Genesis 10:2-5

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 10:1-5

Moses begins with Japheth's family, either because he was the eldest, or because his family lay remotest from Israel and had least concern with them at the time when Moses wrote, and therefore he mentions that race very briefly, hastening to give an account of the posterity of Ham, who were Israel's enemies and of Shem, who were Israel's ancestors; for it is the church that the scripture is designed to be the history of, and of the nations of the world only as they were some way or other... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 10:2

The sons of Japheth ,.... Who though mentioned last, the genealogy begins with him, by a figure which rhetoricians call a "chiasm". The posterity of Japheth are those whom Hesiod F26 In Theogonia. often calls ιαπετιονιδης , "Iapetionides", and him ιαπετος , "Iapetus". According to Josephus F1 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1. , the sons of Japheth inhabited the earth, beginning from the mountains Taurus and Amanus, and then went on in Asia unto the river Tanais, and in Europe unto... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 10:3

And the sons of Gomer ,.... Who was the first of the sons of Japheth, three of whose sons are mentioned, and they are as follow: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah ; the first of these seated himself in the lesser Asia, in Pontus and Bithynia, where were some traces of his name in the river Ascanius, and in the Ascanian lake or bay; and also in the lesser Phrygia or Troas, where was a city called Ascania, and where were the Ascanian isles F24 Strabo Geograph. l. 12. p. 387, 388.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 10:4

And the sons of Javan ,.... Another son of Japheth; four sons of Javan are mentioned, which gave names to countries, and are as follow: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim ; the first of these, Elishah, gave name to the Elysaeans, now called Aeoles, as Josephus F12 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 1.) says; hence the country Aeolia, and the Aeolic dialect, all from this name; and there are many traces of it in the several parts of Greece. Hellas, a large country in it,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 10:5

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands ,.... That is, by those sons of Japheth before mentioned; and by "isles" are meant, not countries surrounded with water, for the isles in this sense would not have been sufficient for the posterity of Japheth; nor can it be thought they would leave the continent, where there was room enough for them, and go into islands; and besides must have found it difficult to get there, when shipping and navigation were little known: but it... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 10:2

The sons of Japheth - Japheth is supposed to be the same with the Japetus of the Greeks, from whom, in an extremely remote antiquity, that people were supposed to have derived their origin. Gomer - Supposed by some to have peopled Galatia; so Josephus, who says that the Galatians were anciently named Gomerites. From him the Cimmerians or Cimbrians are supposed to have derived their origin. Bochart has no doubt that the Phrygians sprang from this person, and some of our principal... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 10:3

Ashkenaz - Probably gave his name to Sacagena, a very excellent province of Armenia. Pliny mentions a people called Ascanitici, who dwelt about the Tanais and the Palus Maeotis; and some suppose that from Ashkenaz the Euxine Sea derived its name, but others suppose that from him the Germans derived their origin. Riphath - Or Diphath, the founder of the Paphlagonians, which were anciently called Riphataei. Togarmah - The Sauromates, or inhabitants of Turcomania. See the reasons in... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 10:4

Elishah - As Javan peopled a considerable part of Greece, it is in that region that we must seek for the settlements of his descendants; Elishah probably was the first who settled at Elis, in Peloponnesus. Tarshish - He first inhabited Cilicia, whose capital anciently was the city of Tarsus, where the Apostle Paul was born. Kittim - We have already seen that this name was rather the name of a people than of an individual: some think by Kittim Cyprus is meant: others, the isle of... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 10:5

Isles of the Gentiles - Europe, of which this is allowed to be a general epithet. Calmet supposes that it comprehends all those countries to which the Hebrews were obliged to go by sea, such as Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. Every one after his tongue - This refers to the time posterior to the confusion of tongues and dispersion from Babel. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 10:1-32

PART II . THE POST - DILUVIAN AGE OF THE WORLD . CH . 10:1-11:26. FROM THE DELUGE TO THE CALL OF ABRAM . § 5. THE GENERATIONS or THE SONS OF NOAH ( CH . 10:1-11:9). I. THE historical credibility of the present section has been challenged. 1. On account of a fancied resemblance to the ethnographic mythologies of Greece, the genealogical table of the nations has been relegated to the category of fictitious invention. It has been assigned by... read more

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