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21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan begot 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 And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations. 32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood. ~ Genesis 10:21-32
Today, we close out our study of Genesis 10 where we are given the genealogies of Japheth, Ham and Shem. Having considered the first two genealogies, we now come to the genealogy of Shem. When Noah pronounced his curse and blessings, it was Shem who received the spiritual blessing and the first place over the rest of Noah’s seed. Since before time began God has had a plan to reconcile sinful and rebellious man to Himself and He decided to do it through real people who really lived. And, along the way He has given us insights into the human condition and what does and doesn’t please Him. Down through time, all who have fostered in their hearts a response of faith to God have experienced His grace. And it is this grace that leads us to salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.21 of today's passage we read, "And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder."
Eber was the great, great grandson of Shem. And yet despite this, he is brought into the picture at the same time that Shem’s son’s are to be mentioned one of 70 names mentioned here. Eber will be mentioned again and again denoting the importance he had in the story of delivering the Lord Jesus Christ to this world. It is from Eber that we get the word "Hebrew." It has the same consonants that form the word for "Passover." The Hebrew people are literally "the people of the Passover." This tucked away message merely illustrates that God is always at work in the context of the chaos that man's rebellion from God has created.
In v.22 of today's passage we read, "The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram."
Shem means "fame." He is the father of all of the Semitic peoples of the world which includes Jews and Arabs. Shem had five sons. The first was Elam which means "eternity." His line has lead to the Elamites and Persians of the world today. Asshur which means "strong" is the descendent of the Assyrians and Northern Iraqis. Arphaxad which means "I shall fail as the breast," has as his descendants the people of the Southern Iraq, the Hebrews, the Moabites, and the Jordanians. The fourth son of Shem was Lud, which means "strife." His descendants are those people groups in Asia Minor (today's Turkey) and North Africa. And the last son of Shem mentioned here is Aram, which means "exalted." Aram's people are the Syrians, and the Lebanese.
In v.23 of today's passage we read, "The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash."
Little is known of these sons of Aram. Evidently the children of Aram had more contact with Shem than his other grandsons (except through Arphaxad) since none of the others are listed here. As we know, Job came from the city of Uz which is what we know as Jordan today.
In v.24 of today's passage we read, "Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber."
We have gone from Shem to his son Arphaxad and then down the line. First the sons of Shem were mentioned and after that came the side branch which were the sons of Shem’s son Aram. They were specifically listed because the sons of Aram play such a large part in the later pages of the Bible as they interact with the chosen line of Israel.
In v.25 of today's passage we read, "To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan."
Peleg interestingly means "divided." He was named for the judgment of God at the tower of Babel. As we will see in Genesis 11, when the world was one big empire under Nimrod, God came down and judged and divided it. He divided them into separate locations and separate languages. Nimrod was a contemporary of Eber. So, Babel was built with its tower in Eber’s lifetime. And Eber named his son Peleg when he saw what God did to Babel. So, Eber, whose name means "Hebrew," named his son, in those days when the Earth was divided.
In addition, what is known as the "continental divide" or the separation of the continents, happened at this point in history. Peleg in Greek it means "sea." The word archipelago comes from this word. The Greeks called the Aegean Sea "Archipelago," or the first sea, drawing the name from this man, Peleg. Peleg's brother "Joktan" name means "small." The people who came from Joktan are all located in Arabia.
In v.26-30 of today's passage we read, "26 Joktan begot 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 And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east."
This whole chapter presents to us a story about how far man fell away from God and how fast he fell away from God. All of mankind, down throughout our history, has known the true God of the Bible to varying degrees. The varying of the degrees was not created by God but by man who either chose to respond to the evidence that God has given everyone including our conscious and creation or not. It is not God's fault that different people groups abandoned their knowledge of God. Many believe it is unfair that some have more access to the gospel than others but the history shows who is to be held responsible for this difference. As a result of the unsaved man's rebellion away from God, he became mired in idolatry started which was on full display at the Tower of Babel. It’s still going on. It will, ultimately, be judged by God at the end of time. Interestingly, in the middle of all of these names, there was one who sought the God of the Bible, the famed Queen of Sheba who came to visit Solomon in search of the truth. Sheba was located in Ethiopia.
In v.31-32 of today's passage we read, "31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations. 32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood."
The lineage of Abraham, the father of all who place their faith in the God of the Bible, came from Shem. Abraham is the biblical example of justification by faith according to Paul’s writings. All of these names reveal that God has always worked through time and history and slowly unfolding His beautiful plan of salvation for all willing and humble enough to believe in Him. In the end, the lesson of Noah is one that we all need to take to heart. God loves all of the people of the world and He extends to all who call on and trust in Him forgiveness of and deliverance from sin. And in place of that He promises eternal life.
