Genesis 10:5

_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 - a phrase by which the Hebrews described all countries which were accessible by sea (Isaiah 11:11; Isaiah 20:6; Jeremiah 25:22). Such, in relation to them, were the maritime countries of Europe, the peninsula of Lesser Asia, and the region lying on the east of the Euxine. Accordingly, it was in these quarters the early descendants of Japheth, so far as known to the Hebrews, had their settlements. These are the Japhetic types of the large and enterprising family-`audax genus Japeti'-which spread over northern Asia and all Europe, 'after their tongues,

1-7 This chapter shows concerning the three sons of Noah, that of them was the whole earth overspread. No nation but that of the Jews can be sure from which of these seventy it has come. The lists of names of fathers and sons were preserved of the Jews alone, for the sake of the Messiah. Many learned men, however, have, with some probability, shown which of the nations of the earth descended from each of the sons of Noah To the posterity of Japheth were allotted the isles of the gentiles; probably, the island of Britain among the rest. All places beyond the sea from Judea are called isles, Jeremiah 25:22. That promise, Isaiah 42:4, The isles shall wait for his law, speaks of the conversion of the gentiles to the faith of Christ....

Verse Genesis 10:5. _ISLES OF THE GENTILES_] EUROPE, of which this is allowed to be a general epithet. Calmet supposes that it comprehends all those countries to which the Hebrews were obliged to go by sea, such as Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. _EVERY ONE AFTER HIS TONGUE_] This refers to the time posterior to the confusion of tongues and dispersion from _Babel_....

- Section VIII - The Nations - Japheth 2. גמר _gomer_, “Gomer, completion; related: complete;” Κιμμέριοι _Kimmerioi_. מגוג _māgôg_, “Magog, Caucasian, Skyth.” מדי _māday_, “Madai, middle: Mede.” יון _yāvān_, “Javan”; Ἰάων _Iaōn_; “Sanskrit, Javana; Old Persian, Juna.” תבל _tubāl_, “Tubal”; Τιβαρηνοὶ _Tibareenoi_. משׁך _meshek_, “Meshek, drawing possession, valor”; Μόσχοι

PART II. THE POST-DILUVIAN AGE OF THE WORLD. CH. 10:1-11:26. FROM THE DELUGE TO THE CALL OF ABRAM. § 5. THE GENERATIONS or THE SONS OF NOAH (CH. 10:1-11:9). I. THE _historical credibility _of the present section has been challenged. 1. On account of a fancied resemblance to the ethnographic mythologies of Greece, the genealogical table of the nations has been relegated to the category of fictitious invention. It has been assigned by many critics to a post-Mosaic decried, to the days of Joshua (Delitzsch), to the age of Hebrew intercourse with the Phenician Canaanites (Knobel), to the era of the exile ...

BY THESE WERE THE ISLES OF THE GENTILES DIVIDED IN THEIR LANDS,.... That is, by those sons of Japheth before mentioned; and by "isles" are meant, not countries surrounded with water, for the isles in this sense would not have been sufficient for the posterity of Japheth; nor can it be thought they would leave the continent, where there was room enough for them, and go into islands; and besides must have found it difficult to get there, when shipping and navigation were little known: but it is usual with the Hebrews, of whom Moses, the writer of this history, was, to call all places beyond the Mediterranean sea, or whatsoever they went to by sea, or that were upon the sea coasts, islands, as Greece, Italy, c. Moreover, the word sometimes signifies countries, as it does in Job 22:30 and so should be rendered here, as it is by some y, "the countries of the Gentiles" so called, because in th...

ISLES Literally, coasts. Settlement would naturally follow the coasts first....

V. THE GENERATIONS OF THE SONS OF NOAH CHAPTER 10 Shem, Ham, and Japheth and Their Seed _ 1. The sons of Japheth (Genesis 10:2)_ 2. The sons of Ham (Genesis 10:6) 3. The sons of Shem (Genesis 10:21) Here we have the beginning of the nations. God knows them and keeps track of the nations of the earth. The order of the sons of Noah is here changed. Japheth comes first. Ham's place is unchanged. Shem comes last. This order is given in view of Noah's prophecy. Among the descendants of Ham we find Nimrod, a mighty hunter. His name means “Let us rebel.” Here also we find Babel mentioned for the first time. Babylon has for its founder “a mighty one in the earth-a mighty hunter.” Mentioned

GENESIS 10. THE TABLE OF NATIONS. From P and J. To P we may assign Genesis 10:1; Genesis 10:20; Genesis 10:31 f. The rest belongs to J, for the most part to its secondary stratum, with some elements from R. The genealogy, as was customary among the Semites, expresses national rather than individual relationships. The true character of the lists may be seen quite clearly from many of the names, which are names of countries (_e.g._ Cush, Mizraim, Ophir), or cities (_e.g._ Tarshish, Zidon), or peoples (_e.g._ Ludim). It is an attempt to explain the origin of the various nations, before the author proceeds to the special ancestry of Israel. It is of great importance for the Hebrew view of other peoples, alike

ISLES. coast-lands (Isaiah 42:15). IN THEIR. these were the sons of Japheth in their, &c. For these fourfold divisions Compare Genesis 10:5; Genesis 10:20; Genesis 10:31.Revelation 5:9; Revelation 7:9; Revelation 10:11; Revelation 11:9;...