Genesis 10:17

• Sidon settled in Phoenicia, north of Canaan.

• the Hittites: In Genesis, these were a group of cities in Canaan (see 26:34–35; 27:46; Ezekiel 16:3). They were probably different from the Hittites of Anatolia (Asia Minor). Their empire was a major power in the time of the biblical patriarchs.

• The Jebusites were ancient people living in Jerusalem (Joshua 15:63; Judges 19:10–11; 2 Samuel 5:6–9).

• The Amorites lived in the mountains of Palestine in Canaan (see Genesis 15:16; 48:22; Numbers 13:29; Deuteronomy 3:8; Joshua 10:5; Judges 1:35; 10:8; Ezekiel 16:3).

• Little is known about the Girgashites, a Canaanite tribe (Genesis 15:21; Deuteronomy 7:1; Joshua 3:10).

• The Hivites were a Canaanite people group who did not practice circumcision (Genesis 34:2, 13–24; Joshua 9:1, 7; 11:3; Judges 3:3; 2 Samuel 24:7).

• The Arkites lived in Tell ’Arqa in Lebanon.

• The Sinites formed a city-state in Phoenicia.

• The Arvadites lived in Ruad in northern Phoenicia, near the El Kebir River. They were known for shipping (compare Ezekiel 27:8).

• The Zemarites lived in Sumur (modern Sumra), north of Arka on the Phoenician coast.

• The Hamathites founded what is now Hama on the Orontes River, the northern border of Canaan (see Numbers 34:8; Joshua 13:5; 2 Samuel 8:9–10; 1 Kings 8:65; 2 Kings 14:25–28).

• This section explains where the ancient Near Eastern nations came from. Ham was at the center (10:6–20)while the descendants of Japheth and Shem spread out to the surrounding regions of Greece, Crete, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Madai, the Arabian peninsula, and northeast Africa.

  The list is selective in focusing on nations important to Israel. The 70 names (seven times ten) indicate completeness (see 46:27; Deuteronomy 32:8). These names represent the whole world, which Abraham's descendants would later bless (Genesis 18:18).

• Although Shem is mentioned first in 10:1, he is addressed last in the Table because of his connection to Abram (10:21–31; 11:10–32; 12:1). Although God established the boundaries of all nations (see Deuteronomy 32:8; Amos 9:7; Acts 17:26), Israel was his special creation (a small group of 70 people; Genesis 46:27). God called them to be a blessing to a world of 70 nations (see 12:3).

The fifth account (10:1) in Genesis (see study note on 2:4) unites the Table of Nations (10:2–32) and the Babel story (11:1–9) around the theme of scattering the nations (10:5, 18; 11:4, 8–9). The Table of Nations appears before the Babel story, but the Babel event explains how the nations and languages in that list came to exist.

By placing these events in this order, Genesis connects the filling of the earth with the blessing God gave to Noah and his sons (see 9:1 and study note). It shows that the growth of the nations comes from God’s blessing.

This order also prepares for Abram’s call (12:1–3). Abram’s call shows God’s answer to the problem seen at Babel (11:1–9), where humans were separated from God. Through Abram, God begins to restore that relationship.