5 From these came the distribution of the isles of the nations, according to their lands, every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, in their nations.
For pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there have been such a thing.
Jehovah will be terrible unto them; for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and all the isles of the nations shall worship him, every one from his place.
And to Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
And the whole earth had one language, and the same words. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. And they said one to another, Come on, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which [may reach] to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth. And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built. And Jehovah said, Behold, the people is one, and have all one language; and this have they begun to do. And now will they be hindered in nothing that they meditate doing. Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth. And they left off building the city. Therefore was its name called Babel; because Jehovah there confounded the language of the whole earth. And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth.
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render presents; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer tribute:
Therefore glorify Jehovah in the east, the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, in the isles of the west.
The isles saw [it], and feared; the ends of the earth trembled: they drew near, and came.
He shall not faint nor be in haste, till he have set justice in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye peoples from afar. Jehovah hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
My righteousness is near, my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the peoples: the isles shall wait for me, and in mine arm shall they trust.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 10
Commentary on Genesis 10 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 10
This chapter shows more particularly what was said in general (ch. 9:19), concerning the three sons of Noah, that "of them was the whole earth overspread;' and the fruit of that blessing (ch. 9:1, 7), "replenish the earth.' Is is the only certain account extant of the origin of nations; and yet perhaps there is no nation but that of the Jews that can be confident from which of these seventy fountains (for so many there are here) it derives its streams. Through the want of early records, the mixtures of people, the revolutions of nations, and distance of time, the knowledge of the lineal descent of the present inhabitants of the earth is lost; nor were any genealogies preserved but those of the Jews, for the sake of the Messiah, only in this chapter we have a brief account,
Gen 10:1-5
Moses begins with Japheth's family, either because he was the eldest, or because his family lay remotest from Israel and had least concern with them at the time when Moses wrote, and therefore he mentions that race very briefly, hastening to give an account of the posterity of Ham, who were Israel's enemies and of Shem, who were Israel's ancestors; for it is the church that the scripture is designed to be the history of, and of the nations of the world only as they were some way or other related to Israel and interested in the affairs of Israel. Observe,
Gen 10:6-14
That which is observable and improvable in these verses is the account here given of Nimrod, v. 8-10. He is here represented as a great man in his day: He began to be a mighty one in the earth, that is, whereas those that went before him were content to stand upon the same level with their neighbours, and though every man bore rule in his own house yet no man pretended any further, Nimrod's aspiring mind could not rest here; he was resolved to tower above his neighbours, not only to be eminent among them, but to lord it over them. The same spirit that actuated the giants before the flood (who became mighty men, and men of renown, ch. 6:4), now revived in him, so soon was that tremendous judgment which the pride and tyranny of those mighty men brought upon the world forgotten. Note, There are some in whom ambition and affectation of dominion seem to be bred in the bone; such there have been and will be, notwithstanding the wrath of God often revealed from heaven against them. Nothing on this side hell will humble and break the proud spirits of some men, in this like Lucifer, Isa. 14:14, 15. Now,
Gen 10:15-20
Observe here,
Gen 10:21-32
Two things especially are observable in this account of the posterity of Shem:-