†. Gen 10:1 . .These are the lines of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the
sons of Noah: sons were born to them after the Flood.
Chapter ten is a tiresome list of genealogies that some have found
interesting enough to devote entire books: generating a catalogue of nations
connecting Noah's descendants to the ancient civilizations and even today's.
But I'm going to comment upon only a few salient features.
Note : Some have attempted to date the Flood and the age of the earth using
Bible genealogies. But that's an untenable way to go about it because the
genealogies aren't precise enough measures of time and often contain gaps.
For example:
†. Mtt 1:17 . . So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen
generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen
generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen
generations.
The usual understanding of the word "generation" is a single step in the line of
escent from an ancestor and/or the average span of time between the birth of
parents and that of their offspring. Well, the Bible's application of "generation"
is a bit more broad. For example Mtt 24:34 where the term indicates Yhvh's
people. In other words: the Jews as a people will never be exterminated; but
will survive to see everything Christ predicted at Mtt 24:1-35.
So then those periods of Israel's history marked off as "fourteen generations"
in Mtt 1:17 have to be interpreted to mean something different than what we
might expect. I have no clue why the author of Matthew divided everyone from
Abraham to Christ into three rough-hewn divisions of fourteen generations each
but it doesn't surprise me when every time the tribes of Israel are listed, it's always
in a group of twelve regardless of which names are included, or omitted, in the list.
Same thing with the apostles. Even after the Lord's men are whittled down to eleven
by the elimination of Judas; they continue to be known as the twelve.
Anyway: there are a number of places in the Bible where the term "begot" doesn't
necessarily denote a direct father/son relationship but just means: became the father
of. A good one is Mtt 1:8 where it says that Jehoram was the father of Uzziah. Three
generations are omitted. So actually the term begot often just refers to progeny, but
not always to immediate offspring.
†. Gen 10:5 . .These are the descendants of Japheth by their lands:
each with its language-- their clans and their nations.
Diverse languages didn't appear right away. First came the tower of Babel. It
was after that when people's languages became what we might call
"foreign".
†. Gen 10:8-9 . . Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a
mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before The
Lord; that is why it is said: Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before The
Lord. The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad
and Calneh, in Shinar.
At first, mankind was scattered out in individual clans, and leadership was
pretty much restricted to local patriarchal Dons and Sheiks. But Nimrod
wasn't content with local rule. He was resolved not only to be head and
shoulders above his neighbors-- not only to be eminent among them --but to
lord it over them. The same spirit that actuated the mighty men and the
men of renown prior to the Flood, (by reason of whom the Flood came) now
revived in Nimrod. There are some in whom ambition, achievement, and
affectation of dominion seem to be bred in the bone. Nothing short of hell
itself will humble and break the proud spirits of men such as those.
Nimrod is interesting. He's a Nephilistic personage with humble beginnings:
first as a professional hunter; probably supplying meat to frontier towns and
selling pelts at trading posts. That was likely Nimrod's career path up until his
exploits became famous and he began to realize it was far more profitable to
go into politics. Lots of great men, some good and some bad, had humble
beginnings-- Abraham Lincoln, King David, and even Hitler. Timely
circumstances, and fortuitous events, catapulted those blokes up to very
high levels of control over their fellow men.
A contemporary case in point is US President Barak Hussein Obama: a man
who had little to no chance of winning a US Senate seat had it not been for
his shoo-in opponent's sexual indiscretions. From thence, the voting public's
disgust with the Republican party, coupled with their infatuation with the
color of Mr. Obama's skin, practically assured his election to America's
highest federal office. He was but a junior senator with like zero executive
experience; yet there he is flying around the world in Air Force One.
To this very day Nimrod is still known as the outdoorsman who would be
king. He was such a famous icon of that day that his example became
descriptive of others who worked their way to the top like he did-- men of
vision, daring, energy, strong personal ambition, and dogged perseverance.
The common personality trait, among such men, is their strong desire not
just to govern, but to quite dominate people. There are those for whom it
isn't enough to win; no, it isn't enough for people like that to win: everyone
else has to lose. They don't want 50% market share, nor even 90% no,
they're content with nothing less than 100%
Actually, Nimrod was one of the great men of history, though so little is
written about him. He was one of the first statesmen to successfully create
a sort of European Union; and it was such a solid alliance that only divine
intervention could bring it down.
†. Gen 10:21a . . Sons were also born to Shem, ancestor of all the
descendants of Eber
Descendants of Eber (most notably Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) became
known as Eberites: a.k.a. Hebrews.
The remainder of chapter 10 amounts to little more than a registry so I don't
really want to spend any more time here.
†. Gen 10:32 . .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.
Cont.
/
sons of Noah: sons were born to them after the Flood.
Chapter ten is a tiresome list of genealogies that some have found
interesting enough to devote entire books: generating a catalogue of nations
connecting Noah's descendants to the ancient civilizations and even today's.
But I'm going to comment upon only a few salient features.
Note : Some have attempted to date the Flood and the age of the earth using
Bible genealogies. But that's an untenable way to go about it because the
genealogies aren't precise enough measures of time and often contain gaps.
For example:
†. Mtt 1:17 . . So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen
generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen
generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen
generations.
The usual understanding of the word "generation" is a single step in the line of
escent from an ancestor and/or the average span of time between the birth of
parents and that of their offspring. Well, the Bible's application of "generation"
is a bit more broad. For example Mtt 24:34 where the term indicates Yhvh's
people. In other words: the Jews as a people will never be exterminated; but
will survive to see everything Christ predicted at Mtt 24:1-35.
So then those periods of Israel's history marked off as "fourteen generations"
in Mtt 1:17 have to be interpreted to mean something different than what we
might expect. I have no clue why the author of Matthew divided everyone from
Abraham to Christ into three rough-hewn divisions of fourteen generations each
but it doesn't surprise me when every time the tribes of Israel are listed, it's always
in a group of twelve regardless of which names are included, or omitted, in the list.
Same thing with the apostles. Even after the Lord's men are whittled down to eleven
by the elimination of Judas; they continue to be known as the twelve.
Anyway: there are a number of places in the Bible where the term "begot" doesn't
necessarily denote a direct father/son relationship but just means: became the father
of. A good one is Mtt 1:8 where it says that Jehoram was the father of Uzziah. Three
generations are omitted. So actually the term begot often just refers to progeny, but
not always to immediate offspring.
†. Gen 10:5 . .These are the descendants of Japheth by their lands:
each with its language-- their clans and their nations.
Diverse languages didn't appear right away. First came the tower of Babel. It
was after that when people's languages became what we might call
"foreign".
†. Gen 10:8-9 . . Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a
mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before The
Lord; that is why it is said: Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before The
Lord. The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad
and Calneh, in Shinar.
At first, mankind was scattered out in individual clans, and leadership was
pretty much restricted to local patriarchal Dons and Sheiks. But Nimrod
wasn't content with local rule. He was resolved not only to be head and
shoulders above his neighbors-- not only to be eminent among them --but to
lord it over them. The same spirit that actuated the mighty men and the
men of renown prior to the Flood, (by reason of whom the Flood came) now
revived in Nimrod. There are some in whom ambition, achievement, and
affectation of dominion seem to be bred in the bone. Nothing short of hell
itself will humble and break the proud spirits of men such as those.
Nimrod is interesting. He's a Nephilistic personage with humble beginnings:
first as a professional hunter; probably supplying meat to frontier towns and
selling pelts at trading posts. That was likely Nimrod's career path up until his
exploits became famous and he began to realize it was far more profitable to
go into politics. Lots of great men, some good and some bad, had humble
beginnings-- Abraham Lincoln, King David, and even Hitler. Timely
circumstances, and fortuitous events, catapulted those blokes up to very
high levels of control over their fellow men.
A contemporary case in point is US President Barak Hussein Obama: a man
who had little to no chance of winning a US Senate seat had it not been for
his shoo-in opponent's sexual indiscretions. From thence, the voting public's
disgust with the Republican party, coupled with their infatuation with the
color of Mr. Obama's skin, practically assured his election to America's
highest federal office. He was but a junior senator with like zero executive
experience; yet there he is flying around the world in Air Force One.
To this very day Nimrod is still known as the outdoorsman who would be
king. He was such a famous icon of that day that his example became
descriptive of others who worked their way to the top like he did-- men of
vision, daring, energy, strong personal ambition, and dogged perseverance.
The common personality trait, among such men, is their strong desire not
just to govern, but to quite dominate people. There are those for whom it
isn't enough to win; no, it isn't enough for people like that to win: everyone
else has to lose. They don't want 50% market share, nor even 90% no,
they're content with nothing less than 100%
Actually, Nimrod was one of the great men of history, though so little is
written about him. He was one of the first statesmen to successfully create
a sort of European Union; and it was such a solid alliance that only divine
intervention could bring it down.
†. Gen 10:21a . . Sons were also born to Shem, ancestor of all the
descendants of Eber
Descendants of Eber (most notably Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) became
known as Eberites: a.k.a. Hebrews.
The remainder of chapter 10 amounts to little more than a registry so I don't
really want to spend any more time here.
†. Gen 10:32 . .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.
Cont.
/
