Глава 10

Gen.10:1. Here is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth. After the flood, their children were born. This is the well-known general title of the new section, or from the Hebrew text - the new toldoth. Judging by its title, this section contains the genealogy of the three sons of Noah - Shem, Ham and Japheth, i.e. a list of the main genera of post-Flood humanity. The section of biblical primary history under study, together with the subsequent chapter XI, constitutes one of the most important monuments not only of the special biblical, but also of the world history of mankind. It is known as the “table of peoples”, or “ethnographic table”, as its goal is to clarify the origin and settlement of primitive humanity in different countries of the ancient world. However, in order to correctly judge this biblical ethnography and not make any inappropriate demands on it, it is necessary to keep in mind the following. Genealogical tables among the ancient peoples of the East were the most important and widespread phenomenon, the most important and almost the only history of the past, carefully preserved and passed on from generation to generation. But by the very nature of such monuments, they were never particularly complete and detailed, but preserved in the most condensed form only the most remarkable and important. Hence this genealogical table of the Bible is undoubtedly a monument of great antiquity, going back to the era of Abraham and probably beginning with the family of Noah himself; secondly, from the above it also follows that in that genealogy there is not and should not be sought for a complete list of all clans and ethnographic groups, but one should see the calculation of only what, from the point of view of the Semites, deserved mention and preservation in the tradition. Therefore, it is completely unfounded to look for references to all nations in the biblical table, especially to reproach it for omitting such peoples that did not exist not only in the era of Abraham, but even in the period of Moses, the final editor of this table (for example, the inhabitants of America). Further, ancient Eastern genealogies are quite unique: sometimes they list individual individuals, as, for example, we saw this in the antediluvian genealogy of the Cainites and Sethites; sometimes they make a collective designation for entire racial groups; sometimes, finally, this or that nationality is called by the name of the country in which it settled. In the biblical table subject to our study, all three of these genealogical devices have their application; The task of criticism is precisely to correctly establish the meaning in which one or another proper name (genealogical link, term) is used, and not to consider one’s own delusion and confusion of concepts as a mistake of the biblical writer. Keeping all this in mind and comparing the biblical news with the data of Assyrian and Egyptian antiquity, scientists of our day are becoming more and more convinced of the authenticity, reliability and importance of this biblical table of nations. So, for example, the famous French orientalist Lenormand calls it a document of “the most ancient, most precious and complete history of the settlement of peoples in the ancient world” and says that “its authenticity is surprisingly confirmed by comparative linguistics and physiological research of various nations.” The table of nations has three purposes: firstly, it affirms the truth of the unity of the human race, showing that all humanity descended only from these three branches, which in turn came from one common root; secondly, it establishes the fact of the kinship of God's chosen Jewish people with other tribes of the same Semitic race, and, finally, in a more distant sense, it shows us the fate of divine providence in the world history of peoples. In conclusion, it must be said that for a correct judgment about the biblical ethnographic table, it is necessary to constantly keep in mind its starting point and point of departure, both in relation to time and in relation to place; from 2 tbsp. Chapter 11 (Genesis 11:2) it is revealed that the starting point in this regard was the valley of Shinar for the writer of everyday life, at the time of the dispersion of the nations after the Babylonian pandemonium; and if Moses subsequently disseminated and supplemented this ancient tradition with contemporary data, then he, faithful to the spirit of the ancient tradition, paid primary attention to the inhabitants of the tribes neighboring the Palestinian country and related to the Jews. Since Japheth, judging by the previous context, was not the eldest, but on the contrary, the youngest son of Noah, the writer of everyday life, starting his table of peoples with his descendants, obviously had not a chronological, but some other goal; in all likelihood, the same one that was indicated by Noah’s previous prophecy about the brilliant fate of Japheth’s offspring, which was predicted to have both a quantitative advantage and a qualitative predominance over all the descendants of the children of other ancestors of post-Flood humanity. We once again meet the people of this name in the Bible from the prophet Ezekiel, who describes it as neighboring Tubal and Mosoch (Ezek. 38:6) and a number of other peoples inhabiting northern Syria and Asia Minor. “The name of the Gimerai (people) was found in the nail-shaped inscriptions of Asurbanipal” (Vlastov). Most authoritative exegetes identify them with the classical Cimmerians (Odyssey 4:11; 11:13–19), who inhabited the shores of the Caspian and Aral seas and from there subsequently settled westward, into northern Germany (Cimbri and Teutones) and the islands of Britain. Some people associate the name “Crimea” with the name of the Cimmerians - Homer. In the same prophet Ezekiel, representatives of this tribe act as experienced and skillful shooters (Ezek. 38:2, 39:6), and it itself is also located next to the above, somewhat further north. In view of this, the majority is inclined to see here an indication of the Scythians who lived along the shores of the Sea of ​​​​Azov and within the Caucasus, while some consider Magog to be Armenians. In the Apocalypse, the ideas of Gog and Magog serve as the personification of two God-fighting forces who, before the coming of the Antichrist, will enter into a mutual alliance to fight Christ and His Church (Rev. 20:7–10). Bokhart sees the name Gog or Magog in the name of the Caucasus, which the Colchians and Armenians called Gog-Khazan, Gog's fortress. Magog, in all likelihood, are Turanians (the Kalmyks have similar names for tracts - Vlastov). The fate of these Scythians also fulfilled Ezekiel’s prophecy about their death in the valley of the “hordes of Gog” (Ezek. 39:11) when they suffered a terrible defeat in the region of Palestine from the army of Psammetichus and the widespread diseases that developed among them, as Herodotus testifies to this (1 book, 105–106). This name, according to the concordant testimony of the sacred books of Persia and India, supported by Assyrian inscriptions, was the name given to the primitive Aryans who lived in western Asia, namely in Media, from where most of them eventually moved to the east and received the name Hindus, while the minority remained in place and retained the name Medes. The prophet Daniel also speaks about the kinship of the Medes with the Persians, and the Aryans in general (Dan. 5:28). No less, if not more definitely, is this name, which is found in the Hittite inscriptions in the form Yevanna, in the monuments of the era of Darius Hystaspes - Iavana, in Sanskrit - Iavana, in ancient Persian - Iuna. It points to the Greeks, first of all to the Ionians, and from there to everyone else. There are hints of a similar designation of the Greeks in other places of Holy Scripture (Isa. 66:19; Ezek. 27:13). This name in most translations is placed among not the sons, but the grandsons of Japheth, where it is repeated in our translation. And since it, as we will see later, also means the Greeks, this probably explains its mention here, along with Javan. Both in the book of Genesis and in other places of Holy Scripture, these two peoples are usually united and together are depicted as tributaries of Gog (Ezek. 38:2, 39:1). One day, however, they unite with Javan (Ezek. 27:13), and in two more places their residence is determined in the north of Palestine. In the annals of the Assyrian kings, the Muski and Tabal are often mentioned as two neighboring peoples inhabiting Cilicia, and Herodotus speaks of the Tibareks or Iberians (Iberians) and the Moschians who lived in the neighborhood of Colchis. Scientists believe that initially both these peoples lived in the upper reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates, between Media and Scythia, i.e. in Colchis and Iberia, located in the south of the modern Caucasus (Tubal - presumably Iberians or Georgians). Most exegetes believe that this name represents the oldest, shortened (maybe later corrupted by scribes) form of the name “Thracians,” a branch of the Pelasgic population grouped near the future city of Tire in Asia Minor. It is believed that in distant prehistoric times this tribe penetrated into Europe, inhabited Elada and partly Italy. In ancient Egyptian monuments, Turasch is usually combined with Masnuash, similar to the biblical combination of Fovel and Meshech. According to Knobel and Lenormand, the biblical Firas is the same as the classical “Tyrenians” - the oldest Pelasgian population, first of ancient Lydia and Phenicia, hence Greece and finally Italy. Gen.10:3. Sons of Homer: Askenaz, Based on the fact that modern Jews call Germany “Askenaz,” most Jewish interpreters see this as a reference to the Germans. But in view of the fact that the biblical table refers almost exclusively to the Asian territory, which served as the common cradle of humanity, we must make a serious amendment to this opinion. The definition of this nationality is most helped by the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 51:27), who, listing the nationalities that were part of the army of Cyrus, who went to conquer Babylon, names Askenaz next to the peoples of Ararat and Menni, which makes it clear that this nationality lived in the same way within Armenia or Asia Minor. The guess that the Black Sea, or the ancient Pontus Euxine (Πόντον Ευξεινος or Αξενος) got its name from the name of this people, also received its name. It is also quite plausible that this nation, having left the territory of its original residence, over time stopped in Western Europe and here laid the foundation for the population of the future Germany. Elsewhere in the Bible, probably by copyist error, the initial letter of this name is replaced by another, resulting in “Diphat” (1 Chron. 1:6) (only in some manuscripts). I. Flavius ​​identifies them with the Paphlagonians, who lived in the north-west of Asia Minor, and most subsequent interpreters are inclined to place them in the Riphean Mountains, which lay in the north of the Caspian Sea. This name appears twice more in the prophet Ezekiel, as suppliers of horses and mules for Tyrian merchants (Ezek. 27:14, 38:6). According to the tradition preserved by Moses of Khorensky, the ancestor of the inhabitants of Armenia was the son of Forgoma, which resolves the issue of this nation in the sense of identifying it with the Armenians. Gen.10:4. Sons of Javan: Elisha, The islands of Elisha are praised by the prophet Ezekiel for their scarlet and purple (Ezek. 27:7); therefore, it is considered almost indisputable that one of the coastal peoples of Greece was called by this name: Elis, Aeolia, or generally Hellas, according to Horace, famous for its purple robes. I. Flavius ​​believes that Tarsus, the city of Cilicia, is indicated here; but the majority of exegetes, led by Eusebius, more fundamentally think that we are talking about one of the distant Western colonies that emigrated from the boundaries of the Asia Minor metropolis. The main basis for the latter opinion is the passage from the prophet Jonah, which says that he boarded a ship to sail from Joppa (present-day Jaffa) to distant Tarshish. And learned geographers point out that the name Tarshish or Tartessus was used to call one of the most remote of the Phoenician colonies, located in modern Spain and famous for the wealth of its lead and copper mines. The Holy Scripture also points to the abundance of metals in Tarshish and their trade with Tire (Ezek. 27:12; Ps. 71:10). Of all the explanations for this name, the most successful is the opinion of Josephus, who identifies the biblical Kittim with the ancient historical Kition, the capital of the island of Cyprus. Apparently, the instructions of the prophets Isaiah and Daniel regarding Kittim, that they were a seaside people (Isa. 23:1, 12; Dan. 11:30), also agree with him. In all likelihood, these are the Dardanians or Trojans (who gave their name to the Dardanelles Strait), one of the oldest Asia Minor branches of the Greek people. Gen.10:5. From them the islands of nations were populated This is a commonly used biblical designation for pagan tribes living outside Palestine, in the regions of the Mediterranean, Black, Caspian and Aral Seas (Ps. 71:10; Isa. 41:5, 42:4, 10, 49:1, 51:5, 60:9; Jer. 2:10, 25:22, etc.). The origin of this name is easily explained by the naive view of the ancient Jews, who, having no idea about other continents and the size of the seas known to them, tended to excessively increase the latter and reduce the former, depicting them as some kind of small islands in the middle of a continuous water element. That is why, probably, the name they considered was most often applied to the coastal inhabitants of the largest of these seas - the Mediterranean, i.e., to the inhabitants of modern southern Europe. Saying that from these, i.e., the above-mentioned peoples, these more remote coastal points of Asia Minor and Europe were inhabited, the writer of everyday life tacitly assumes, firstly, that the original population of the peoples he indicated was different from these islands and that, secondly, over time, they emigrated from here to these islands, i.e., speaking the language of science, the Bible briefly notes here the fact of the great prehistoric migration of the primitive Aryans from the mountains of Armenia and the peaks of the Himalayas, first to Asia Minor and then to southern Europe. Characteristic in this case is that small detail of the Bible that says that the inhabitants of the islands “separated” from these, i.e., not the entire indigenous population of a certain nation left their native land and moved to the islands, but only a certain part that separated from it. in their lands, each according to his language, according to his tribes, among his nations. This is the best proof of the breadth and completeness of the enlightened view of the biblical author on the matter of the correct classification of peoples; the latter is carried out by him from four main points of view: from geographical (in their lands), dialectical or linguistic (in their language), from racial (in their tribes) and national (in their peoples). Ham is named here as the ancestor of the four main races descended from his sons and inhabiting the regions of southern Asia and the upper Nile. The Hebrew name of the country "Cush" or "Cush" in the LXX translation is usually replaced by the later name "Ethiopia"; but in the Assyrian wedge-shaped monuments, according to the Hebrew Bible, it is called the country “Kus”, which is related to its Egyptian name with the word “Kes”. From a comparison of biblical parallels, it is revealed that there were two countries with this name: one between Babylon and the Arabian Peninsula (1 Chronicles 1:8-10; Ps. 86:4), the other on the north-eastern coast of Africa, approximately on the site of modern Nubia, towards Abyssinia (Isa. 18:1-2, 20:3-5; Ezek. 30:4; Nahum. 3:9). The best explanation of all this is provided by the monuments of Assyrian and Egyptian antiquity. According to the testimony of the first, the Kushites or Kadim were those primitive proto-Chaldeans who formed the main grain of the so-called Sumerian-Akkadian people, which laid the foundation for the most ancient Chaldean-Babylonian civilization and culture. Over time, these Kushites, forced to cede their territory here to the Semites, first migrated to the Arabian steppes, and from here, under the 12th pharaoh, Uzerpizen I, they were resettled in Egypt (about 2000 BC) and settled in Nubia. In the Bible, this word has a very specific meaning - it points specifically to Egypt. It is a form of the dual of the singular Matzor, based on the fact that the latter is used in the Bible to designate only one lower Egypt (2 Kings 19:24; Isa. 19:6). Ebers and other scholars believe that the dual number only gives the idea of ​​​​two Egypts: upper and lower. Others, however, explain its origin with a double row of boundary ramparts by which Egypt is separated from the Arabian Peninsula, after which the Asian Semites called the entire country that began behind these ramparts. The Egyptians themselves called their country the land of Hemi or Kemi, a name quite closely reminiscent of the biblical Ham; however, recently, on one of the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs of the Hittite era (from the Hyksian era), a similar name to the biblical name of Egypt was discovered, in the form of “Matzrim”. The prophets list the Futa tribe among the African peoples (Jer. 46:9; Ezek. 30:5; Nahum. 3:9). According to I. Josephus and the most ancient contexts, one should think that this is the same as the ancient Egyptian “Thet”, i.e. Libya, which lay in northwest Africa, adjacent to Nubia. The youngest of the sons of Ham, whose descendants remained within Asia and occupied Palestine until the time of its conquest by the Jews under Joshua. For more information about the territory of Canaan, see below, verses 15-19. Gen.10:7. Sons of Cush: Seba, This name, although with some difference in spelling (םבא Seba and שבא Sheba), appears in this genealogy and again in the calculation of the descendants of Shem; hence the difficulty arises in distinguishing and defining the territory of those and other Savei. Closest to the truth, apparently, is the testimony of I. Flavius, who determines the location of the Kushite Savea in the north of Nubia, in the region of Meroe (Judaic Ancients 2:10, 2); although this does not at all exclude the assumption that before moving to Africa, these Savea lived somewhere in Asia, for example, in Yemen or southern Arabia, as Blessed Jerome thinks. The Holy Scripture favors each of these views when, on the one hand, they call Sheba a remote southern country (Ps. 71.10; Isa. 43:3, 45:14), on the other hand, they connect it with the land of Cush or Ethiopia. According to the clear evidence of classical writers (Ptolemy, Pliny, Martial, etc.), the Khavlotei inhabited the African coast bordering the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Josephus (Jewish Ancients 1:6, 2) identifies them with the Getuli, who lived in the oases of the Libyan Desert. But the equally decisive evidence of the Bible (Genesis 2:1, 25:18) encourages a search for this land within the Tigris and Euphrates. The best reconciliation of these testimonies is the assumption that there were two countries with the same name and population: one Asian, which served as a place of primitive habitation, the other African, which was the result of later emigration. Thus, the same story is repeated here as with the land of “Kush” and with the country of “Sava”, when the colony and the metropolis bear the same name and often even change roles. According to I. Flavius, this name denoted the “Astabara” people, who inhabited that part of Ethiopia that is now called Atbara, and in ancient times was called Astabara. According to Ptolemy, here too, of course, is Sabota (or Sabbat), the main city of Happy Arabia. According to the pseudo-Jonathan Targum, this is one of the Negro provinces, well known from ancient Egyptian monuments, where it is found under the form Subatok; it lay on the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf, in the region of Karamania. Raama. Sons of Raam: Sheba and Dedan The definition of Raam and his sons is most helped by the prophet Ezekiel, who speaks of the merchants of Sheba and Ramma and of the trade of Dedan (Ezek. 27:18, 22, 38:13), which all these nations conducted with Tire, the capital of Phenicia; Based on these signs, scientists believe that all three of the above-mentioned peoples lived in the coastal region of Arabia, famous for its natural wealth and providing all the conveniences for the development of trade. In the Holy Scriptures there are also more specific references to Sheba, as the main city of Happy Arabia (1 Kings 10:1; Job 1:15, 6:19; Ps. 72:10; Isa. 60:6; Jer. 6:20; Ezek. 27:22; Joel. 3:8), and to Dedan, located on the shores of the Persian Gulf (Isa. 21:13; Jer. 49:8, 25:13, 27:15). Perhaps the biblical Dedan was in the same place as the modern Daden. Thus, the entire Khush clan occupied the southern part of Arabia, the eastern coast of Africa and the northern part of the Persian Gulf, and many of the tribes of this clan allocated significant parts of their entire composition for resettlement within Africa, which resulted in two countries of the same name and the same name: one in Asia, the other in Africa. Gen.10:8. Cush also begat Nimrod; This does not necessarily mean that Nimrod was the direct son of Cush, but in general only serves as evidence that he comes in a direct descending line from him, belonged to the indigenous Cushites and, therefore, lived in Arabian Ethiopia, adjacent to the biblical valley of Shinar. The very name “Nimrod” here is no longer collective, but individual, personal; considered philologically, it means “rebel, rebel, troublemaker” (from the Hebrew verb marad - to upset, annoy, rebel, be indignant); therefore, some exegetes believe that it was learned by him only later, on the basis of his violent activities. this one began to be strong on earth; The initial words of this phrase have analogies already known to us in the history of Enos and Noah; the further biblical term “mighty on earth”, in Hebrew: gibbor, is also familiar to us from the characteristics of pre-Flood humanity (Nephilim and Gibborim). If there, as we saw (Gen. 6:4), this name contained the idea of ​​a giant outstanding in his physical strength and morally dissolute, then, obviously, by using the same term here, the writer thereby wants to show that in the person of Nimrod again, for the first time after the flood (this began), the type of proud giant, famous for his heroic exploits throughout his country, was resurrected. Gen.10:9. he was a strong hunter before the Lord [God], which is why it is said: a strong hunter like Nimrod before the Lord [God]. This entire verse serves as an explanation of the previous one: having previously pointed out the power and celebrity of Nimrod, the writer of everyday life now more definitely names both the main means of his glorification, and the highest degree to which it reached. This means of Nimrod’s wide popularity was his successful and bold hunt, and the degree of the height of this popularity is indicated in the words “before the Lord.” These words denote the highest degree of one or another quality, already exceeding the competence of man, and accessible only to the assessment of God himself. And that truly brave and successful exploits in hunting, in the fight against wild animals and monsters, in that rough primitive era were especially highly valued and placed their heroes on the pedestal of glory, this is evidenced by all prehistoric antiquity, starting with the hero of the Chaldean poem Izdubar and ending with the mythical exploits of Hercules. As proof of Nimrod's fame, based on his heroic strength and successful hunting, the biblical author refers to the existence in his time of even a special saying based on this fact. The essence of this saying was that when they wanted to especially praise and glorify someone, they compared him in terms of his strength of courage and courage to Nimrod. Gen.10:10. His kingdom at the beginning consisted of: Here is the very first biblical news about the beginning of political and state life on earth. According to most authoritative scholars, the Bible speaks here of the so-called “first Chaldean confederation” in science, i.e. about the first union of Chaldean cities, united under the rule of the famous Cushite Nimrod, also known in ancient Chaldean inscriptions under the title “Arba-Lizuna,” that is, the sovereign of four languages. Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. All four cities listed here lay in the Valley of Shinar; and this valley, as can be seen from the following verse (verse 11), as well as from other places in the Bible (Is. 11:11), designated the southern part of the Mesopotamian plain, or Babylonia, that is, the very country that was called the name “Summir” in the wedge-shaped inscriptions. Within this Chaldean-Babylonian territory we find historical traces of the existence of all the above cities, and above all, the capital of that union state, the city of Babylon itself. The ruins of ancient Babylon were discovered on the eastern bank of the Euphrates, near the modern town of Hillah, where there is a hill with the ruins of a church, which the native Arabs still retain the name “Babil”. The second ancient Chaldean city “Erech”, or “Arakh”, is rightly identified with Ptolemy’s Ορχόη, with the Arku of the wedge-shaped inscriptions, i.e., it coincides, therefore, with the modern “Varka”, which lies approximately eight miles south of ancient Babylon. The other two cities: Akkad and Khalne, on the contrary, represented the northern points of the described state: in particular, Akkad was probably the same city that later gave its name to the whole country “Akkad”, so often mentioned in wedge-shaped literature. According to the famous English Orientalist George Smith, Akkad was the capital of King Sargon and lay on the banks of the Euphrates, near Sippar, north of Babylon. The last of the cities named here, “Khalne”, or “Kalne”, is compared by exegetes with “Kalno” (Russian: “Khalne”) from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 10:9) and “Hanne” (Russian: “Hane”) from the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 27:23). Some, following Blessed Jerome and Eusebius, are looking for this city on the site of the later “Ctesiphon,” that is, in the northwest of Babylon; others (Rawlinson) find traces of it in the ruins of modern Nippur, northeast of the Euphrates. These four cities voluntarily or, more likely, due to their capture by Nimrod, formed the first union state, or the most ancient Chaldean-Babylonian kingdom, in which the supreme leadership role belongs to the descendants of Ham. Gen.10:11. From this land came Assur Some of the interpreters here take the name “Assur” in the sense of the proper name of one of the sons of Shem (22 Art. LXX, Vulgate, Luther, Rosenmuller, etc.) and interpret this place in the sense that the Semites, dissatisfied with the despotic rule of Nimrod and the Kushites, chose to retire to the north and found a new kingdom there. But according to others (Targum, Delitzsch, Keil, Lange, Philaret and many others), the name “Assur” here serves as a common noun for an entire country, depending on which the translation of the text itself should be somewhat different, namely: “and from this land (Shennaar) he (Nimrod) came to Assyria...” At first, Babylon served as the stronghold of Nimrod's rule; now he is building a new center of his dominion to the north - the city of Nineveh. This subsequently vast capital of the most powerful Assyrian monarchy (John 3:3, 4:11) lay on the banks of the Tigris River, opposite Mosul, in the excavation area of ​​modern Kuyunjik. The first of these cities remains unknown to this day, although some are inclined to identify it with the biblical Elassar or Larsa - according to the wedge-shaped inscriptions - located at the confluence of the Lower Zab with the Tigris. According to the literal translation from Hebrew, the word Rehoboth-ir means “city of streets,” which gives an idea of ​​its vastness. The name of the city “Kalakh” is found in the annals of King Assurnasirhabal (883–859), where it is spoken of as a city built by Shalmaneser I. Its location is determined by scientists to the south of Nineveh, at the confluence of the upper Zab into the Euphrates, near modern Nimrud. Others, however, prefer to see it on the site of the modern town of Kalah Shergat, five miles south of Nineveh. Gen.10:12. and Resen between Nineveh and between Calah; this is a great city. That is, between modern Kuyundzhik and Nimrud. The above Assyrian inscriptions also mention the city of “Resen,” which is called here “the city of the fisher,” thereby clearly reminiscent of the above biblical proverb about Nimrod. The Bible calls Resen a great city and places it in immediate proximity to Nineveh. All this, as well as the fact that Nineveh itself, according to the prophet Jonah, had a three-day journey (Jonah 3:3), gave scientists reason to think that Resen, which was a special independent city located in the vicinity of the great Nineveh, subsequently merged with it and thus lost its own name (Leillard, etc.). So, in these few lines of the Bible, the entire initial history of the Chaldean-Babylonian and Babylonian-Assyrian monarchy is reproduced: in full accordance with the newly discovered data of wedge-shaped monuments, the Bible testifies that the initial emergence of state life occurred in the region of southern Babylonia or Chaldea, where its focus was the cities: Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Halne; that this life then began to flow towards the north, where it founded a new center in the shape of Nineveh and its surrounding cities, and that, finally, the predominant influence of the Cushites in the first Chaldean-Babylonian monarchy was gradually to give way to the Semitic element of the Assyrian-Nineveh monarchy. Gen. 10:13–14. Descended from Mizraim These two verses specifically indicate the descendants of Ham's son, Mizraim, i.e., the population of various Egyptian-African provinces. The people of this name are mentioned by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 66:19), as good archers, and are called together with the tribes of Hus (Hush) and Fut (brothers of Mizraim, the ancestor of Ludim and others), i.e., inhabitants of northwestern Africa. The Targums place this tribe near Egypt itself, on the western side; and the learned Egyptologist Ebers, having found that in the hieroglyphic texts of ancient Egypt its inhabitants were designated by the name Lutu or Rutu, believes that this biblical Ludim is nothing more than the most ancient designation of the aborigines of Egypt. According to Ebers, this is the same people who are known in the monuments as “Aamu” and who inhabited the eastern part of the Nile Valley and the Isthmus of Suez. It is assumed that this is the same nation that in other places in the Bible is called “Ludim”, or even directly “Libya” (2 Chron. 12:3; Dan. 11:43; Nahum. 3:9). On this basis, most identify it with Libya, which lay northwest of the Nile, near present-day Algeria. Philological analysis of this name reveals that the people who bore it were related to the Egyptian deity "Ptha" or "Ptah"; and since this was the main deity of Memphis, it is rightly concluded from this that the “Naftuhim” tribe should also be seen as the inhabitants of middle Egypt. With the same, as well as with a slightly modified (“Petros”) name, this nation is found in many other places of Holy Scripture, where they are placed between Ethiopia and Mizraim (Isa. 11:11) and are distinguished from Migdol, Tafni and Memphis (Jer. 44:1, 15; Ezek. 29:14). In the cuneiform annals of Assargaddon we find that on the conquest of Egypt he assumed the title of king of Musur, Paturusi and Kusi. From all this it is reliably concluded that Patrusim must mean the population of upper Egypt, who lived between Mizraim and Ethiopia. Kasluchim, where the Philistines came from, and Caphtorim. "Hasmonim" (according to the text of LXX). According to the meaning of this text, it turns out that “Kaslukhim” served to form two other nationalities: the Philistines and the Caphtorim. But in other places of the Holy Scriptures, the homeland of the Philistines is quite clearly indicated as “Capthor” (Deut. 2:23; Jer. 47:4; Am. 9:7), under which it is most plausible to see the island of Crete (1 Sam. 30:14; Ezek. 25:16). Reconciling these two testimonies, exegetes think that the Bible speaks of two different migrations of the Philistines, of which the oldest came from Kasluhim, that is, from the North African coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and the other, later, from Caphtorim, that is, from the island of Crete. The only thing that is certain is that the inhabitants of northeast Africa, Fr. Crete and the Philistines had much in common in their language, ancient beliefs, and customs, which serves as proof of their genetic relationship with each other. As for the Philistines themselves, who lived in Palestine and gave it their name, an analysis of their very name (peleshet - immigrant) points to them as immigrants or immigrants; and the most ancient folk sagas call them precisely those coming out of Egypt. Gen. 10:15–18. From Canaan were born Sidon his firstborn, These four verses give a list of the main Canaanite tribes that inhabited Syria and Palestine before the conquest of the latter by Joshua. The firstborn of Canaan, not so much by birth as by significance, are called here the inhabitants of Sidon, a rich sea city, which, together with Tire, was the capital of Phenicia (1 Kings 5:6; 1 Chronicles 22:4; Isa. 23:2, 4, 12). - the ancestor of the Hittites (Genesis 23:3, 5), a powerful Syrian tribe, once terrible for Egypt itself, which left behind traces of high culture and a whole rich literature, hitherto almost unsolved by scientists (Hittite inscriptions). - the Jebusites lived in the mountains of Jerusalem until the days of David, who conquered them (Josh. 15:8; Judges 19:10; 2 Sam. 5:6; 1 Chron. 11:4-5). – the Amorites are one of the strongest Canaanite tribes, which had two strong kingdoms on the eastern side of the Jordan – Heshbon and Bashan (Num. 21:26). - Gergesen - known only by name, as having fought with the Jews to the west of the Jordan (Joshua 24:11). - Hivites, or, according to the reading of M. Philaret, “Hivites”, are mentioned in Nav. 24:11, 9:1, 7; Court. 3:3 – they lived at the foot of Mount Lebanon. - Arkei, or Arkit, probably the inhabitants of the city of Arki, located on the site of modern ruins near the town of Tel Arki, at the foot of the same Lebanon. - Sinei, or “Sinites”, are a people neighboring the previous one, living near an ancient fortress that bore the same name. - the Arvadeans lived in Arvada, or Ruada (I. Fl.), i.e., on the Barein Islands of our time, as Lenormand thinks; subsequently they formed the core of the population of Phenicia and imparted to it a passion for navigation and trade. - Tsemarei and Himafei - two nationalities, very little known; It is believed that the first gave their name to Simri, a city in northern Phenicia, the ruins of which are still known under the name Sumra. In the same way, the name Himafey, in all likelihood, passed on to the city of Khammani-Rabba, which lay on the river. Oronte, near Damascus. The Greeks called it “Epiphania”, in modern times it is known under the ancient name “Hama”. Subsequently, the Canaanite tribes scattered, That is, under the influence of mutual mixing, conquest and successive migrations, they repeatedly changed their topographic boundaries, making it not only extremely difficult, but also positively impossible to firmly establish their place of residence. Gen.10:19. and the borders of the Canaanites were from Sidon to Gerar as far as Gaza, thence to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim as far as Lasha. Having indicated the reason why it was difficult to determine the place of residence of each of the Canaanite tribes, the biblical author makes a more general indication - he defines the boundaries of the entire Canaanite territory. In the north, such a border was the city of Sidon, in the south of Gaza and Gerar, a city located between Kadesh and Shur, in the land of midday (Gen. 20:1). The western border was the cities: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim, which, together with Zoar, which was omitted here, made up the so-called five-city and in the place of which the Dead Sea was subsequently formed (Gen. 14:2, 8). Finally, the eastern border was the city of Lashi, by which most people mean the city known to the Greeks as Callirhoe (source of beauty) for the healing waters of its hot sulfur spring. Thus, “the settlements of the Hamites cover all the seashores of present-day Persia, the Persian Gulf, Arabia, the Red Sea along the African coast and along the Mediterranean Sea in Africa and Syria” (Vlastov). Gen.10:20. These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, in their nations. The general conclusion of the genealogy of the Hamites, the meaning of which was revealed above (Gen. 10:5). Gen.10:21. Shem, the father of all the sons of Eber, and the elder brother of Japheth, also had children. From here begins the most important genealogy of the Semites from a biblical point of view, from among whom came the Jewish people chosen by God, who received their name from Eber, which the biblical author did not fail to mention here. Gen.10:22. Sons of Shem: Elam, In the wedge-shaped monuments of Assyria, this country is known as leamtu, which means "mountainous" country. Subsequently, it became known as Suzin, or Suzan, which is where Suziana came from. In this latter, a number of localities with Semitic names have been preserved, from which it is rightly concluded that in ancient Susiana, or Elam, the Semitic element was once dominant. This descendant of Shem was the founder of the Assyrians, one of the most famous peoples of the ancient East. He lived along the eastern side of the middle reaches of the Tigris River, between Armenia, Susiana and Media, and spoke, as is now clearly established, a Semitic dialect quite close to the Hebrew language. As we saw above, Assyria was invaded very early by the Kushites (Gen. 10:11), which explains the fact that the entire civilization and culture of the Assyrian monarchy is undeniably related to the Chaldean-Babylonian civilization. One of the direct forefathers of the Jewish people. Based on wedge-shaped inscriptions, Schrader and other scientists believe that this name means the people “adjacent to the Chaldeans” (arp-kasad), and their place of residence is indicated in the southern, coastal part of the Euphrates Valley, the main residence of which was the city of Ur of the Chaldeans, modern Mugair. Following I. Flavius, here we mean the population of the Asia Minor province of Lydia with its main city of Sardis. But in view of the fact that in the classical era the population of Lydia was more likely of Aryan than of Semitic origin, scientists assume that the Semites inhabited this province only in very ancient times, but that they subsequently lost it to the Aryans. This gradual replacement of one population by another took place mainly during the era of the Assyrian kings, in whose annals one can find some allusions to it. In wedge-shaped literature it is known under the forms: “Aramu, Arumu, Arimu” and denoted the countries lying along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, with the exception of Babylon. The Egyptians called the area between the Euphrates and Khabor “Nagaraina”, from which came the biblical designation of Mesopotamia as “Aram-Nagaraina”. There were a number of different states in this area, which is why in the Bible we encounter various combinations of this name: Aram-Sova, Aram-Damascus, Aram-Rehoth, etc. Gen.10:23. The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gepher and Mash. All these names are among the little-known. Regarding the first, however, it is assumed with considerable certainty that he gave his name to the country of Uz, from where Job subsequently came (Job 1:1) and which was located in the southeast of Palestine, on the way to the Arabian desert; the later Trachanitis (cf. Josephus, Ancient Jews 1:6, 4). Regarding “Hula,” opinions differ: I. Flavius ​​indicates it in general in Armenia; Bohart identifies with that part of Armenia that was called “Holoboten”, i.e. the houses of Khul (Khul-Bitan); Delich sees here an indication of the Syrian Khilata Morfi on Khule, not far from the sources of the river. Jordan, etc. Almost nothing is known about the last two nationalities - Gepher and Mash, unless we take into account Bokhart’s guess, supported by M. Philaret, that Mash or Mas told his name to Mount Masiy, in Armenia. Gen.10:24. Arphaxad begat [Cainan, Cainan begat] Salah, The words in brackets are omitted from the Hebrew text; but they are found in the most ancient and authoritative Greek manuscripts, in the Gospel genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 3:36), as well as in the writings of I. Flavius ​​and Moses of Choren. - the same patriarch whose name was subsequently adopted by God’s chosen Jewish people. This name itself means a person who crossed the river and, therefore, contains the idea of \u200b\u200bthe migration of this patriarch from behind some river, probably the Euphrates River (the word עברי, ibri, Hebrew in Gen. 14:13 in LXX is translated by ὁ περάτης, "stranger" living on the other side of the Euphrates or crossing this river). Gen.10:25. Eber had two sons; the name of one is Peleg, because in his days the land was divided; According to the reading of the Hebrew text, this name should have the form "Peleg", which would mean division or branching. What kind of division is being spoken about here is not entirely clear, in view of which some saw here an indication of the Babylonian dispersion of peoples (Rosenmüller, Keil, Lange), others - the identification by the sacred writer of that branch of the Semites, which had the closest relationship to God’s chosen people (Delitzsch). This latter was the ancestor of a number of nomadic tribes that inhabited the Arabian Peninsula, led by Iektanida. In all likelihood, this was already a secondary population of Arabia, settled in the place of the Hamites who originally lived there, who were forced to look for new residences, mainly within Africa. Gen.10:26. Joktan begat Almodad, Shaleph, Hatzarmabeth, Jerah, This section provides a fairly detailed list of the main Arabian tribes, most of which can only be indicated tentatively. Thus, Almodad is identified with the Arabian province of Yemen; Shaleph - with Ptolemy's Salapenoe, located in lower Arabia; Hatzarmavee with Hadramut, in southeastern Arabia; Yerah with the still existing Arabian tribe Bne-Gilal, which, just like Yerah, indicates a connection with the moon, means precisely “children of the moon.” Gen.10:27. Gadorama, Uzala, Diklu, The place of residence of the first of them is perhaps indicated by Cape Hadoram, on the Persian Gulf. “Uzal” is thought to be seen in the modern city of Sanaa, in Yemen, which in ancient times bore the name Auzura, where a special fragrant ointment came from – myrrh of Azura. Diklu - from the word “dikal”, which means “palm tree”, hence “Happy Arabia”, as its main deposit. Gen.10:28. Ovala, Abimaila, Sheva, These Sabean-Semites must be distinguished from the Sabean-Hamites (Gen. 10:7); they were a trading people of the coastal region of Arabia and had the city of Mariaba as their capital. There is no reason to see India here, known in ancient times under this name; but, in all likelihood, this refers to one of the southwestern harbors of Arabia, which traded with India and was, as it were, its trading colony (for example, Aden). The first probably means the northern region of Yemen, and the second means “desert” in Arabic and may indicate Najd. Gen. 10:30. Their settlements were from Mesha to Sephar, the eastern mountain. The first of these borders refers to the modern Mesalik desert, adjacent to Iraq-Arbi, and the second is the mountainous country of Mihra, where Mount Dzafar rises or, in modern pronunciation, Je-bel-Shejir. Gen.10:31. These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations. Gen.10:32. These are the tribes of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogy, among their nations. From them the nations spread on earth after the flood. You might be interested in: