Discovery BoxGenesis 10:7-10 
Context10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, 1 Havilah, 2 Sabtah, 3 Raamah, 4 and Sabteca. 5 The sons of Raamah were Sheba 6 and Dedan. 7
10:8 Cush was the father of 8 Nimrod; he began to be a valiant warrior on the earth. 10:9 He was a mighty hunter 9 before the Lord. 10 (That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”) 10:10 The primary regions 11 of his kingdom were Babel, 12 Erech, 13 Akkad, 14 and Calneh 15 in the land of Shinar. 16
1 sn The descendants of Seba settled in Upper Egypt along the Nile.
2 sn The Hebrew name Havilah apparently means “stretch of sand” (see HALOT 297 s.v. חֲוִילָה). Havilah’s descendants settled in eastern Arabia.
3 sn The descendants of Sabtah settled near the western shore of the Persian Gulf in ancient Hadhramaut.
4 sn The descendants of Raamah settled in southwest Arabia.
5 sn The descendants of Sabteca settled in Samudake, east toward the Persian Gulf.
6 sn Sheba became the name of a kingdom in southwest Arabia.
7 sn The name Dedan is associated with àUla in northern Arabia.
8 tn Heb “fathered.” Embedded within Cush’s genealogy is an account of Nimrod, a mighty warrior. There have been many attempts to identify him, but none are convincing.
9 tn The Hebrew word for “hunt” is צַיִד (tsayid), which is used on occasion for hunting men (1 Sam 24:12; Jer 16:16; Lam 3:15).
10 tn Another option is to take the divine name here, לִפְנֵי יִהוָה (lifne yÿhvah, “before the
11 tn Heb “beginning.” E. A. Speiser, Genesis (AB), 67, suggests “mainstays,” citing Jer 49:35 as another text where the Hebrew noun is so used.
12 tn Or “Babylon.”
13 sn Erech (ancient Uruk, modern Warka), one of the most ancient civilizations, was located southeast of Babylon.
14 sn Akkad, or ancient Agade, was associated with Sargon and located north of Babylon.
15 tn No such place is known in Shinar (i.e., Babylonia). Therefore some have translated the Hebrew term כַלְנֵה (khalneh) as “all of them,” referring to the three previous names (cf. NRSV).
16 sn Shinar is another name for Babylonia.
