Every Woman's Bible Genesis sampler - Flipbook - Page 29
19
Akkad, and Calneh. 11 From there he expanded
his territory to Assyria,* building the cities of
nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12 and Resen (the
great city located between nineveh and Calah).
13 Mizraim was the ancestor of the Ludites,
Anamites, Lehabites, naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites,
Casluhites, and the Caphtorites, from whom the
Philistines came.*
15 Canaan’s oldest son was Sidon, the ancestor of
the Sidonians. Canaan was also the ancestor of
the Hittites,* 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites,
Zemarites, and Hamathites. The Canaanite
clans eventually spread out, 19 and the territory
of Canaan extended from Sidon in the north to
Gerar and Gaza in the south, and east as far as
Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near
Lasha.
20 These were the descendants of Ham, identified by
clan, language, territory, and national identity.
Descendants of Shem
Sons were also born to Shem, the older brother
of Japheth.* Shem was the ancestor of all the
descendants of Eber.
22 The descendants of Shem were Elam, Asshur,
Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
23 The descendants of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether,
and Mash.
24Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,* and Shelah
was the father of Eber.
25 Eber had two sons. The first was named Peleg
(which means “division”), for during his lifetime
the people of the world were divided into
different language groups. His brother’s name
was Joktan.
26 Joktan was the ancestor of Almodad, Sheleph,
Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and
Jobab. All these were descendants of Joktan.
30 The territory they occupied extended from
Mesha all the way to Sephar in the eastern
mountains.
31 These were the descendants of Shem, identified by
clan, language, territory, and national identity.
21
GEnESIS 11
Conclusion
These are the clans that descended from noah’s
sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of
descent. All the nations of the earth descended from
these clans after the great flood.
32
The Tower of Babel
At one time all the people of the world spoke
the same language and used the same words.
2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a
plain in the land of Babylonia* and settled there.
3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make
bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region
bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used
for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a
great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches
into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us
from being scattered all over the world.”
5 But the Lord came down to look at the city
and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!”
he said. “The people are united, and they all speak
the same language. After this, nothing they set out
to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go
down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each
other.”
8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over
the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That
is why the city was called Babel,* because that is
where the Lord confused the people with different
languages. In this way he scattered them all over
the world.
11
The Line of Descent from Shem
to Abram
10
This is the account of Shem’s family.
Two years after the great flood, when Shem
was 100 years old, he became the father of*
Arphaxad. 11After the birth of* Arphaxad, Shem
lived another 500 years and had other sons and
daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became
the father of Shelah. 13After the birth of Shelah,
Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other
sons and daughters.*
10:11 Or From that land Assyria went out. 10:14 Hebrew Casluhites, from whom the Philistines came, and Caphtorites.
Compare Jer 47:4; Amos 9:7. 10:15 Hebrew ancestor of Heth. 10:21 Or Shem, whose older brother was Japheth. 10:24 Greek
version reads Arphaxad was the father of Cainan, Cainan was the father of Shelah. Compare Luke 3:36. 11:2 Hebrew Shinar.
11:9 Or Babylon. Babel sounds like a Hebrew term that means “confusion.” 11:10 Or the ancestor of; also in 11:12, 14, 16, 18, 20,
22, 24. 11:11 Or the birth of this ancestor of; also in 11:13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25. 11:12-13 Greek version reads 12When Arphaxad
was 135 years old, he became the father of Cainan. 13After the birth of Cainan, Arphaxad lived another 430 years and had other
sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan was 130 years old, he became the father of Shelah. After the birth of Shelah,
Cainan lived another 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. Compare Luke 3:35-36.
11:1-9 After the Flood, human civilization spread far and wide
in fulfillment of God’s purposes (9:1). Babel represented a
vain attempt to avoid scattering. The tower was likely a ziggurat, a massive stepped tower built to support a staircase
near a temple garden, likely intended to facilitate the descent
of the gods to earth. Without divine instruction to build, the
project represented a human attempt to dictate the terms of
acceptable worship. The people’s desire for fame and security
apart from God prompted the Lord’s response to confuse their
building efforts.
