Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
A catalogue of the sons and descendants of Japheth at verse 2, and of Ham at verse 6, and of Shem at verse 21, and their distribution across the world. For from these descendants the more famous nations arose and were named.
Vulgate Text: Genesis 10:1-32
1. These are the generations of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and sons were born to them after the Flood. 2. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3. The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 4. The sons of Javan: Elisha and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. 5. From these the islands of the nations were divided in their regions, each according to his tongue and families in their nations. 6. The sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. 7. The sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8. Cush also begot Nimrod: he began to be mighty on the earth, 9. and was a mighty hunter before the Lord. From this arose the proverb: 'Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.' 10. The beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11. From that land went forth Asshur, and built Nineveh, and the streets of the city, and Calah. 12. Also Resen between Nineveh and Calah: this is a great city. 13. And Mizraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14. and Pathrusim, and Casluhim: from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim. 15. Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16. and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, the Girgashite, 17. the Hivite, and the Arkite, the Sinite, 18. and the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward the peoples of the Canaanites were spread abroad. 19. The border of Canaan was from Sidon, as you come to Gerar, to Gaza; as you go to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, to Lasha. 20. These are the sons of Ham in their families, and tongues, and generations, and lands, and nations. 21. Children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth. 22. The sons of Shem: Elam and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. 23. The sons of Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. 24. And Arphaxad begot Shelah, from whom was born Eber. 25. And to Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, because in his days the earth was divided: and the name of his brother was Joktan. 26. And Joktan begot Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27. and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, 28. and Obal, and Abimael, Sheba, 29. and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab, all these are the sons of Joktan. 30. And their dwelling was from Mesha, going toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31. These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, and tongues, and regions, in their nations. 32. These are the families of Noah according to their peoples and nations. From these the nations were divided on the earth after the Flood.
Verse 2: The Sons of Japheth
He places Japheth before Shem, although Japheth was the younger, because he dispatches his lineage briefly, so that he may treat more fully of the descendants of Ham and Shem, from whom arose the Canaanites and the Hebrews, on whose account especially Moses wrote Genesis and the Pentateuch; and therefore he will henceforth enumerate only the descendants of Shem. Note: To Japheth fell Europe, to Ham Africa, to Shem Asia. See what was said at chapter IX, 27.
From each of these, after the dispersion which occurred at the tower of Babel, individual nations arose; but which from which is uncertain: I will present for each what is more probable, and will follow St. Jerome, Josephus, Isidore, and Arias Montanus, who treats these matters exactly in the Phaleg.
Gomer. From Gomer arose and were named the Gomari, or Cimbri and Cimmerians, and, as Josephus, Jerome, and Isidore relate, the Galatians: for the Galatians were Cimbri; for those who under the leadership of Brennus burst into Asia were Cimbri, and in Asia and Greece were called Gallo-Greeks, from their milky complexion (for 'gala' in Greek means milk); hence also St. Jerome in his preface to the Epistle to the Galatians teaches that the Galatians used the Treveran language (which was certainly Germanic): see what was said there in the prooemium.
Magog. From him arose the Getae and Massagetae, Scythian peoples, and the Tartars, about whom Ezekiel speaks in chapters 38 and 39.
Madai. After the dispersion of Babel he went into Media, and from him arose and were named the Medes, and the land of Media.
Javan. From him arose the Ionians and all the Greeks, and hence Greece was first called Ionia. So says Josephus.
Tubal. From him arose and were named the Iberians, that is Ibeli or Tibeli. The Iberians, I say, both the Asian ones near the Black Sea, and the European ones, namely the Spanish: whether the latter descended from the former, or the former from the latter. So say Mariana, Delrio, Oleaster, and Arias. Likewise, Ezekiel, chapter 38, hints that certain other nations from among those listed here were transferred from Europe to Asia, or vice versa, whether for military service or colonization, where he joins with Asian names and peoples some of those whom we here place in Europe.
Meshech. From him the Muscovites seem to have arisen and taken their name, although St. Jerome and Josephus think the Cappadocians descended from Meshech.
Tiras. From him arose the Thracians, as interpreters commonly teach, although Eugubinus thinks that the Tyrians descended from Tiras.
Ashkenaz. From him arose the Tuiscones, who were later called Germans or Alemanni, from their strength and virtue, meaning 'entirely men.' Hence even now the Hebrews call Germany in Hebrew 'Ashkenaz.' So say Oleaster, Delrio, and others. It is likely that Ashkenaz dwelt in Asia, near the Medes (for he is called to the destruction of Babylon together with the Medes, Jeremiah 51:27), but that many of his descendants crossed over into Europe, and from them arose our Ascanii, or Tuiscones, that is, the Germans. So says Torniellus at the year of the world 1931, number 21.
Riphath. Josephus thinks the Paphlagonians descended from him.
Togarmah. From him arose the Turks, who are called Turcomans or Dragomans: hence even now the Hebrews call the king of the Turks 'Togar'; although Josephus thinks the Phrygians were born from Togarmah.
Verse 4: Elisa, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim
Elisa. The Chaldean Targum considers the Italians to have descended from him; Pererius, however, thinks that from Elisa descended the inhabitants of the Fortunate Islands, which were thence called the Elisiae.
Tarshish. From him descended the Tarsians and the neighboring Cilicians.
Kittim. From him descended the Citians, Cypriots, and Cretans. Hence Cyprus, Crete, and other islands of the Mediterranean Sea are called Cethim in Sacred Scripture.
Dodanim. Many derive the Rhodians from him, as if Dodanim were Rhodanim, and the daleth were substituted for the similar letter resh. Others, however, derive the Dodoneans in Epirus from him.
Verse 5: The Islands of the Nations
FROM THESE WERE DIVIDED THE ISLANDS OF THE NATIONS -- 'according to their language,' as follows; therefore this happened after the dispersion made at Babel: it is a prolepsis. Note: The Hebrews call all regions to which one travels by ship from Judea 'islands,' whether they are truly islands or not, but rather mainland, as I said at Jeremiah 25:22.
Verse 6: The Sons of Ham
Cush. From him descended the Ethiopians, who hence call themselves in their own language Cushites. So the Septuagint, St. Jerome, Isidore, and others.
Mesraim. From him Egypt was inhabited and propagated, which is hence called Mesraim in Hebrew, and is still called Mesra by the Arabs and Turks. Note: In Psalm 105:22, Psalm 104:27, and Psalm 77:51, Egypt is called the land of Ham; whence it appears that Ham, who was the son of Noah and the father of Mesraim, was the first to inhabit Egypt and administered the kingdom of Egypt, for which reason he was called the Egyptian Saturn, as Berosus teaches, Books IV and V, and Diodorus, Book I. Hence also some think that Ham is Hammon, or Jupiter Hammonium. For the letters are the same, and the word Ham and Hammon are the same. Father Ham was succeeded by his son Mesraim, whom Berosus, and from him Annius of Viterbo, think was the same as Osiris, who was the most famous king and god of the Egyptians, and had Isis as his wife. This opinion is favored by the kinship of the words Mesraim and Osiris, if they are traced back to their Hebrew origin, with the servile letters removed -- in the former the mem, in the latter the aleph with cholem; for then Mesraim is Osiris. But others give a different etymology for Osiris, as I shall say at chapter 41.
Phut. From him are thought to have descended the Libyans and Mauritanians, among whom there is a river called Phuth, mentioned by Pliny, Natural History, Book V, chapter 1.
Canaan. That the Canaanites descended from him is most clear.
Verse 7: Saba and Hevila
Saba. There are two Sabas: the first is this one, who was the son of Cush; he is written in Hebrew with a Samech. From him seem to have descended the Abyssinians, whose royal city was called Saba, which was afterwards called Meroe by Cambyses, after his sister's name, from which came to Solomon that queen who is called the Queen of Sheba. The second Saba was the son of Regma; this one is written in Hebrew with a Shin. From him descended the Arabian Sabaeans, of whom it is said: 'The Sabaeans send their frankincense.' So the Septuagint, Psalm 72:20, and St. Jerome here.
Hevila. From him descended the Getulians in Africa, says St. Jerome and Josephus. Likewise the Hevilites who dwelt in Hevila, near the Persian Gulf, and near the Amalekites, 1 Kings 15:7. In this Hevila also dwelt Ishmael, the son of Abraham, Genesis chapter 25, verse 18.
Verse 8: Cush Begot Nimrod
8. CUSH BEGOT NIMROD, -- who excelled among all the sons of Cush as a prince. He is aptly called Nimrod in Hebrew, that is 'rebel,' because he was the first tyrant who oppressed others and forced them into servitude, and was a despiser of God. So St. Jerome, Josephus, Alcuin, and others.
HE HIMSELF BEGAN TO BE MIGHTY ON THE EARTH. -- The Septuagint translates: 'he was a giant,' namely mighty in bodily mass, in strength, in audacity, and in pride and cruelty, says St. Augustine. It seems therefore that Nimrod was the first giant after the Flood. Again, he himself was powerful in wealth and in the usurpation of dominion; for he began to tyrannically subject people to himself. Therefore the first prince and king in the world was Nimrod, and he a tyrant, says Abulensis.
Verse 9: A Mighty Hunter before the Lord
9. AND HE WAS A MIGHTY HUNTER BEFORE THE LORD. -- 'Hunter,' not so much of wild beasts, as Vatablus, Cajetan, and Aben-Ezra hold, as of men; because by force and treachery he seized and oppressed people, either by plundering, or by killing, or by reducing them to slavery, just as the Brazilians and other Indians even now hunt men. So St. Augustine, City of God, Book XVI, ch. 4, Lyra, Abulensis, and others. 'Hunter' therefore is the same as robber and plunderer. Thus Aristotle placed brigandage (lotreia) among the kinds of hunting, and from the hunting of wild beasts the hunting of men easily follows. Hence Xenophon, Book I of the Education of Cyrus, relates that Cyrus trained his Persians for war by exercising them in the hunting and slaughter of animals; as also in the previous century did Ishmael Sophi, who took the kingdom of Persia from the Turks and greatly expanded it. For the exercise of hunting is, as it were, a preliminary training for wars and battles.
BEFORE THE LORD. -- The Septuagint has 'enantion Kyriou,' which St. Augustine translates 'against the Lord'; whence Isidore, Etymologies Book VI, reports that Nimrod forced men, drawn away from God, into idolatry, namely the worship of fire in Chaldea, after the dispersion at the Tower of Babel. But that it should be translated not 'against' but 'before the Lord' is clear from the Hebrew 'liphne,' that is, 'before the Lord.' Now 'before the Lord' means the same as 'truly' and 'eminently such'; that is, such in the judgment of God, who cannot be deceived. Hence Nimrod passed into a proverb, so that of a notable tyrant it is said that he is like another Nimrod, a hunter and plunderer. Cajetan adds that 'before the Lord' is added to increase the gravity of the crime; for a crime is judged more serious if committed in the sight of the magistrate.
Moreover, others bring forward three new interpretations. The first is: 'before the Lord,' because he slaughtered splendid victims, which he had taken in the hunt, to the Lord at the altars, say Aben-Ezra, Kimchi, and the Hebrews. Second: 'before the Lord,' that is, so that he might force men into civil life and monarchy, introduced by God's nod and good pleasure. Third: Melchior Canus, De Locis, Book II, ch. 15, 'before the Lord,' that is, under the open sky, as if to say: Nimrod hunted men wandering like beasts through the fields under the open sky, and gathered them under roofs and into civil society.
But according to these interpretations, Nimrod would have been a prudent and praiseworthy prince; yet it is established that he was impious and a tyrant, and a despiser of God and of holy religion.
Verse 10: The Beginning of His Kingdom Was Babylon
10. NOW THE BEGINNING OF HIS KINGDOM WAS BABYLON. -- Hence interpreters generally note that this Nimrod was either the predecessor, and, as the Annian Berosus says, the father of Jupiter Belus and grandfather of Ninus, namely the first Saturn; or rather, as St. Jerome, Augustine, Eusebius, Pererius, and others judge, that this Nimrod was Belus himself, who was the father of Ninus. For Nimrod's and Belus's tyranny, character, time, and royal seat of Babel agree in all respects; each was the first king of Babylon, each was the author of idolatry, according to St. Jerome, Cyril, Pererius, and others; and Ninus his son was the first to order that his father Belus be publicly worshipped with divine honors as a god; and hence from Belus the idols among the Hebrews, Syrians, and Phoenicians were called bel, baal, baalim: for bel, or baal, is the same as Belus. Therefore Nimrod's proper name was Nemrod, who was called appellatively and antonomastically Bel, Baal, and Belus, that is, Lord and Ruler: just as even now the Turks and Tartars call their king the Great Khan, or the Great Lord.
This Belus, therefore, was the first Jupiter, the first and common god of the Gentiles. Hence to this same Jupiter Belus, Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, built a most magnificent temple, as Diodorus testifies, Book III, ch. 4, in which was the sepulchre of Belus, remarkable for its size and structure; for it was a stadium in height, according to Strabo, Book XVI. And this was the origin of idolatry, around the three hundredth year after the Flood. For although Tertullian, in his book On Idolatry, thinks that there were idols before the Flood, nevertheless Cyril, Books I and III Against Julian, asserts that the idolatry known to us took its origin after the Flood from the father of King Ninus, whom Cyril himself calls Arbelus, and whom we call Belus. An indication of this is also the fact that most idols of the Gentiles, especially of the Orientals, are named from this Bel, or Belus, such as Beelzebub, Beelphegor, Baalberith, Baalsames. See what was said at chapter 4, verse 26.
Note: Nimrod was the author, inventor, and founder of the tower and city of Babel; but Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, later restored it and wondrously enlarged and adorned it, and for this reason Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Mela, St. Jerome, Josephus, Justin, and others assert that Babylon was founded by her.
Note secondly: Nimrod, or Belus, began to reign in Babel around the year 170 after the Flood, when the division of languages and nations took place there; but gradually growing in strength and power, he became king and virtually monarch in the year 184 after the Flood, and reigned for 65 years (for all historians assign that many years to the reign of Belus), namely until the year 249 after the Flood, when he died and was succeeded by his son Ninus. For in the 43rd year of Ninus, Abraham was born, as all report: and Abraham was born in the year 292 after the Flood; therefore the 43rd year of Ninus's reign falls in the year 292 after the Flood; and consequently, counting backward, the first year of Ninus's reign falls in the year 249 after the Flood. Therefore in that year 249, Belus, or Nimrod, departed from his kingdom and life, and his son Ninus succeeded him.
Finally, Babylon is today called Baldag, or Baghdad; although the old Babylon properly no longer survives, but has been entirely destroyed, and Baldag, which exists today, was built in a place near to it, as Ortelius teaches.
AND ARACH -- which was afterwards called Edessa, a city in Coele-Syria, in which Abgar reigned, to whom Christ sent His image, according to Eusebius.
ACHAD. -- This is Nisibis, a city of Mesopotamia on the Tigris River, in which St. James of Nisibis flourished, of whom Theodoret [writes].
CHALANNE. -- This is either Seleucia, or certainly Ctesiphon, the royal city of the Persians, says St. Jerome.
THE LAND OF SHINAR. -- So is called the field surrounding Babylon; he adds this to distinguish it from the other Babylon, which is in Egypt, and which is now called Cairo.
Verse 11: From That Land Went Forth Assur
11. FROM THAT LAND (Shinar, that is, from Babylon) WENT FORTH ASSUR. -- Josephus and following him St. Augustine and Jerome think that this Assur is the second son of Shem, about whom see verse 22; for he is inserted here by anticipation, on the occasion of the kingdom of Babylon, which was immediately succeeded by the kingdom of the Assyrians in Nineveh, whose founder was this Assur; for from this Assur the Assyrians seem to have descended and taken their name, and by the same man was founded the city which, later restored and greatly enlarged by Ninus, was called Nineveh. This opinion is probable.
But since all these things pertain to the sons, not of Shem, but of Ham, up to verse 21, where Moses first treats of the sons of Shem, Pererius, Delrio, and others more correctly judge that this Assur is Ninus, the son of Belus; for all the ancients agree that Nineveh, or the city of Ninus, was founded and named by him. Ninus, therefore, is here called Assur, either because he had two names, or rather he is called Assur by anticipation, because he was afterwards the first king and monarch of the Assyrians.
Verse 12: This Is a Great City
12. THIS IS A GREAT CITY. -- 'This,' namely not Calah, but Nineveh, which is named in the first place as the foremost and most important; for the text returns and refers to this one, though more remote, in the Hebrew manner. For Nineveh in the time of Ninus was the greatest of the cities of the world, having no equal before or after in this world; for the circumference of the city was 480 stadia, that is, sixty thousand paces; the height of the walls was one hundred feet, and the width was such that three chariots could pass abreast; it had 150 towers, each 200 feet high. So Pererius from Diodorus and Strabo. Later, in the time of the prophet Jonah, it was so great that it could not be traversed and surveyed street by street in less than three days. Hence Jonah calls it a city of a three days' journey.
Verse 13: The Descendants of Mizraim
13. Ludim. Hence the Lydians, not those over whom Croesus ruled, but others near Egypt, of whom Isaiah 46:9 and Ezekiel 30:5 [speak].
Laabim. Hence the Libyans in Africa.
Nephtuhim. Hence the Numidians.
14. Phetrusim. Hence the Petran Arabs, whose capital was the city of Petra.
Chasluim. These are the Philistines, with whom the Jews waged perpetual war: for although God gave to Abraham and the Jews only Canaan, so that they would destroy the Canaanites, the posterity of Canaan, nevertheless the Philistines had occupied part of Canaan after driving out the Canaanites, as is clear from Zephaniah 2:5. Likewise the Cappadocians drove the Hivites, who were Canaanites, from their land, as is stated in Deuteronomy 2:23; whence the Hebrews justly reclaimed by war from both groups the land of Canaan owed to them and given by God.
Caphtorim. Hence the Cappadocians. So the Septuagint and our [Vulgate].
Verse 16: The Hittite, the Jebusite, and Other Canaanite Peoples
16. THE HITTITE, THE JEBUSITE, etc. -- Note: All these are names of peoples who descended from the sons of Canaan; for from the father Heth the Hittites were named; from Jebus, the Jebusites; from Sin, the Sinites, etc., as is clear from the Hebrew.
Villalpando, Part I of De Urbe et Templo, Book I, ch. 10, holds that Jebus, or the Jebusite, the son of Canaan and great-grandson of Noah, founded Jerusalem, which was called Jebus after him; just as his brother Sidon, according to Josephus, founded the city of Sidon; and Amathus founded Amathah, and Aradius the city of Arad.
17. The Sinite. The Sinites here are the Chinese, dwelling near Japan, about whose conversion to Christ Isaiah prophesied, chapter 49, verse 12, in the Hebrew text, as I said there. So some [authors hold]. But since the remaining descendants of Canaan spoken of here dwelt not in India but in Judea or near Judea, these Sinites seem rather to have been the inhabitants of the desert and Mount Sinai. This Sinite is different from the Kenite with a C, as I shall say at Judges chapter 4, verse 17.
18. The Arvadite. From this man, or rather people, the cities of Aradus and Antaradus near Sidon were founded and named, about which see Ezekiel 27:8.
The Samarite. The Samarites seem to be the same as the Perizzites, and from their parent, not this ancient one, but the later one who lived in the time of Omri king of Israel, and was likewise called Shemer, or Shomer, both the mountain and the city and region were called Samaria, 3 Kings 16:24.
The Hamathite, -- inhabitants of the city of Hamath, which in Scripture is twofold, namely Hamath the Greater, which is Antioch; and Hamath the Lesser, which is Epiphania.
Verse 19: The Borders of Canaan
Verse 19 describes the borders of the land occupied by the Canaanites. The northern boundary is established at Sidon, the southern from the west at Gerar and Gaza, the southern from the east at Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Lasha.
Verse 21: The Sons of Shem
21. THE BROTHER OF JAPHETH THE ELDER. -- The Hebrew 'haggadol' is indeclinable, whence it can be translated either as 'of the elder' in the genitive, as the Septuagint translates, or as 'the elder' in the ablative. The Hebrews, Lyra, and Tostatus translate it as 'of the elder,' referring it to Japheth: whence they think Japheth was the firstborn of Noah, Cham the second, and Shem the third and last. But it is more truly to be translated as 'the elder'; for so our [Vulgate], Pagninus, Vatablus, Cajetan, and others translate it: for all these things pertain to the praise not of Japheth but of Shem; for elsewhere, as in chapter 9, verse 24, among the sons of Noah, Shem is placed first, Ham second, and Japheth third.
You will object: Noah began to beget these three sons in the 500th year of his life, as stated at the end of chapter 5: therefore in this year 500 he begot Japheth, in the year 501 he begot Ham, and in the year 502 he begot Shem; for Genesis 11:11 says that Shem was one hundred years old two years after the Flood (which occurred in the year 600 of Noah): therefore Shem was born in the year 502 of Noah, and consequently in the year 500 of Noah Japheth was born and was the firstborn of Noah.
I respond: Scripture often expresses only round numbers, but passes over small and minute ones in silence. So here, when it says at chapter 5, verse 32 that Noah began to beget in the year 500, understand not precisely 500 but 502. Or certainly, when it says at chapter 11 that Shem was 100 years old two years after the Flood when he begot Arphaxad, understand not precisely 100 but 102; for Scripture does not bother with, but passes over in silence, the number two as being minute in so large a number.
22. THE SONS OF SHEM: ELAM. -- Hence the Elamites, that is, the Persians: likewise from Assur the Assyrians, from Lud the Lydians, whose king was Croesus; from Arphaxad the Chaldeans descended, says St. Jerome.
ARAM. -- Hence the Aramaeans, that is, the Syrians. Note that in the Scriptures Syria extends widely and includes Armenia, and even Mesopotamia, which is called Aram Naharaim, that is, 'Syria of the two rivers,' because it lies between the Tigris and Euphrates, as I shall say more fully at chapter 25, verse 20.
Verse 24: Heber and the Origin of the Hebrews
24. HEBER. -- From whom the Hebrews descended and took their name, who alone retained the original language of paradise, namely Hebrew, together with the true worship of God in the division of nations and languages at Babel, although there is also another origin for the word Hebrew, as I shall say at chapter 14, verse 13.
Some think that Heber was born at the time when his grandfather Arphaxad, departing from Armenia, crossed the Tigris River, and was the first of all to settle in Chaldea, and therefore named the infant then born Heber, that is, 'one who crosses,' namely the Tigris. This opinion is supported by what St. Jerome and Josephus teach, Antiquities Book I, ch. 7, namely that the Chaldeans descended from Arphaxad.
Verse 25: Peleg, Because in His Days the Earth Was Divided
25. PELEG, BECAUSE IN HIS DAYS THE EARTH WAS DIVIDED. -- For Peleg in Hebrew is the same as 'division': this division and dispersion took place at Babel, about which see chapter 11.
You ask whether this division of languages and nations occurred at the birth, in the middle, or at the end of Peleg's life. St. Augustine, City of God Book XVI, ch. 11, and Pererius think it occurred at the birth of Peleg: for thence the boy was named Peleg. Secondly, and better, the Hebrews, St. Jerome, Chrysostom, Tostatus, and Lyra think it occurred not at his birth but during the life of Peleg: for his father Heber, a holy man, prophesying, gave the name Peleg to his newborn son from an event not present but future, which he foresaw in the Spirit.
And so I say it seems more probable that around the year 170 after the Flood, when Peleg was already 70 years old (for he was born in the year 101 after the Flood, as is clear from chapter 11, verses 15 and 16), this division took place. This is proved first, because around this year 170, after this division was made at Babel, Nimrod began to reign, as I said at verse 10; secondly, because Scripture does not say here that the earth was divided at the birth, but in the days of Peleg; thirdly, because in the year 101 after the Flood, when Peleg was born, men do not seem to have multiplied so much that they could be divided into 70 nations and languages; for at that time there was only the second, or at most the third generation from the Flood. Add what is more pressing: Heber begot Peleg at the age of 34, and after him, as it seems, begot Joktan. But Joktan had many sons, as is said here, who, being already elderly at the dispersion of Babel, were scattered each into his own region, nation, and language, just like the others who are named here, as is clear from verse 31. Therefore not at the birth of Peleg, but when he was already elderly (since his younger brother Joktan already had so many sons who were themselves elderly), was the earth divided. So Diodorus, Lipomanus, and others.
St. Augustine responds that Joktan was not younger but older than Peleg. But this seems scarcely probable: for Peleg is named here before Joktan; but let it be true, Joktan must have been born only a short time before Peleg: for Peleg was born in the 34th year of his father Heber; so let Joktan have been born in the year 30 or 25 of Heber, thus he would have been at most nine years older than Peleg; and therefore Joktan could not have had so many and such great sons at the birth of Peleg.
Hence it follows that what the Hebrews report in the Seder Olam is false, namely that this division of languages and nations took place at the end of Peleg's life, that is, around the year 340 after the Flood, namely 10 years before the death of Noah; for in this year 340 Abraham had already been born and was 48 years old: yet before Abraham, Ninus had waged war against Zoroaster with very many nations assembled, as I said near the end of the preceding chapter: therefore the nations had already long before been divided and dispersed.
Verse 29: Ophir, Hevila, and the Sons of Joktan
29. OPHIR, HEVILA. -- Hence the Indians and various nations of the Indians. So St. Jerome and Arias, who likewise refers to Jobab that part of the New World which is called Parias. The descendants of the remaining [sons] who are named here are unknown.
Verse 31: These Are the Sons of Shem
31. THESE ARE THE SONS OF SHEM ACCORDING TO THEIR FAMILIES AND LANGUAGES. -- Hence Philastrius, in De Haeresibus, ch. 106, teaches that it must be firmly believed that before the Tower of Babel there were various languages, but which all men then understood; but in the Babylonian dispersion, in each patriarch only one language remained, different from the language of every other patriarch. Nicholas of Cusa supports this, who in his Compendium, ch. 3, says: 'The first art of speaking was so abundant in many synonyms that all the languages which were later divided were contained in it, and Adam himself, if anyone spoke to him in those [languages], would understand them all, since he had imposed all the words, and mastery of languages was suddenly granted to many.'
But that this is false is clear from the following chapter, where before this dispersion the earth is said to have been of one lip and language. This is therefore a prolepsis, or anticipation; for the languages here are called not those which already existed, but those which were about to come into being shortly afterward at Babel. So St. Augustine, Rupert, and others.
Verse 32: From These the Nations Were Divided
32. FROM THESE THE NATIONS WERE DIVIDED. -- Commonly SS. Augustine, Jerome, Prosper, and Epiphanius count 72 nations and languages into which men were divided at the dispersion of Babel: for that many persons, namely seventy-two, are found named and enumerated in this chapter, specifically 14 from the sons of Japheth, 31 from the sons of Ham, and 27 from the sons of Shem. For they add Cainan, whom the Septuagint adds. But in the following chapter I shall show that Cainan must be removed. Again, the names of the fathers must be subtracted here: for the fathers did not form a family or nation different from their sons: with these therefore removed, there remain 55 sons, from each of whom individual nations arose, since at the dispersion of Babel each received its own language or dialect; on which matter see Pererius at length, Books XV and XVI.
From what has been said it follows that these nations were dispersed throughout the whole world, and consequently through both the lower and upper hemispheres. Hence it follows that some are antipodes to others, and stand and walk with their feet facing opposite directions. Pliny denied that there are antipodes, Book II, ch. 67; likewise Cicero, Mela, and Gregory of Nazianzus, epistle 71 to Posthumian, and Augustine, City of God, Book XVI, ch. 9. The reason that moved them was the immensity of the Ocean interposed between this world and the new one, which seemed to them impassable, so that men could not cross from this world to the new one.
But I responded to this argument at chapter 8, verse 17. For from the voyages of the Spaniards it is now established that America is inhabited by humans, and that they are our antipodes.
Again, from this it is gathered that these nations were dispersed through all the climates of the world, and inhabit not only the regions within the Tropics, but also those beyond them, and nearly under the poles, and moreover under the Equator, under which the ancients formerly placed the Torrid Zone, which on account of the heat they judged to be uninhabitable.
But from those same voyages of the Spaniards it is established that the Torrid Zone is inhabited by humans and is temperate, and this both from the abundance of rains, the brevity of summer days, the proximity of the Ocean, the perpetual winds by which it is swept, and other means and remedies of divine providence, as the eyewitness Joseph de Acosta teaches, De Novo Orbe, Book II, ch. 8 and following. For thus God fulfills His decree, which He established in chapter 1, verse 28: 'Fill the earth.'