. Steinmann

Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies 4.1, 2019

Supports: Genesis 10:13–14 textual witnesses, Casluhim placement, and competing Philistine-origin proposals.

Exact location: Journal of Biblical and Theological Studies 4.1 (2019), pp. 42–54, especially pp. 46–48

Open source ↗

modern scholarly reception history monograph

Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery

Stephen R. Haynes

Oxford University Press, 2002

Supports: Later racialization of Noah's family lines and slavery-related misuse to reject explicitly.

Exact location: Noah's Curse (2002), official abstract and chapters 1–5 and 10

Open source ↗

Genesis 10:1–32, King James Version

One family becomes many peoples

How this should shape us

Teach it back

Go deeper

How should the table's names be understood?

How does Genesis evaluate Nimrod?

What division occurred in Peleg's days?

King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis

NET Bible — Genesis with translators' notes

Genesis

The Book of Genesis — Introduction Study Guide

Genealogies of the Book of Genesis: Between History, Tradition, and Theology

The Table of the Nations in Genesis 10

‘A Mighty Hunter before YHWH’: Genesis 10:9 and the Moral-Theological Evaluation of Nimrod

Nimrod, Mighty Hunter and King—Who Was He?

Stories of Origins in the Bible and Ancient Mediterranean Literature

The Role of the Philistines in the Old Testament

Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery