Genesis 10:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed.

NIV: Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered

NASB: the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.

CSB: the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the Canaanite clans scattered.

NLT: Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The Canaanite clans eventually spread out,

KJV: And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

NKJV: the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed.

This verse continues a list of the sons of Canaan, Noah's grandson. These sons of Canaan will become the Canaanites, the peoples occupying the Promised Land which the people of Israel will come to conquer after the Exodus from Egypt. This later conquest is God's judgment on the sins of the Canaanites (Deuteronomy 9:3–6), and a partial fulfillment of the curse levied against Canaan by Noah (Genesis 9:20–25).

Verse 18 lists the final three groups stemming from Canaan, each of which became a city-state in the north.

Arvad is a small island city off the coast of Syria, also known as Ruad Island. The Zemarites lived in the city of Sumur, which may have been just south of Arvad.

Hamath is in west central Syria today, called Hama. The people of that city served Israel's kings David (2 Samuel 8:9–10) and Solomon (2 Chronicles 8:4), and the city was later retaken by Jeroboam (2 Kings 14:28). This is one of many examples of the fulfillment of Noah's curse from Genesis 9 that the descendants of Canaan would become servants to the descendants of Shem (Genesis 9:26).

This verse ends with the statement that the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. This may refer to the dispersal to the region of Canaan after the events of the Tower of Babel described in Genesis chapter 11.

Genesis 10:6–20 details the descendants of Noah's son, Ham. The majority of these tribes settled in the regions south and east of the Promised Land. While Ham's son Canaan was cursed (Genesis 9:24–25), many of Ham's descendants established powerful nations. One of these is Mizraim, also known as Egypt. Though Canaan's sons were destined to fall to the sons of Shem, other sons of Ham would hold Israel captive for more than 400 years. This passage also contains an interesting aside about one particular man: Nimrod.

Genesis 10 is sometimes called the table of nations. It describes, in three sections, the peoples that descended from Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Japheth's people settled mostly to the north of what would be Israel. Ham's people became great nations in the region of the Middle East, including the people that would settle in the Promised Land before Israel drove them out. Shem's line would lead to Abraham and the Israelites.

Genesis 9 described events that happened between God, Noah, and his three sons after the flood. Genesis 11 will tell the story of the Tower of Babel and the dispersal of the nations. Between them, Genesis 10 is a table of the nations that come from Japheth, Ham, and Shem after God divides and disperses humanity.

The book of Genesis establishes fundamental truths about God. Among these are His role as the Creator, His holiness, His hatred of sin, His love for mankind, and His willingness to provide for our redemption. We learn not only where mankind has come from, but why the world is in its present form. The book also presents the establishment of Israel, God's chosen people. Many of the principles given in other parts of Scripture depend on the basic ideas presented here in the book of Genesis. Within the framework of the Bible, Genesis explains the bare-bones history of the universe leading up to the captivity of Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the book of Exodus.