Genesis 10
DOYLY— wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod &c.] That is, thence came the common proverb: which Moses alleges as a proof of the truth of what he delivered. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 10:2
2.— as they journeyed from the east,] Not all the posterity of Noah, who after the flood were planted in
Genesis 10:8
- — he began to be a mighty one in the earth.] He was the first great warrior and conqueror: or, as some say, a more severe governor than they had been, who only exercised paternal authority. For he was the first that put down the government of eldership or paternity, and laid the foundation of sovereign rule. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 10:9
- He was a mighty hunter] Or rather, mighty in hunting: by which means he became a great monarch. For he enured himself to labour by this toilsome exercise; and got together a great company of robust young men to attend him in this sport; who were hereby also fitted to pursue men, as they had done wild beasts. For this was looked upon in all ages as the rudiment of warfare, all the heroes of old being bred up to hunting. Besides, in the age of Nimrod, the exercise of hunting might win him the hearts of men, whom he thus delivered from wild beasts, to which they were much exposed, in their rude and unprotected way of living. So that many at last joined with him in the great designs he formed of subduing men, and making himself master of the neighbouring people in Babylon, Sainina, and Assyria. The memory of this hunting of his was preserved by the Assyrians, who made Nimrod the same as Orion; for they joined the dog and the hare, the first creature perhaps that he hunted, with his constellation. Bp. Patrick.
— before the Lord:] That is, to the highest degree. For so a great city to God is a very great city, Jonah iii. 2, and a child very beautiful is called fair to, or before God, Acts vii. 20. Bp. Patrick. The phrase may perhaps be more properly rendered, “against the Lord.” Bibliotheca Biblica. Bel was the name of the great God of the Babylonians. He is supposed to have been the same with Nimrod; and to have been called Bel from his dominion, and Nimrod from his rebellion. For Vol. I.
Genesis 10:10
- — the beginning of his kingdom was Babel.] He first erected the city of Babylon, making it the capital seat of his dominions. Pyle.
Genesis 10:11
- Out of that land went forth Asshur.] The translation in the margin is to be preferred, He went out into Assyria: meaning that Nimrod went to war against Assyria, which belonged to the children of Shem, but was usurped by this son of Cush. Bp. Patrick.
— and builded Nineveh.] So called from his son Ninus. Thus Cain built a city, and called it, not by his own, but by his son’s name. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 10:13
- — Ludim.] That is, Lud and his posterity the Ludims; the form of that word, as of several others that follow, being plural, and denoting several nations, probably in Africa. Bp. Kidder.
Genesis 10:18
- — afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.] The race of the Canaanites was so numerous, as not only to spread over the tract of land possessed afterward by the Israelites, but reached into several countries round it. Pyle.
Genesis 10:21
- — the father of all the children of Eber.] And so consequently the father of the Hebrews, who had their name from him. From him Abram was called an Hebrew, chap. xiv. 13, and his posterity Hebrews, Gen. xxxix. 14; Exod. i. 15, 16. Some however have thought that Eber in this place is not a proper name: and that Abraham is called an Hebrew, not from Eber, as the proper name of a man, but as this word imports one who comes from beyond the river Euphrates. And
The sons of Shem. One language in the world. Before CHRIST about 2218. Shelah. 2247. d 1 Chron. 1. 19.
Genesis 10:25
25.— Peleg.] The great dispersion, recorded in the next chapter, happening just when he was born, made his father call him by this name, which signifies division and separation. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 10:32
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These are the families of the sons of Noah, &c.] The derivation of the human species, all from one stock, Noah, the second father of mankind, has proved a great stumblingblock to minute philosophers: who cannot reconcile the fact to the varieties of the species in different countries, as to colour, size, shape, disposition, &c. However inadequate we may be fully to unfold the mysteries of nature and the ways of Providence, yet much of these alleged varieties may be satisfactorily accounted for, from the influence of climate, local circumstances of air, water, food, customs, &c. which may, in process of time, make a material change in the constitutions and complexions of the inhabitants. If dogs, taken to the frigid zone, grow shaggy; and if sheep, transported to the torrid zone, exchange their wool for hair; why may not the human species gradually partake of the influence of climate?
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Man was formed to reside in all climates. “The human animal is the only one which is naked, and the only one which can clothe itself. This is one of the properties, which renders him an animal of all climates and of all seasons. He can adapt the warmth or lightness of his covering to the temperature of his habitation. Had he been born with a fleece upon his back, although he might have been comforted by its warmth in high latitudes, it would have oppressed him by its weight and heat, as the species spread toward the Equator.” This is the simple but profound remark of Paley.
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“Man, though white in Europe, black in Africa, yellow in Asia, and red in America, is still the same animal, tinged only with the colour of the climate. Where the heat is excessive, as in Guinea and Senegal, the people are perfectly black: where less excessive, as in Abyssinia, the people are less black: where it is more temperate, as in Barbary and in Arabia, they are brown: and where mild, as in Europe and in Lesser Asia, they are fair.” Buffon. This concession from a great naturalist and sceptick is important.
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Shaw, in his travels through Barbary, found a tribe in the mountains of Aureas, south of Algiers, who
appeared to be of a different race from the Moors: far from swarthy, their complexion is fair and ruddy, and their hair a deep yellow, instead of being dark, as among the neighbouring Moors. He conjectures that they are a remnant of the Vandals. And they probably retained their complexion from their high mountainous situation; as the natives of Armenia, in western Asia, and Cashmire, in eastern, are fair; owing to the great elevation of the soil in both places, and the temperature of the climate occasioned thereby.
- On the other hand, a colony of Jews, settled at Cochin, on the Malabar coast, from a very remote epoch, of which they have lost the memory, though originally a fair people in Palestine, and from their customs preserving themselves unmixed, are grown as black as the other Malabarians, who are hardly a shade lighter than the negroes of Guinea. And at Ceylon, the Portuguese, who settled there only a few centuries ago, are degenerated, and grown blacker than the original natives. They are in number about 5000, still speak Portuguese, wear the European dress, and profess the Romish religion.
Still there are anomalies, or exceptions, to the general conclusions of the influence of climate and customs, that must be ascribed to other, and perhaps undiscovered causes, which baffle the pride of human sagacity to develop: and which, after all, must be resolved into the will and pleasure of the Creator, and deposited among “the unsearchable riches” of His wisdom and providence, in the variety, no less than the regularity, of His works. Dr. Hales.
Chap. XI. ver. 1.— one language.] The learned are not agreed, whether we have any remains of the primitive language of men: and as the Scriptures are silent upon the subject, we must be content to leave it in uncertainty. Perhaps it is most probable, that the old Hebrew or Syriack is the most ancient language which has descended to us; and in support of this opinion, the Jewish historians assert, that the sons of Eber, or Heber, did not concur with the rest in the attempt to build the tower, and therefore retained the primitive language. Sir William Jones is of opinion that the original language is entirely lost. Bp. Tomlone.