Peleg, and the earth divided
Says Two sons were born to Eber: one was named Peleg, ki veyamav nifleggah ha'arets, “for in his days the earth was divided,” and his brother was named Joktan (10:25). The verb is a Niphal, and it sounds like the name. Ha'arets can mean the earth, a land, or its people. Swete has Φάλεκ and διεμερίσθη ἡ γῆ, without the sound-play. Chapter 11 follows Peleg’s line, not Joktan’s, and names no generation between Arphaxad and Shelah.
Uncertain Four readings of the division are held. It may be the division of languages at Babel: the view fits the chapter’s place next to 11:1–9 and takes earth as the population (so Driver); the objection is that 10:25 and 11:9 use different verbs, and Skinner finds “no very strong reason” to refer the word to Babel. It may be a political or ethnic division, the separation of Joktan’s line from the northern kinsmen, or some other tradition of how the nations were distributed (Skinner points to Jubilees). It may refer to canal-digging: as a common noun peleg means a watercourse, and Akkadian palgu means an artificial canal; the objection is that the view rests on one word. It may be a division of land masses, taking ha'arets as the physical earth; the grounds are the plain sense of earth and was divided. The objection is that the list around the verse is about peoples and their lands, not about continents. No page here states the last reading. No lean is taken.
Claims
- SaysPeleg is named because in his days the earth was divided, a Niphal that sounds like the name; ha'arets can mean the earth, a land, or its people; Swete loses the sound-play.
- UncertainThe division may be of languages at Babel, a political or ethnic division, canal-digging, or a splitting of land masses; each view has its grounds and its objection; 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)
- 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
- 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
- APOT public domain vol. 2 (1913): Jub 8:8, 10, p. 25 (n44); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted
- Josephus (Whiston) public domain Ant. 1.6 (Whiston, 1817, vol. 1), pp. 22–25 (n31–n34); checked against the printed page (scan); quoted, otherwise paraphrased
Quotations from LXX (Swete) are used under CC BY-SA 4.0 · Credits
2026-11-11
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