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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter X].</TITLE>
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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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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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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
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for his own people; this Moses takes
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notice of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:8">Deut. xxxii. 8</A>,
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<I>When the Most
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High divided to the nations their inheritance,
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he set the bounds of the people according
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to the number of the children of Israel.</I>
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2. By this account it appears that the posterity
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of Canaan were numerous, and rich, and
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very pleasantly situated; and yet Canaan
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was under a curse, a divine curse, and not a
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curse causeless. Note, Those that are under
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the curse of God may yet perhaps thrive and
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prosper greatly in this world; for we cannot
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know love or hatred, the blessing or the
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|
curse, by what is before us, but by what is
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within us,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+9:1">Eccl. ix. 1</A>.
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The curse of God
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always works really and always terribly:
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but perhaps it is a secret curse, a curse to
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the soul, and does not work visibly, or a
|
|
slow curse, and does not work immediately;
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but sinners are by it reserved for, and bound
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|
over to, a day of wrath. Canaan here has a
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better land than either Shem or Japheth,
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and yet they have a better lot, for they inherit
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the blessing.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge10_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_31"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge10_32"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>21 Unto Shem also, the father of
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all the children of Eber, the brother
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of Japheth the elder, even to him
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were <I>children</I> born.
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22 The children
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of Shem; Elam, and Asshur,
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and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
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23 And the children of Aram; Uz,
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and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
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24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and
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Salah begat Eber.
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25 And unto
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Eber were born two sons: the name
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of one <I>was</I> Peleg; for in his days was
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the earth divided; and his brother's
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name <I>was</I> Joktan.
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26 And Joktan
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begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and
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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>
|
|
|
|
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