Genesis 10:5

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
isles	אִיֵּ֤י 'i.Yei	H339	properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
Gentiles	הַגּוֹיִם֙ ha.go.Yim	H1471	a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
in	נִפְרְד֞וּ nif.re.Du	H6504	to break through · verb, niphal perfect, 3rd person common plural
lands	בְּאַרְצֹתָ֔ם be.'ar.tzo.Tam	H776	the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
one	אִ֖ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
tongue	לִלְשֹׁנ֑וֹ lil.sho.No	H3956	the tongue (of man or animals) · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
families	לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם le.mish.pe.cho.Tam	H4940	a family · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural
nations	בְּגוֹיֵהֶֽם be.go.ye.Hem	H1471	a foreign nation · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine plural

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Zephaniah 2:11 The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even…
Isaiah 42:4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.
Jeremiah 2:10 For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.
Genesis 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
Jeremiah 25:22 And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the isles which are beyond the sea,
Genesis 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.
Genesis 11:1-9 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Psalms 72:10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 10:1-5

Moses begins with Japheth's family, either because he was the eldest, or because his family lay remotest from Israel and had least concern with them at the time when Moses wrote, and therefore he mentions that race very briefly, hastening to give an account of the posterity of Ham, who were Israel's enemies and of Shem, who were Israel's ancestors; for it is the church that the scripture is designed to be the history of, and of the nations of the world only as they were some way or other related to Israel and interested in the affairs of Israel. Observe, 1. Notice is taken that the sons of Noah had sons born to them after the flood, to repair and rebuild the world of mankind which the flood…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 10:5

the isles of the Gentiles--a phrase by which the Hebrews described all countries which were accessible by sea (Isa 11:11; Isa 20:6; Jer 25:22). Such in relation to them were the countries of Europe, the peninsula of Lesser Asia, and the region lying on the east of the Euxine. Accordingly, it was in these quarters the early descendants of Japheth had their settlements.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 10:5

Isles of the Gentiles - Europe, of which this is allowed to be a general epithet. Calmet supposes that it comprehends all those countries to which the Hebrews were obliged to go by sea, such as Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece, and Asia Minor. Every one after his tongue - This refers to the time posterior to the confusion of tongues and dispersion from Babel.

John Gill on Genesis 10:5

By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands,.... That is, by those sons of Japheth before mentioned; and by "isles" are meant, not countries surrounded with water, for the isles in this sense would not have been sufficient for the posterity of Japheth; nor can it be thought they would leave the continent, where there was room enough for them, and go into islands; and besides must have found it difficult to get there, when shipping and navigation were little known: but it is usual with the Hebrews, of whom Moses, the writer of this history, was, to call all places beyond the Mediterranean sea, or whatsoever they went to by sea, or that were upon the sea coasts, islands, as…

The Church Fathers

From these have divided the islands of the nations into their regions, each according to his language and family in their nations. 'Let us read the histories of the ancients, and we shall see almost all islands, and the shores of the whole world, and lands near the sea, occupied by Greek settlers, who, as we said above, possessed all maritime places from the Amanus and Taurus mountains to the British Ocean.' And while it is said 'each according to his language and family in their nations,' it clearly shows that according to the common opinion, each of the sons of Noah mentioned here, or the grandsons of the sons of Noah, formed separate nations or families of different languages. For the same statement, after recounting the descendants of Cham or Shem, also infers concerning the variety of generations and languages."
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Arabia — Arid, an extensive region in the south-west of Asia. It is bounded on the west by the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea, on the south by the Indian Ocean, and on the east by the Persian Gulf and the…
Canaanites — The descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham. Migrating from their original home, they seem to have reached the Persian Gulf, and to have there sojourned for some time. They thence “spread to the west,…
Dispersion — (Gr. diaspora, “scattered,” James 1:1; 1 Pet. 1:1) of the Jews. At various times, and from the operation of divers causes, the Jews were separated and scattered into foreign countries “to the outmost…
Dodanim — Leaders, a race descended from Javan (Gen. 10:4). They are known in profane history as the Dardani, originally inhabiting Illyricum. They were a semi-Pelasgic race, and in the ethnographical table…
Greece — Orginally consisted of the four provinces of Macedonia, Epirus, Achaia, and Peleponnesus. In Acts 20:2 it designates only the Roman province of Macedonia. Greece was conquered by the Romans B.C. 146.…
Greece, Greeks, Grecians — The histories of Greece and Palestine are little connected with each other. In (Genesis 10:2-5) Moses mentions the descendants of Javan as peopling the isles of the Gentiles; and when the Hebrews…
Ham — Warm, hot, and hence the south; also an Egyptian word meaning “black”, the youngest son of Noah (Gen. 5:32; comp. 9:22, 24). The curse pronounced by Noah against Ham, properly against Canaan his…
Island — (Heb. ‘i, “dry land,” as opposed to water) occurs in its usual signification (Isa. 42:4, 10, 12, 15, comp. Jer. 47:4), but more frequently simply denotes a maritime region or sea-coast (Isa. 20:6,…
Japheth — Wide spreading: “God shall enlarge Japheth” (Heb. Yaphat Elohim le-Yephet, Gen. 9:27. Some, however, derive the name from yaphah, “to be beautiful;” hence white), one of the sons of Noah, mentioned…
Japheth · General references

Genesis 10:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 10:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 10:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 10:5

John Gill on Genesis 10:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 10:5

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 10:1-5

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 10:5

Adam Clarke on Genesis 10:5

John Gill on Genesis 10:5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 10:1-7

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 10:1-5

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 10:5

Rashi on Genesis 10:2