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Genesis 10

Genesis 10 traces the nations’ shared descent from Noah while recording their distinct families, languages, and lands.

After the flood, Noah’s descendants spread across the earth. The narrator traces the families of Japheth, Ham, and Shem, connecting their offspring with lands and nations. The list pauses over Nimrod’s kingdom and cities, then marks the borders of Canaanite territory. Shem’s line includes Eber and his sons, Peleg and Joktan. Repeated references to families and languages organize this account of the nations’ shared ancestry and their spread across the earth.

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1Now this is the history of the generations of the sons of Noah and of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
2The sons of Japheth were: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
3The sons of Gomer were: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
4The sons of Javan were: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
5Of these were the islands of the nations divided in their lands, everyone after his language, after their families, in their nations.
6The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
7The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah were: Sheba and Dedan.
9He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD”.
10The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11Out of that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,
13Mizraim became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,
14Pathrusim, Casluhim (which the Philistines descended from), and Caphtorim.
15Canaan became the father of Sidon (his firstborn), Heth,
16the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,
18the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were spread abroad.
19The border of the Canaanites was from Sidon—as you go toward Gerar—to Gaza—as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim—to Lasha.
20These are the sons of Ham, after their families, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.
21Children were also born to Shem (the elder brother of Japheth), the father of all the children of Eber.
22The sons of Shem were: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
24Arpachshad became the father of Shelah. Shelah became the father of Eber.
25To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. His brother’s name was Joktan.
28Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
29Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.
31These are the sons of Shem, by their families, according to their languages, lands, and nations.
32These are the families of the sons of Noah, by their generations, according to their nations. The nations divided from these on the earth after the flood.
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Key verses
Genesis 10:10Nimrod’s kingdom introduces royal power and named cities into a genealogy otherwise focused on families and nations.
Genesis 10:15Canaan’s descendants begin with Sidon and Heth, opening a detailed account of Canaanite peoples and their territory.
Genesis 10:22Shem’s sons place the ancestry of Eber within a wider family that includes Elam, Asshur, and Aram.
Where this chapter reaches

1 Chronicles repeats much of this genealogy, sharing names and family lines from Noah’s sons through the descendants of Shem. Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah name peoples or places listed here, including Cush and Elam, in their accounts of nations under God’s judgment.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do the repeated references to families, languages, lands, and nations help you notice about this genealogy?

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How does the nations’ shared descent from Noah shape your view of peoples beyond your own?

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Questions people ask about Genesis 10

Who was Nimrod in Genesis 10?

Nimrod was a son of Cush, descended from Ham. The text calls him a mighty one and “a mighty hunter before the LORD”. His kingdom began with Babel and other cities in Shinar. The chapter describes his strength and rule without calling him a tyrant or explaining his motives.

What does it mean that the earth was divided in Peleg’s days?

Genesis 10 connects Peleg’s name with a division of the earth during his lifetime, but it does not explain the event. The surrounding account concerns peoples spreading into distinct lands and nations. That context supports a division involving human populations; the verse does not describe continents breaking apart.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).