Peleg and Joktan

Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
Genesis 10:25 (NIV)

Peleg means “divided.”
Joktan means “to shrink.”

The Rabbis note two things being said in Genesis 10:25:

1. This is when the confusion from the Tower of Babel occurred, and the world was divided afterwards.

2. The lifespan of humanity was cut short (to shrink) at this time.

Adam’s Language

If Genesis is meant to be read literally, this is a fun thought: Eber, great-grandson of Shem, son of Noah, refused to help with the Tower of Babel, so the Hebrew language didn’t get confused during God’s action on humanity’s languages. Therefore, Hebrew is the same language Adam spoke.

It doesn’t have to be true. But it’s fun!

From the Wikipedia article on the word/name “Eber:”

The 13th-century Muslim historian Abu al-Fida relates a story noting that the patriarch Eber, the great-grandson of Shem, refused to help with the building of the Tower of Babel. As a result, his language was not confused when the tower was abandoned. He and his family alone retained the original Adamic language, which he identified as Hebrew, a language named after ʿEber.

Crossing Over

Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
Genesis 10:21 (NIV)

Linguistic historians note that “Eber” may be the source of the word “Hebrew.” The word means “crossing over.”

Scripturally, we link this to crossing over the Euphrates (Abraham) or the Jordan (Israel), but we also use this phrase to talk about crossing over into the afterlife.

Will Shem have Children?

Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
Genesis 10:21 (NIV)

Jewish commentaries say the phrase “were also born” is a narrative device that’s meant to come after a pause. The readers should wonder if Shem will have children. The writer delays giving the answer.

“Blessed” Noah had no more children, so how will God fulfill his Promise to bless the world? Would the blessing on Shem be the same or something different? And now we have the answer. Shem will also have children.

Nimrod

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
Genesis 10:8-10 (NIV)

In Genesis 10, the generations after Noah are listed as nations – whole people groups, rather than individuals. But in the Table of Nations, Nimrod is singled out.

He is the builder the of empires who stand against God.

להיות גבור TO BE A MIGHTY ONE — Mighty in causing the whole world to rebel against the Holy One, blessed be He, by the plan he devised for the generation that witnessed the separation of the races (דור הפלגה) to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis Rabbah 23:7).
Rashi on Genesis 10:8:1

For the Christian, there is an echo of this story in Revelation, as a certain individual gathers the nations in rebellion against God and God’s people.

The Two Boats

There is a link between the boat of Genesis and the boat of Jonah.

When God called Jonah (Shem) to preach to Nineveh (Ham), Jonah fled to Tarshish (Japheth).

Javen, son of Japheth:

The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites.
Genesis 10:4 (NIV)

This is Nimrod, son of Cush, son of Ham:

From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah
Genesis 10:11 (NIV)

God has set Himself against the curse from the beginning.

Cursed be Canaan

Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.
Genesis 10:15-19 (NIV)

Any reader with even the tiniest exposure to Bible stories should read these names and say, “oooh.”

God seems to execute on the curse by wiping these people out later in the story.

What does it mean to curse? It seems like the generations that Noah cursed become a threat to his favorite and blessed son Shem.

Perhaps those we curse become a curse to us.

Japheth

The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.
The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
Genesis 10:2-5 (NIV)

Of the three sons of Noah, you’d think Ham and his son Canaan would get the fewest page-space on account of the curse, cutting their line short. But oddly, they get the most written about them in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10.

It’s Japheth who gets the fewest words written about his lineage. In the chapter, only two of his sons get any more detail written about them.

It’s strange.

Nations and Kingdoms

If Genesis 10 was written and/or edited during the Babylonian exile, it should be understood a reminder. Everyone who read it would have looked back to how God weaved history to bring us to the present.

The text suggests God doesn’t merely follow individual lives, but also Nations.

This isn’t some new revelation. It’s just that “nations” and “kingdoms” are statements about human achievement. They’re the largest things humans can construct. The only thing bigger than a kingdom is a bigger kingdom.

And as the text goes on, nations and kingdoms become a central theme in Scripture.