Genesis 10:24-30

10:24 Arphaxad was the father of ¹  Shelah, ²  and Shelah was the father of Eber. ³  10:25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg because in his days the earth was divided, ⁴  and his brother’s name was Joktan. 10:26 Joktan was the father of ⁵  Almodad, ⁶  Sheleph, ⁷  Hazarmaveth, ⁸  Jerah, ⁹  10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, ¹⁰  Diklah, ¹¹  10:28 Obal, ¹²  Abimael, ¹³  Sheba, ¹⁴  10:29 Ophir, ¹⁵  Havilah, ¹⁶  and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan. 10:30 Their dwelling place was from Mesha all the way to ¹⁷  Sephar in the eastern hills.

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¹ tn Heb “fathered.”

² tc The MT reads “Arphaxad fathered Shelah”; the LXX reads “Arphaxad fathered Cainan, and Cainan fathered Sala [= Shelah].” The LXX reading also appears to lie behind Luke 3:35-36.

³ sn Genesis 11 traces the line of Shem through Eber (עֵבֶר, ’ever ) to Abraham the “Hebrew” (עִבְרִי, ’ivri).

⁴ tn The expression “the earth was divided” may refer to dividing the land with canals, but more likely it anticipates the division of languages at Babel (Gen 11). The verb פָּלָג (palag, “separate, divide”) is used in Ps 55:9 for a division of languages.

⁵ tn Heb “fathered.”

⁶ sn The name Almodad combines the Arabic article al with modad (“friend”). Almodad was the ancestor of a South Arabian people.

⁷ sn The name Sheleph may be related to Shilph, a district of Yemen; Shalph is a Yemenite tribe.

⁸ sn The name Hazarmaveth should be equated with Hadramawt, located in Southern Arabia.

⁹ sn The name Jerah means “moon.”

¹⁰ sn Uzal was the name of the old capital of Yemen.

¹¹ sn The name Diklah means “date-palm.”

¹² sn Obal was a name used for several localities in Yemen.

¹³ sn The name Abimael is a genuine Sabean form which means “my father, truly, he is God.”

¹⁴ sn The descendants of Sheba lived in South Arabia, where the Joktanites were more powerful than the Hamites.

¹⁵ sn Ophir became the name of a territory in South Arabia. Many of the references to Ophir are connected with gold (e.g., 1 Kgs 9:28, 10:11, 22:48; 1 Chr 29:4; 2 Chr 8:18, 9:10; Job 22:24, 28:16; Ps 45:9; Isa 13:12).

¹⁶ sn Havilah is listed with Ham in v. 7.

¹⁷ tn Heb “as you go.”