Lesson I.f.2 The Sons Of Ham Series

December 10, 2013

Commentary on the Book of Genesis

By: Tom Lowe

Lesson I.F.2: The Sons of Ham. (Gen. 10:6-20)

Genesis 10:6-20 (KJV)

6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.

7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.

8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,

12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.

13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,

14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,

16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,

17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

Ham’s Descendents

Four sons of Ham are named; “Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.” Cush settled in ancient Ethiopia (not the modern nation), Mizraim in Egypt and Put may have lived in Libya. We’ve already touched upon Canaan and the people who came from his line. The descendants of Ham located in areas we would identify today as Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.

Although Ham had four sons the curse was only upon Canaan; and I cannot tell you why the others were not cursed.

At this point in the listing, there is a parenthesis to discuss a famous man, Nimrod, the founder of a great empire (vv. 8-12). He is mentioned because the nations he founded played an important part in the history of Israel, and also because one of them (Babel) is discussed in the next section of Genesis.

Nimrod is called “a mighty one in the earth,” and “a mighty hunter before the Lord” (vv. 8-9). The word translated “mighty” refers to a champion, somebody who is superior in strength and courage. It’s translated “mighty men” in 1 Kings 1.8 and 10 and refers to David’s special bodyguards. The image of Nimrod in the text isn’t that of a sportsman hunting game but rather of a tyrant ruthlessly conquering men and establishing an empire. He wanted to become the ruler of a great world empire, and he attempted to do it. He built four cities in Shinar (Babylonia) and four more in Assyria. Both Babylon and Assyria became enemies of Israel and were used by God to punish His disobedient people. We will learn more about Babylon as we progress in our study.

Nimrod has quite a story which you can get from secular history. It’s a fascinating story of how Nimrod was responsible for the Tower of Babel. He attempted to bring the human race together after the Flood in an effort to get them united into a nation of which he could become the great world ruler. He was the rebel, the founder of Babel and Nineveh, the hunter of the souls of men. He was the lawless one, and he is a shadow or a type of the one who will be the last world ruler, the Antichrist who is yet to appear.

At this time men were content to stand upon the same level as their neighbors, and though every man ruled in his own house, yet no man aspired to have more. But Nimrod’s aspiring mind could not rest; he was resolved to lord it over his neighbors. The same spirit that actuated the giants before the Flood, who became mighty men, and men of renown (Ge. 6.4[1]), was revived in him. From such a beginning, Nimrod began to claim authority and force subjection. He was a violent invader of his neighbor’s rights and properties, and a persecutor of innocent men, devouring all that stood before him and taking what he wanted by force and violence. How soon was that tremendous judgment, which the pride and tyranny of those mighty men brought upon the world, forgotten.

The first great civilization, therefore, grew out of the sons of Ham. We need to recognize that. That has not been taught in the past, but it is beginning to appear more and more in textbooks as black men want more study of their race, and I don’t blame them. He hasn’t been given the opportunity in the past several hundred years. Ancient history shows that in the beginning, the black man headed up the first two great civilizations that appeared on the earth. They were from the sons of Ham, and Nimrod also came from the line of Ham.