Outline
The sons of Noah, of Japheth, of Ham. (Verse 1-7.)
Nimrod the first monarch. (Verse 8-14.)
The descendants of Canaan, The sons of Shem. (Verse 15-32)
The Family Of Japheth – 1 Chr 1:5-7
1 Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
[Gen 9:1,7,19]
2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
[Eze 38:2, Eze 39:6, Rev 20:8Eze 38:2, Eze 39:6, Rev 20:8]
3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
[1st Chr 1:6, Jer 51:27]
4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
[1st Chr 1:7, Isa 66:19, Eze 27:13, Eze 27:19]
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 Family Of Ham – 1 Chr 1:8-12
“tongue” – the first time this word is used in the Bible it refers to a known language
Verse five makes the statement that the Gentiles come from the descendants of Japheth and that is true, but, who are these people, and are they mentioned elsewhere in the Bible? They are found again in the book of Ezekiel chapter thirty-eight and are described as the participants in an end-time war against Israel and God.
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
Ham, if you will remember from chapter nine, was the son who walked in and saw his father’s nakedness and did nothing about it except to tell his two brothers. While no one knows for sure if anything else transpired, we do know that God does not want us looking upon the nakedness of others.
If you remember the old saying, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, you’ll understand why it is so important for Fathers to live a Godly life. The descendants of Ham later established the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and also the cities of Babel and Nineveh (all of which were very lascivious cities).
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
[1st Chr 1:8, Ps 78:51, Ps 105:23, Ps 106:22]
Canaan was cursed in verse twenty-five of chapter nine and would end up as a servant nation. Even today the remnant of the Canaanites serve as laborers to their Jewish and Arab brothers:
Zephaniah 2:5 Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.
Genesis 10:7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
God uses two of the grandsons of Hams descendants, Sheba and Dedan, to oppose Satan in the later days as they along with the merchants of Tarshish come up against the descendants of Japheth which are aligned with the Anti-Christ in the Battle of Gog and Magog mentioned above.
Ezekiel 38:7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. 9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. 10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: 11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of {Tarshish}, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? 14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? 15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
Another famous ancestor of Ham and Canaan is Nimrod the hunter. Nimrod is the husband of Semeramis and together they started the largest pagan religion ever unleashed to this day, from which Roman Catholicism has copied many of its practices.
7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
[1 Chr 1:10]
8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
[Nimrod-to rebel, beget-fathered]
Josephus states in Ant. i. c. 4. 2 “Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, – a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into constant dependence upon his power.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.
[Jer 16:16]
[hunter-hunter of men]
10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
[Micah 5:6]
[Babel/Babylon means “confusion” “Shinar” = Sumer]
Nimrod establishes the first “kingdom” in the Bible named “Babel” in the land of Shinar – this city was later called Babylon. This was the first centre of Satan worship, specifically centred around the idol called “Baal;” this ancient form of devil worship can be found all throughout the OT and the NT up to our modern times – Revelation chapters 17-18 speak of its eventual destruction. This Babylonian mystery religion, or “Baal worship,” involved human sacrifices, fornication, confession to priests, worship of the sun and stars, etc. The student will encounter references to this false religion that Satan established in almost every book of the OT as Satan sought and still seeks to provide man with a counterfeit, alternative religion to the true worship of the true God. It was this false religion that led to Israel’s downfall on several occasions.
11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
[Asshur-Assyria]
12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
[beget-became father of]
14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.
in this verse we find the origin of the “Philistines” – a race of people that lived southwest of Israel and were constant enemies of the Jews.
[1 Chr 1:12, Amos 9:7]
The Family Of Canaan – 1 Chr 1:13-16
15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
[Jer 47:4, 1 Chr 1:13, 23:3]
16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
[Gen 15:19-21, Neh 9:8]
17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
[1 Chr 1:15]
18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
[1 Chr 1:16]
[abroad – outdoors; away from home; scattered about]
19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
[Gen 13:12,14]
20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
Another famous ancestor of Ham and Canaan is Nimrod the hunter. Nimrod is the husband of Semeramis and together they started the largest pagan religion ever unleashed to this day, from which Roman Catholicism has copied many of its practices.
[After-according to, in-by]
The Family Of Shem – 1 Chr 1:17-23
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
{Genesis 14:13]
[Eber-the name literally means colonizer, and is the source for the name Hebrews]
(Place names associated with Eber: Ebro, Iberia, Hibernia).
22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
[Job 1:1]
24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
[Gen 11:12]
[begat-fathered]
25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
This verse says a mouthful. God answers most of the scientist questions in just eight words. He says that the Continents were divided during the days of Peleg, plain and simple. How did the Indians come to be in the New World?
Their Continent floated to where they are now. How did the black Aborigines get to Australia along with some of the wild life that is prevalent in Africa? The answer is simple, Australia was at one time connected to Africa during the days of Peleg.
26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
[1 Chr 1:22]
29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.
[dwelling-community, was-extended, thou-you go]
31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
[after-according to, in-by]
In case you do not recognize any of these names that’s okay, they are from what is called the Semitic lineage. From which we get the terms Semitic and anti-Semitic. Shem was Abrahams great grandfather. Abraham was the father of the Jewish Nation.
Japheth represented by the gentiles will one day soon attack his younger brother Shem fulfilling Ezekiel 38. Ham represented by his son Canaan will be nothing more than a servant nation at that time to Japheth just as Noah prophesied many years ago.
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.
[Gen 9:19]
Commentary by Matthew Henry, 1710.
Verse 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 8-14 – Nimrod was a great man in his day; he began to be mighty in the earth, Those before him were content to be upon the same level with their neighbours, and though every man bare rule in his own house, yet no man pretended any further. Nimrod was resolved to lord it over his neighbours. The spirit of the giants before the flood, who became mighty men, and men of renown, Genesis 6:4,. revived in him. Nimrod was a great hunter. Hunting then was the method of preventing the hurtful increase of wild beasts. This required great courage and address, and thus gave an opportunity for Nimrod to command others, and gradually attached a number of men to one leader. From such a beginning, it is likely, that Nimrod began to rule, and to force others to submit. He invaded his neighbours’ rights and properties, and persecuted innocent men; endeavouring to make all his own by force and violence. He carried on his oppressions and violence in defiance of God himself. Nimrod was a great ruler. Some way or other, by arts or arms, he got into power, and so founded a monarchy, which was the terror of the mighty, and bid fair to rule all the world. Nimrod was a great builder. Observe in Nimrod the nature of ambition. It is boundless; much would have more, and still cries, Give, give. It is restless; Nimrod, when he had four cities under his command, could not be content till he had four more. It is expensive; Nimrod will rather be at the charge of rearing cities, than not have the honour of ruling them. It is daring, and will stick at nothing. Nimrod’s name signifies rebellion; tyrants to men are rebels to God. The days are coming, when conquerors will no longer be spoken of with praise, as in man’s partial histories, but be branded with infamy, as in the impartial records of the Bible.
Verse 15-32 – The posterity of Canaan were numerous, rich, and pleasantly seated; yet Canaan was under a Divine curse, and not a curse causeless. Those that are under the curse of God, may, perhaps, thrive and prosper in this world; for we cannot know love or hatred, the blessing or the curse, by what is before us, but by what is within us. The curse of God always works really, and always terribly. Perhaps it is a secret curse, a curse to the soul, and does not work so that others can see it; or a slow curse, and does not work soon; but sinners are reserved by it for a day of wrath Canaan here has a better land than either Shem or Japheth, and yet they have a better lot, for they inherit the blessing. Abram and his seed, God’s covenant people, descended from Eber, and from him were called Hebrews. How much better it is to be like Eber, the father of a family of saints and honest men, than the father of a family of hunters after power, worldly wealth, or vanities. Goodness is true greatness