Do you have a record of your family tree? Is it something that’s been passed down from each generation or did you research it on Ancestory.com? Genealogies are something you either find boring or fascinating. Regardless of how you typically feel about these, I encourage you to put your imagination to use and join me on an exploration of the most influential family of the world. I think you’ll walk away more interested in names than you were before today. Why? Because you came from one of these family members. Your genealogy starts here.
“These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.” (Genesis 10:1)
“Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. And Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these descendants, the peoples of the coasts and islands spread out into their lands according to their clans in their nations, each with its own language.” (Genesis 10:1-5)
Japheth’s family:
Let’s catch a glimpse of the places these descendants of Japheth developed, according to my research (From Abarim Publications, Bible Study Tools, and other resources), to see if your family derived from Japheth’s:
- Gomer – Cimmerians and other branches of the Celtic family
- Magog – Scythians
- Magai – The Medes
- Javan – Greece (Alexander the Great was called the “King of Javan”)
- Tubal – Also possibly Greece
- Meshech – Inhabited the Moschian mountains between the Black and Caspian seas. This group later became the Muscous (Russia)
- Tiras – Possibly pirate type people on the Aegean Sea and later became Italians
Is your family from any of these countries? No, let’s keep going to see if we can find yours.
Gomer’s sons:
- Ashkenaz – From Armenia, probably near the Black Sea (Mentioned in connection with Minni and Ararat. Ararat is where the ark landed, so it sounds like Ashkenaz stayed near the original family homestead)
- Riphath – Paphilagorians (North central Anatolia, Turkey)
- Togarmah – Armenian or Sycthian race. Ezek 38:6 confirms that Togarmah’s family came from the “remotest parts of the north.”
Javan’s sons:
- Elishah – Peloponnesus (Southern Greece), which was known by the name of Elis. This may be meant by “the isles of Elishah.” (Ezek. 27:7)
- Tarshish – Possibly the Indian Coast or Spain
- Kittim – Cyprus, or a territory extending along the coasts of the Mediterranean
- Dodanim – Illyricum – They were a semi-Pelasgic race, grouped with the Chittim (Kittims). Possibly inhabited the island of Rhodes in Greece.
Therefore, Japheth’s family mostly spread out across the Grecian islands and Latin countries with a couple of them near Assyrian and Russian territories. As Genesis 10:5 confirms, they primarily stuck to the coasts and spread out among Europe and Asia. Noah’s blessing to Japheth in Genesis 9:27 said he would “extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem.” I think part of this is where a good mix of the Samaritans came from (a blend of Japheth’s and Shem’s families) by the time Rome was in power. Surely Japheth’s clan did indeed extend greatly. Unfortunately, though, as seen in the prophetical books like Ezekiel, Japheth’s family often joined with Ham’s for world power being influenced by the Father of Lies instead of our Father God. This led to great consequences.
Ham’s Family:
This is where things start to get interesting…
“Noah said to Ham, “Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers.
He also said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; Let Canaan be Shem’s slave.” (Genesis 9:25-26) This isn’t easy to read. It’s real and it marked Ham’s family for the rest of time. Watch where Ham’s family line all migrated. If you have any knowledge of Old Testament history, a humbling story will begin to unfold.
“Ham’s sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.” (Genesis 10:6-7)
- Cush – Mainly Ethiopians, but they also spread through Arabia, Persia, Babylonia, to western India. Some became Phoenicians in Palestine, and some helped form the Chaldean nation.
- Mizraim (also known as Egypt) – The namesake place in Africa
- Put – Put is the only one of the sons of Ham not credited with descendants in the Bible but secular history seems to note they inhabited Yemen and Somalia.
- Canaan – Originally, his family began in Sidon and then spread to become the entire land of the Phoenicians from the Jordan River to the Red Sea.
Cush’s Sons:
- Seba – Probably from north-eastern Africa as they’re often mentioned with Egypt and Cush. This is also the ancient name of Meroe. The Meroe pyramids are in the current country of Sudan.
- Havilah – Since both Cush and Joktan (from Shem’s family) had sons named Havilah (named after the place in Eden (Gen 2:11), it isn’t completely clear which Havilah lived where. However, we might assume that Joktan’s son lived near Babylon and Cush’s son lived near the northwestern part of Yemen or near the Ethiopian shore, based on their family’s migration/settlings.
- Sabtah and Sabteca – Both appear to be Arabic names – Most likely in Arabia along the Persian gulf.
- Raamah – Southern Arabia (Yemen and south of Saudi Arabia)
- Raamah’s sons (There’s a change in order, listing Raamah’s sons before the rest of Cush’s sons showing that the next of Cush’s son listed has noted significance)
- Sheba – Settled on the northwest coast of the Persian Gulf
- Dedan – Settled with Sheba’s family
- Raamah’s sons (There’s a change in order, listing Raamah’s sons before the rest of Cush’s sons showing that the next of Cush’s son listed has noted significance)
“Cush fathered Nimrod, who began to be powerful in the land. He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord.” His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.” (Genesis 10:8-12, bold added)
Moses, the author of Genesis just paused the genealogy account to share a juicy piece of information; something he didn’t even realize would hold massive impact to Shem’s family centuries later. No one could see this coming since the curse of Ham fell to Canaan. But, the Lord knew and took notice of this man, Nimrod.
The name Nimrod means, “rebel/rebellion.” As I read “He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the LORD,” it came across to me as somewhat sarcastic. Though he was evidently powerful not only in hunting but also civil development with the cities he started, his focus was to pridefully contend with God and become the most powerful man on earth. The first kingdom he started was Babylon which means, “the Gate of God.” Remember that name when we get to Genesis 11! Nimrod wasn’t stopping with his power on earth. He was trying to supersede God, just like Satan tried. He was Satan’s strongest earthly advocate. Even God took notice of Nimrod’s abilities and this is where I read that somewhat sarcastically because God was the One who gave Nimrod those abilities in the first place.
For times sake, we will continue the study of this family next week. The people and places only continue to get more interesting as we work towards the end of chapter 10. Even if you haven’t found your family’s origin yet, there’s plenty more to come. Don’t tune out as this chapter begins the profound movement towards the Gospel message. Let’s watch it unfold!
