Sons of Noah - Table of Nations

Table of Nations

According to Genesis 10, Noah had three sons:

  • Ham, forefather of the southern peoples (Hamitic)
  • Shem, forefather of the middle peoples (Semitic)
  • Japheth, forefather of the northern peoples (Japhetic Eurasia)

The names of these sons are thought to have significance related to Semitic roots. Ham means "warm". Shem merely means "name" or "renown", "prosperity". Japheth means "open".

It then proceeds to detail their descendants. The identification of several of the first generation is aided by the inclusion of the second, although several of their identifications are less certain. (The copy of the table in the biblical book of 1 Chronicles chapter 1 has occasional variations in the second generation, most likely caused by the similarity of Hebrew letters such as Resh and Daleth). Forms ending in -im are plurals, probably indicating names of peoples, and not intended as the name of a single person.

Read more about this topic:  Sons Of Noah

Famous quotes containing the words table of, table and/or nations:

    Remember thee?
    Ay, thou poor ghost, whiles memory holds a seat
    In this distracted globe. Remember thee?
    Yea, from the table of my memory
    I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records,
    All saws of books, all forms, all pressures past
    That youth and observation copied there,
    And thy commandment all alone shall live
    Within the book and volume of my brain,
    William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

    Will you greet your doom
    As final; set him loaves and wine; knowing
    The game is finished when he plays his ace,
    And overturn the table and go into the next room?
    Philip Larkin (1922–1986)

    The UN is not just a product of do-gooders. It is harshly real. The day will come when men will see the UN and what it means clearly. Everything will be all right—you know when? When people, just people, stop thinking of the United Nations as a weird Picasso abstraction, and see it as a drawing they made themselves.
    Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961)