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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter X].</TITLE>
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"This site is for those friends and family members who may or may not know Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if not, they may come to know Our Lord through His Prophets."> <meta name="author" content="Brian Duncalfe">
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<body background="../sueback.jpg" bgproperties="fixed" >
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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<HR>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%">
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<TR>
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<TD ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP">
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC01009.HTM">Previous</A>]
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[<A HREF="MHC01011.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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</TD></TR></TABLE>
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page75"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. X.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter shows more particularly what was said in general
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:19"><I>ch.</I> ix. 19</A>),
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concerning the three sons of Noah, that "of them
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was the whole earth overspread;" and the fruit of that blessing
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:1,7"><I>ch.</I> ix. 1, 7</A>),
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"replenish the earth." Is is the only certain
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account extant of the origin of nations; and yet perhaps there is no
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nation but that of the Jews that can be confident from which of
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these seventy fountains (for so many there are here) it derives
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its streams. Through the want of early records, the mixtures of
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people, the revolutions of nations, and distance of time, the
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knowledge of the lineal descent of the present inhabitants of
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the earth is lost; nor were any genealogies preserved but those
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of the Jews, for the sake of the Messiah, only in this chapter we
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have a brief account,
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I. Of the posterity of Japheth,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:2-5">ver. 2-5</A>.
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II. The posterity of Ham
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:6-20">ver. 6-20</A>),
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and in this particular notice is taken of Nimrod,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>.
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III. The posterity of Shem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:21-32">ver. 21</A>,
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&c.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge10_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Generations of Noah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 2347.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now these <I>are</I> the generations
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of the sons of Noah, Shem,
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Ham, and Japheth: and unto them
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were sons born after the flood.
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2 The
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sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog,
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and Madai, and Javan, and
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Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
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3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz,
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and Riphath, and Togarmah.
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4 And
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the sons of Javan; Elishah, and
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Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.
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5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles
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divided in their lands; every
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one after his tongue, after their families,
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in their nations.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Moses begins with Japheth's family, either
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because he was the eldest, or because his
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family lay remotest from Israel and had least
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concern with them at the time when Moses
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wrote, and therefore he mentions that race
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very briefly, hastening to give an account of
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the posterity of Ham, who were Israel's enemies
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and of Shem, who were Israel's ancestors;
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for it is the church that the scripture
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is designed to be the history of, and of the
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nations of the world only as they were some
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way or other related to Israel and interested
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in the affairs of Israel. Observe,
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1. Notice
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is taken that the sons of Noah had sons born
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to them after the flood, to repair and rebuild
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the world of mankind which the flood had
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ruined. He that had killed now makes alive.
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2. The posterity of Japheth were allotted to
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the isles of the Gentiles
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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which were
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solemnly, by lot, after a survey, divided
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among them, and probably this island of
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ours among the rest; all places beyond the
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sea from Judea are called <I>isles</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:22">Jer. xxv. 22</A>),
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and this directs us to understand that promise
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+42:4">Isa. xlii. 4</A>),
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<I>the isles shall wait for his
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law,</I> of the conversion of the Gentiles to the
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faith of Christ.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge10_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_14"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>6 And the sons of Ham; Cush,
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and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
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7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and
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Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah,
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and Sabtecha: and the sons of
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<A NAME="Page76"> </A>
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Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
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8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began
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to be a mighty one in the earth.
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9 He was a mighty hunter before the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: wherefore it is said; Even as
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Nimrod the mighty hunter before the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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10 And the beginning of his
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kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and
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Accad, and Calneh, in the land of
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Shinar.
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11 Out of that land went
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forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh,
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and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
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12 And Resen between Nineveh and
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Calah: the same <I>is</I> a great city.
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13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and
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Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
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14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim,
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(out of whom came Philistim,)
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and Caphtorim.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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That which is observable and improvable
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in these verses is the account here given of
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Nimrod,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:8-10"><I>v.</I> 8-10</A>.
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He is here
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represented as a great man in his day: <I>He began to be a
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mighty one in the earth,</I> that is, whereas those
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that went before him were content to stand
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upon the same level with their neighbours,
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and though every man bore rule in his own
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house yet no man pretended any further,
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Nimrod's aspiring mind could not rest here;
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he was resolved to tower above his neighbours,
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not only to be eminent among them,
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but to lord it over them. The same spirit
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that actuated the giants before the flood
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(who became <I>mighty men, and men of renown,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+6:4"><I>ch.</I> vi. 4</A>),
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now revived in him, so soon
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was that tremendous judgment which the
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pride and tyranny of those mighty men
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brought upon the world forgotten. Note,
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There are some in whom ambition and affectation
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of dominion seem to be bred in the
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bone; such there have been and will be,
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notwithstanding the wrath of God often revealed
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from heaven against them. Nothing
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on this side hell will humble and break the
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proud spirits of some men, in this like Lucifer,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+14:14,15">Isa. xiv. 14, 15</A>.
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Now,</P>
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<P>
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I. Nimrod was a great hunter; with this
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he began, and for this became famous to a
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proverb. Every great hunter is, in remembrance
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of him, called a <I>Nimrod.</I>
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1. Some
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think he did good with his hunting, served
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his country by ridding it of the wild beasts
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which infested it, and so insinuated himself
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into the affections of his neighbours, and
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got to be their prince. Those that exercise
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authority either are, or at least would be
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called, <I>benefactors,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+22:25">Luke xxii. 25</A>.
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2. Others
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think that under pretence of hunting he
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gathered men under his command, in pursuit
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of another game he had to play, which
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was to make himself master of the country
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and to bring them into subjection. He was
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a <I>mighty hunter,</I> that is, he was a violent invader
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of his neighbours' rights and properties,
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and a persecutor of innocent men, carrying
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all before him, and endeavouring to
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make all his own by force and violence. He
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thought himself a mighty prince, but <I>before
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the Lord</I> (that is, in God's account) he was
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but a <I>mighty hunter.</I> Note, Great conquerors
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are but great hunters. Alexander
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and Cesar would not make such a figure in
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scripture-history as they do in common history;
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the former is represented in prophecy
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but as a he-goat pushing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+8:5">Dan. viii. 5</A>.
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Nimrod
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was a mighty hunter <I>against</I> the Lord,
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so the LXX; that is, (1.) He set up idolatry,
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as Jeroboam did, for the confirming of his
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usurped dominion. That he might set up a
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new government, he set up a new religion
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upon the ruin of the primitive constitution
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of both. <I>Babel was the mother of harlots.</I>
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Or,
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(2.) He carried on his oppression and
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violence in defiance of God himself, daring
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Heaven with his impieties, as if he and his
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huntsmen could out-brave the Almighty,
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and were a match for the Lord of hosts
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and all his armies. <I>As if it were a small thing to
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weary men, he thinks to weary my God also,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:13">Isa. vii. 13</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. Nimrod was a great ruler: <I>The beginning
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of his kingdom was Babel,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Some
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way or other, by arts or arms, he got into
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power, either being chosen to it or forcing
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his way to it; and so laid the foundations of
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a monarchy, which was afterwards a head of
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gold, and the terror of the mighty, and bade
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fair to be universal. It does not appear
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that he had any right to rule by birth; but
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either his fitness for government recommended
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him, as some think, to an election,
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or by power and policy he advanced gradually,
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and perhaps insensibly, into the
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throne. See the antiquity of civil government,
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and particularly that form of it which
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lodges the sovereignty in a single person.
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If Nimrod and his neighbours began, other
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nations soon learned to incorporate under
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one head for their common safety and welfare,
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which, however it began, proved so
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great a blessing to the world that things were
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reckoned to go ill indeed when there <I>was no
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king in Israel.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. Nimrod was a great builder. Probably
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he was architect in the building of Babel, and
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there he began his kingdom; but, when his
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project to rule all the sons of Noah was
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baffled by the confusion of tongues, <I>out of
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that land he went forth into Assyria</I> (so the
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margin reads it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
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<I>and built Nineveh,</I> &c.,
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that, having built these cities, he might command
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them and rule over them. Observe,
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in Nimrod, the nature of ambition.
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1. It is
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boundless. Much would have more, and still
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cries, <I>Give, give.</I>
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2. It is restless. Nimrod,
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when he had four cities under his command,
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could not be content till he had four more.
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3. It is expensive. Nimrod will rather be
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at the charge of rearing cities than not have
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<A NAME="Page77"> </A>
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the honour of ruling them. The spirit of
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building is the common effect of a spirit of
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pride.
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4. It is daring, and will stick at nothing.
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Nimrod's name signifies rebellion,
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which (if indeed he did abuse his power to
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the oppression of his neighbours) teaches us
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that tyrants to men are rebels to God, and
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their <I>rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Ge10_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_20"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>15 And Canaan begat Sidon his
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firstborn, and Heth,
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16 And the
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Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the
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Girgasite,
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17 And the Hivite, and
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the Arkite, and the Sinite,
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18 And
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the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and
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the Hamathite: and afterward were
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the families of the Canaanites spread
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abroad.
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19 And the border of the
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Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou
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comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou
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goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah,
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and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto
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Lasha.
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20 These <I>are</I> the sons of
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Ham, after their families, after their
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tongues, in their countries, <I>and</I> in
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their nations.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Observe here,
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1. The account of the posterity
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of Canaan, of the families and nations
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that descended from him, and of the land
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they possessed, is more particular than of any
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other in this chapter, because these were the
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nations that were to be subdued before Israel,
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and their land was in process of time to
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become the holy land, <I>Immanuel's land;</I> and
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this God had an eye to when, in the mean
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time, he cast the lot of that accursed devoted
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race in that spot of ground which he had selected
|
||
|
for his own people; this Moses takes
|
||
|
notice of,
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:8">Deut. xxxii. 8</A>,
|
||
|
<I>When the Most
|
||
|
High divided to the nations their inheritance,
|
||
|
he set the bounds of the people according
|
||
|
to the number of the children of Israel.</I>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. By this account it appears that the posterity
|
||
|
of Canaan were numerous, and rich, and
|
||
|
very pleasantly situated; and yet Canaan
|
||
|
was under a curse, a divine curse, and not a
|
||
|
curse causeless. Note, Those that are under
|
||
|
the curse of God may yet perhaps thrive and
|
||
|
prosper greatly in this world; for we cannot
|
||
|
know love or hatred, the blessing or the
|
||
|
curse, by what is before us, but by what is
|
||
|
within us,
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:1">Eccl. ix. 1</A>.
|
||
|
The curse of God
|
||
|
always works really and always terribly:
|
||
|
but perhaps it is a secret curse, a curse to
|
||
|
the soul, and does not work visibly, or a
|
||
|
slow curse, and does not work immediately;
|
||
|
but sinners are by it reserved for, and bound
|
||
|
over to, a day of wrath. Canaan here has a
|
||
|
better land than either Shem or Japheth,
|
||
|
and yet they have a better lot, for they inherit
|
||
|
the blessing.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_21"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_22"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_23"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_24"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_25"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_26"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_27"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_28"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_29"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_30"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_31"> </A>
|
||
|
<A NAME="Ge10_32"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 Unto Shem also, the father of
|
||
|
all the children of Eber, the brother
|
||
|
of Japheth the elder, even to him
|
||
|
were <I>children</I> born.
|
||
|
22 The children
|
||
|
of Shem; Elam, and Asshur,
|
||
|
and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
|
||
|
23 And the children of Aram; Uz,
|
||
|
and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
|
||
|
24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and
|
||
|
Salah begat Eber.
|
||
|
25 And unto
|
||
|
Eber were born two sons: the name
|
||
|
of one <I>was</I> Peleg; for in his days was
|
||
|
the earth divided; and his brother's
|
||
|
name <I>was</I> Joktan.
|
||
|
26 And Joktan
|
||
|
begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and
|
||
|
Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
|
||
|
27 And
|
||
|
Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
|
||
|
28 And Obal, and Abimael, and
|
||
|
Sheba,
|
||
|
29 And Ophir, and Havilah,
|
||
|
and Jobab: all these <I>were</I> the sons
|
||
|
of Joktan.
|
||
|
30 And their dwelling
|
||
|
was from Mesha, as thou goest unto
|
||
|
Sephar a mount of the east.
|
||
|
31 These <I>are</I> the sons of Shem, after
|
||
|
their families, after their tongues, in
|
||
|
their lands, after their nations.
|
||
|
32 These <I>are</I> the families of the sons of
|
||
|
Noah, after their generations, in their
|
||
|
nations: and by these were the nations
|
||
|
divided in the earth after the flood.
|
||
|
</FONT></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
Two things especially are observable in
|
||
|
this account of the posterity of Shem:--</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
I. The description of Shem, <I>v.</I> 21. We
|
||
|
have not only his name, <I>Shem,</I> which signifies
|
||
|
<I>a name,</I> but two titles to distinguish him by:--</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
1. He was <I>the father of all the children of
|
||
|
Eber.</I> Eber was his great grandson; but why
|
||
|
should he be called the father of all <I>his</I> children,
|
||
|
rather than of all Arphaxad's, or Salah's,
|
||
|
&c.? Probably because Abraham and his
|
||
|
seed, God's covenant-people, not only descended
|
||
|
from Heber, but from him were called
|
||
|
<I>Hebrews;</I>
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+14:13"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 13</A>,
|
||
|
<I>Abram the Hebrew.</I>
|
||
|
Paul looked upon it as his privilege that he
|
||
|
was a <I>Hebrew of the Hebrews,</I>
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Php+3:5">Phil. iii. 5</A>.
|
||
|
Eber himself, we may suppose, was a man
|
||
|
eminent for religion in a time of general
|
||
|
apostasy, and a great example of piety to his
|
||
|
family; and, the holy tongue being commonly
|
||
|
called from him the <I>Hebrew,</I> it is
|
||
|
probable that he retained it in his family,
|
||
|
in the confusion of Babel, as a special token
|
||
|
of God's favour to him; and from him the
|
||
|
professors of religion were called <I>the children
|
||
|
of Eber.</I> Now, when the inspired penman
|
||
|
would give Shem an honourable title,
|
||
|
he calls him <I>the father of the Hebrews.</I>
|
||
|
Though when Moses wrote this, they were
|
||
|
a poor despised people, bond-slaves in Egypt,
|
||
|
yet, being God's people, it was an honour to
|
||
|
a man to be akin to them. As Ham, though
|
||
|
he had many sons, is disowned by being
|
||
|
called <I>the father of Canaan,</I> on whose seed
|
||
|
|
||
|
<A NAME="Page78"> </A>
|
||
|
|
||
|
the <I>curse</I> was entailed
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+9:22"><I>ch.</I> ix. 22</A>),
|
||
|
so Shem,
|
||
|
though he had many sons, is dignified with
|
||
|
the title of <I>the father of Eber,</I> on whose seed
|
||
|
the blessing was entailed. Note, a family of
|
||
|
saints is more truly honourable than a family
|
||
|
of nobles, Shem's holy seed than Ham's royal
|
||
|
seed, Jacob's twelve patriarchs than Ishmael's
|
||
|
twelve princes,
|
||
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+17:20"><I>ch.</I> xvii. 20</A>.
|
||
|
Goodness is true
|
||
|
greatness.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
2. He was <I>the brother of Japheth the elder,</I>
|
||
|
by which it appears that, though Shem is commonly
|
||
|
put first, he was not Noah's first-born,
|
||
|
but Japheth was older. But why should this
|
||
|
also be put as part of Shem's title and description,
|
||
|
that he <I>was
|
||
|
the brother of Japheth,</I>
|
||
|
since it had been, in effect, said often before?
|
||
|
And was he not as much brother to Ham?
|
||
|
Probably this was intended to signify the
|
||
|
union of the Gentiles with the Jews in the
|
||
|
church. The sacred historian had mentioned
|
||
|
it as Shem's honour that he was the father
|
||
|
of the Hebrews; but, lest Japheth's seed
|
||
|
should therefore be looked upon as for ever
|
||
|
shut out from the church, he here reminds
|
||
|
us that he <I>was the brother of Japheth,</I> not
|
||
|
in birth only, but in blessing; for <I>Japheth
|
||
|
was to dwell in the tents of Shem.</I> Note,
|
||
|
|
||
|
(1.) Those are brethren in the best manner that
|
||
|
are so by grace, and that meet in the covenant
|
||
|
of God and in the communion of saints.
|
||
|
|
||
|
(2.) God, in dispensing his grace, does not go
|
||
|
by seniority, but the younger sometimes gets
|
||
|
the start of the elder in coming into the church;
|
||
|
<I>so the last shall be first and the first last.</I></P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
II. The reason of the name of Peleg
|
||
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+10:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
||
|
Because <I>in his days</I> (that is, about the
|
||
|
time of his birth, when his name was given
|
||
|
him), <I>was the earth divided</I> among the children
|
||
|
of men that were to inhabit it; either
|
||
|
when Noah divided it by an orderly distribution
|
||
|
of it, as Joshua divided the land of Canaan
|
||
|
by lot, or when, upon their refusal to
|
||
|
comply with that division, God, in justice,
|
||
|
divided them by the confusion of tongues:
|
||
|
whichsoever of these was the occasion, pious
|
||
|
Heber saw cause to perpetuate the remembrance
|
||
|
of it in the name of his son; and
|
||
|
justly may our sons be called by the same
|
||
|
name, for in our days, in another sense, is the
|
||
|
earth, the church, most wretchedly divided.</P>
|
||
|
|
||
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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