(1 Chronicles 1:4–27)

¹ This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who also had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites

² The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

⁴ And the sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites, and the Rodanites.¹

1. SP and some MT manuscripts (see also LXX and 1 Chronicles 1:7); most MT manuscripts Dodanites

⁵ From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.

The Hamites

⁶ The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah,¹ Raamah, and Sabteca. And the sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

1. Sabtah is a variant of Sabta; see 1 Chronicles 1:9.

⁸ Cush was the father of Nimrod, who began to be a mighty one¹ on the earth.

1. Or who established himself as a mighty warrior or who became the first fearless leader

⁹ He was a mighty hunter before¹ the LORD; so it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.”

1. Or in defiance of; twice in this verse

¹⁰ His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.¹

1. That is, Babylonia

¹¹ From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,

¹² and Resen, which is between Nineveh and the great city of Calah.

¹³ Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, the Anamites, the Lehabites, the Naphtuhites,

¹⁴ the Pathrusites, the Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites.¹

1. Some translators adjust the Hebrew word order to the Casluhites, and the Caphtorites (from whom the Philistines came); see also Jeremiah 47:4 and Amos 9:7.

¹⁵ And Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn,¹ and of the Hittites,

1. Or of the Sidonians, the foremost

¹⁶ the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites,

¹⁷ the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites,

¹⁸ the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans were scattered,

¹⁹ and the borders of Canaan extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

²⁰ These are the sons of Ham according to their clans, languages, lands, and nations.

The Semites

²¹ And sons were also born to Shem, the older brother of Japheth;¹ Shem was the forefather of all the sons of Eber.

1. Or Shem, whose older brother was Japheth

²² The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

²³ The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.¹

1. Hebrew; LXX and 1 Chronicles 1:17 Meshech

²⁴ Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,¹ and Shelah was the father of Eber.

1. Hebrew; LXX (see also Luke 3:35–36) And Arphaxad was the father of Cainan, and Cainan was the father of Shelah,

²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg,¹ because in his days the earth was divided, and his brother was named Joktan.

1. Peleg means division.

²⁶ And Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

²⁷ Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

²⁸ Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

²⁹ Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

³⁰ Their territory extended from Mesha to Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

³¹ These are the sons of Shem, according to their clans, languages, lands, and nations.

³² All these are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their generations and nations. From these the nations of the earth spread out after the flood.