Genesis 10:1 Commentary and Bible Study

There are the three sons and from these all the nations of the world are to be populated. The nations that are listed in this chapter account for the whole of mankind. Again, we see evidence of a universal flood, for there are no pockets of human beings mentioned who do not come from one of these three sons. The order in which they are named does not reflect their ages. Shem is named first and Ham next, even though Japheth was the oldest (Genesis 10:21), and Ham was the youngest (Genesis 9:24). But in chapter 10 the geologies are given in the order Japheth, Ham, and then Shem, which seems to be for literary convenience allowing Moses to lead into chapter 11 and 12 where, after the account of the tower of Babel, the development of Shem’s line continues.Shem is the one from whom Abraham will come, the one who represents the godly line. Ham was under a distinctive curse from God because of his sin, and Japheth’s descendants would experience future blessing through Shem. In spite of the judgment of the flood and the removal of great numbers of the ungodly, human nature is unchanged. Man is still a fallen creature and this will come to light in the subsequent history of the world. There will continue to be conflict, or at least hostility, from the seed of the serpent, that is the ungodly, towards the godly, those who believe and obey the Lord, in the line now of Noah and of Shem. The genealogies that are given in this chapter may not include all the offspring of Shem, Ham and Japheth, but they identify those who were leaders and pioneers of the early nations.