Genesis 10:6-20 (NIV) - “The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan. The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city. Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha. These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.”
WARNING: Lots of Names Ahead - Be Prepared to Study a Few on Your Own!
The Sons of Ham
Ham’s family primarily occupied Africa and Asia.1 For a couple of centuries (17th-19th), people claimed the Curse of Ham was the skin color of black and the reason for its correlation to slavery. However, no proof or correlation exists for this distinction to ever have been made.
Cush
His name is often recorded as Kush in other areas of the Bible. He is believed to have inhabited the land of Sudan. His name appears in Egyptian records as early as 2100 BC.2
Seba - not much is known of his family besides being called “tall” in the Bible.
Havilah - there could be a connection to the Ishmaelites.3
Sabtah - may have been an Egyptian pharaoh prior to Taharqa.4
Raamah - may be connected to the Arabian Peninsula and the city Regmah.5
Sheba - there are varied opinions on the location of this family since there may be more than one family with this name. However, more recent scholars believe this particular family originally inhabited the area we know as Yemen.6 There may also be a connection to the Queen of Sheba who visited King Solomon.
Dedan - this family created a highly organized economic trade center in the Arabian Peninsula.7
Sabteka - nothing significant is known.
Nimrod
What words are used to describe Nimrod in this passage?
These verses all point to a man who did amazing things for God. However, extra-biblical evidence points to the likelihood that Nimrod was responsible for commissioning the Tower of Babel to be built.8 His family is possibly connected to Israel’s Babylonian captivity. What started out as a mighty leader took a drastic turn leaving him with a poor reputation in the eyes of God.
Select one of Nimrod’s kingdoms and discover 3 interesting facts about that particular kingdom:
Kingdoms:
Babylon
Uruk
Akkad
Kalnab
Assyria
Ninevah
Rehoboth Ir
Calah
Resen
3 facts discovered about that kingdom:
Land of Egypt - this passage makes it sound like Egypt is a son of Ham, but it is actually the area or region inhabited by Mizraim’s9 (Ham’s actual 4th son) family. The people groups further mentioned in these verses stemmed from Mizraim’s sons. Select one of his sons to further study and share 3 interesting things you learned:
Ludites
Anamites
Lehabites
Naphtuhites
Pathrusites
Kasluhites
Caphtorites
3 things you learned about this people group:
Put
His name appears in the form of Phut in archaeological records. He is the founder of Libya.10 Biblical references refer to them as warriors and allies of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar mentions defeating the soldiers of Put (this would be descendants) during a war in 567 BC.
Canaan
His family originally occupied the Land of Canaan often referred to in the Bible. This territory would include all the regions we now know as Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.11 Select one of the people groups within Canaan to research and share 3 interesting facts:
Sidon
Hittites
Jebusites
Amorites
Girgashites
Hivites
Arkites
Sinites
Arvadites
Zemarites
Hamathites
3 things you learned about this people group:
Those clans dispersed and inhabited several different territories. They are listed in the next part of the passage.
Territories: Select one city to study and share 3 interesting facts about that city:
Gerar
Gaza
Sodom
Gomorrah
Admab
Zeboyim
Lasha
3 interesting facts about this city:
I really hope you learned some fascinating things today. As you can see from the footnotes, I did a simple search using Wikipedia for this entire lesson. I generally prefer to get information from various sources, but my goal for today was to give you a simple summary of Ham’s family. Trust me, I’m not just getting lazy!
I can’t blame you if you’re here for the first time and never want to read another one of my emails again, but it will get better - maybe not next week, but it will get better!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ham_(son_of_Noah)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cush_(Bible)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havilah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_Hebrew_Bible_figures,_L%E2%80%93Z#Sabtah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raamah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheba
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lihyan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizraim
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Put_(biblical_figure)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canaan_(son_of_Ham)