The genre of the list and the number of the nations
Says The chapter is headed these are the generations of Noah’s sons (10:1) and closed by these are the clans of the sons of Noah by their generations, in their nations (10:32). Family verbs (fathered, were born) run through the list, and many names are peoples, lands or cities. A four-part formula, clans, languages, lands, nations, closes Japheth, Ham and Shem (10:5, 20, 31). Later readers have counted seventy names in the Hebrew, matching a tradition of seventy nations. The Greek adds Elisa at 10:2 and Kainam at 10:24, and it has no name for Obal at 10:28. Keil reports that “According to the Jewish Midrash, there are seventy tribes,” while the fathers count 72, and he judges both reckonings “perfectly arbitrary,” since “the number 70 is nowhere given or hinted at.” Augustine counts “seventy-three (or rather … seventy-two),” which “were not individuals, but nations.”
Implies The list is selective: Moab, Ammon, Ishmael and Edom, later named in Genesis, are not here, and the line is arranged so as to lead to Shem, Eber and Abram.
Uncertain The chapter may be a segmentary genealogy, an ethnographic map, or a selective theological list. A genealogy fits the “fathered” lines; many names are peoples. A map fits the borders (10:19, 30); the form is a family tree. A selective aim fits the path to Abram but leaves many names unexplained. Skinner’s eponymous reading is his, and it is not adopted here. No count is stated as the count. No lean is taken.
Claims
- SaysThe chapter is headed as the generations of Noah’s sons and closed as their clans by generations and nations; a four-part formula names clans, languages, lands and nations; later readers have counted seventy names in the Hebrew, matching a tradition of seventy nations; the Greek adds Elisa and Kainam and has no name for Obal.
- ImpliesThe list is selective and is arranged so as to lead to Shem, Eber and Abram.
- UncertainThe chapter may be a segmentary genealogy, an ethnographic map, or a selective theological list; no count is stated as the count; Skinner’s eponymous reading is his and is not adopted; no lean is taken.
Citations
- BSB public domain Gen 10:1–32
- OSHB CC BY 4.0 Gen 10:1–32 (WLC/OSHB), cantillation removed
- LXX (Swete) CC BY-SA 4.0 Gen 10:1–32, vol. 1, pp. 15–17 (oldtestamentingr01swetuoft, viewer leaves n46–n48); checked against the printed page (scan)
- Keil–Delitzsch, Pentateuch 1 public domain Keil, Pentateuch vol. 1 (Clark, Martin trans., 1868), p. 161 (n164), on Gen 10:8–9, p. 165 (n168), and on the number of the nations, p. 172 (n175); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Skinner, Genesis (ICC) public domain Skinner, Genesis (ICC, 1910), pp. 187–189 (n288–n290), on Gen 10:8–12, pp. 207–211 (n308–n312), and on Gen 10:25, p. 220 (n321); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Augustine, City of God (NPNF1 vol. 2) public domain Civ. 16.3–11 (trans. Dods, NPNF¹ 2), pp. 311–318 (n334–n341); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
- Driver, Genesis (Westminster) public domain Driver, The Book of Genesis (Westminster, 4th ed.), pp. 112–120 (n213–n221), 123–124 (n224–n225), 128–131 (n229–n232); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
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2026-11-11
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