Genesis 11 should come before chapter 10. Chapter 10 tells us where everyone settled after the Tower of Babel, while 11 tells us of the Tower incident itself.
11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Noah and all his descendants spoke the same language. This would have been just a hundred or so years after they got off of the boat.
Some scientists put the Ice Age starting at about this time (One large Ice Age, not many little ones). The Great Ice Age was caused by the warm oceans left after the flood driving moisture inland which cooled and snowed in the middle of continents, building up to the great glaciers. This would have caused the coastal regions of even the very north to be warm, lush grasslands fully capable of supporting large plant eaters such as the woolly mammoth. As the oceans cooled, the moisture reduced and the interiors of the continents warmed, melting the glaciers. The cooling oceans would have caused the coasts to cool, too, making the northern coasts no longer habitable to so many large animals. The Ice Age would have lasted one to two hundred years.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, “Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
They were using man-made materials instead of the ones God made.
4 And they said, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
God had clearly told them to fill the whole earth, but they wanted to just stay in this one place.
If you assume an average of seven children per family, and about three generations to have reproduced, there were around 7,000 people by now. Maybe even more.
Some believe that building this tower was a sign of direct disbelief in God’s promise to not flood the world again. Slime and bricks would have been reasonably waterproof. They were preparing their own place of safety for the next flood.
The “heaven” they were trying to reach was not God’s throne room. It was the lower regions of the atmosphere. And a landmark like this would have allowed them to remain as one people much easier.
The Hebrew word translated “tower” here is the word used to describe a pyramid of flowers in a garden, so the tower is likely some sort of pyramid.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
6 And the Lord said, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”
Human beings can accomplish anything that enough of them will set their minds to.
7 “Go to let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
Once again we have the royal “Let Us.” Notice that in the rest of this chapter God is called THE (singular) LORD (also singular), and that the verbs, articles, and pronouns are also singular.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
One minute they were all speaking the same language and the next they were all speaking different languages. I imagine that this caused quite a few fights. You simply can’t work together on such a project if you can’t communicate.
There are only a few different types of languages in the world, though there are hundreds of different actual languages. For example, Italian, French, Spanish, and a good part of English are all called “romantic” languages because they are all descended from the Roman language of Latin. Farther back, Latin and German have the same root. The Asian and Arabic languages, however, are not even remotely related to each other or Latin. I would guess there are three major language divisions.
God divided the languages along family lines so husbands and wives and children would not be separated.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Babel means “confusion.” This probably happened around 1787AH (2259BC).
10:1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras,
Japheth (the oldest) had seven sons. He probably had at least as many daughters.
3 And the sons of Gomer (Japheth’s oldest); Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 And the sons of Javan (Japheth’s fourth son mentioned here); Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
It is possible that at the time they moved from Babel this was all the male decedents of Japheth.
5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations;
“The isles of the Gentiles” would be the many islands in the Mediterranean. In fact, I understand the Hebrew names for the major islands in the Mediterranean are Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim still.
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush (Ham’s oldest); Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabecha; and the sons of Raamah (Ham’s grandson); Sheba, and Dedan.
8 And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Cush had nine sons, one of which was Nimrod. “Nimrod” means “Rebel.” This may not have been the name given him by his parents at birth, but an earned name from adulthood due to his behavior, and possibly not even a name, but a label given by someone who didn’t want to honor him enough to give his real name.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, “Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”
One scholar translates this, “Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a tyrant in the earth. He was a tyrannical hunter in opposition to the Lord. Thus it is said, "Nimrod the tyrannical opponent of YHVH."
Legend says that Nimrod hunted dangerous animals (such as lions, tigers, bears, maybe Tyrannosaurus) to protect the others from them. He was also a tyrant king. He was a mighty hunter “against” the Lord, by definition.
He was not a godly man.
It is said that he died hunting and his wife claimed he became a god and she got pregnant by Immaculate Conception. Her son’s name started with a letter that strongly resembled our t and the use of the t as a religious symbol dates all the way back to this time. In fact, all pagan religions can be traced back to here.
The idea for Immaculate Conception would have come from the story in the stars (see chapter 1), already being corrupted to suit man’s purpose.
Archeologists have found many versions of the story of Gilgamesh in the Tigris and Euphrates region. These stories contain a flood account, a fight with a snake that offers eternal life, and have Gilgamesh behead the One who sent the flood. It is increasingly believed that Nimrod was Gilgamesh. If so, he was one of the most evil men to have ever lived.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Nimrod was the leader of settling the area we call ancient Sumner.
When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, he was given 1903 years’ worth of astronomical observations, putting the founding of Babylon at 2234BC. (It is our arrogant western idea that these people couldn't keep track of their own history and left out thousands of years. As if we, living 2500 years later, know better than the people who lived at the time what really happened.)
11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh, and the city Rgoboth, and Calah,
Nineveh became the capital city of the Assyrian Empire that destroyed Israel and is where Jonah went to preach.
12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: and the same is a great city.
13 And Mizraim (Ham’s second son) begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.
Mizraim had seven sons, one (or several) of which fathered the Philistines.
Mizraim himself is believed to have founded Egypt. Some ancient Egyptian records say it was founded in the year 2188BC, about 150 years before Abraham’s birth in 2038BC.
Egypt today refers to herself as "The Land of Mirz."
(An Egyptian chronicler says the Great Egyptian Empire lasted 1663 years. It was conquered by Persia in 526BC so founded in 2188BC.)
If the pre-flood world was technologically advanced enough to build a Flood-worthy boat, and the third generation was advanced enough to build a tower that would have reached the atmosphere if God hadn’t stopped it, then it is very likely Mizraim began the building of the Great Pyramids.
Evolution (today’s prevailing religion in the West) says that people began as no more than animals and have become more and more technologically advanced. However, the evidence simply doesn’t support this. We STILL don’t know how they built the pyramids! Even with all our big cranes and machines we would be hard put to repeat the project.
The fact is the actual evidence says that all peoples began VERY advanced and LOST a great deal of knowledge and skills somewhere along the way.
We know, in fact, that the later pyramids were much less advanced than the earlier ones (though the very first one or two weren’t that advanced, they were still much more advanced than the last few).
Egyptian records tell us about a visor to one of the earliest pharaohs who taught the Egyptians the math necessary to build the pyramids, as well as a great many other things. Though some speculate this visor was Abraham or Joseph, I believe it more likely it was Ham, helping his sons and grandsons with the knowledge he brought from the pre-flood world. This fits with the revised historical timeline better, actually.
The dating of the Pyramids is based, not on scientific evidence, but on the very flawed “Traditional Timeline” which is itself based on evolutionary long periods of time. If the Bible is true, than this timeline is very wrong and not to be relied on. The archeological and scientific evidence is, in fact, increasing to support the Bible’s timeline and disprove the “Traditional Timeline.”
To get more specific, the Traditional Timeline lists about two thousand years of “pre-dynasty” time in Egypt, says the pyramids were built before the discovery of the wheel, and that there were more than 30 consecutive dynasties to rule Egypt.
>We now have firm evidence that many of these dynasties ruled concurrently, and that some are mistakes; they were duplicates (one dynasty listed twice) of other dynasties (drastically shortening the history of Egypt- by more than 1000 years!
>I would think any people advanced enough to build pyramids perfectly level, perfectly square, and perfectly oriented to the stars would be advanced enough to figure out the wheel.
>And the only “proof” for much of the pre-dynasty “history” is part of a name scratched on a wall.
There is no reason to not believe this pre-dynasty time was any longer than a couple of years; no real proof it was any longer.
15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou come to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou go, unto Sodom, and Gomorra, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
Canaan fathered nine different countries plus two sons that evidently didn’t found their own nations. His descendants settled in what we call Palestine today. This is where the name “Land of Canaan” (that Israel was promised) came from. It was literally the land Canaan’s children settled in.
20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
Shem had five sons.
23 And the children of Aram (shem's fifth son); Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. (4 sons)
24 And Arphaxad (Shem's third son) begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
Eber, Shem’s great-grandson, is where we get the term "Hebrew."
25 And unto Eber were born two sons; the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
Peleg means “earthquake.” Evidently part of the confusion at the Tower of Babel was an earthquake, possibly even the opening of a large fault line (thus the earth being divided- literally!) Peleg must have been born at just this time.
There is a possibility "Earthquake" was symbolic of the turmoil from the division, but I lean towards an actual earthquake, maybe accompanied by a meteor strike.
26 And Joktan (Peleg's brother) begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazamaveth, and Jerah,
27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
That makes 13 sons!
30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou go unto Sephar a mount of the east.
This family headed east.
31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
32 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.
Scientists tell us there are three main ethnic divisions in humans: Caucasoid (European), Negroid (African), and Mongoloid (Asian). All human groups can be traced to one or (far more common) a mixture of these three.
The Caucasians are descended from Japheth, the Asians or Arabics from Shem, and the Negroid from Ham. The Native Americans and Polynesians are of Asian descent. Most people are actually a mixture of all three.
It is speculated that there was very little difference in skin color before the division with individuals of every shade in every family (there is less difference genetically between the whitest of white humans and the darkest of dark humans than different colored puppies in the same litter). Those who had darker shades and migrated north would not have absorbed enough vitamin D and would have suffered from Rickets, preventing them from producing very many children, while their lighter skinned siblings would have had far more children, eventually resulting in a disappearance of darker skin.
Those who had lighter shades who migrated into the very hot African interior would have succumbed to the heat and not multiplied well.
Those going east who had an extra layer of fat under their skin (giving it a yellowish tint) would have fared better than those who didn’t have this insulation in the Himalayas.
In this very gradual way, “racial characteristics” would have appeared. At least away from the Mediterranean. Around that region there would have continued enough inter-marriage to keep everyone a nice chocolate brown.
Back to chapter 11
10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
The Flood occurred in 1656AH (2390BC), so Arphaxad was born 1658AH (2388BC).
11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
So Shem lived six hundred years, three hundred and fifty less than his father, dying in 2158AH (1888BC).
12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah;
Salah was born about 1693AH (2353BC).
11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Noah and all his descendants spoke the same language. This would have been just a hundred or so years after they got off of the boat.
Some scientists put the Ice Age starting at about this time (One large Ice Age, not many little ones). The Great Ice Age was caused by the warm oceans left after the flood driving moisture inland which cooled and snowed in the middle of continents, building up to the great glaciers. This would have caused the coastal regions of even the very north to be warm, lush grasslands fully capable of supporting large plant eaters such as the woolly mammoth. As the oceans cooled, the moisture reduced and the interiors of the continents warmed, melting the glaciers. The cooling oceans would have caused the coasts to cool, too, making the northern coasts no longer habitable to so many large animals. The Ice Age would have lasted one to two hundred years.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, “Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
They were using man-made materials instead of the ones God made.
4 And they said, “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
God had clearly told them to fill the whole earth, but they wanted to just stay in this one place.
If you assume an average of seven children per family, and about three generations to have reproduced, there were around 7,000 people by now. Maybe even more.
Some believe that building this tower was a sign of direct disbelief in God’s promise to not flood the world again. Slime and bricks would have been reasonably waterproof. They were preparing their own place of safety for the next flood.
The “heaven” they were trying to reach was not God’s throne room. It was the lower regions of the atmosphere. And a landmark like this would have allowed them to remain as one people much easier.
The Hebrew word translated “tower” here is the word used to describe a pyramid of flowers in a garden, so the tower is likely some sort of pyramid.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
6 And the Lord said, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”
Human beings can accomplish anything that enough of them will set their minds to.
7 “Go to let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
Once again we have the royal “Let Us.” Notice that in the rest of this chapter God is called THE (singular) LORD (also singular), and that the verbs, articles, and pronouns are also singular.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
One minute they were all speaking the same language and the next they were all speaking different languages. I imagine that this caused quite a few fights. You simply can’t work together on such a project if you can’t communicate.
There are only a few different types of languages in the world, though there are hundreds of different actual languages. For example, Italian, French, Spanish, and a good part of English are all called “romantic” languages because they are all descended from the Roman language of Latin. Farther back, Latin and German have the same root. The Asian and Arabic languages, however, are not even remotely related to each other or Latin. I would guess there are three major language divisions.
God divided the languages along family lines so husbands and wives and children would not be separated.
9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Babel means “confusion.” This probably happened around 1787AH (2259BC).
Let’s go back to chapter 10:
10:1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras,
Japheth (the oldest) had seven sons. He probably had at least as many daughters.
3 And the sons of Gomer (Japheth’s oldest); Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
4 And the sons of Javan (Japheth’s fourth son mentioned here); Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
It is possible that at the time they moved from Babel this was all the male decedents of Japheth.
5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations;
“The isles of the Gentiles” would be the many islands in the Mediterranean. In fact, I understand the Hebrew names for the major islands in the Mediterranean are Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim still.
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
7 And the sons of Cush (Ham’s oldest); Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabecha; and the sons of Raamah (Ham’s grandson); Sheba, and Dedan.
8 And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
Cush had nine sons, one of which was Nimrod. “Nimrod” means “Rebel.” This may not have been the name given him by his parents at birth, but an earned name from adulthood due to his behavior, and possibly not even a name, but a label given by someone who didn’t want to honor him enough to give his real name.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, “Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.”
One scholar translates this, “Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be a tyrant in the earth. He was a tyrannical hunter in opposition to the Lord. Thus it is said, "Nimrod the tyrannical opponent of YHVH."
Legend says that Nimrod hunted dangerous animals (such as lions, tigers, bears, maybe Tyrannosaurus) to protect the others from them. He was also a tyrant king. He was a mighty hunter “against” the Lord, by definition.
He was not a godly man.
It is said that he died hunting and his wife claimed he became a god and she got pregnant by Immaculate Conception. Her son’s name started with a letter that strongly resembled our t and the use of the t as a religious symbol dates all the way back to this time. In fact, all pagan religions can be traced back to here.
The idea for Immaculate Conception would have come from the story in the stars (see chapter 1), already being corrupted to suit man’s purpose.
Archeologists have found many versions of the story of Gilgamesh in the Tigris and Euphrates region. These stories contain a flood account, a fight with a snake that offers eternal life, and have Gilgamesh behead the One who sent the flood. It is increasingly believed that Nimrod was Gilgamesh. If so, he was one of the most evil men to have ever lived.
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Nimrod was the leader of settling the area we call ancient Sumner.
When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire, he was given 1903 years’ worth of astronomical observations, putting the founding of Babylon at 2234BC. (It is our arrogant western idea that these people couldn't keep track of their own history and left out thousands of years. As if we, living 2500 years later, know better than the people who lived at the time what really happened.)
11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh, and the city Rgoboth, and Calah,
Nineveh became the capital city of the Assyrian Empire that destroyed Israel and is where Jonah went to preach.
12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: and the same is a great city.
13 And Mizraim (Ham’s second son) begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.
Mizraim had seven sons, one (or several) of which fathered the Philistines.
Mizraim himself is believed to have founded Egypt. Some ancient Egyptian records say it was founded in the year 2188BC, about 150 years before Abraham’s birth in 2038BC.
Egypt today refers to herself as "The Land of Mirz."
(An Egyptian chronicler says the Great Egyptian Empire lasted 1663 years. It was conquered by Persia in 526BC so founded in 2188BC.)
If the pre-flood world was technologically advanced enough to build a Flood-worthy boat, and the third generation was advanced enough to build a tower that would have reached the atmosphere if God hadn’t stopped it, then it is very likely Mizraim began the building of the Great Pyramids.
Evolution (today’s prevailing religion in the West) says that people began as no more than animals and have become more and more technologically advanced. However, the evidence simply doesn’t support this. We STILL don’t know how they built the pyramids! Even with all our big cranes and machines we would be hard put to repeat the project.
The fact is the actual evidence says that all peoples began VERY advanced and LOST a great deal of knowledge and skills somewhere along the way.
We know, in fact, that the later pyramids were much less advanced than the earlier ones (though the very first one or two weren’t that advanced, they were still much more advanced than the last few).
Egyptian records tell us about a visor to one of the earliest pharaohs who taught the Egyptians the math necessary to build the pyramids, as well as a great many other things. Though some speculate this visor was Abraham or Joseph, I believe it more likely it was Ham, helping his sons and grandsons with the knowledge he brought from the pre-flood world. This fits with the revised historical timeline better, actually.
The dating of the Pyramids is based, not on scientific evidence, but on the very flawed “Traditional Timeline” which is itself based on evolutionary long periods of time. If the Bible is true, than this timeline is very wrong and not to be relied on. The archeological and scientific evidence is, in fact, increasing to support the Bible’s timeline and disprove the “Traditional Timeline.”
To get more specific, the Traditional Timeline lists about two thousand years of “pre-dynasty” time in Egypt, says the pyramids were built before the discovery of the wheel, and that there were more than 30 consecutive dynasties to rule Egypt.
>We now have firm evidence that many of these dynasties ruled concurrently, and that some are mistakes; they were duplicates (one dynasty listed twice) of other dynasties (drastically shortening the history of Egypt- by more than 1000 years!
>I would think any people advanced enough to build pyramids perfectly level, perfectly square, and perfectly oriented to the stars would be advanced enough to figure out the wheel.
>And the only “proof” for much of the pre-dynasty “history” is part of a name scratched on a wall.
There is no reason to not believe this pre-dynasty time was any longer than a couple of years; no real proof it was any longer.
15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou come to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou go, unto Sodom, and Gomorra, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
Canaan fathered nine different countries plus two sons that evidently didn’t found their own nations. His descendants settled in what we call Palestine today. This is where the name “Land of Canaan” (that Israel was promised) came from. It was literally the land Canaan’s children settled in.
20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
Shem had five sons.
23 And the children of Aram (shem's fifth son); Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. (4 sons)
24 And Arphaxad (Shem's third son) begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
Eber, Shem’s great-grandson, is where we get the term "Hebrew."
25 And unto Eber were born two sons; the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
Peleg means “earthquake.” Evidently part of the confusion at the Tower of Babel was an earthquake, possibly even the opening of a large fault line (thus the earth being divided- literally!) Peleg must have been born at just this time.
There is a possibility "Earthquake" was symbolic of the turmoil from the division, but I lean towards an actual earthquake, maybe accompanied by a meteor strike.
26 And Joktan (Peleg's brother) begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazamaveth, and Jerah,
27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
That makes 13 sons!
30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou go unto Sephar a mount of the east.
This family headed east.
31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
32 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.
Scientists tell us there are three main ethnic divisions in humans: Caucasoid (European), Negroid (African), and Mongoloid (Asian). All human groups can be traced to one or (far more common) a mixture of these three.
The Caucasians are descended from Japheth, the Asians or Arabics from Shem, and the Negroid from Ham. The Native Americans and Polynesians are of Asian descent. Most people are actually a mixture of all three.
It is speculated that there was very little difference in skin color before the division with individuals of every shade in every family (there is less difference genetically between the whitest of white humans and the darkest of dark humans than different colored puppies in the same litter). Those who had darker shades and migrated north would not have absorbed enough vitamin D and would have suffered from Rickets, preventing them from producing very many children, while their lighter skinned siblings would have had far more children, eventually resulting in a disappearance of darker skin.
Those who had lighter shades who migrated into the very hot African interior would have succumbed to the heat and not multiplied well.
Those going east who had an extra layer of fat under their skin (giving it a yellowish tint) would have fared better than those who didn’t have this insulation in the Himalayas.
In this very gradual way, “racial characteristics” would have appeared. At least away from the Mediterranean. Around that region there would have continued enough inter-marriage to keep everyone a nice chocolate brown.
Babylon
Back to chapter 11
10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
The Flood occurred in 1656AH (2390BC), so Arphaxad was born 1658AH (2388BC).
11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
So Shem lived six hundred years, three hundred and fifty less than his father, dying in 2158AH (1888BC).
12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah;
Salah was born about 1693AH (2353BC).
(Or not. The Septuagint says 135, not 35. Josephus and the Dead Sea Scrolls also have the older age. In fact, they all add 100 years each to Arphaxed through Serug.
All of our modern Bibles are translated from the Masoretic text, not the Septuagint. The Masoretic text was written/ translated /assembled in the sixth century AD. It is speculated that the Jewish scholars who translated it intentionally shortened the lives of these men so Shem would still be alive at the time of Abraham, allowing them to say that he was Melchezadic and that his priesthood was passed down to Abraham and then to Isaac, Jacob, and Levi. This would invalidate the book of Hebrews claim that Jesus was a priest after the order of Melchezadic.
The Bible says that a matter is established with 2-3 witnesses. If the Septuagint, Dead Sea Scrolls, Josephous, and even some statements by Paul all agree with these older ages, they are probably true. This would add a total of 650 years to the Earth's age and erase any remaining problems between the biblical timeline and the building of the pyramids.)
13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 933 years. He died in 2591 (1455BC)
14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
The father of the Hebrews. 1723AH (2323BC)
15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 433 years, dying in 2156 (1890BC). He died more than 400 years before his father.
16 And Eber lived four and thirty years and begat Peleg:
Peleg was born about 1757AH (2289BC), about 101 years after the Flood.
17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 464 years, dying in 2187AH (1859BC). The ages are getting decidedly less. This is likely due to increased radiation entering the atmosphere from the sun. We no longer have that protective water canopy (the “waters above the firmament”) to filter it out. Radiation causes mutations at the cellular level. Mutations are almost always negative, occasionally neutral (with no observations of positive mutations). Also, increased radiation causes acceleration of aging.
It is also possible there was some nutrient in the soil that was buried, and so no longer available to us through our plants, that slowed or prevented aging before the flood.
The post-flood world was just a whole lot harsher, too; likely more extreme weather, and this is when it is believed the Great Ice Age began.
18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
Reu was born about 1787AH (2259BC).
19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 239 years, dying in 2026 (2020BC). He also died before his father.
Another drastic drop in ages. This may be due to the harshness of living in an Ice Age.
20 And Reu lived two and thirty years and begat Serug.
1787AH (2259BC).
21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 239 years, dying in 1994AH (2052BC).
22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
1849AH (2197BC).
23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 230 years, dying in 2049AH (1997BC).
24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
1878AH (2168BC).
Just as a point of interest, Egyptian records say the “Egyptian Kingdom” lasted 1663 years. Since we know they were conquered by Persia in 526 BC, they were founded in 2188BC, somewhere between the birth of Nahor and Terah.
25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 148 years, dying 1997AH (2049BC), dying before his dad.
26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Again, we don’t know if these were triplets. Probably not. All three are just important in the future stories so all three had to be listed. The oldest (likely Haran) would have been born about 1948AH (2098BC).
Just a point of interest, the 4th century Greek historian Eubius says the first king of Greece began to reign in 2089BC, 9 years before Haran was born.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
This is probably the first verse written by Abraham (the previous ones in this chapter likely written by Shem), thus the need to repeat verse 26.
There are only around 290 years between the flood and this point. There is even a good chance that Abraham knew Shem, since Shem didn’t die until 2158AH (1888BC).
Legend (which is probably not true, but fun to know anyway) says that Terah ran a store for idols. He and his son had had many arguments about whether the idols were gods or not. Abraham was left in charge of the store for a day and when his dad came back, he found all but one of the idols broken and that one holding a big stick. Terah was supposed to have been angry at his son for breaking his inventory. Abraham replied “They began to argue and fight and the one beat up all the others.”
Legend also says Abraham went to live with his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Shem for a while.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
This is near Babylon, at the mouth of the Euphrates River.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Abram means “High Father.” He married his half-sister, Sarai (which means “Dominative”). His brother, Nahor, married his niece, Milcah (daughter of their brother Haran and sister to Lot.)
We don’t really know who Iscah is. She (it’s a feminine word) was important enough to include here, but the Bible doesn’t tell us why. Speculation runs from her actually being Sarah (and thus Abram’s niece instead of sister as the Bible later says) to being Lot’s wife (We think Iscah means “to look back.”) We just really don’t know.
Strong's concordance says "See Sarah" as the definition for Iscah.
The laws forbidding marriage so close in a family were not written for some time yet. This early in history, the negative mutations that cause problems with such close intermarriage had not occurred yet, so there was no problem with brothers marrying sisters.
And at this time in history they weren't nearly as strict with family relations, grandpas often calling their grandsons, "son." So I guess it's possible for Abraham to call his brother's daughter, his "sister."
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Here is a point about the King James Version of the Bible that I like. When it does use a word we may not be familiar with (such as barren) it defines it for us (“she had no child.”)
31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Terah took his son, daughter/daughter-in-law, and grandson.
Ur is south east of Babylon, towards the Persian Gulf, on the Euphrates River (See the map). Haran is north-west of Babylon, on the Euphrates, close to modern day Turkey. This town was founded by some Haran the Bible doesn’t tell us about.
32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
He left Abram and Lot there. He died in 2083AH (1963BC).
13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 933 years. He died in 2591 (1455BC)
14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
The father of the Hebrews. 1723AH (2323BC)
15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 433 years, dying in 2156 (1890BC). He died more than 400 years before his father.
16 And Eber lived four and thirty years and begat Peleg:
Peleg was born about 1757AH (2289BC), about 101 years after the Flood.
17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 464 years, dying in 2187AH (1859BC). The ages are getting decidedly less. This is likely due to increased radiation entering the atmosphere from the sun. We no longer have that protective water canopy (the “waters above the firmament”) to filter it out. Radiation causes mutations at the cellular level. Mutations are almost always negative, occasionally neutral (with no observations of positive mutations). Also, increased radiation causes acceleration of aging.
It is also possible there was some nutrient in the soil that was buried, and so no longer available to us through our plants, that slowed or prevented aging before the flood.
The post-flood world was just a whole lot harsher, too; likely more extreme weather, and this is when it is believed the Great Ice Age began.
18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
Reu was born about 1787AH (2259BC).
19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 239 years, dying in 2026 (2020BC). He also died before his father.
Another drastic drop in ages. This may be due to the harshness of living in an Ice Age.
20 And Reu lived two and thirty years and begat Serug.
1787AH (2259BC).
21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 239 years, dying in 1994AH (2052BC).
22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
1849AH (2197BC).
23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 230 years, dying in 2049AH (1997BC).
24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
1878AH (2168BC).
Just as a point of interest, Egyptian records say the “Egyptian Kingdom” lasted 1663 years. Since we know they were conquered by Persia in 526 BC, they were founded in 2188BC, somewhere between the birth of Nahor and Terah.
25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
Total of 148 years, dying 1997AH (2049BC), dying before his dad.
26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Again, we don’t know if these were triplets. Probably not. All three are just important in the future stories so all three had to be listed. The oldest (likely Haran) would have been born about 1948AH (2098BC).
Just a point of interest, the 4th century Greek historian Eubius says the first king of Greece began to reign in 2089BC, 9 years before Haran was born.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
This is probably the first verse written by Abraham (the previous ones in this chapter likely written by Shem), thus the need to repeat verse 26.
There are only around 290 years between the flood and this point. There is even a good chance that Abraham knew Shem, since Shem didn’t die until 2158AH (1888BC).
Legend (which is probably not true, but fun to know anyway) says that Terah ran a store for idols. He and his son had had many arguments about whether the idols were gods or not. Abraham was left in charge of the store for a day and when his dad came back, he found all but one of the idols broken and that one holding a big stick. Terah was supposed to have been angry at his son for breaking his inventory. Abraham replied “They began to argue and fight and the one beat up all the others.”
Legend also says Abraham went to live with his great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather Shem for a while.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
This is near Babylon, at the mouth of the Euphrates River.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Abram means “High Father.” He married his half-sister, Sarai (which means “Dominative”). His brother, Nahor, married his niece, Milcah (daughter of their brother Haran and sister to Lot.)
We don’t really know who Iscah is. She (it’s a feminine word) was important enough to include here, but the Bible doesn’t tell us why. Speculation runs from her actually being Sarah (and thus Abram’s niece instead of sister as the Bible later says) to being Lot’s wife (We think Iscah means “to look back.”) We just really don’t know.
Strong's concordance says "See Sarah" as the definition for Iscah.
The laws forbidding marriage so close in a family were not written for some time yet. This early in history, the negative mutations that cause problems with such close intermarriage had not occurred yet, so there was no problem with brothers marrying sisters.
And at this time in history they weren't nearly as strict with family relations, grandpas often calling their grandsons, "son." So I guess it's possible for Abraham to call his brother's daughter, his "sister."
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Here is a point about the King James Version of the Bible that I like. When it does use a word we may not be familiar with (such as barren) it defines it for us (“she had no child.”)
31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Terah took his son, daughter/daughter-in-law, and grandson.
Ur is south east of Babylon, towards the Persian Gulf, on the Euphrates River (See the map). Haran is north-west of Babylon, on the Euphrates, close to modern day Turkey. This town was founded by some Haran the Bible doesn’t tell us about.
32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
He left Abram and Lot there. He died in 2083AH (1963BC).
