Devotional Short Notes on Genesis 10
We all know that Moses wrote this
chapter in 1460 BCE when he was hiding from the anger mixed with
palace-succession jealousy of Thutmosis III (who was an illegal child and
lacked the succession ‘blood’ which Hatshepsut, who found and loved Moses in a
time of her rocky marriage with Thutmosis II). However, the geography in this
chapter is not from 1460 BCE although the language that are is by Moses is.
Moses is using a source called the Book of Noah (which is a scroll on vellums =
they used vellums to write on in those days because Thutmosis III said that in
one of his Annals at Karnak on the wall) which his mother gave him the night he
fled (probably). This Book of Noah was composed during Noah’s long life after
the Flood since Noah died in 2392 BCE since he lived 300 years after the Flood.
Chapter 10 is an extract from Noah’s hand. The reason we know that is that in
verse 19 it reads: “as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim,
unto Lasha” = בֹּאֲכָה סְדֹמָה
וַעֲמֹרָה, וְאַדְמָה וּצְבֹיִם--עַד-לָשַׁע. For this author, Sodom and Gomorrah still
existed. For Moses in 1460 BCE, Sodom and Gomorrah was already destroyed since “the
invasion of the Jordan Salt-sea area valley was probably directly after 2165
BCE, thus between 2165-2153 BCE (Genesis 14:4). In the 13th year they rebelled
thus in 2152 BCE. The suppression of the revolt was in the 14th year in 2151
and Lot was taken as well. The disaster to Lot is after the sin of birth of
Ismael and the disbelief in God’s ability with the promise through Sarah. In
that year 2151 BCE, Melchizedek met Abraham (Genesis 14:18). The incident of
the lie in Egypt took place shortly before the invasion of the Jordan area by
Amraphel and the others in 2165 BCE. One can almost say the punishment for his
lies in Egypt was the invasion of the Jordan valley near the salt-sea. The
punishment for the Hagar event was the kidnapping of Lot. Bad foreign practices
came in the valley of Jordan and God had to eliminate Sodom and Gomorrah
(Genesis 18; 19). This was after 2151 BCE” (see my article in IJRSSH) 2017,
Vol. No. 7, Issue No. I, Jan-Mar pp. 114-140 especially 118 at http://www.ijrssh.com/currentissue.php?id=59). The cities were destroyed after Noah and before Moses.
The migration from Babel developed the way this window of pre-2392 BCE is
describing it. Some comments are attached to the geographical list which is
especially focused on the nations or ethnology of those days. Comments [verses
5; 8; 9; 11; 19; 25; and 30]are given in verse 5: “Of these were the isles of
the nations divided in their lands, every one after his tongue” = מֵאֵלֶּה נִפְרְדוּ אִיֵּי הַגּוֹיִם, בְּאַרְצֹתָם, אִישׁ,
לִלְשֹׁנו. Another comment is attached about Nimrod
in verse 8: “And Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the earth” =
וְכוּשׁ, יָלַד
אֶת-נִמְרֹד; הוּא הֵחֵל, לִהְיוֹת גִּבֹּר בָּאָרֶץ. Here is a point one has to pay attention
to. Nimrod who is in the regions of Babylon and Babel (verse 10) is said to
have originated from Cush who is the father of those who later became the
Cushites or Ethiopia and far regions in Africa including Sudan, including
Somalia and probably larger areas to the South in Africa. But their original
movement was still around Babel with Nimrod the son of Cush. Nimrod as the
greatgrandson of Noah and related to Ham and his son Cush (from Africa later)
but ruling in Mesopotamia and especially in Akkad, is very noteworthy for
Ancient History of the Levant including Egypt. The first dynasty of Egypt’s
name was Narmer. Almost the same as Nimrod. The Akkadian warrior in Akkad and
Babylon around 2240 BCE was Naram-Suen. For Narmer and for Naram-Suen there
exists a palette and stela of their victories over enemies and the iconography
(art style and fashion) shows fusion of Mesopotamian and Egyptian motifs just like
the Bible is saying about Nimrod, that although ruling in Mesopotamia, yet his
father was Cush (later from Africa). The intertwined elongated necks on the
Stela of Vultures of Narmer shows similarities to a cuneiform seal with intertwined
necks of Tyrannosauruses which means they still had a vivid memory of the
existence of pre-Flood dinosaurs that were killed in the Flood of 2692 BCE. We
need to look in future in the correlation and identicalness of these three
individuals with a similar name phonologically. With this
background, it is possible to make a genealogical tree of nations, albeit China
and Indians were still closer to Babel but arriving just after the death of
Noah in 2392 in their sites. One can see claypot (storage jars) with comb
decoration motifs on the shoulders comparisons of the Early Bronze era
predating 2000 BCE in Israel and Mesopotamia and at Amsa-dong archeological
site on the banks of the Han River near Hanam in South Korea. They were the
first dwellers in South Korea and probably just arrived circa 2200 BCE. Notice the
Canaanite Migration that are mentioned in verse 18: “and afterward were the
families of the Canaanite spread abroad” = וְאַחַר נָפֹצוּ, מִשְׁפְּחוֹת הַכְּנַעֲנִי. The Canaanites were not a nation in
Palestine. They were a conglomerate of migrationists made up of Hittites,
Hurrian, Amorite, Egyptian, Kassite and other migrationist traders and business
men and women. When God gave the land to the Israelites, it was not because He
wanted to drive out a nation and replaced it with another. It was a squatting
area or zone for many nations who were opportunists taking advantage of an
empty zone. Notice also that the Philistine word had the same connotation. It
is not a homogenic ethnic word. The Philistine in Abraham’s time had an Amorite
name (Genesis 26:1). He was not Aryan or Indo-Aryan as modern scholars tried to
link the Philistines of the 12th century and later with. The term is
thus derogatory jargon. My own analysis is that the word Philistine is a denotive
or conative term for diversity in semantics of these squatters on the
coastline. “Our argument hinges between the question whether a Philistine is an
appellative for a class or category of people [even mixed nations] or whether
it is a gentilicum for a nation” (Van Wyk [1996], Archaeology in the Bible and
Text in the Tel, page 190). There is an article by Othniel Margalith asking
where the Philistines came from in ZAW 107 of 1995 pages 101-109 but there are
methodological and epistemological problems in dealing and interpreting the
data. They could have been plṣ = “to shake,
tremble” in the days of Abraham or pls =
“to make level” or plš = “to roll oneself or wallow,” or plt = “escape, to flee”.
We have no effective control to say whether Moses in 1460 BCE or Noah before
2392 BCE read an /š/ or and /ś/. Due to multilingualism and bilingualism (Moses
knew many languages) it is difficult to canonize the phonological attributes of
grammar in a prescriptive way for such long periods of nearly 932 years between
Moses and Noah. Nevertheless, it is not an anachronism in Genesis of a later
Mycenean invasion or the like. They were [to use the skelwoord] the “escapees”,
the “level makers”, the “fearing ones”, the “rollers”. The migrants in Germany
and France caused the same heterophobia in Europe today. Philistine is not so
much a person as a certain kind of person. The word Philistine is proved by
similar linguistic studies, that it could have had two meanings within one language,
or two meanings in two languages or two meanings in two languages at the same
time or different times. The earth were
divided in the days of Peleg according to verse 25: “the name of the one was
Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided” = שֵׁם הָאֶחָד פֶּלֶג, כִּי בְיָמָיו נִפְלְגָה הָאָרֶץ. Continental drifting is a theory that
continents moved wider from each other than before. Assyria
originated from Babylon as is indicated in verse 11: “Out of that land [Shinar
= Babel] went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh” = מִן-הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא, יָצָא אַשּׁוּר; וַיִּבֶן, אֶת-נִינְוֵה. The islands are
mentioned in verse 5 and the mountain of the east is mentioned in verse 30. There is no need
to doubt the early records of Moses and Noah. They were carefully preserved and
recorded by the Holy Spirit and Moses selected his words from Noah’s Book.
Notice that he did not mention the descendants of Put in supposedly verse 14
but that is probably intended to be. Moses only selected some sons and their
descendants and did not cite Noah’s comprehensive dealing with it. Why? The
Holy Spirit selects what is necessary from correct historical data.
Dear God We are so
thankful that Your Word is the truth. Our understanding is under constant
attack by the modern skeptical minds of scholars who are nihilists and
atheists. Thanks for the guidance of Your Spirit in understanding. In Jesus
Name. Amen.