The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech. Arpachshad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, Abram (also called Abraham). The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael. These are their generations: the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth; then Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. These are the sons of Ishmael. The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the sons of Keturah. Abraham became the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek. The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. The sons of Seir: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. The sons of Lotan: Hori and Homam; and Timna was Lotan’s sister. The sons of Shobal: Alian, Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. The sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. The son of Anah: Dishon. The sons of Dishon: Hamran, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.
Now these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah. Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah reigned in his place. Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place. Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Avith. Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place. Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the River reigned in his place. Shaul died, and Baal Hanan the son of Achbor reigned in his place. Baal Hanan died, and Hadad reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Pai: and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. Then Hadad died. The chiefs of Edom were: chief Timna, chief Aliah, chief Jetheth, chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon, chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar, chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 24, 30, 32, 35, 36, 38, 43, 44, 50, 51 Of whom came the Syrians, and therefore they are…
Of whom came the Syrians, and therefore they are called Aramites throughout all the Scripture.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18, 20, 36, 43, 44, 50, 51, 52 1Ch 1:18 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat…
1Ch 1:18 And Arphaxad begat Shelah, and Shelah begat Eber.
Ver. 18. Beget Eber.] From whom came the Hebrews.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 36, 38, 43 The sons of Shem; either the name of sons…
The sons of Shem; either the name of sons is so taken here as to include grandsons, who are called sons, Gen 29:5; 2Sa 19:21; or, these words, the children of Aram, are understood and inserted before
Uz, out of Gen 10:23, where they are expressed.
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Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v28 All nations but the seed of Abraham are already…
All nations but the seed of Abraham are already shaken off from this genealogy: they have no part nor lot in this matter. The Lord's portion is his people. Of them he keeps an account, knows them by name; but those who are strangers to him he beholds afar off. Not that we are to conclude that therefore no particular persons of any other nation but the seed of Abraham found favour with God. It was a truth, before Peter perceived it, that in every nation he that feared God and wrought righteousness was accepted of him. Multitudes will be brought to heaven out of all nations (Rev 7:9), and we are willing to hope there were many, very many, good people in the world, that lay out of the pale of God's covenant of peculiarity with Abraham, whose names were in the book of life, though not descended from any of the following families written in this book. The Lord knows those that are his. But Israel was a chosen nation, elect in type; and no other nation, in its national capacity, was so dignified and privileged as the Jewish nation was. That is the holy nation which is the subject of the sacred story; and therefore we are next to shake off all the seed of Abraham but the posterity of Jacob only, which were all incorporated into one nation and joined to the Lord, while the other descendants from Abraham, for aught that appears, were estranged both from God and from one another.
I. We shall have little to say of the Ishmaelites. They were the sons of the bondwoman, that were to be cast out and not to be heirs with the child of the promise; and their case was to represent that of the unbelieving Jews, who were rejected (Gal 4:22, etc.), and therefore there is little notice taken of that nation. Ishmael's twelve sons are just named here (Ch1 1:29-31), to show the performance of the promise God made to Abraham, in answer to his prayer for him, that, for Abraham's sake, he should become a great nation, and particularly that he should beget twelve princes, Gen 17:20.
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II. We shall have little to say of the Midianites, who descended from Abraham's children by Keturah. They were children of the east (probably Job was one of them), and were separated from Isaac, the heir of the promise (Gen 25:6), and therefore they are only named here, Ch1 1:32. The sons of Jokshan, the son of Keturah, are named also, and the sons of Midian (Ch1 1:32, Ch1 1:33), who became most eminent, and perhaps gave denomination to all these families, as Judah to the Jews.
III. We shall not have much to say of the Edomites. They had an inveterate enmity to God's Israel; yet because they descended from Esau, the son of Isaac, we have here an account of their families, and the names of some of their famous men, Ch1 1:35 to the end. Some slight differences there are between some of the names here, and as we had them in Gen. 36, whence this whole account is taken. Three of four names that were written with a Vau there are written with a Jod here, probably the pronunciation being altered, as is usual in other languages. we now write many words very differently from what they were written but 200 years ago. Let us take occasion, from the reading of these genealogies, to think, 1. Of the multitudes that have gone through this world, have acted their part in it, and then quitted it. Job, even in his early day, saw not only every man drawing after him, but innumerable before him, Job 21:33. All these, and all theirs, had their day; many of them made a mighty noise and figure in the world; but their day came to fall, and their place knew them no more. The paths of death are trodden paths, but vestigia nulla retrorsum - none can retrace their steps. 2. Of the providence of God, which keeps up the generations of men, and so preserves that degenerate race, though guilty and obnoxious, in being upon earth. How easily could he cut it off without either a deluge or a conflagration! Write but all the children of men childless, as some are, and in a few years the earth will be eased of the burden under which it groans; but the divine patience lets the trees that cumber the ground not only grow, but propagate. As one generation, even of sinful men, passes away, another comes (Ecc 1:4; Num 32:14), and will do so while the earth remains. Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv28, 38 The sons of Abraham,.... The famous and well known…
The sons of Abraham,.... The famous and well known ancestor of the Jews; of Ishmael his firstborn, and his posterity; of his sons by Keturah; and of Isaac and his sons, an account is given from hence to the end of Ch1 1:34 entirely agreeing with that in Gen 25:1.
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1 Chronicles 1:35
ch1 1:35
ch1 1:35
ch1 1:35The sons of Esau,.... The firstborn of Isaac; his posterity are named in this and the two following verses, as in Gen 36:1 only it should be observed, that Timna, Ch1 1:36 is not the name of a man, but was the concubine of Eliphaz, the eldest son of Esau, and the mother of Amalek, Gen 36:12, and so in the Arabic version it is read,"and Timna, which was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau, bare him Amalek;''and so the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 24, 28, 36, 38, 54 The sons - Either the name of sons is…
The sons - Either the name of sons is so taken here as to include grandsons, or, these words, the children of Aram, are understood before Uz, out of Gen. x, 23, where they are expressed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 23, 24, 32, 43, 44, 46, 48, 50, 51 Verse 19. The name of the one was Peleg]…
Verse 19. The name of the one was Peleg] "Because in his days the inhabitants of the earth were divided according to their languages. And the name of his brother was Joktan, because in his days the years of men began to be shortened, on account of their iniquities." - T.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv17, 24, 28, 36, 38, 54 1Ch 1:17-19. The sons of Shem — Either the…
1Ch 1:17-19. The sons of Shem — Either the name of sons is so taken here as to include grandsons, or the children of Aram are understood before Uz, out of Gen 10:23, where they are expressed. Arphaxad begat — Either immediately, or mediately by his son Canaan, who is expressed Luk 3:35. Divided — In their languages and habitations.
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Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv17, 28, 29, 30, 32, 36, 41, 43 The sons of Shem - i. e., descendants. Uz,…
The sons of Shem - i. e., descendants. Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech (or Mash), are stated to have been “sons of Aram” Gen 10:23. Meshech is the reading of all the MSS., and is supported by the Septuagint here and in Gen 10:23. It seems preferable to “Mash,” which admits of no very probable explanation. Just as Hamites and Semites were intermingled in Arabia (Gen 10:7, note; Gen 10:29, note), so Semites and Japhethites may have been intermingled in Cappadocia - the country of the Meshech or Moschi (Gen 10:2 note); and this Aramaean ad-mixture may have been the origin of the notion, so prevalent among the Greeks, that the Cappadocians were Syrians.
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Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 24, 30, 32, 36, 38, 40, 41, 43, 48, 50, 51 Hus and Hul were the immediate sons of Aram,…
Hus and Hul were the immediate sons of Aram, as well as....Mosoch, or Mes; (Genesis x. 23.; Calmet) so that there seems to be here some transposition. (Du Hamel)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 22, 24, 29, 30, 32, 36, 37 Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech--or, "Mash"; these…
Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Meshech--or, "Mash"; these were the children of Aram, and grandsons of Shem (Gen 10:23).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 40, 43, 46, 48, 50, 51 17 (= Gen_10:22-23). The Sons of Shem
17 (= Gen_10:22-23). The Sons of Shem
17. The sons of Shem] These occupied the middle geographical “zone.”
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Elam] “Semites neither in blood nor in speech” (Sayce, Higher Criticism, p. 122). If this be so, the reason of their being reckoned to Shem must be that they were in the geographical zone which belonged to the Semites.
Asshur] The Assyrians, who spoke a Semitic dialect and were doubtless Semites.
Arphaxad] R.V. Arpachshad. The second half of the word (“chshad”) contains the name of the Casdim, the “Chaldeans” or “Chaldees” of the A.V.
Lud] Perhaps the Lydians. In 1Ch_1:11, which is an extract from an earlier document (“J”), Ludim (“the Lydians”) are reckoned as the children of Mizraim (Egypt). Lydia itself was in the Japhetic “zone,” but the people may have been recognised as Semites independently of their geographical position.
Aram] the “Syrians” of the A.V.; better called Aramaeans. In Damascus they held an independent power for centuries and were constantly at war with Israel. Further north they seem to have been under the hegemony of the Hittites.
Uz] From Gen_10:23 it appears that in Chron. the words “And the children of Aram[1]” have dropped out, so that “Uz” etc. appear as the immediate descendants of Shem.
[1] The Alexandrine MS (A) of the LXX. has the words.
Neither Uz nor the three following names have been satisfactorily identified. For “Meshech” Gen_10:2 (Heb. not LXX.) reads “Mash.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv17, 24, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 54 THE SONS OF SHEM, OR THE SEMITES (1Ch_1:17-23).
THE SONS OF SHEM, OR THE SEMITES (1Ch_1:17-23).
(17) Blam.—The Elamtum of the Assyrian inscription, the classic Susiana, a mountainous land eastward of Babylonia, to which it was subject in the days of Abraham (Genesis 14). The names Assurû, Elamû, Kassû, and Accadû occur together in an old Assyrian list of nations. Êlama, from which the Assyrian and Hebrew names are derived, is Accadian. The native designation was Ansan. The Sargonide kings of Assyria had frequent wars with Elam.
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Asshur.—Assyria proper, i.e., a district on the Tigris, about twenty-five miles long, between the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh parallels of latitude. Asshur was the name of its older capital and tutelar god. The Semitic Assyrians appear to have been settled at Asshur as early as the nineteenth century B.C. They were emigrants from Babylonia (Gen_10:11). The original name was A-usar, “water-meadow.”
Arphaxad apparently means Babylonia, or, at least, includes it. Babylonian monarchs styled themselves “King of the Four Quarters” (of heaven); and Arphaxaa may perhaps mean land of the four quarters or sides, and be derived from the Assyrian arba-kisâdi “four sides” (Friedrich Delitzsch). More probably it is Arph-chesed, “boundary of Chaldea.”
Lud, usually identified with the Lydians (Assyrian Luddi), perhaps their original home in Armenia. The name has also been compared with Rutennu, the Egyptian name of the Syrians (I and r being confused in Egyptian). But comp. Eze_27:10; Eze_30:5.
Aram.—The high land—that is, eastern and western Syria, extending from the Tigris to the Great Sea. The name is constantly used for the Arameans, or Syrians.
Uz.—An Arab tribe, called Hâsu by Esarhaddon, who reduced them. Perhaps, however, Uz (Heb., Ûç), is the Assyrian Uçça, a district on the Orontes, mentioned by Shalmaneser II. (B.C. 860-825). Job lived in the “land of Uz.” The remaining names appear to be also those of Arab tribes, who must have lived northward in the direction of Aram; these are called sons of Aram in Genesis 10
Hul is the Assyrian Hûlî’a, which formed a part of the mountain land of Kasiar or Mash (Inscription of Assurnâçirpal, B.C. 885-860). For Meshech Genesis 10 has Mash, which is compared with Mount Masius, near Nisibin. (So the Syriac and some Heb. MSS.)
(18) Eber.—The land on the other side (Gr., ἡ πέραν) Peræa. Here the land beyond the Euphrates is meant, from which “Abraham, the Hebrew” (i.e., Eberite), migrated.
(19) Two sons.—This indicates the ancient consciousness that the Hebrew and Arabian peoples were akin.
The earth was divided.—Or, divided itself. (Comp. Deu_32:7-9.) The words probably refer to a split in the population of Mesopotamia.
(20) Joktan begat Almodad.—The Joktanite tribes lived along the coast of Hadhramaut (Hazarmaveth) and Yemen, in southern Arabia. The tribes of Yemen call their ancestor Qahtân (= Joktan). The names in 1Ch_1:20-21, are all explicable from Arabic sources.
(22) Ebal.—Gen_10:28. Obal, where, however, the LXX. read Εὐάλ (Ebal). The different spelling is due to the common confusion in MSS. of the Hebrew letters w and y. Both Ebal and Abimael are unknown.
(23) Ophir.—Abhîra, at the mouth of the Indus.
Jobab.—Probably a tribe of Arabia Deserta. (Comp. the Arabic yabâb, a desert.)
All these were the sons of Joktan.—Gen_10:30 adds a definition of their territory: “Their dwelling was from Mesha” (Maisânu, at the head of the Persian Gulf), “until thou comest to Sephar” (probably Zafâru or Isfor, in South Arabia) “and the mountains of the east” (i.e., Nejd, a range parallel to the Red Sea).
From the whole section we learn that the Elamites, Assyrians, Chaldees, Arameans, Hebrews, and Arabs, were regarded as belonging to the great Semitic family. In regard to Elam, modern philologers have questioned the correctness of this view. It is, however, quite possible that at the time when the original of this table of nations was composed, some Semitic tribes were known to have effected a settlement in Elam, just as kindred tribes occupied Babylonia and Assyria.
The fourteen sons of Japheth and the thirty sons of Ham, and the twenty-six sons of Shem, make a total of seventy eponyms of nations. The number seventy is probably not accidental. Comp. the seventy elders (Num_11:16); the seventy members of the Sanhedrin; and even the seventy disciples of Christ (Luk_10:1). The seventy nations of the world are often mentioned in the Talmud. Ezekiel’s prophecy concerning Tyre, and the peoples that had commerce with her (Ezekiel 27), is a valuable illustration of the table.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17, 19, 27, 28, 29, 32, 34, 38, 42, 43, 44, 47, 48, 51 Vers. 17-27. D. THE LIST OF SHEM"S DESCENDANTS TO…
Vers. 17-27. D. THE LIST OF SHEM"S DESCENDANTS TO ABRAM. This list is broken in two; it pauses a moment exactly halfway to Abram, at the name Peleg, to mention Peleg"s brother Joktan and Joktan"s thirteen sons. Then, repeating the first five names of lineal descent, and picking up the thread at Peleg, the list gives the remaining five to Abram. In the first half of this list, we have apparently the names of nine sons of Shem, but, as Genesis explains, really the names of five sons, and through Aram, the last of them, the names of four grandsons. Another grandson, through Arphaxad the third son, follows, and through this grandson two consecutive lineal descents bring us, in the name Peleg, half-way to Abram. It is here the lineal table pauses to give Joktan and his thirteen sons. The names then in this portion of the list are twenty-six in number. In the Authorized Version they correspond with those in Genesis, except that Meschech ( here is called Mash (vmw;) there; Shelah here is spelled Salah there; and Ebal (lbye) here is written Obal (lbwO) there. The difference between the Hebrew texts justifies the first and last of these variations in the Authorized Version, but in all other respects those texts are in entire accord with one another, for this paragraph. The Septuagint gives very little of this portion of the list. It corresponds, whether with the Hebrew or the Authorized Version, only as far as to the name Arphaxad, after which it carries down the line at once to Abram by the remaining eight names as given in our twenty-fourth to twenty-seventh verses. Nor is it in agreement with its own version in Genesis, which has points of important variation with the Hebrew text also. It is then at this break of the list that, after the names of Joktan"s sons, we have in Genesis these words, "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 lauds, 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." Upon this follows the account of Babel, in nine long verses, and then a chronological summary is furnished in lineal descent only from Shem to Abram. It is with the names in this chronological summary that those in this second part of our list (vers. 24-27) are found to agree. But any attempt at reproduction of the chronology found in Genesis is again absent here. At this point a significant stage of these genealogies is reached. The ever-broadening stream of population now narrows again. Two thousand years have flown by, then Abraham appears on the stream and tide of human life. Of that long period the life of Adam himself spanned nearly the half. So far we learn without partiality of all his descendants in common. But henceforth, the real, the distinct purpose of the genealogy becomes apparent, in that the line of the descendants of Abraham, and that by one family, alone is maintained, and proves to be a purpose leading by one long straight line to Christ himself. With Abraham "the covenant of innoceney," long forfeited in Adam, is superseded by the everlasting "covenant of grace," and we lose sight in some measure of Adam, the "common father of our flesh," to think of a happier parentage found in Abraham, the "common father of the faithful."
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv19, 44, 48, 54 Because in his days the earth was divided.
1Ch_1:19
Because in his days the earth was divided.
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The division of the earth
The chief value of the genealogical records consists--
1. In enabling us to view the origin of nations historically.
2. In enabling us to trace out the various tribes of the sons of Jacob.
3. In enabling us to prove the lineal descent of Christ to have been of the house and lineage of David; and that He was the fulfiller of the promise to Abraham, In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed.
4. Independently of all this we meet with a sentence or a paragraph suggestive of the deepest thought, or illuminating a principle expressed in another part of the Scriptures with light as clear and bright as it is beautiful and enchanting. Such an instance we have in the text.
I. Consider the division of the earth as ordained without sin. Sin alters and affects everything. There is not a duty you perform or matter you can engage in, in which you do not find sin exerting a pernicious influence. And here it is, I think, that many persons make great error when seeking to interpret to themselves the trials and calamities which come upon them. Providence ordained it, is the common philosophy on the matter, when I humbly think the truer account of every calamity would be, Providence ordained and desired my happiness, but sin has deformed it, and for a time blasted the intended joys and filled me with anxieties. The division which God intended would be but a repetition in every case of what He had done at the beginning; there would have been allotted to the sons of men certain portions of this fair earth to govern and to till, and every child of Adam would be taught, in the beautiful homilies of nature, the first principles at least of homage to the Creator, and of confidence, and of love. The division Jehovah ordained was division without disunion. Distinction, but not discord. Partition, but still perfect peace. This first inquiry, then, is of much value, and will prove, ere many years, of vast importance in refuting the errors of the sceptical writers which abound. Nor will it perhaps be without its use, to have noticed the character of that division which God intended among the sons of men, one which should have promoted the equal comfort of all, amidst the blessings of universal peace and brotherhood. It may be, that when grace shall have triumphed in our sin-stained earth even but a little more, you may see a disposition to revert to these very principles of division which the Eternal desired to be followed, but which (as we shall notice directly) have been marvellously distorted ever since the day of which it is recorded in the text--Unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided.
II. Now let us inquire into the division of the earth among nations as it does exist, under the influence of sin. Now you notice, by referring to the text (Gen_10:25), that the division took place before the building of Babel, and according to some persons, some considerable period before that epoch. At all events, the narrative implies that this division preceded the dispersion, and must therefore have occurred when all men spoke but one language. Remember, then, that Gods will was that men should divide (though without discord) and replenish all the earth. Recollect, too, that from the text we learn that the first step in this had been taken, even as Eber names his child Peleg (division) in memory of the event. Observe, then, what we are told immediately after the division in the days of Peleg. You read in the eleventh chapter of Genesis that the whole earth was of one language and of one speech; but that in their journeyings from the east, instead of dividing (as probably was the intention when they started), finding a large and inviting plain in Shinar, they counsel each other: Let us build a city and tower whose top may reach to heaven, and let us make us a name lest (mark) we be scattered abroad on the face of the whole earth. So that sin at once interrupted the beneficent designs of God, and interposing its corrupting leaven, sought to change His ordinances by promising greater benefits than He, but which have ever been found productive of evil. And now, that which was ordained for a blessing in every age, forthwith becomes a curse while it is yet obeyed; for God coming down, and seeing the injurious moral effect which would follow from this congregating together, disperses them by a division wholly unlooked for. God confounded their speech, made them talk in different languages, and they are obliged in consequence to disperse, and the division is accomplished. But how? Not in peace and harmony, and with a God be with you. But brother utters jargon to brother, and words of blessing and adieu are impossible, and now it is no more division with love, but confusion, and disunion, and discord, and ill-will. For I ask you what is the history of nations, but a continuation of this story? Nations for the most part are distinguished from one another by their difference of speech. But this is not the only difference. Scarcely a nation in the world but has at one time or another, been at war with other nations, and almost every kingdom of importance has, in its turn, encountered the armies of all other kingdoms in the dread attack of war and slaughter, at some period of their history. And this is the place for observing another very striking result of sin in the division of the earth. God, we saw, intended it so to be conducted as to subserve the advantage of all; but man decreed in his pride of intellect and reasoning that he would live in the dense vastness of a thickly populated city. And though God indeed dispersed them from Babel, the tendency of our nature seems to be far from eradicated. Still mankind crowd into cities, until they are so closely populated, that disease and death are fearfully increased. So you may notice how the retributive hand of judgment has followed these transactions. Man is a social being, and intended by God to congregate, but intended not so to congregate as we find he has done, and will still persist in doing, until by a strange anomaly his next-door neighbour is the veriest stranger to him. God ordered earth to be divided; and the plan by which thousands are huddled in close, dark, narrow alleys and areas is only sins development of its influences, as it reverses Gods intended method of division, and says with towering vanity, Go to, let us build rather a city that we may not be scattered. It is a known fact, that there is less religion in large towns than small ones, and far less where the poor are obliged to pack together as I have described. The reason is also plain. The cause is, that since the days of Peleg, the earth has been divided according to sin, and the dispersion of nations is the result of Gods anger, in confounding their speech. But the reason is, because the human mind, cut off from the beauties of nature, and those countless sources which it possesses for preparing the mind for religion, becomes prejudiced in its fearfully artificial state of town life, and by the evil customs and habits which surround it, against every sense of real godliness, which it thus learns to regard as belonging only to the rich.
III. But though you see sin so plainly operating, you are assured that christ will conquer, and grace finally prevail. In the day of glory which awaits you (described in the last two chapters of the Revelation), it is very interesting to observe that the city of the new Jerusalem described there bears a peculiar likeness to those which would have existed if the division of the world had been such as God ordained, and which began in the days of Peleg. In Christs kingdom there will be division without discord, that is, every person in his right place, in perfect love, and unity with all the rest.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v32 The Descendants of Esau and the Dukes of Edom
The Descendants of Esau and the Dukes of Edom
v. 32. Now, the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine, the half-brothers of Ishmael; she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah, these being the founders of nomadic tribes in the northern part of Arabia and in Syria. Cf Gen 25:1-2; Gen 36:35; Job 2:11. And the sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan.
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v. 33. And the sons of Midian: Ephah, and Epher, and Renoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these are the sons, the descendants, of Keturah.
v. 34. And Abraham begat Isaac, this verse continuing the enumeration of 1Ch 1:28. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.
v. 35. The sons of Esau, who forfeited his birthright and was not the bearer of the Messianic promise: Eliphaz, Reuel, and Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah. Cf Gen 36:9-14.
v. 36. The sons of Eliphaz: Teman, and Omar, Zephi, and Gatam, Kenaz, and Timna, and Amalek.
v. 37. The sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.
v. 38. And the sons of Seir: Lotan, and Shobal, and Zibeon, and Anah, and Dishon, and Ezar, and Dishan.
v. 39. And the sons of Lotan: Rori, and Roman (or Heman); and Timna was Lotan’s sister.
v. 40. The sons of Shobal: Alian (or Alvan), and Manahath, and Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. And the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah.
v. 41. The sons of Anah: Dishon. And the sons of Dishon: Amram (or Hemdan), and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran.
v. 42. The sons of Ezer: Bilhan, and Zavail, and Jakan (or Akan). The sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran. Cf Gen 36:20-28. These men were founders of nomadic tribes occupying the country between the Red Sea and the Euphrates, some of the mightiest ones being found near the boundary of Chaldea.
v. 43. Now, these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel: Bela, the son of Beor; and the name of his city was Dinhabah. This has been identified with O’Daeb, a well known town in the center of Al Dahna, a great northern desert in the direction of Chaldea and the Euphrates.
v. 44. And when Bela was dead, Jobab, the son of Zerah, of Bozrah reigned in his stead.
v. 45. And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.
v. 46. And when Husham was dead, Hadad, the son of Bedad, which smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead; and the name of his city was Avith.
v. 47. And when Hadad was dead, Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.
v. 48. And when Samlah was dead, Shaul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.
v. 49. And when Shaul was dead, Baal-hanan, the son of Acabor, reigned in his stead.
v. 50. And when Baal-hanan was dead, Hadad (or Hadar) reigned in his stead; and the name of his city was Pai; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab. It appears from this that the country had no definite capital at this time, and that the royal power was not hereditary. Probably the ruler was elected from the total number of princes or most influential sheiks.
v. 51. Hadad died also, and after his death the office of king seems to have been abolished. And the dukes of Edom were: Duke Timnah, Duke Aliah, Duke Jetheth,
v. 52. Duke Aholibamah, Duke Elah, Duke Pinon,
v. 53. Duke Kenaz, Duke Teman, Duke Mibzar,
v. 54. Duke Magdiel, Duke Iram. These are the dukes of Edom. For the entire passage compare Gen 36:31-43. This list has only geographical importance, as naming the chief Edomite principalities. It has been preserved to show how completely the Lord fulfilled His promise concerning Esau.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv17, 20, 24, 28, 32, 34, 38, 41, 43, 46, 49, 51 General Information:
General Information:
All of the names here are names of men. (See: How to Translate Names)
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translationWords
Shem
Elam
Aram
Meshech
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv24, 28, 34, 51 1:24-27 The summary of Shem’s descendants ends with Abraham…
1:24-27 The summary of Shem’s descendants ends with Abraham (cp. Gen 11:10-26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.