Forbidden Bible Verses — Genesis 10:6-12

The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.

Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.

Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK) with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.

Genesis 10:6-12

The Hamites

⁶ The sons of Ham:

Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush:

Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.

The sons of Raamah:

Sheba and Dedan.

⁸ Cush was the father^[a] of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, ‘Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.’ ¹⁰ The first centres of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in^[b] Shinar.^{[c] 11} From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,^[d] Calah ¹² and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah – which is the great city.

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Last week’s post discussed the sons and descendants of Japheth, who travelled to and settled the lands of Indo-European peoples.

Now we look at Ham’s sons and descendants, one of whom was Canaan, upon whom Noah put a curse. This was because of his unbelief. Whether it was apparent at the time or whether Noah prophesied it, we do not know. Canaan was also the name of the Israelites’ Promised Land; as part of the curse, God directed them to battle the Canaanites for it.

Ham had four sons: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan (verse 6).

Cush’s sons are named: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka, as are Raamah’s: Sheba and Dedan (verse 7).

Next week’s reading will return to those verses but, for now, John MacArthur discusses Ham’s son Cush (emphases mine):

Ham had four sons: Cush, Mezraim, Put, and Canaan. Cush has five sons and two grandsons from Raamah, named Sheba and Dedan … From Cush come five sons, two grandsons …

Now, just a couple of things. Cush is the Bible’s name for Ethiopia. So, Ham’s people went south … Who populated Africa? Who populated the southern part of the Middle East and east of that? … There was also a Cush in Arabia.

All the sons of Cush went east. How do you know that? If you would look at the sons of Cush in verse 7 … all of those names can be identified with places in Arabia … Put is Libya in North Africa, west of Egypt. And Canaan, the fourth son, was the ancestor of the various tribes that settled in the Promised Land. And those various tribes include the Jebusite, the Amorite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, the Arkite, the Sinite, the Arvadite, the Zemarite, the Hamathite, and all those families of Canaanites that were scattered all over everywhere.

So, the Canaanites were people who descended from Canaan, but there were all kinds of families of them. All kinds of families.

Our two commentators put their focus on the verses that follow.

In addition to the sons named in verse 7, Cush also fathered Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth (verse 8).

In fact, Nimrod was a mighty warrior before the Lord God, and it was even said: ‘Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord’ (verse 9).

Matthew Henry provides an excellent biography of Nimrod, beginning with animals and moving on to men, explaining how God saw him:

I. Nimrod was a great hunter; with this he began, and for this became famous to a proverb. Every great hunter is, in remembrance of him, called a Nimrod. 1. Some think he did good with his hunting, served his country by ridding it of the wild beasts which infested it, and so insinuated himself into the affections of his neighbours, and got to be their prince. Those that exercise authority either are, or at least would be called, benefactors, Luke 22 25. 2. Others think that under pretence of hunting he gathered men under his command, in pursuit of another game he had to play, which was to make himself master of the country and to bring them into subjection. He was a mighty hunter, that is, he was a violent invader of his neighbours’ rights and properties, and a persecutor of innocent men, carrying all before him, and endeavouring to make all his own by force and violence. He thought himself a mighty prince, but before the Lord (that is, in God’s account) he was but a mighty hunter. Note, Great conquerors are but great hunters. Alexander and Cesar would not make such a figure in scripture-history as they do in common history; the former is represented in prophecy but as a he-goat pushing, Dan 8 5. Nimrod was a mighty hunter against the Lord, so the LXX; that is, (1.) He set up idolatry, as Jeroboam did, for the confirming of his usurped dominion. That he might set up a new government, he set up a new religion upon the ruin of the primitive constitution of both. Babel was the mother of harlots. Or, (2.) He carried on his oppression and violence in defiance of God himself, daring Heaven with his impieties, as if he and his huntsmen could out-brave the Almighty, and were a match for the Lord of hosts and all his armies. As if it were a small thing to weary men, he thinks to weary my God also, Isa 7 13.

The first centres of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in^[b] Shinar^[c] (verse 10).

Henry continues:

II. Nimrod was a great ruler: The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, v. 10. Some way or other, by arts or arms, he got into power, either being chosen to it or forcing his way to it; and so laid the foundations of a monarchy, which was afterwards a head of gold, and the terror of the mighty, and bade fair to be universal. It does not appear that he had any right to rule by birth; but either his fitness for government recommended him, as some think, to an election, or by power and policy he advanced gradually, and perhaps insensibly, into the throne. See the antiquity of civil government, and particularly that form of it which lodges the sovereignty in a single person. If Nimrod and his neighbours began, other nations soon learned to incorporate under one head for their common safety and welfare, which, however it began, proved so great a blessing to the world that things were reckoned to go ill indeed when there was no king in Israel.

From that initial kingdom — ‘land’ — he went into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,^[d] Calah (verse 11) as well as Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah – which is the great city (verse 12).

Henry concludes:

III. Nimrod was a great builder. Probably he was architect in the building of Babel, and there he began his kingdom; but, when his project to rule all the sons of Noah was baffled by the confusion of tongues, out of that land he went forth into Assyria (so the margin reads it, v. 11) and built Nineveh, etc., that, having built these cities, he might command them and rule over them. Observe, in Nimrod, the nature of ambition. 1. It is boundless. Much would have more, and still cries, Give, give. 2. It is restless. Nimrod, when he had four cities under his command, could not be content till he had four more. 3. It is expensive. Nimrod will rather be at the charge of rearing cities than not have the honour of ruling them. The spirit of building is the common effect of a spirit of pride. 4. It is daring, and will stick at nothing. Nimrod’s name signifies rebellion, which (if indeed he did abuse his power to the oppression of his neighbours) teaches us that tyrants to men are rebels to God, and their rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.

MacArthur does not think Nimrod ever hunted animals, only men:

Now, when it says he was a mighty hunter, it doesn’t mean he was a hunter of animals. He was a killer of men. A better way to translate that is he was a mighty warrior. He was a mighty soldier.

Readers can make up their own minds. I rather like the animal bit, because what better way to insinuate oneself into the affections of others than by killing dangerous beasts? Afterwards, one has grateful people acquiescing to whatever one wants.

MacArthur tells us more about Nimrod’s kingdom and Babylon:

This great-grandson of Noah, grandson of righteous Ham, wielded deadly power, ruled ruthlessly right in the middle of the Euphrates valley, and no doubt conquered all kinds of people, and consolidated families and people groups and tribes into his great Babel. Great in power, great in sin, great in idolatry, great in defiance of God. This was the first real city of man in the new world; built for man’s glory. It was a preview of a later city called Babylon, which a preview of a final Babylon that will be built by the Antichrist at the end of human history.

Nimrod built Babel. Nebuchadnezzar, a Nimrod-like man, built Babylon. And the Antichrist will build the final Babylon. By the way, Nimrod’s name in Hebrew? Rebel. Rebel. And all of the places of his kingdom named … verses 10 to 12. See all those names? They stretch from the northernmost point of the Mesopotamian valley at Nineveh, down to the Persian Gulf and the southernmost point at Iraq. And all the area in between. This was a massive kingdom.

The story of the Hamites continues next week.

Next time — Genesis 10:13-20